Morcha threatens to boycott hill panel Gurung cry for mouzas and early GTA

RAJEEV RAVIDAS Bimal Gurung (right) with Roshan Giri (left) at the programme in Sibchu on Wednesday. Picture by Biplab Basak Sibchu, Feb. 8: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today threatened to withdraw all its four members from the territory committee if the Gorkha-dominated mouzas that it has demanded were not brought under the new hill administrative set-up. Morcha president Bimal Gurung also expressed displeasure at the delay in the implementation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. One of the stumbling blocks to the early implementation of the GTA is that the territory panel is yet to submit its recommendations to the government. The Morcha chief was speaking at a programme here to mark the first anniversary of the police firing that killed three party supporters at Sibchu. “Our members will walk out from the HPC (high-powered committee) if it fails to include the mouzas demanded by us,” Gurung said. In his address earlier, Morcha secretary Roshan Giri said the committee would meet in Calcutta on February 24 to hear the opinion of all political parties in the Dooars and Terai in the set-up. “The additional areas (to be included in the GTA) will be decided on the basis of contiguity, continuity and homogeneity. There shouldn’t be any difficulty in including the areas from the Dooars and Terai,” he said. Apart from the 199 mouzas in the Terai and 196 from the Dooars, the Morcha has demanded the inclusion of three mouzas from the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district in the GTA. Gurung’s walkout threat is being seen as a tactics to put pressure on the committee to submit its report earliest given that the Morcha has set a deadline of March 27 for the state government to implement the GTA agreement. The party has threatened to re-launch the Gorkhaland agitation, if the deadline is not met. The Morcha has four members in the HPC which is headed by Justice Shyamal Sen. Other members are the district magistrates of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, a representative of the state home department, the director of census (representing the Centre) and the administrator of the DGHC. The government had on January 27 extended the term of the 10-member HPC formed in July last year by six months, a few days after the Morcha set the March 27 deadline. The Morcha president wondered why the HPC was not being able to submit its report till today. “The delay in the formation of the GTA is providing an opportunity to the (opposition) leaders in the hills to chirp,” he said. Morcha rivals have revved up their campaigns in recent times, clamouring for statehood and Sixth Schedule status. In Calcutta, Justice Sen said he did not know what the Morcha was saying. He said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri had met him recently and had accepted the government proposals. “He told me that a Morcha delegation would meet me in Calcutta on February 24. We have had cordial talks and had placed several proposals before them. They have agreed to them and it has been recorded. I don’t know what they are saying. They have not said they will not meet me on February 24,” Justice Sen told The Telegraph. In Sibchu, on the fringes of the Dooars , Gurung came down heavily on Chhatrey Subba, accusing the 71-year-old rebel Gorkha leader of trying to breach peace in the hills. He, however, clarified that when he talked about training camps and Maoists in his speech, the charges were not against all constituents of the Gorkhaland Task Force. The GTF is an anti-Morcha consortium of five outfits — the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, CPRM, ABGL, Gorkha Rajya Nirman Morcha and the GNLF (C). The GTF members had yesterday said Gurung would have to either retract his statements delivered on Monday or prove their involvement in conducting such camps. “I mentioned the Task Force because Chhatrey (Subba) is part of it,” Gurung said. The Morcha chief had said the forests of Kalimpong were harbouring 15-20 Maoists. “No one should engineer violence. Remember, we too have GLP. We will pounce on any one (indulging in violence) and hand him over to the government,” he said. The GLP is a squad of lathi-wielding volunteers raised by the Morcha, apparently to control crowds at its meetings. The Morcha president dared Subba to share his vision of Gorkhaland with the people. “I will assemble one lakh people in Kalimpong or anywhere to hear him,” he added.(Telegraph)

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Dispatch halt looms on hill govt gardens

