Morcha ire over delay in pardon - 382 cases await withdrawal

Darjeeling, Feb. 27: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is peeved over the state government’s delay in withdrawing 382 cases filed against party activists during the four-year statehood agitation and the issue could become another flashpoint between the hill party and the government. “The cases have to be withdrawn as it was agreed upon by the state government. During a review meeting on the GTA held in Delhi on December 26, state home secretary Basudeb Banerjee had told the (review) committee that 150 cases would be withdrawn within 10 days. The same has also been recorded in the minutes of the meeting, a copy of which is with us,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri. Asked if the Morcha would write to the state government to expedite the withdrawal process, Giri said: “There is no need for us to write as the government should honour the agreement.” The state government by virtue of being one of the signatories to the Memorandum of Agreement for the formation of the GTA had agreed to withdraw the cases it had filled against Morcha workers. Clause 29 of the MoA signed on July 18, 2011, reads: “A review will be done by the State Government of all the cases registered under various laws against persons involved in the GJM agitation. Steps will be taken in the light of the review, not to proceed with prosecution in all cases except those charged with murder. Release of persons in custody will follow the withdrawal of cases.” Administrative sources said none of the 382 cases filed by the state against Morcha supporters have been withdrawn. According to sources, the Darjeeling district police had compiled a list in November 2012 and sent it to the state government for necessary action. “Officials staying in Darjeeling cannot say why the cases have not been withdrawn. It is a decision that has to be taken at Writer’s,” a district official said in Darjeeling. “One cannot set a deadline for these things. It takes time. But we are working on it. The process is on,” said a senior home department official said in Calcutta this evening. “I cannot say by when, but over a hundred cases are likely to be dropped,” he added. Morcha supporters were booked by the government for blocking highways, gheraoing government offices and police stations during the statehood agitation. Gorkhaland Personnel, raised by the Morcha, were charged for controlling crowds and traffic during the hill party’s public meetings. The squad members, who had invited criticism for taking up the role of moral police during the agitation, were booked for wearing uniforms resembling the country’s armed forces and setting up camps on government premises. Morcha supporters were accused of setting houses of workers of rival parties on fire and stopping them from returning to the hills. “There are two categories of cases. The first category has cases filed by the government against the agitators. The second category has cases filed by individuals and Opposition leaders against Morcha activists. The government can only withdraw the cases it has filed but would have no say in the cases filed by individuals,” said a source. Morcha leaders from the plains, especially the Terai and Dooars, have recently complained to the party’s central committee that the police were intimidating its workers citing earlier cases. Shankar Adhikari, president of the Morcha’s Terai and Siliguri subdivisional committee while addressing a gathering at the Gymkhana Club on Monday said: “I received a call from the police station in the plains and the officers indirectly threatened me and other leaders for taking part in Morcha’s activities. They said I was booked in 17 cases during the (four year- statehood) agitation and my involvement with the Morcha would not be in my interest.” District police chief Kunal Aggarwal could not be contacted as he is in Patna to attend the All India Police Science Congress. (TT)

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Sikkim krantikaari morcha west Pandam constituency level meeting

SANJAY AGARWAL –RANGPO-26TH FEBRURI 13 Sikkim krantikaari morcha west Pandam constituency level meeting was held at Rangpo under the president ship of Mr. gopal Dahal central Pandam .the main aims and objective of the meeting was known as the preparation for the forthcoming constituency level party office opening at Rangpo on 10th march and to strengthen the party cadre and activity in the area .Mr. puchung tshring Bhutia (mama Rangpo )vice president ,Mr. sajjan Agarwal trade cell in charge of SKM ,Mr. kewal nirola central Pandam , Mr. prem kiran Pradhan Duga ,gopal baraily Rangpo ,\tshring shrepa Singtam ,suresh tamang Singtam with several other delegates addressing the meeting specially stressed upon to success the programm of opening of new party office at Rangpo on 10th march .the meeting has appealed all the residents of specially west Pandam to attend in this historical programm .the meeting strongly condemning the 11th February incident asked that such type of incident like beating by police and other type of threatening may stop the revolution of changing .if election happens this time too the skm shall win with mass margin from west Pandam constituency .many sdf party members has left the party has joined the Sikkim krantikari morcha.

