Morcha duo’s Calcutta visit

Darjeeling, March 20: Two GTA Sabha members will leave for Calcutta tomorrow, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha said a day after Bimal Gurung received a letter from the Bengal chief secretary seeking “cooperation” to run the hill body. Sources said Binay Tamang, a GTA executive member, along with Ratan Thapa, also an executive member of GTA, will leave for Calcutta tomorrow. “It is true that the two leaders will be leaving for Calcutta tomorrow. We can only confirm that they are visiting Calcutta for official work,” said the source. Asked if the Morcha leaders would meet Trinamul Congress leaders or seek an appointment for a meeting between Mamata Banerjee and Bimal Gurung, the source said: “It is best not to speculate at this juncture. Developments will be made known at a suitable time.” However, for a party leadership which had completely severed ties with the Mamata Banerjee government, the visit by the two leaders after the chief secretary’s letter reached the GTA may prove important. Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, will be touching Calcutta en route to Ranchi. Asked if he would be visiting Calcutta soon, Giri said: “There might be some speculation of me going to Calcutta as I will have to go to Jharkhand (to attend a meeting with JMM on March 24) via Calcutta. However, no meetings have been scheduled in Calcutta till today.” Giri had yesterday said the chief secretary’s letter was a “positive one” but had added that Gurung would be taken a final call on the response to the letter. Sources in the Morcha said that Gurung has not yet made any official response to the letter. The letter which had been written on February 27, reached Gurung only last evening. The letter clearly states that the state government has always tried to iron out any difference on the working of the GTA. “It would also be necessary for all of us to honour the spirit of the tripartite agreement, which has been entered into after considerable effort and deliberation from all ends. Whenever required, the state government has always met your representatives and discussed various issues. We firmly believe that within the ambit of the agreement, all issues can be taken forward by working together,” the letter said.

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Civic police jobs for hill youth

Darjeeling, March 20: The state government has decided to recruit 6,500 civic police personnel in the 14 police stations of Darjeeling district. Out of the 14 police stations, 12 are in the GTA area. According to sources, the recruitment process will be carried out across the state and Darjeeling is the first district where the process has been announced. “To the best of my knowledge, the only place in Bengal where civic police have been recruited is the Asansol-Durgapur commissionerate area,” said a source in the district police. The state’s decision to start the recruitment process of the civic police from Darjeeling comes at a time the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, whose writ runs in the hills, has renewed its Gorkhaland agitation. The Morcha is not in the best of terms with the Trinamul-led government now. Kunal Aggarwal, the Darjeeling superintendent of police, today announced the start of the recruitment process. “Forms will be made available in all the 14 police stations from next week. Candidates will have to submit their forms by April 10. The number of vacancies stands at 6,500,” he said. The civic police would be recruited by a one-year contract that can be renewed. Candidates who have enrolled themselves in the National Cadet Corp (NCC), Boys Scout, National Service Scout (NSS) and civil defence volunteers can apply. “The minimum qualification is Madhyamik and the candidates should fall within the 20-30 year age bracket,” said Aggarwal. The 14 police stations in the district have around 3,000 personnel now and the new recruits would double its strength. “At the moment there are around 1,700 police personnel (including officers) apart from around 1,000 home guards (in the district),” said Aggarwal. The civic police personnel will be given two sets of uniforms and are expected to assist the police in discharging their duties. “The new recruits are expected to help the regular police personnel in traffic management, crowd control during programmes and assisting the local police station according to needs,” said Aggarwal. The civic police personnel who will be deployed both in urban and rural areas across the district will not be given training arms and would not have the power to arrest people. The salaries of the civic police personnel have been fixed at Rs 4,260 a month. In the GTA agreement signed in 2011 it had been mentioned that “Gorkha youths” should be absorbed into the police, army and paramilitary forces. So far, there has been no confirmation whether the civic police recruitment has been planned keeping in mind the GTA agreement. Two months ago, the Darjeeling police had recruited 125 village police personnel in the hills. Each village police personnel is posted in a gram panchayat and expected to provide information to the nearest police station about the law and order situation of the area. The village police personnel get a salary of Rs 9,300 a month. The state government has also started recruiting sub-inspectors across Bengal. “A total of 400 sub-inspectors will be recruited by the state government but the vacancies are for the entire state. Forms for the post can be collected from the police lines at Dali and Phansidewa and the last date for submission is April 16,” said Aggarwal. The civic and village police personnel are likely to curtail the influence of the Gorkhaland Personnel, a lathi-wielding voluntary force that was raised by the Morcha in 2008. The GLP cadres often take up policing roles like stopping cars carrying illicit liquor and smuggled goods but they are no longer seen on the streets of Darjeeling. Although, the exact number of GLP personnel is not known, it is estimated that the Morcha had recruited between 2,000 and 3,000 youths for traffic and crowd management during party programmes. The hill party has not reacted on the state’s initiative to recruit civic police personnel. “We would not react on this issue immediately,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha.

