ribes seek council for growth - Totos: GTA won’t solve development problems

Totopara (Jalpaiguri), Nov. 21: The Totos have teamed up with four other tribes in the Dooars to seek a council to look after the development demands of the communities.

The tribes said the council had been sought, as they would continue to be neglected even if their areas of dominance came under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

The initiative to raise the demand was taken by the Totos and they were joined by Bodo, Mechh, Garo and Rabha tribes. While the Totos, notified as a primitive tribe by the Union government, number just over 1,400, the combined population of the other communities comes to around two lakh.

“For the past 35 years, we have remained neglected under the Left Front regime. Our land has been taken away; although our youths are educated, they are deprived of jobs. We are all reduced to labourers in the dolomite mines and the orange orchards in Bhutan,” Bakul Toto, the secretary of the Toto Kalyan Samiti, said today.

“The Mamata Banerjee government is announcing development programmes for the Darjeeling hills and Jungle Mahal. We also demand similar plans,” he said.

The Kalyan Samiti is the sole decision-making body of the primitive tribe.

Being a small community, the Totos said, they were not interested in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. “We have no other option but to demand a separate development council that will include other tribes which dominate the area around Totopara,” said Ashok Toto, a Samiti member.

Totopara is 115km from Jalpaiguri.

Asked about the composition of the council, Ashok said it would be run by the government and consist of elected representatives of all the five tribes. He added that the council would have neither constitutional powers nor territorial jurisdiction.

He pointed out that according to records drawn up in the early sixties, the Totos had 1,996 acres of land. “But till now, the state government has only registered 333 acres in our names. The rest of the land is being occupied illegally by other people and as a farming community, we are suffering,” Ashok said.

The president of the samiti, Dhaniram Toto, said their demands would be communicated in writing to Mamata Banerjee and north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb.

Dilip Thakur, the president of the West Bengal Bodo People’s Forum, which also includes the Rabha, Mechh and Garo tribes, said they totally backed the Totos’s demand. “We support the call for a particular development council , not on territorial lines but as a community-oriented development cell. There is no other way to ensure our development,” Thakur said.

Minister Deb said the demand was unjustified and made it clear that the government would not form any such council. “We are fully aware of the problems being faced by the tribes like the Totos. I will soon visit Totopara and the surrounding areas to know the living conditions of the people there. I can assure them that their problems will be solved in phases and we will ensure development there.”

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Lady death abroad reveals home truth - Fake passport holds up body in Saudi

VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Nov. 21: The death of a young Panthabari woman in Saudi Arabia has brought to fore the existence of a racket that sends people from the Darjeeling hills to Arab countries on fake Nepali passports.

Anu Darzi, a mother of three in her late twenties, had died in the oil-rich Kingdom eight months ago. But her body couldn’t be brought home as she had gone to Saudi Arabia on a fake Nepali passport.

In Saudi Arabia, Darzi was known by the name Ratna Kumari Chand, a resident of Dailekh in Nepal. “She was sent to Saudi Arabia on a Nepal passport. The photograph on the passport was hers, but the name and the address were those of Ratna Kumari Chand. There is a spurt in the use of fake passports by agents who send people abroad,” said Rangu Shouria, the chairperson of the Siliguri-based Kanchenjungha Uddhar Kendra.

Shouria was speaking at a seminar on human trafficking here on Friday. The conference was organised by Mankind in Action for Rural Growth (MARG) and the Goa-based Anyay Rahit Zindagi.

“Darzi was from Panthabari near Mirik. Her husband Bijay Mazumdar, who breaks stone on the riverbed in the Tarabari-Panthabari belt, was told in March this year by an unknown person that his wife had died in Saudi Arabia. However, we have not been able to get her body till date. We got to hear that she had probably been murdered on the night of February 28,” said Milan Chhetri with the Kendra.

The Siliguri-based organisation has not been able to help much as officially Darzi was not an Indian citizen in the eyes of the Saudi officials.

“We even went to Nepal and with the help of an NGO, Maiti Nepal, met government officials there. The problem lies in the fact that one Ratna Kumari Chand is alive in Dailekh. Her husband Bhim Bahadur Chand is also alive. Darzi’s husband had been mentioned as Bhim Bahadur Chand in the passport. For obvious reasons, the Saudi authorities wouldn’t send the body to India,” said Chhetri.

Darzi’s family in India hasn’t been able to do much. “The husband has lodged an FIR with Darjeeling police but Darzi’s agent Vikram Rai, who stays at Panitanki (a border town along the Indo-Nepal border near Kakarivitta ) is untraceable,” said Chhetri.

The Kanchenjungha Uddhar Kendra simply hopes that Darzi’s body will be handed over to her family members.

