High Court acquits former minister P L Gurung in corruption case

SIKKIM OBSERVER JUNE 25, 2011

High Court acquits former minister P L Gurung in corruption case

By A Staff Reporter

Gangtok, June 24: The Sikkim High Court on Tuesday acquitted former minister PL Gurung of all corruption charged leveled against him by the State Government.

The single bench headed by Justice SP Wangdi in his order said the trial court “has not at all taken into consideration and completely overlooked the evidence of the witnesses” and has “summarily rejected” the claims “on pure presumptions and conjectures of prevailing market rate in the area without there being any cogent and tangible evidence.”

In October 2008, Gurung was sentenced by a local court to one year's imprisonment in a corruption case registered against him 16 years ago.

District and Sessions Judge S W Lepcha passed the order sentencing the former minister and also fined him Rs 5,000, in default of three month's additional imprisonment. The judge had convicted him for having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income amounting to Rs 33 lakh while he was a minister in the Nar Bahadur Bhandari government (1984 and 1994).

Murder accused Nicole Tamang in Nepal, CBI tells HC

Observer News Service

Kolkata, June 24: The CBI on Thursday informed the Calcutta High Court that Nicole Tamang, prime accused in the murder of All India Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang, has fled to Nepal after escaping from CID custody and steps were being taken for a red-corner notice against him.

 CBI counsel Himangshu Dey submitted a report before a division bench comprising Chief Justice JN Patel and Justice Asim Kumar Roy stating that it had credible information that Tamang had fled to Nepal.

He said that at 7 a.m. on March 11, Tamang was seen crossing the Indo-Nepal border.

Interception of the mobile phones of Tamang's relatives also indicated that he was in Nepal, Dey submitted.

According to the report, Nickole had entered Nepal on March 15 this year with two of his aides. After his escape, the Morcha leader had stayed in several places in south India, including Kochi and Coimbatore.

In its report submitted to the court, the CBI said Nickole was in Nepal’s Pashupatinagar, just across the border from Darjeeling.

The CBI counsel said that steps were being taken to issue a red corner notice against him and Interpol has already been informed.

The court asked Dey to produce Nickole in court within four weeks. The matter would be taken up for hearing again on July 21, when the CBI would have to file another progress report.

Madan Tamang was murdered in broad daylight on May 21 2010 at Chowrasta in Darjeeling town where he was to address a public meeting.

Nicole, a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha central committee member, absconded after the murder and was arrested by the CID on August 15 from a hideout at Bijonbari in Darjeeling.

He disappeared from CID custody in Pintail village near Siliguri on August 21.

While the CID had claimed that Nicole had fled from its custody, his wife Pema Tamang filed a petition in the High Court alleging foul play by the state investigating agency and prayed for a CBI probe.

Pema had filed a habeous corpus petition in the HC asking the police to produce her husband before the court.

Editorial

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

Congress Stands Exposed

Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are not the issue in the fight against corruption in India. Their character and credibility may not be up to the expectations of some people, particularly politicians of the ruling elite in India. Criticism and condemnation of their  style of functioning and mode of operation in leading a nationwide crusade against corruption may also not  be justifiable to some extent. Some people may also doubt their motive for their anti-corruption campaign due to their alleged links with political parties and the Sangh Parivar. But the fact is that India needs a real shake up in dealing with rampant corruption. Even our judges, generals and journalists are hand-in-glove with the establishment in looting public money. And they are all doing it out in the open. The politicians are not taking the lead on his vital issue even though we have perhaps the most clean and honest Prime Minister since independence. And when civil society, fed up of the growing nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, has an opportunity to protest against rampant corruption in public life it is the ruling Congress leaders who have become obstacles in the path of transparency, accountability and good governance, which they so often profess to champion.

It is not just the Commonwealth Games corruption scandal and the 2G scam that have shaken the foundations of Indian democracy; the reluctance and opposition to the clean-up process initiated by men such as Anna Hazare and Baba  Ramdev by India’s ruling elite has dampened the nation’s march towards ‘Shining India’. The UPA government and the Congress party’s reaction that the campaign against corruption is politically-motivated has not convinced those who are fed up with the way things are. Their accusation that “unelected tyrants” have threatened “parliamentary democracy” are just lame excuses to stay in power and continue looting the people. The real threat to parliamentary democracy and secularism in India comes from those who feel that once elected it is their birthright to trample over the rights and dignity of the common man. The Supreme Court this week has rightly stated in the 2G scam case involving DMK MP Kanimozhi that “corruption” is “the worst form of human rights violation.”

The irony is when Ramdev has demanded that black money amounting to rupees four lakh crore stashed away by the corrupt in Swiss banks be brought back to India it is Congress leaders and UPA stalwarts who want to investigate into Ramdev’s alleged Rs 1100 crore ‘empire.’ Go ahead and probe Ramdev’s ‘illegal assets’. Send him to jail if necessary but for goodness sake don’t make a fool of yourself by making lame excuses. Fact is that Baba Ramdev has given a call to all, including political parties, to join the crusade against corruption. The BJP and others parties have joined the anti-corruption campaign. Why is the Congress party behaving in a peculiar manner?

BJP takes Sikkim hydel projects scam to PAC

‘Dubious companies’ forced to disclose details

Observer News Service

Gangtok, June 24: The Sikkim Power Development Corporation Ltd (SPDCL) has reportedly asked all the 27 private hydro power project developers in the State to furnish all relevant details about their companies.

