Move to woo Dooars tribals
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Darjeeling, July 2: Bimal Gurung’s party has decided to form a separate body to woo the adivasi community in the Terai and the Dooars days after a pan-Indian tribal organisation objected to its demand of Gorkhaland.
The decision was announced at a public meeting of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha at Gorubathan in the Kalimpong subdivision.
“We will soon form the Gorkha Janmukti Adivasi Morcha in the Dooars,” the Morcha chief told the gathering. Until now, the party had only appointed three conveners for the western, central and eastern parts of the Dooars.
Although Gorubathan is located within the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council area, it borders the Dooars region in Jalpaiguri district. A number of people from the tribal communities came to hear Gurung’s speech today.
“Eighteen adivasi leaders from different parts of the Dooars also addressed the gathering. They have promised to support our demand,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri.
On June 29, however, the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad had declared at a public meeting in Nagrakata that the tribals would not accept the inclusion of the Terai and Dooars in the Gorkhaland demanded by the Morcha.
Today, the secretary of the Parishad’s West Bengal chapter, Birsa Tirkey, said over the phone from Calcutta: “The Gorubathan area is largely Nepali-dominated and some members from our community had to attend the meeting. The Morcha is playing with the illiterate tribals and trying to lure them, but the Terai and Dooars have a 75 per cent tribal population and these areas will never be part of Gorkhaland.”
Tirkey added that he would raise the development in the Parishad’s all-India meeting in Delhi next Sunday.
The adivasis are one of the largest communities in the Dooars. They are mostly concentrated in the tea gardens and their support is considered important for the statehood movement to make a major impact in the region.
Assembly walk out
Pranay Rai and Gaulan Lepcha, two MLAs who have resigned from the GNLF, staged a walkout in the Assembly today after deputy speaker Bhaktipada Ghosh stopped them midway in their speech in which they were demanding Gorkhaland.
Left seeks Centre’s intervention in Darjeeling issue
Statesman News Service
SILIGURI, July 2: The principal constituents of the Left Front excluding the CPI-M today demanded an immediate tripartite meeting involving the Centre to resolve the Darjeeling imbroglio. The leaders of the CPI, Forward Bloc and the RSP said that there must be a way out of the hill impasse and if the Centre's intervention pushed things up, a tripartite negotiation must be arranged immediately.
The CPI Darjeeling district secretary Mr Ujjawal Chowdhury, said that the as the state had already consented to the Centre's involvement in the negotiation process, the meeting should take place at the earliest. “Yet at the same time, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha should be flexible enough to take things forward. A solution is of paramount need and petty ego should be kept away,” the CPI leader said.
The Forward Bloc opined the same advocating more administrative and financial powers for the Hill Council. “The Centre's involvement at this stage is essential and time should not be lost on the matter,” Mr Smritish Bhattacharya, the Darjeeling district FB secretary said.
However, the RSP struck a discordant note, saying that the GJMM leadership was justified in not taking much interest in the negotiation with the state government. “The state government betrayed the cause of the hills while keeping the Subash Ghising regime alive for years on end and this nonchalance has turned the issue intractable,” Mr Binay Chakravarty, the RSP Darjeeling district secretary remarked.
Kalimpong office row caught in legal mess
RAJEEV RAVIDAS - The Telegraph
Kalimpong, July 2: The CPM and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha are locked in a fight over the occupation of a building owned by the Kalimpong Art and Crafts Industrial Cooperative Society Ltd here. The irony is that both appear to be on shaky legal grounds.
The row began after the Kalimpong branch of the Morcha opened its office on the ground floor on the basis of an authorisation letter obtained from the “chairman” of the society, Mangal Singh Rai. The CPM, which occupies the first floor of the building at Melli Road here, alleges that the board of directors of the society, of which Singh claims to be the chairman, was dissolved back in 1993.
Records available with The Telegraph reveal that in 1997, a board of administrators was constituted to run the society in place of the dissolved board of directors following an order from the director of cottage and small scale industries, West Bengal. However, the administrators, too, were later asked to resign and after that no board was constituted.
In 1998, the Kalimpong unit of the CPM opened its office on the terrace of the building with the permission of “chairman” Rai, paying an annual rent of Rs 7,000 to the board. “It was in the latter half of 2003 that we came to know that the board of which Rai claimed to be the chairman was illegal. When we told the self-styled board members that henceforth we would pay our rent through account payee cheques, they failed to give us the account number, after which we stopped paying the rent,” said Tara Sundas, a district committee member of the CPM.
Sundas, however, argued the subdivisional administration should not have allowed the Morcha to occupy the ground floor without ascertaining the facts.
“The Morcha used Rai to fool the administration and the latter willingly agreed to be fooled,” the CPM leader said.