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Morcha Ranchi trip, eye on Barla

March 19: A Gorkha Janmukti Morcha team, probably led by chief Bimal Gurung and accompanied by tribal leader John Barla, would meet Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leaders in Ranchi on March 24 for decisive talks on their panchayat poll alliance. “Some of our central leaders will visit Ranchi on March 24 to hold talks with JMM leaders on the alliance for the ensuing rural polls. Most likely, our president Bimal Gurung will lead the delegation,” said Binay Tamang, the Morcha assistant secretary. “We are having a series of meetings with John Barla and are completely sure that there will be an alliance only between our party and the JMM. As of now, we are not going to comment on any other angle or other political equation.” Tamang’s assertion of an alliance “only between our party and the JMM” has raised doubts about the prospects of the Barla-headed Dooars JMM unit’s tie-up talks with Trinamul. According to Morcha insiders, the party leadership’s decision to go to Ranchi is because of Barla’s recent hobnobbing with Trinamul. Barla, who held a meeting with Trinamul senior leader Mukul Roy last week, had said the JMM would field candidates in alliance with the Morcha in tea gardens but his party would support Trinamul in non-tea garden seats. There has been no formal alliance yet. Trinamul has said it has no problem with this arrangement, but the Morcha has reservations. “The Morcha has its own reservations, considering the present state of relations between the two parties (Trinamul and the Morcha). This is why the Morcha wants the central leaders of the JMM to speak clearly on the issue,” a Morcha source said. In Ranchi, a JMM leader clarified that whatever Barla had said about the prospect of a tie-up with Trinamul was in his “personal capacity”. “Barla has said this in his individual capacity. We have heard Trinamul Congress leader Mukul Roy has made a similar statement. Any decision will be taken only by our party chief (Shibu Soren). It will be discussed during the meeting. Both JMM and the GJM share a similar ideological plank. The JMM has extended political support to the GJM demand for a separate state,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said. JMM insiders said owing to the anti-Gorkhaland stand of Trinamul, it would be difficult for the JMM to join hands with Bengal’s ruling party. Trinamul needs Barla in the Dooars because it hardly has a base there. Barla is the best bet to get tribal votes for Trinamul, which wants to make inroads into the Dooars and Terai before the Morcha becomes stronger there. But the Morcha, too, needs Barla. The Dooars and Terai are part of the Morcha’s larger Gorkhaland map. Also, there is an increasing feeling in the tea belt in the Dooars that the Morcha, after the formation of the GTA, has forgotten its foot soldiers there. In the last two months, several hundred Morcha workers and leaders have quit the hill party and joined the Congress or Trinamul. This may have unsettled Gurung, who yesterday said he would stay in the Dooars and campaign door-to-door for the panchayat polls. That Barla does not want to quit Trinamul’s side just yet became clear when he was asked about his Ranchi trip today. “In the tea gardens, if tribals and Gorkhas contest with joined hands, it would serve our purpose. However, the development work and initiatives taken up by Mamata Banerjee cannot be undermined. Both the state government and Trinamul are focusing on the Dooars and in case we go ahead and forge an alliance with Trinamul, it would benefit all of us in terms of seats,” Barla said. “If Barla ties up with Trinamul, it would benefit Mamata Banerjee and be a loss for Bimal Gurung. Moreover, if Morcha fails to win a substantial number of seats, it cannot use the panchayat mechanism to meet some of the basic demands of Morcha supporters in the foothills. There is discontent among the people there that can be pacified through development work,” a source said. Trinamul refrained from making comments on the matter. “We would not comment on it,” a Trinamul leader in Jalpaiguri said.(TT)

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Govt letter reaches Morcha

Darjeeling, March 19: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha said it had today received the letter sent by Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra, addressed to GTA chief executive Bimal Gurung seeking the hill council’s co-operation. The Morcha leadership said the letter was a “positive” development. Morcha leader Roshan Giri said: “The letter is definitely a positive one even though we got it late. Since the letter is addressed to our party president, Bimal Gurung, I have sent it to him. He is in Kalimpong today and he is likely to take a call on our response.” He said: “The letter was sent from the district magistrate’s office at 5.45pm today. The envelope was addressed to me but the letter is addressed to our leader Bimal Gurung. It is surprising that the letter, which had been written on February 27 was delivered to us only today from the district magistrate’s office.” Saumitra Mohan, the district magistrate, admitted his office had sent the letter today. “After reading a report that was published in The Telegraph today, I informed my higher-ups about the story. Under the instruction of the higher officials (in Calcutta), I immediately dispatched the letter,” Mohan said. (TT)

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