The incident has highlighted how the use of fake Nepalese passport is rampant. “Actually, a group of around 12 people had gone abroad using fake passports. One of them managed to come back seven days ago but the rest are still untraceable,” said Shouria.

People in the hills are assured of a passport and visa free of cost by the agents. The people who dream of a decent living in the Arab countries are also given anything between Rs10,000 and Rs 20,000 before they fly abroad from Nepal.

“The victims are told that the amount would be deducted from their salaries once they get jobs abroad. They do not get any help if they land in trouble, as the passports are bogus. People must stop thinking that just because someone managed to go and return home using such passports, everything is fine,” said Shouria.

Nirnay John Chhetri of MARG said a lot of people from the hills were being trafficked. “Since there is only one rehabilitation home for the three districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar in Cooch Behar, we are facing a lot of problems in arranging accommodation for the rescued people.”

The case was handed over to the CID on August 25, an officer of the Mirik police station said. Ratnakumari Chand was the name mentioned in the FIR. Darjeeling police superintendent, Anant Kumar, said the police had come across such cases. “We have sent a report to the CID on fake passport rackets and also on this particular case. We are keeping a watch on the situation,” Kumar said.

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Recently crowned Sikkimese sensation North-East Superstar Singer Remanti Rai is inducted in Suresh K. Lama “SAMMAN”

Gangtok: Recently crowned Sikkimese sensation North-East Superstar Singer Remanti Rai is inducted in Suresh K. Lama “SAMMAN” (A honor to Nepali Singing Superstars from Nepalese Speaking communities of the world) music album along with Indian Idol 3 Prashant Tamang, Indian Idol 4 Runners up Kapil Thapa, Zee SaareGA maa Singing Superstar Karma Sherpa, Star Chote Ustad Pragriti Giri, South Asian Superstar Asushen Lama of Nepal, Himalayan Idol Banika Pradhan and introduced singer from Sikkim Ganga Mukhia.

Lyrics for Remanti Rai will be penned down by Technical Advisor and a Lyricist of this Music Album Mahendra Gurung supported by Ruben Shahi who is the Music Director of this album. All the songs is being recorded at DB Studio, Deorali-Gangtok.

Remanti Rai who had recently adjusted the winner of North East Superstar contest among the top singers of 8 North Eastern states of India told to the correspondent that “she is very much happy and proud to be a team of prestigious “SAMMAN” album in which she will featuring with internationally acclaimed singers among Nepali Speaking peoples and it’s a really a great honor to me given by producer himself”.

“SAMMAN” Music Album is in completing stage and after the voice over from North East Superstar Remanti Rai it will be released anytime. Producer Suresh K. Lama speaks out “I am very much happy when I had seen Remanti Rai performing at Guwahati in North East Superstar final, her song had really mesmerized judges and the audiences, she is now our superstar singer in much awaited prestigious music album and I will try my best to promote her around the globe” he further added that “she deserves the honor as well as title and our best wishes will always there for her future success in the field of music. “SAMMAN” album is postponed for release because of sad demise of Producer mother and recent Earthquakes damages which caused havoc in the state which is yet to be materialize.

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New states’ movement gets fresh impetus

UP chief minister Mayawati’s proposal to split UP into four states has given the much-needed impetus to the National Federation of New States (NFNS) which now plans to move ahead on the slogan “News states for New India”.

“Ms Mayawati’s approval for creation of Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, Paschim Pradesh and Avadh Pradesh has lent weight to our demand for small states. If Ms Mayawati decides to lend her support to Telangana and Vidharbha, she can gain acceptability n the south also because Vidharbha is Ambedkar’s home state and Telangana has only 10 per upper caste population,” said Mr P. Niroop Reddy, convenor of the NFNS, here on Thursday.
Mr Reddy said that Ms Mayawati’s announcement had certainly given credibility to the movement for new states and was bound to have an impact on the political scenario. The fact that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has supported her proposal was an added advantage.
“Her specific announcement will definitely give momentum to our movement because till now most political parties have been dilly-dallying on the issue,” he said.
The NFNS now plans to gain wider political acceptability to their demand for Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh (or Paschim Pradesh), Telangana, Vidharbha and Gorkhaland by meeting other top politicians and seeking their support.
“We will be meeting in Delhi early next month to draw up our future strategy now that Ms Mayawati has taken a concrete step in the direction of creating small states. Elections are due in most states where we can pressing for creation of new states over the next two years and we hope to use this to our advantage,” said Mr Raja Bundela, who heads the Bundelkhand Congress.
Other leaders who are now preparing to give momentum to their movement include Anil Bhonde (Vidharbha), Sanjayan Tripathi (Purvanchal), Prof. Manish Tamang (Gorkhaland) and Dr R.S. Rana (Brij Pradesh in Uttar Pradesh).

asianage

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