This move follows directions from Ministry of Power and Public Account Committee (PAC) Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi to the Corporation.

BJP National Secretary Kirit Somaiya had earlier sent a report to the PAC alleging serious lapses by the State Government in the development of hydroelectric power projects in the State.

The allegations range from projects being allotted to dubious companies and shady deals. The BJP wants CBI probe into the State’s power projects to uncover corrupt practices running into thousands of crore of rupees.

The companies will now be forced to disclose details such as company profiles, memorandum of association, balance sheet and details of shareholders.

Earlier, the Sikkim BJP President, Padam Bahadur Chettri, alleged that the SDF government has not disclosed details of the “up-front” money received from the many power project developers. He alleged that this amount which should go to the state exchequer has been deposited into ‘personal accounts’ in foreign banks.

After holding a day-long anti-corruption dharna here last month the State unit of the BJP is currently on a 6-month-long padyatra in the State to expose the Chamling Government’s alleged misrule and rampant corruption in the administration.

During the party’s poll campaign in Assam, BJP President Nitin Gadkari said corruption to the tune of Rs 63,000 crore had hit Northeast states, including Sikkim, in development projects, including hydel projects.

Somaiya, who is part of the three-member team constituted by the party to probe into the charges, said, “All the seven states of the Northeast and Sikkim have been witnessing systematic looting of the state exchequer by politicians in power and officials.”

“The BJP will not remain a mute spectator to this loot raj and if required, we will approach the apex court to bring the culprits to book,” he added.

Referring to the State Government’s dealing with hydel projects in the State, the annual CAG report released here recently said the State Government awarded project works to private parties at “throwaway charges”, leading to neglect of “environmental issues”, loss of huge revenue and lack of development in the local area concerned.

“The State Government commenced award of hydro power projects to Independent Power Producers (IPP) without working out any effective modality and finalizing any plan or policy,” the CAG report said.

OBITUARY Tenzing Dahdul

A True Son of Sikkim

Jigme N. Kazi

The ’70s was a historic period in Sikkim’s long and checkered political history. The political turmoil in the former kingdom, which began in early 1973, led to the signing of the historic Tripartite Agreement on May 8, 1973 between the Chogyal of Sikkim, Government of India and leaders of three major political parties in Sikkim.

Led by former Chief Minister Kazi Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa of Sikkim Congress, the Indian-backed April 1973 agitation culminated in abolition of the monarchy, leading to Sikkim’s merger with its protecting power, India, in April 1975.

Inspired by the 12^th Chogyal of Sikkim , Palden Thondup Namgyal, nationalist forces in Sikkim led by Nar Bahadur Bhandari not only opposed the ‘merger’ but fought against the Kazi Government’s devious tactics to deceive the people in what later came to be known as “the selling of Sikkim.”

But despite New Delhi’s tacit backing of anti-Sikkim and pro-India elements in the former kingdom led by Kazi and Co., the Bhandari-led Sikkim Parishad struggled to expose the many misdeeds of the fake democrats who led a phony revolution that promised freedom and democracy to the Sikkimese people. As time passed by the Sikkimese people came to the bitter realization of how their beloved country was mischievously and deviously gifted away by those who promised janta raj and greater political rights to the majority Nepali community.

The period 1973-79 was a sad and painful era in Sikkim’s recent political history. While the Chogyal was under house arrest, Sikkimese nationalists, who opposed the merger and wanted Sikkim to retain its distinct international entity while being close to India, were victimized, harassed and hounded. Many of them had to flee their homes to spend weeks in their jungle hideouts while leaders such as Bhandari, AK Subba and ‘Capt’ Sonam Yongda were jailed for their pro-Sikkim stand.

One such leader who stood firm and resolute in this hour of crisis was Tenzing Dahdul, who is often referred to as ‘Tholung Agya Maila’. The second son of Tholung Pipon (Pipon is the village headman), who was a prominent leader of the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals, Agya Maila breathed his last in the night of Saga Dawa, the thrice-blessed day for Buddhists, on June 15 last week.

He leaves behind his wife, three sons and a daughter.

While his father died in 1980 his mother passed away only very recently and among the survivors of the Tholung family are his three brothers and five sisters. Though the main Tholung families now reside in Mangan, headquarters of north district, they belong to Tholung, a remote area north of the Lepcha-inhabited region of Dzongu. Close to Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, the abode of Sikkim’s Guardian Deity Khangchendzongpa, the Tholung family has traditionally been given the rare privilege of being the guardian and keeper of the Tholung Gompa (monastery), where rare and precious holy scriptures and articles belonging to Sikkim’s patron saints, including Lama Lhatsun Namkha Jigme and Jigme Pao, are kept.

Agya Maila was 73 when he passed away. He was unwell for a while due to heart ailments. To those around him he gave enough indications that his time was up.

   Elected to the Sikkim Legislative Assembly on Sikkim Parishad ticket in the historic 1979 Assembly polls from Lachen-Mangshilla constituency from the tribal-dominated north district, Tenzing Dahdul remained firm to his ideals and principles to the very last. He was a simple, straight-forward villager who was not only the pillar of Tholung family but a prominent leader of the Bhutia-Lepchas and  a true Sikkimese.