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Gorkha Janmukti Morcha(GJMM) supporters join Congress

JALPAIGURI: Unhappy with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), at least 30 hardliners of the party from the Dooars in Jalpaiguri joined the Congress on Monday. Most of them from Chamurchi on the Indo-Bhutan border, The Nepali speaking youths blamed the "step-motherly attitude of GJM leaders towards the Dooars" for their reason to switch allegiance. Though it has been more than a year since the formation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the Dooars and Terai region is not a part of it. A large section of Nepalis living in the plains is hence unhappy with the GJM which is being branded a "hills party". Recently, another group of GJM members from the Dooars led by Padam Lama had joined Trinamool Congress for the same reason. "GJM leaders of Darjeeling had promised to include Dooars and Terai into any arrangement they come with the governments. But when the GTA was formed, the plains were deliberately excluded. More than a year has passed since then and the GJM leadership has not said a single word on the inclusion of Dooars. They have misguided us and hence we have decided to keep no ties with them," said Shyam Thapa, who was the vice president of Yuva Morcha's Middle Dooars chapter. From the beginning of GJM's movement in 2008, Nepalis living in the Dooars and Terai had played an active role in it and accepted the formation of GTA, while the tribals have generally opposed the inclusion of the Dooars and Terai in GTA. A clash between the two groups had claimed the life of Akbar Lama of Ethelbari. But the dealy in inclusion of the plains has given rise to a discontentInitially, however, the Nepalis living in the plains had accepted formation of the GTA. The delay in incluision of the Dooars and Terai in GTA has added to the unrest of large section of Nepalis in DooarsTheir confusion has increased after the experts' committee ruled out adding 399 mouzas from the Dooars and Terai to the GTA. Although the matter has gone for a revision, a large section of the Nepali population has started believing that if the GTA starts getting funds properly, their matter would be forgotten. "Now that the GJM leaders are trying to re-launch their statehood movement, they did not speak of Dooars and Terai. In fact they are silent on the issue. Doesn't this indicate that the leaders of the hills are only interested in the three hills subdivisions? Then what's the point in trusting them again" asked Sanu Tamang, another GJM leader who joined Congress. "The GJM leaders should not have gone into any agreement with the state and the Centre excluding the Dooars and Terai. We too have fought for the cause and have faced more trouble since we live in a mixed area. It has been one long year and there has been no discussion on Dooars and Terai since the formation of GTA," said Jiban Tamang. "In the eighties when Ghisingh had launched his movement for Gorkhaland, then too people of Dooars had supported him. But when DGHC was signed, Dooars and Terai were forgotten. We see no difference this time," he added. Jalpaiguri district Congress president Mohon Bose welcomed the Nepali youths and handed party flags to them. GJM chief Bimal Gurung tried to pacify disgruntled workers by saying that he hadn't given up on the Terai and Dooars region, at party meet on Monday.

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Gurung tries to soothe plains - Morcha leadership assures Dooars members of support as more leave party