Local Morcha leaders said they were not aware that the board headed by Rai was an illegal one.
“The CPM, too, must prove on what basis they have been occupying the space for so long. We have no problems moving out if documentary evidence is provided to us to prove the illegality of the board,” said Dawa Ghisingh, the vice-president of the Morcha’s Kalimpong unit.
Rai could not be contacted.
Kalimpong SDO P.T. Sherpa said he would take action if any complaint backed by documentary evidence was brought before him.
Slides block NH31A
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Kalimpong, July 2: A series of landslides following heavy overnight rain disrupted traffic on NH31A, the road linking Siliguri with Kalimpong and Sikkim, today.
The landslides, which started around 3am, have thrown slush and boulders from the hillside on a 50-metre-stretch of the road at 28 Mile, around 25km from here, causing huge traffic blocks at either end of the damaged area.
Officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which maintains the highway, said efforts to restore traffic movement were hampered as mud and rocks continued to come down from the hillside throughout the day.
Although several trees were uprooted and fell across the highway, they were later removed.
Light vehicles started moving around 4pm, but heavy vehicles were yet to be given passage. Many vehicles were re-routed via Rambi-Mungpoo-3 Mile-Peshok-Teesta and 27 Mile-Takdah-6 Mile-Peshok-Teesta, which means travellers had to spend four hours, instead of two hours, to reach Kalimpong from Siliguri. Some vehicles also took the road via Lava, which, too, takes two extra hours.
The closure of the road had an immediate impact here with one of the two petrol pumps in town running out of fuel around 9 in the morning after the tanker bringing in oil got stuck in the traffic jam.
As the road communication was thrown out of gear, Kalimpong residents have had to do without newspapers as vehicles carrying them, too, were stranded in the traffic snarl.
“I feel uneasy if I don’t get my morning paper. And today is no exception,” said Salathiel Lepcha, a resident.
Other services hit by the highway block were posts and couriers.
“Our vehicle usually arrives here from Siliguri around 9am, but because of the landslide, it did not come today,” said Raju Chhetri, manager of a private courier service.
Top cop raises KLO alert
- Inspector-general says extremist outfit regrouping in Jalpaiguri, Malda and the Dinajpurs OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Siliguri, July 2: The intelligence wing of Bengal police has found enough proof to suggest that the KLO is trying to regroup in three districts of north Bengal, state inspector-general of police (law and order) Raj Kanojia said today.
“From inputs received from the intelligence wing, we have come to know that a fresh batch of KLO militants is trying to reorganise in Jalpaiguri, Malda and parts of Dinajpur districts,” Kanojia told reporters at Siliguri Circuit House.
The officer added that a number of other insurgent groups existed in north Bengal. “There are so many issues here. KLO and border-related issues are among them. I have discussed the issues with local police officials. We are getting information about Maoist activities as well and are alert about it,” he said.
The inspector-general arrived here on Monday and during his stay, reviewed law and order and force deployment in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts. He left for Calcutta this afternoon.
Kanojia did not comment on the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha or the possibility of force deployment if the party re-imposes its indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling hills after July 5.
The hills are currently enjoying a bandh breather.
“I do not want to comment on these issues as everything has been stated by the state home secretary yesterday,” said the inspector-general.
However, Kanojia added: “Keeping in mind the current situation in the hills, besides keeping armed police, we also have the Straco Force, which was formed about a year ago. This force has been trained here in north Bengal and another batch is currently being trained in Panagarh.”
The Straco Force comprises men selected from police forces posted all over the state. The army trained them through its Junior Leaders’ Training Establishment that was set up in 2005.
If the Morcha bandh resumes, the administration’s main concern will be to keep open NH31A — the lifeline of Sikkim — which was affected during the earlier phases of the agitation.
‘Situation not out of hand yet’
Statesman News Service
SILIGURI, July 2: Maoist rebels are becoming active in north Bengal, but the situation is not alarmingly out of hand yet, the Inspector General Police, law and order, Mr Raj Kanojia, assured here, today. But the police have struck a note of warning, he added. They are keeping a 'cautious eye' on the Maoist insurgents, who endeavour to add a new dimension to violence, in connection with frontal organisations.
“Their activity is under observation, primarily, in three districts- Jalpaiguri, Malda and Dinajpur, but the situation is not alarming yet,” the IGP said. However, Mr Kanojia was painfully reticent about, whether the arms and ammunitions exploited by ex- Maoists in Nepal were being passed across to those active in West Bengal, particularly north Bengal. “It involves a foreign country and hence, I would not make a comment.”- was his terse reply.