When the Assembly seat reservation of his community, the Bhutia-Lepchas, was under attack politically and legally in the ’70s and ’80s Tenzing Dahdul came out in the open and defended his community valiantly and successfully.  That the Bhutia-Lepchas continue to have 13 reserved seats, including the lone Sangha seat, in the 32-member Assembly is mainly due to the efforts and sacrifices of people like Tenzing Dahdul, who was not only a petitioner in the seat reservation case in the Supreme Court but actively defended his case in the people’s court and sought to champion Sikkim’s special status within the Union.

And yet this was the same person who refused to accept chairmanship in the Bhandari Government mainly because he felt that due to his lack of formal education he would not be able to do justice to the post. He was perhaps the only Parishad MLA who did not accept any official post in the Bhandari Government (1979-1984).

And yet it was largely due to his help that another of his Parishad colleague, Athup Lepcha of Dzongu (North Sikkim), was able to defeat Kazi from Dzongu Constituency in the 1979 Assembly polls. This historic victory against the man who ‘sold Sikkim’ not only vindicated the Sikkimese people’s struggle to preserve their own distinct political identity but also gave peace and hope to the people who longed for truth and justice to triumph.

After Parishad merged with the Congress party in July 1981 Dahdul remained a loyal and faithful Congressman till the very end. He once told me, “We cannot and must not go against the Congress party because it is Gyagar Jheung (Government of India).”

Today, a portrait of Rajiv Gandhi still hangs in his drawing room at Tholung House in Mangan, a constant reminder where his loyalty lay.  Though he was not an active Congressman or politician when he passed away Agya Maila was a prominent social worker and a face in the crowd in Sikkim, particularly in North Sikkim.

A few months after his death in 1982 the Sikkim Assembly paid rich tributes to “the last representative” of the Namgyal Dynasty: “During the hour of his trial, when his very throne was at stake, Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal stood like a rock and sacrificed petty considerations for the lofty ideal he had espoused…. And his descendents will be able to walk with their heads held high whatever their circumstances in life happen to be.”

In his own way Tenzing Dahdul, too, stood like a rock and sacrificed petty considerations for the lofty ideal he had espoused. His family members, friends, well-wishers and descendents will, therefore, be able to walk with their heads held high whatever their circumstances in life happen to be.

Tenzing Dahdul is now no more but his deeds and dreams will live on in the hearts and minds of generations of Sikkimese yet to be born.

         

CBI to probe into Rs 80,000 Sikkim, Bhutan lottery scam in Kerala

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN June 22, 2011

CBI to probe into Rs 80,000 Sikkim, Bhutan lottery scam in Kerala

Himalayan News Network

Thiruvananthapuram, June 21: Clearing the decks for a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in the operations of other State lotteries in Kerala, the UDF government has issued a notification to transfer 32 related cases to the central investigating agency.

The issuance of the notification last week-end fulfilled a legal and procedural step sought by the Centre for paving the way for CBI probe into the allegations, a demand supported by both UDF and LDF leaders.

CBI probe into alleged corruption and irregularities in running of Bhutan and Sikkim lotteries in Kerala by some lottery tycoons has been a long-pending demand of the State, supported by both the ruling UDF and the opposition LDF.

Former chief minister V S Achuthanandan, who headed the previous LDF Ministry, had twice urged the Centre to order the probe holding that a whopping sum of Rs 80,000 crore had been siphoned off Kerala over the last four years through the operation of other-state lotteries.

However, the demand did not materialise as his government did not fulfill the procedural obligation of notifiying the cases under the relevant Act. After assuming office last month, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy renewed the request for the CBI probe and the State was advised that it should issue a notification.

Bhutanese woman receives ‘Entrepreneur Of The Year’ award

Himalayan News Network

Thimphu, June 21: Deki Wangmo (32) of Buddha Tyres was awarded the Woman of the Year award during Youth Business International’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 competition held on June 14 in London.

Buddha Tyres, a tyre re-treading business, employs eight men and supplies tyres to government, corporations and individuals.

She earns USD 400,000 a year, retains a profit of USD 18,667, employs 10 recovering alcoholics and illiterate Bhutanese at her tyre resole workshop and raises her sister’s two children besides her only month-old child.

Wongmo will catch a fully funded trip to London to receive a cash prize of USD 5,000 from Prince Charles followed by a dinner with him in early November this year, Kuensel reported.

With whatever little saving she had, Wangmo started a small tyre repair shop in Thimphu. But that was not what she wanted to settle for.

Inspired by the people running the tyre re-treading business in India, she too dreamed to start a similar business in the capital.

That was when Loden foundation a UK based non-profit organisation that provides financial support to entreprising youth for self-employment.

Deki Wangmo borrowed Nu 800,000  from Loden Foundation, a UK-based NGO, to start her tyre re-soling unit in Thimphu.

 “Such award is a good source of inspiration for young Bhutanese wanting to become an entrepreneur,” she said. “It will ease the country’s unemployment problems to a large extent,” she told Kuensel.

Loden Foundation’s co-ordinator Dorji Tashi said this was the first ever award any Bhutanese entrepreneur received.

“The feeling is overwhelming to have won the award,” Deki Wangmo said. “But it does not compare to the sense of satisfaction I gain from being able to help a few people earn a living from a business I initiated.”