Feb. 25: Bimal Gurung today assured Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders from the Terai and Dooars that he would always stand by them, the message coming when disgruntled plains cadres have joined Trinamul and the Congress. The Morcha president’s meeting at the Gymkhana Club with around 1,000 supporters from the plains came two days after 27 former Morcha supporters and leaders joined Trinamul in Calcutta. Even as Gurung spoke, around 50 Morcha members in Jalpaiguri joined the Congress today. The common complaint from the Morcha activists in the plains was about the hill party’s perceived indifference on bringing Terai and the Dooars in the GTA area. Addressing the crowd at the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, Gurung said: “I have never believed in the politics of betrayal and my thoughts are always there for the people of the Dooars and Terai. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Sabha is only an interim arrangement and we must continue our fight for Gorkhaland.” Launching a vitriolic attack on those who joined Trinamul recently, Gurung said: “I had never accepted those leaders (who deserted the party recently) from my heart. I was always apprehensive about their real motive. I am convinced now that they are only a bunch of contractors running after contract work.” Today, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri sought to assure the plains cadres that the party had not forgotten them. “We have been demanding the inclusion of the mouzas of the Dooars and Terai in the GTA Sabha and we had raised this issue even at a review meeting on the GTA attended by representatives of the Centre, state and the Morcha in Delhi on December 26.” Giri told the meeting: “It was Mamata Banerjee’s party which did not want the inclusion of mouzas in the GTA but some of the leaders have joined Trinamul. This only proves that these people (who deserted the party) are against Gorkhaland and against their own people.” The Morcha had demanded that 397 mouzas from the Dooars and Terai be brought under the GTA set-up. But the Justice Shyamal Sen committee, which had been formed to look into the Morcha’s demand, recommended the inclusion of only five mouzas in the GTA. The government set up fact-verification committee to look into the Morcha’s grievances. The Morcha has called the meeting to stem the flow of cadres to other parties. Gurung used the occasion to raise the Gorkhaland card again to whip up passions among his members in the plains. “The agitation can take up different forms. We have started an agitation once again and everyone must come forward for Gorkhaland as statehood is a need for all Gorkhas. Even the panchayat elections are a part of an agitation as once our leaders get elected, they can make a strong case before the state government and the Centre for the inclusion of the plains area in the GTA,” said Gurung. “I am always committed to my supporters, whether they stay in the Dooars and Terai or in other parts of the country like Meghalaya and Assam,” he said. Gurung said those who had deserted the Morcha and joined Trinamul had no followers. “Those leaders claim that they have 12 lakh supporters behind them. I, however, believe that each of these leaders do not have more than three supporters.” Shankar Adhikari, a Morcha leader from the Terai, said at the meeting that the state government was using all possible methods to weaken the outfit in the plains. “I even received a call from police officers who indirectly threatened me and other leaders for working for the Morcha. They said that I was already booked in 17 cases during the agitation and my involvement with the Morcha would not be in my interest,” said Adhikari. The plain leaders admitted that the morale of their supporters was low at the moment. “We need to step up political activities in the plains. More public meetings must be held by the party ahead of the panchayat elections,” said Ashok Lama, a Morcha leader from Dooars. Gurung assured the gathering that public meetings would be organised in the Dooars in the coming months and that he along with other central committee members of the Morcha would be present. Today in Jalpaiguri’s Citizens’ Park, around 50 Morcha members joined the Congress. They were led by Shyam Thapa, the vice-president of the central Dooars committee of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha. “Since 2008, thousands of Morcha workers and supporters have been spearheading the Gorkhaland movement in the Dooars. Three of our supporters died in the police firing at Sibchu in 2011. Also, Akbar Lama, another supporter, died during the movement. We had fought for our rights and demands,” Thapa said. “But our leaders in the hills are keeping mum over the inclusion of plains mouzas in the GTA. They have not taken up our issues and seem to be satisfied with the GTA. For the past few months, they have been ignoring us, which has prompted us to join the Congress,” he said after receiving a Congress flag from Jalpaiguri district Congress president Mohan Bose. He said while functioning as Congress workers, they would forego the demand for Gorkhaland and instead, strive to meet the basic demands of the Gorkha population. “As of now, our primary task is to work and achieve basic demands of the Gorkha population in the Dooars. The Morcha has done nothing to get any of our demands fulfilled. We now believe only the Congress can meet the demands,” Thapa added. Many of those who joined the Congress said there would be further exodus from the Morcha in the coming days. “Resentment is brewing among Morcha supporters in the Dooars and Terai and they have found that the central (hill) leaders have utilised them during the movement. These leaders are now sitting in Darjeeling and not taking any steps to achieve our demands. Given the present state of affairs, more leaders and workers will leave the Morcha in the coming days,” said a Morcha worker who joined the Congress. Mohan Bose said those who had joined the Congress today were with his party earlier. “They had left the Congress and joined the Morcha on an impulse. Now that they have realised their mistakes, they have returned to the Congress. Such return of former workers will continue in the Dooars in the coming days,” said Bose. (TT)

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