VIVEK CHHETRI

The Rangmuk-Cedar tea garden. File picture Darjeeling, Feb. 8: The trade union of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has threatened to launch a fast and stop the dispatch of made tea from three state-owned estates in the Darjeeling hills if the workers are not paid the same wages as their counterparts in the industry. The West Bengal Tea Development Corporation (WBTDC), a state government undertaking, runs Pandam, Rangaroon and Rangmuk-Cedar gardens in the hills. The government had played a pro-active role in increasing the wage of garden workers from Rs 67 to Rs 90 in the Darjeeling tea industry with effect from April 1 last year. “It is surprising that the WBTDC failed to increase the workers’ wages even a year after the government brokered deals between trade unions and garden owners on pay hike. We have been holding gate meetings for an hour from 8am in the three gardens since yesterday. The meetings will continue till February 11,” Babin Subba, a central committee member of the Darjeeling Terai-Dooars Plantation Labour Union, told The Telegraph. Threatening to intensify the agitation, Subba said: “If we do not get a positive feedback from the government, the workers will start a hunger strike and stop the dispatch of made tea from the three gardens.” The unions had entered into the wage deals with the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) and the Indian Tea Association separately (ITA). Most of the tea gardens in the hills are affiliated to either of the associations. Although the government plantations are not members of the DTA or the ITA, they generally follow the agreements inked by the two associations. While Rangmuk-Cedar, located 35km from Darjeeling and in Kurseong subdivision, has 1,931 workers on its pay roll, Rangaroon and Pandam employ 219 and 268 labourers respectively. Both Rangaroon and Pandam are in the Darjeeling subdivision. Industries minister Partha Chatterjee expressed surprise at the Morcha’s plan to stop the dispatch of tea from the WBTDC gardens. “Who said we are not giving them the revised wages? We are giving them the revised wages. I have conveyed this to Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma. This kind of threat is not acceptable,” he said at Writers’ Buildings. However, deputy manager (administration) N. Basu and company secretary S. Samandhar of the WBTDC admitted that the revised wages were not being paid. But they refused to say anything further on the issue.(Telegraph)

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Hong Kong date for Sikkim band - GnC to stage second foreign rock show

BIJOY GURUNG

Girish performs at an event; (above) the members of the rock band, Girish N the Chronicles. File pictures Gangtok, Feb. 8: The Girish N the Chronicles (GnC) has been invited to play in Hong Kong, the second chance for the Gangtok band to perform outside India. The band will perform on February 12 at the annual rock festival, Alive-III, Clash of Titans, in which musical troupes from other Asian countries like South Korea and Japan are slated to take part. “Your band has already gained the reputation as one of the finest from India and also looking at the fan following you have in Hong Kong, it would really be great to have you as a part of this event,” reads the invitation to the GnC from Extreme Entertainment HK, the organiser of the event. A press release issued by the GnC said the Hong Kong performance would be the second by the band outside India. It had played at the Suncane Skale music festival in Montenegro in Europe in 2010 and came second in the contest. Bands from 26 nations had participated in the concert. GnC front man and vocalist Girish Pradhan, 25, has played in South Korea also during the Yamaha Asian Beat final in November last year. The other GnC members are 24-year-old Nagen Mongranti (drums), lead guitarist Suraj Karki, 23, and Yogesh Pradhan (guitars, bass and sound engineering). The band was the brainchild of Girish and his younger brother Yogesh, 23. Girish has already been in Hong Kong since November to perform at bars after being signed by a private management company there. The other band members joined him on February 6 for the coming festival where they will play covers and original compositions. “It is a matter of great achievement for the band to get to play in a foreign country and leave a mark with music and talent. This way, the band is also serving as Sikkim’s as well as India’s musical ambassador. All aspiring musicians can learn from the GnC that if they work hard and chase their dreams, they can make a good career,” said Shyam Pradhan, the media manager of the GnC. Pradhan said after participating in the rock fest, the GNC would deliver guest performances at three-four select venues in Hong Kong till February 14. “The shows will be attended by event management companies and pub owners and if they are satisfied with the performance, the band may be asked to stay in Hong Kong to play at more events,” he said. According to the media manager, Girish wants to send a message to the youth that music should be taken as a career and not merely as a form of entertainment. “Sikkim is producing professional footballers and the state can also display its talents in music. Girish will encourage talented musicians in Sikkim to come to Hong Kong if the GnC is able to set up a base there,” said Pradhan.(Telegraph)