Nepal’s first post-conflict census begins

RP Sharma

Kathmandu, June 21:  Nepal has deployed 46,500 enumerators, including 8,500 supervisors, across the country for the National Census 2011, which began on Friday.

The first such process after end of the decade long civil war in 2006, the census is expected to provide useful insight into impact of the conflict on the country’s population

The results are expected to provide essential database for major socio-political transformations proposed by the post-conflict transitional government for sustainable peace building.

In the 10-day-long National Census 2011 census, held in every 10 years, the officials will count the number of people living in the country and collect information about them, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

The enumerators will work at 3,900 Village Development Committees and 50 municipalities across the country, it said.

President Ram Baran Yadav and his family members were registered as an ordinary citizen for the first time in a century-long history of national census, according to chief of CBS Population Unit Rudra Suwal.

"The president was the first person to be registered on Friday," Suwal said.

CBS has readied questionnaires in 10 languages, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, Gurung, Newari, Magar, Awadhi, Rai and Limbu for the convenience of respondents.

It has projected an estimated population of 28.5 million — an increase of 5.4 million since the last census in 2001.

EDITORIAL

GRAFT LAWS

Focus On Implementation

   The UPA Government at the Centre may be hesitant to go all-out against combating corruption in public life but it is making steady efforts to clean up the system from within. The government’s proposed electoral reforms meet will not only look into state funding of elections but will check the influence of money power during polls. Efforts are also being made to debar chargesheeted candidates from contesting elections. Corrupt politicians often resort to devious practices of delaying  court proceedings against them on alleged corrupt practices and continue to hang on to power. This not only frustrates the efforts of courts and investigating agencies to nail the culprits but the public at large gradually lose confidence in the rule of law if criminals and corrupt public servants are not punished.

   The Centre is also likely to amend the Indian Penal Code (UPC) to bring private sector and NGOs under the anti-corruption laws. In today’s India these parties, whose role in public life has increased substantially, must also be made accountable to the people. Many NGOs receive huge amount of money from the government and also from abroad for their services. Norms to speed up MPs’ fund release are also part of UPA’s efforts to ensure speedy economic and other projects initiated by local MPs, whose annual funds have now been increased to Rs 5 crore from Rs 2 crore. There are instances where MP funds are kept in banks just to accumulate interest which are shared among interested parties.

   In a democracy laws have to be made for various purposes in the interest of the people. India not only is the world’s largest democracy but also has one of the world’s biggest constitutions. The Prime Minister need not ask all MPs to declare their assets; there is a law on this subject. The tragedy in a developing country such as India is that laws are useless if they are not enforced. If the system of governance fail to abide by the rule of law then the corrupt will go unpunished and the people’s yearning for equality and justice will forever remain just a distant dream.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MAMATA

Tripartite pact to be signed next week in Darjeeling

Himalayan News Network

Kolkata, June 21: The long-awaited tripartite agreement for setting up an interim council in Darjeeling is likely to be signed by the end of this month, according to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

She said the matter will be discussed during her meeting with Central leaders next week in New Delhi. She said the tripartite agreement will be signed between the Centre, West Bengal Government and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai confirmed the Chief Minister’s statement on the interim council. Speaking to a national daily, Pillai said, “The state government is sending the draft agreement to us by Tuesday evening. After all the studies, I hope the agreement is going to be signed in a week’s time.”

Pillai said an additional secretary from the Ministry of Home Affairs will come to Darjeeling to sign the agreement on behalf of the Union Government. The State Government delegation is likely to be headed by Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh.

West Bengal Land Reforms Commissioner R D Meena will decide how many tea gardens out of the 103 demanded by GJM could be given to the interim council. Meena, who is in Darjeeling, is likely to submit the report this week.

Four Trinamool Ministers visit Darjeeling, makes more promises

C. Tamang

Sukhiapokhri, June 21: If planting saplings in the hills is an indication of the Trinamool Government’s focus on Darjeeling then the future seems bright as four ministers of the Mamata Cabinet not only actively participated in forest week function, which included planting of saplings,  here on Monday they also made numerous promises to the hill people.

Judging by the new government’s ability to keep its election promises the hills are poised to regain its past glory.

Four TMC Ministers – Gautam Deb, Hiten Barman, Sunil Chandra Tirkey and Bratya Basu – arrived here on Monday to attend the function.

While Barman is the Forests Minister, Tirkey is the Minister for Consumer Affairs. Basu is the Minister for Higher Education.

Deb, the Minister in charge of the development for north Bengal, is also TMC’s Darjeeling district President.

The closeness between them and the newly-elected MLAs from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong – Trilok Dewan, Harka Bahadur Chhetri and Rohit Sharma respectively – was visible as they all shared the same dais during the function.

Together they made several announcements and promises: reopening of Darjeeling ropeway, more educational institutions, including hills university if finance permits, introduction of hill specific subjects in the region’s curriculum and upgradation of Darjeeling zoo.

More promises on development will be announced when Deb returns to the hills with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee next week.

Darjeeling ropeway to be reopened in October

Himalayan News Network

Darjeeling, June 21: The Darjeeling Rungeet Valley Ropeway at North Point in Singamari is likely to be reopened this October.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to announce the reopening of the ropeway, shut down for seven years, when she visits Darjeeling next month.