Talking about how prepared the police are, the IGP boasted that the state is equipped with 15 companies of special force, extensively trained to combat insurgency. A few of them has been kept on hold in north Bengal. According to Mr.Kanojia, there was no immediate plan for deploying additional security forces in the Darjeeling hills, even in the face of recent violence. “Future steps would be taken, considering the situation in hills,” he added.
The police bigwig, who has been camping in Siliguri since 30 June, also informed that he has been reviewing the situation in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar, along with extra hands, all senior police officials from these districts.
Darjeeling MLAs stage walkout over Gorkhaland issue
Kolkata, July 2 (PTI) The Gorkhaland issue echoed in the West Bengal Assembly today with two unattached members from the Darjeeling hills staging a walkout after deputy Speaker Bhakatipada Ghosh cut short their speeches.
Former GNLF member Pranay Rai, being treated by the Speaker as unattached members since they joined the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, had begun to speak during Zero hour demanding a separate Gorkhaland state when he was cut short by Ghosh.
The Deputy Speaker pointed out that Rai could not be allowed to go on as the one minute allotted to him was over.
Dissatisfied with Ghosh's ruling, Rai and another unattached member Goulang Lepcha, carrying placards, staged a noisy walkout.
Later, Rai and Lepcha told newsmen that the walkout was the first step in the campaign on the Gorkhaland issue within the House and their next step would be to move a Calling Attention motion.
Rai and Lepcha demanded immediate convening of a tripartite meeting to discuss the Gorkhaland issue.
They, however, parried a question whether the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha would petition the Election Commission for listing as a political party. "We will not comment on that. As of now, we are unattached members of the House." PTI
GNLF members stage walkout in Assembly
Express News Service
Kolkata, July 2 The two former Gorkha National Liberation Front members of the state Assembly, Gaulon Lepcha and Paranai Rai walked out of the state Assembly on Wednesday on the issue of a separate state of Gorkhaland. Delivering a speech during zero hour in the state assembly, Rai raised the demand of a separate state. The duo later walked out alleging that the Speaker did not allow Rai to finish his speech. The two were recentky declared ‘unattached’ members of the Assembly by Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim.
Later, they walked around the assembly premises, flaunting placards and shouting slogans. “The left is more concerned about the nuclear deal than the Gorkhaland. We will keep on attending the Assembly session and will use this forum to raise our demand for Gorkhaland,” Rai said. He also said that he would soon raise a calling attention motion to press for their demand.
In Darjeeling, meanwhile, Gorkha Adivasi Janmukti Morcha was constituted on Wednesday, Bimal Gurung, president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, told The Indian Express. “The Morcha will fight for a separate Gorkhaland. We will decide on our next course of protest during our meeting of July 5,” Gurung said.
The hunger strike of school children at different places of Darjeeling will go on till a further decision was taken, he added.
Demand for Gorkhastan was initiated by the Communist
MeriNews
COMMUNISTS HAVE a bad image. They forget very quickly what they say a little while ago.
This has been proved once again when they have evidently forgotten that demand for a separate sovereign state including Darjeeling, Sikkim, Dooars, Assam and Nepal was raised by the undivided Communist party way back in 1947. They demanded Gorkhastan to pay honour to the Gorkhas’ ethnic sentiment.
In 1947, the All India Gorkha League asked for Communist Party of India’s (CPI) support in favour of their demand for a sovereign state including Darjeeling, Dooars, Jalpaiguri and Assam. CPI replied that demand for a free Gorkhastan is always welcome, considering the ethnic self-esteem of the Gorkhas who have every possibility of growing into a strong nation and become a friendly country to India.
The demands got a response among the Communist ideologists considering Stalin’s theory of ethnicity. They believed that every separate community has the right to self-control and become separate. The 1942 plenum if CPI also accepted the theory in principle. Through electoral manifesto in 1942, the party demanded 17 separate national confederations inside India and had asked the British rulers to delegate the power on these confederations. On April 6, 1947, a memorandum was handed over to Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan and urged for a separate sovereign state on the justification that Gorkhas were the sons of the soil of Darjeeling. It was their land. Their development is possible only if they are allowed to have their power to self-respect. The party demanded that a separate Gorkhastan should be built with the inclusion of entire Darjeeling district, south Sikkim and Nepal.
The steps taken by CPI created a faith among the Gorkhas because they heartily wanted this. The initial result was the win of Ratanlal
Brahmanin, in the first election. Darjeeling became a red fort of the Communists till the demand for Gorkhaland came in front after Subhas Ghising’s movement.
Now the Left Front government and the CPI(M) as well, has been saying that movement by Subhas Ghising or by Bimal Gurung is separatist in nature. The communists today have become nationalist heroes overnight and crying to build up public opinion against a further division of West Bengal.
Unfortunately, they have forgotten that Gorkhastan was their movement and it was never an autonomous body within the state, rather a separate neighbouring country to India.
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