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कालेबुङको लोकल न्युज च्यानलमाथि राजनैतिक बज्रपात

आज देखि कालेबुङको लोकल न्युज बन्द भएको छ। स्थानिय क्याबल संग संग्लग्न रहेर कालेबुङका जनसाधारणलाई दैनिक रुपमा समाचारयुक्त खुराक प्रदान गर्दै आइरहेको यहाँको लोकल न्युज च्यानलमाथि राजनैतिक बज्रपात भए पछि अब उसो कालेबुङमा कुनै पनि लोकल समाचारहरु स्थनिय क्याबल मार्फत प्रसारण नहुने भएको छ।यहाँका क्याबल मालिकलाई मोर्चा प्रमुखले दम्कि दिए पछि अबउसो क्याबलमा कुनै प्रकारको न्युज आइटम प्रसारण नगरिने क्याबल मालिकले आज मिडिया कर्मीहरुलाई जनाए। स्वस्थय समाज निमार्णको दिशामा जुटेका यहाँका मिडिया कर्मीहरुमाथि यस घडी ठूलो सङ्कट आइपरेको छ।आधुनिक तकनीकि क्रान्ति संग जुझ्दै समाज सुधारको सङ्घर्षमा उत्रेको कालेबुङका मिडियाहरुमाथि एउटा शक्तिशालि राजनैतिक दलले दवाव दिनु कहाँ सम्मको गणातान्त्रिक अनि गान्धीवादी निति हो ? जन सरोकारमा ध्यान नदिने यो राजनैतिक दलले आज कसरी कालेबुङको मिडियाले आफ्नो कार्यक्रम बिगार्यो भन्दै पत्रकारिता जस्तो स्वतन्त्र विधामा हस्तक्षेप गर्ने काम गर्दै छ? कालेबुङका पत्रकारहरुलाई दम्काउनु,मिडिया हाउसमाथि मुद्धा हालने दम्कि दिनु , यो सरासर पहाडमा तानाशाही फैलाउने कार्य भएको छ। 20 वर्षे कालो नीतिको पतन गर्दै पहाडको जनतालाई पुन स्वतन्त्रताको स्वास फेर्नु दिएको बताउने मोर्चा अध्यक्ष बिमल गुरुङले कालेबुङको मिडिया हाउस बन्द गरेर के देखाउन चाहेका हुन? मोर्चा प्रमुख गुरुङ कहाँ सम्मको साचो नेता हुन ? यो जनताले चिन्नु पर्ने समय आइपरेको छ।

प्रतिस्प्रर्दाको युगमा थुप्रै संघर्षहरुको सामना गर्दै निष्पक्ष पत्रकारिताको भूमिका निर्वाह गर्दै आइरहेका यहाँका पत्रकारहरुले अबउसो खुलेर लेख्न नपाउने भए। पहाडमा पत्रकारिताको व्यवस्था अनि पत्रकारहरुको अवस्था कस्तो छ? यी बिषयमाथि यहाँका समाज सचेत नागरिक अनि बुद्धीजिवीहरुले अध्ययन गर्नु पर्ने समय आइपरेको छ। इलेक्ट्रोनिक मिडियाको क्षेत्रमा उर्भर स्थान मानिने कालेबुङमा अब मिडिया कर्मीहरु स्वयम जोगेर हिडनु पर्ने अवस्था उत्पन्न भएको छ्। सम्पूर्ण कालेबुङका पत्रकारहरुले हाल असुरक्षित महसुश गरिरहेका छन।

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