"The ropeway in Darjeeling will be opened before the Puja. Our honorable CM will herself announce it next month in Darjeeling," said Hiten Barman, State Forest Minister, during a function at Sukhiapokhori on Monday.

 "The Mackenjee Company a US based consultancy service will provide the report to the PWD who will then give the fitness certificate," said Barman.

The passenger ropeway was operated as a joint venture of the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation and the Conveyor and Ropeway Services Private Ltd. It had been revamped in 1988. It consisted of sixteen cars and plied between the "North Point" in the town of Darjeeling and Singla the banks of the Ramman River at an elevation of 2134 meters, offering beautiful views of the hills and the valleys around Darjeeling.

Educational institutions to be revived in hills

Himalayan News Network

Darjeeling, June 21: Darjeeling was once not only known as “Queen of Hills” but hub of one of Asia’s finest educational institutions. But due to prolonged neglect, agitational politics and economic discrimination things have deteriorated to a point of no return.

However, the Mamata Government, which put an abrupt end to 34 years of Left Front’s rule in the State, has promised to make sweeping changes in the hills.

According to State Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu, most colleges in the hills are in a “pathetic state.” He promises to change this. To begin with more principals, lecturers, teachers will be appointed, Basu said during his visit here earlier this week.

"There is a need for complete overhaul of these colleges," said the Minister, adding, "We need to look at education afresh and approach it differently.”

Several colleges in the Hills - the Kurseong, Bijenbari, Mirik and the Ghoom-Jorebungalow College - had been functioning without permanent principals despite several requests to the previous state government.

Basu said hill people should not only depend on tourism but also on education. He also spoke of the possibility of starting a separate university in the hills: "We have a vision to go beyond the existing colleges and universities in the State. And, Darjeeling is included in this vision. It is important that people benefit from what we sow now even though we may or may not be in power 10 to 15 years on."

Scribes in Assam working under tremendous pressure: media body

P Ghosh

Guwahati, June 21: Journalists in Assam are increasingly feeling more unsafe and insecure even as investigations into 23 murders or suspected murders in the State in the last 24 years have not made any headway.

While Indra Mohan Hakasam of Amar Asom and Dwijen Das of Ajir Batori, were abducted and are presumed murdered, Ankur Borbora, another journalist went missing from Kolkata, the Indian Express reported.

“Journalists in Assam in fact are working under tremendous pressure, including the risk of life. But, while so many journalists have been murdered, not a single case has been solved till today,” said Prakash Mahanta, secretary of the Journalists’ Action Committee (JAC), Assam.

The first of these murders took place in 1987 when Punarmal Agarwal, a correspondent of The Assam Tribune, was killed at Kampur by suspected ULFA militants. The last murder was that of Bimala Prasad Talukdar, editor of a muffosil newspaper called Swatantra Awaz, who was gunned down at Hojai in 2010.

In several cases, suspected killers have been identified. But the investigating agencies have failed to pin them down and take the cases to their conclusion, Mahanta said. He mentioned specifically the murder of Parag Kumar Das, executive editor of Asomiya Pratidin, the highest-circulated Assamese daily, who was shot in broad daylight on May 16, 1996, while coming out of a school after picking up his minor son.

Though the CBI carried out a long probe into the Parag Das murder, it ultimately failed to pin down the culprits, with the district and sessions court in Guwahati in July 2009 acquitting the main accused, the report said.

 “We were suspicious of the CBI’s inability since the very beginning, so we have moved the High Court with a review petition two months later,” said Pallab Das, younger brother of the slain editor.

Arunachal Guv for reopening of Stilwell trade route

Himalayan News Network

Itanagar, June 21: Arunachal Pradesh Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh has urged the North Eastern Council (NEC) to impress upon the Centre for developing the historic Stilwell Road and opening of border trade with South East Asian countries across Pangsau Pass.

“By opening the road, we would definitely be providing a valuable route for a boost to the economy of the Northeastern States and for movement of people, tourists in particular,” Singh said in his address at the 60th Plenary session of the NEC in New Delhi on Thursday, according to PTI.

The 1,079-km Stilwell Road, built during the World War II, links Ledo in Assam with Kunming in China through the Pangsau Pass. The road has been heavily damaged in landslides in many places.

“Once the entire stretch of the road is usable, its formal opening is inevitable and is bound to happen sooner or later. The major items of import from Myanmar side would be valuable timber (teak), precious gems, medicinal plants and other agricultural products,” the Governor said, the report added.

The timber could help revive many of the wood-based industries that had to be shut down in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh following the Supreme Court’s restrictions on timber operations in 1996, he said.

He said the opening of this road can transform the economy of the under-developed and insurgency-affected Northeastern region of the country by making it a production hub for feeding the Myanmarese and western Chinese markets.

The opening of the road would reduce transportation cost between China and India by more than 30 per cent as currently, most imports from Myanmar and China were being channelled through Kolkata, a much longer sea-route, he said.

‘Agreement with Mamata is not a compromise on Gorkhaland’

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     June 15, 2011

INTERVIEW Bimal Gurung

‘Agreement with Mamata is not a compromise on Gorkhaland’

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed to have broken the deadlock over Darjeeling, Gorkha Janmukti Mocha (GJM) President Bimal Gurung showed faith in her politics. In an exclusive interview with Tehelka’s Ratnadip Choudhury, he accuses the Left Front of cheating the people of the hills. Excerpts:

Q: Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the recent agreement between the state government and the GJM has broken ice. How do you term this development?

