Skirmish on the Gymkhana premises

Darjeeling: Darjeeling reacted with shock and disbelief to the incident in which three Marwari members of Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, Rajesh Agrawal, Sunil Agrawal and Sanjay Agrawal, were found having sex with a class IX student in the card room at Gymkhana premises on May 11.

Pranay Rai, the GNLF MLA from Darjeeling, has “condemned the incident” while Deepak Gurung, president, GNLF Darjeeling branch committee, has demanded “appropriate action”.

Earlier, the All Gorkha Students’ Union (Agsu), an apolitical body, demanded that the club take “legal action” against the three businessmen. “They should be arrested,” said Roshan Giri, president of Agsu (central committee).

A press release issued by club chairman Mamanchand Agarawal said “necessary legal action has been initiated against the accused members and showcause notice slapped on the three offenders who are expected to reply within three days”.

It was learnt that of the three accused, two have pleaded “not guilty” to the showcause notice issued. The third did not respond till the deadline for the reply expired.

Following 14-member club committee meeting, the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club expelled these involved three members who were allegedly caught having sex with a class IX student.

Club Chairman, Mamanchand Agarawal announced after a meeting of the 14-member club committee that the “house was dissolved”. Since the committee managed the affairs of the club, its dissolution means that Gymkhana is without any leadership for the moment.

At the meeting, questions were raised on who was “morally responsible” for the incident that brought “disrepute to the club”. Lack of consensus followed by chaos prompted two committee members, Tashi Pencho and Uttam Pradhan, to resign. It is learnt that Nirmal Agrawal, the managing member of the committee, too, has resigned. “We put in our papers on moral grounds. Basant Pradhan and M.S. Jethvani, two other members of the committee, have conveyed verbally that they, too, will resign. However, there is a constitutional crisis in the club as the chairman dissolved the house,” said Pencho.

The members might approach Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the ex-officio president, with the plea to appoint an administrator, who is currently in Darjeeling.

Chowkbazaar has been plastered with full of posters condemning the incident by almost all the organisations of Darjeeling hills.