A: What I can say is that it is a significant step ahead, a success for all sides involved. It is the media that coins terms for such developments; I do not want to term it anything. But, we are happy that now everyone is on the same page. This kind of conducive situation is required to take the process further if we are to arrive to a political solution. But, I can tell you that the ground situation has improved a lot. Here we see a Chief Minister who would like to keep her promise that she made to the people of the hills and North Bengal, and she is on course. We have faith in her approach.

Q: The GJM is now supporting the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal. What made Bimal Gurung and Mamata Banerjee come closer?

A: One might think we came closer due to political compulsion, but that is not the case. We supported the TMC because we believe in the issues on which Banerjee has based her politics for the last one decade. We value her sincerity. Her politics is for “maa, mati, manush”. Our politics is also for the same cause. We admire her struggle that threw away an autocratic power from West Bengal. So, we decided to be with her. Bengal is the pride of the people of hills, and Darjeeling is the pride of Bengal. I agree with her plan for the development of Darjeeling. Whenever we spoke to her we could see that she not only understood our struggle and objectives but had faith in us as well. She wants the crisis to end, so we have enough reasons to support her cause.

Q: Can we say that her brand of politics matches with that of Gurung?

A: Journalists can phrase it in whatever way that helps them. Both of us have been involved in politics at the grass roots. In that way I admire her, and, yes, our ideas do match. We can bring good days back in the hills.

Q: The GJM had earlier held several rounds of parleys with the Left Front government. Where do you feel the Left went wrong?

A: The Left has ruled West Bengal for decades, and all this while what the hills saw was neglect. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), perhaps, did not have the heart to solve the problem of the tribal areas. The plight of the hills fell on deaf ears of its leaders. Banerjee has shown that she has the heart to take the issue towards a possible solution. She has also proved that the Left Front government perhaps wanted the deadlock to continue. It was more difficult for the Left because there were multiple levels of decision making in the CPI(M), but in the TMC Didi takes all decisions.

Q: But, your political opponents say that the so-called agreement is just a political stunt from Banerjee and the GJM, since you fought the poll on the plank of a separate Gorkhaland state.

A: The opposition parties have no base. Both the GJM and the TMC have won huge mandate. Our victory on all seats in the hills proves that people believe that we have made no compromises. The idea is to reach to a solution and carry on with the development that was stalled by the Left Front for so many years. The new proposed administrative setup will have a lot of powers for proper developmental works. It will not be a remote-controlled council like the one the Left Front managed from the Writers’ Building through Subas Ghisingh.

   The demand for Gorkhaland is not a new one. It is not like that Bimal Gurung spoke of it for the first time. After me, other people will raise this demand. So, the political movement for the creation of Gorkhaland will continue. We do not want to mix the creation of the new administrative setup with the political movement. This was the mistake the Left Front made. Politics and developmental works can go hand in hand. Had the Left been sensitive to the region, we could have cooperated with them. We tried our best, but they gave us step-motherly treatment.

Q: Are you saying that even if you get more power with a new administrative setup, you will not give up the demand for a separate state?

A: Gorkhaland is a long-standing demand and the aspiration of our people. The birth of the GJM is to achieve the dream and aspiration of our people. So, till the time our people aspire, we will carry on the political movement for Gorkhaland. Let the new administrative setup take place, let us get enough power to implement the decision and policies that will help the region, then all other things will settle down. We need the new government to settle as well. Look at the neighbouring Sikkim. It has progressed so much, but West Bengal remains poor. Our human resource goes outside to work. We need to keep them at home. The CPI(M) never thought of this.

Q: In the hills, the GJM has no opponent now. But you want a larger part of Terai and Dooars in the new administrative setup. The other communities in that area do not want that. How will you and the TMC tackle this issue?

A: A high-level joint committee has been set up to look into this issue. Let the report come in. I appreciate the seriousness of the state government for setting up such a committee. Like the GJM, Mamata Didi does not believe in vote-bank politics. If you take up the cause of the downtrodden, votes will follow. There have been scuffles earlier, but now everyone is more matured. No community faces any threat from the GJM. I can tell you that we enjoy support everywhere. We will press on the issue of delimitation and prevail upon the state government to get it done as a part of our political movement.

Q: How will the didi’s chota bhai– as she fondly refers to you – going to build shining hills?

A: Our movement has been a political one. Earlier people’s voice was not heard. Both Didi and the GJM have a dream for Darjeeling and the entire region that will come under the new administrative setup. We will strive hard to realise those dreams. If we cannot deliver, people will show us the way, as they have done to the Left Front. (tehelka)

China cannot embrace democracy overnight: Dalai Lama

Himalayan News Network

Melbourne, June 14:  His Holiness the Dalai Lama has told a gathering of Chinese community in Melbourne on Sunday that transparent governance and freedom of press are stepping stones for China to embrace democracy.

His Holiness met with a large group of Chinese youth, Buddhists and democracy activists on his fourth day in Melbourne. Many of them are members of the Chinese-Tibetan Friendship Group in Melbourne, which was established on suggestions from His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a previous visit.

He said the Tibet-China relationship spans over 1000 years. "As far as Buddhism is concerned, it flourished in China long before Tibet. So the Chinese are more senior students of the Buddha," he said.

On the political front, His Holiness reiterated his position on seeking autonomy within China. He said, "We should resolve the issue through friendship and mutual cooperation."

His Holiness told the Chinese gathering that he is proud to show the Chinese government on what he has done in achieving a genuine Tibetan democracy, adding it is now the Chinese Communist Party's turn to retire after being in power for 60 years.

However, he made it clear that it is not his expectation that China would change into a democratic country overnight. He said, "China is a big country and is not used to democracy. It is good to take go on that path gradually. The first step to take could be to be more transparent and more open. It should start with allowing freedom of press and to stop means to spread false information."

His Holiness was touched by the warm reception from the Chinese community. A group of Chinese women recited a prayer song in Tibetan for him. He told them it was the same prayer that he has been reciting every single day since his childhood.

Earlier in the day, His Holiness met with the members of Tibetan, Mongolian and Bhutanese communities. He told the audience that "we should be 21st century Buddhists. By this, I mean we must have full understanding of the Buddha dharma."

He encouraged the Tibetans living in Australia to pay special attention in preserving our culture. He said, "We are in exile not because of a natural disaster or a civil war. We left our country because of a foreign occupation. It is our duty to keep our rich and ancient heritage alive."

After the British left, China increased its control of Tibet

Tibet’s heroic resistance to Younghusband mission

A battle here in 1904 changed the course of Tibetan history. A British expedition led by Sir Francis E. Younghusband, the imperial adventurer, seized the fort and marched to Lhasa, the capital, becoming the first Western force to pry open Tibet and wrest commercial concessions from its senior lamas.

The bloody invasion made the Manchu rulers of the Qing court in Beijing realize that they had to bring Tibet under their control rather than continue to treat it as a vassal state.

So, in 1910, well after the British had departed, 2,000 Chinese soldiers occupied Lhasa. That ended in 1913, after the disintegration of the Qing dynasty, ushering in a period of de facto independence that many Tibetans cite as the modern basis for a sovereign Tibet.

The Chinese Communists seized Tibet again in 1951, perhaps influenced by the Qing emperor’s earlier decision to invade the mountain kingdom.

These days, Gyantse resembles other towns in central Tibet. Its dusty roads are lined with shops and restaurants run by ethnic Han migrants, whom many Tibetans see as the most recent wave of invaders.

But Chinese officials prefer to direct the world’s attention away from that and to the brutal events at Gyantse in 1904, which conveniently fit into their master narrative for Tibetan and Chinese history.

The Chinese government insists Tibet is an “inalienable” part of China, and it has appropriated the 1904 invasion as another chapter in the long history of imperialist efforts to dismantle China — what the Communist education system calls the “100 years of humiliation.”

In that Communist narrative of Gyantse, the Tibetans are a stand-in for the Chinese who were victimized by foreign powers during the Qing dynasty.

“The local people resisted the British there,” said Dechu, a Tibetan woman from the foreign affairs office in Lhasa who accompanied foreign journalists on a recent official tour of Tibet. “They put up a great resistance, so it’s called the City of Heroes.”

In the late 1990s, when Britain was handing Hong Kong back to China, the Chinese government started a propaganda campaign to highlight that theme.

A melodramatic movie about the 1904 British invasion, “Red River Valley,” was released in 1997. It was a hit, and Chinese still rave about it. It was also required viewing for officials in Tibet and for many schoolchildren.

“I’ve also seen a musical, two plays, another feature film and a novella on the same topic, all from that time,” Robert Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University, said of the late 1990s. He said that he had not seen any reference in Tibetan literature to Gyantse as the City of Heroes before then.

In 2004, the centenary of the British invasion, officials staged activities to commemorate it, including a musical, “The Bloodbath in the Red River Valley.”

Then there is the museum in the fort. A sign in English once identified it as “the Memorial Hall of Anti-British.” In 1999, it displayed “shoddy relief sculptures of battle scenes, with unintelligible captions,” according to Patrick French, a historian who described his visit there in his book “Tibet, Tibet.”

So what did happen in Gyantse in 1904?

The Younghusband expedition was sent by Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India, to force the 13th Dalai Lama to agree to commercial concessions. Tibet had also begun to figure prominently in what was known as the Great Game, where the British and Russian empires vied for influence in Central Asia.

British officials had heard of a Russian presence in the court of the Dalai Lama and wanted to learn the truth. That meant getting officers to Lhasa, which had never been done before.

Colonel Younghusband was teamed with Brig. Gen. J. R. L. Macdonald to lead a force from Sikkim, in British India, across the Jelap Pass into Tibet. They crossed the border on Dec. 12, 1903, with more than 1,000 soldiers, 2 Maxim guns and 4 artillery pieces, according to “Trespassers on the Roof of the World,” a history of Western efforts to open Tibet, by Peter Hopkirk. Behind them, in the snow, trailed 10,000 laborers, 7,000 mules, 4,000 yaks and 6 camels.

Outside the village of Guru, they encountered an encampment of 1,500 Tibetan troops. Hostilities broke out. The British troops, which included Sikhs and Gurkhas, opened fire. In four minutes, 700 poorly armed Tibetans lay dead or dying.

Later, at Red Idol Gorge, a narrow defile just 20 miles from Gyantse, the British slaughtered another 200 Tibetans.

The Tibetans made their final stand at the fort at Gyantse, called a dzong, or jong, in Tibetan. After they missed a deadline to surrender on July 5, the British attacked from the southeast corner of the fort.

A thin line of officers and soldiers clambered up the sheer rock face. “The steepness was so great that a man who slipped almost necessarily carried away the man below him also,” wrote Perceval Landon of The Times of London.

The Tibetans rained down ammunition and stones. But one lieutenant and an Indian soldier made it through the breach, followed by others. The Tibetans fled, shimmying down two ropes.

“The surrender of the jong was to have a crushing effect on Tibetan morale,” Mr. Hopkirk wrote. “There was an ancient superstition that if ever the great fortress were to fall into the hands of an invader, then further resistance would be pointless.”

The British reached Lhasa soon afterward. Two months later, the evening before leaving Lhasa for good, Colonel Younghusband rode out to a mountain and gazed down at the ancient city, where he experienced a curious epiphany that inspired him to end all acts of bloodshed and found a religious movement, the World Congress of Faiths.

“This exhilaration of the moment grew and grew till it thrilled through me with overpowering intensity,” he wrote in a memoir, “India and Tibet.” “Never again could I think evil, or ever again be at enmity with any man. All nature and all humanity were bathed in a rosy glowing radiancy; and life for the future seemed naught but buoyancy and light.” (New York Times)

GJM has betrayed people’s trust: Opp parties

TMC leader to meet Bimal Gurung in Darjeeling today

Himalayan News Network

Darjeeling, June 14: Senior Trinamool Congress leader and Union Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi is expected to meet Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung here today.

Trivedi is expected to inspect Eden Hospital during his visit here.

Trivedi and Gurung will participate in a panel discussion in Shruberry Park in Darjeeling. "Our president has asked all the frontal organizations to assemble tomorrow for a meeting," said a senior GJM leader, according to a national daily.

 Gurung has called a meeting to apprise them about what transpired in the meeting with Mamata Banerjee. With the GJM leadership showing lenience towards an interim setup, voices of resentment have cropped up from various quarters.

Opposition parties in the Darjeeling hills have accused Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) of backstabbing the people there by diluting the Gorkhaland demand while signing an agreement with West Bengal government. The GJM had betrayed the people of the hills who had overwhelmingly voted for the party in the recent Assembly polls for its promise to carve out a separate state of Gorkhaland, they said.

The All India Gorkha League (AIGL) has already sent a letter to the Bengal CM expressing their dissatisfaction on being left out of the meeting. "Whatever arrangement that has been made between the GJM and the Bengal CM is only temporary and is not acceptable. In fact, the CM should have invited all the stakeholders for a meeting," said Laxman Pradhan, the AIGL secretary.

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM), too, has opposed the settlement saying it was against the wishes of the people. "It is a betrayal of people's trust. The GJM was given such an unprecedented mandate only because of a separate state and nothing else," said Govind Chhetri, a CPRM spokesperson.

The proposed administrative set-up to be put in place as per the agreement would be even weaker than the Sixth Schedule Council proposed by Subash Ghising, CPRM President R B Rai.

The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) also said a temporary arrangement would neither fulfill nor provide identity to the Gorkhas living in the country.

New hill council will strengthen statehood demand: Harka Bahadur Chhetri

Kalimpong, June 14: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) MLA and spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri said the recent agreement with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not only strengthen the demand for Gorkhaland but will give more power and geographical area to the proposed new council.

In an exclusive interview with a national daily, Chhetri said the proposed council will have greater financial power and the right to frame rules and regulations on hill affairs.

"Except home and judiciary, we achieved all the major powers needed for a state," said Chhetri.

"The new agreement says that soon after the formation of the new council, the body will be empowered to collect all the revenues which state government collects from the area at present,” the newly-elected MLA from Kalimpong pointed out.

"We have planned for infrastructural development utilizing the revenue in next few years before going for a fresh statehood movement," Chhetri said once again confirming that the GJM never gave up their Gorkhaland demand.

Chhetri also claimed that the council has been empowered to distribute power generated by National Hydro Power Corporation, which will be another major source of revenue.

Referring to inclusion of Gorkha-dominated territories in the foothills, Chhetri said, "The new council will be functional only after area demarcation is completed. If government delays on this issue, the trouble will remain at the same place."

 Chhetri added that the new council "will be able to set up a new education board with new syllabus, cutting off links with the West Bengal's school education system."

He also pointed out that 'Gorkhaland' word will be in the name, suggesting that the platform is now set for a separate state.

J&K, Arunachal Pradesh missing from India's map on Oz govt website

Himalayan News Network

Sydney, June 14: A map of India on an Australian government website has omitted the states of J&K and Arunachal Pradesh triggering protests from the Indian community in the country. The wrong map was put out on the website of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship ( DIAC) in its country profiles section.

The Council of Indian Australians Inc (CIA), the body representing the Indian-Australian community in New South Wales, said in a statement that it has "expressed its strongest displeasure at the incorrect map of India in the DIAC's website".

Later, Australia admitted the map was an "error" and said it will be removed from the website. "The map is being removed from the website," an Australian high commission spokesperson in New Delhi said.

Sikkim BJP begins anti-corruption padyatra

Sikkim BJP President Padam Chettri (left) with central party leaders.

By A Staff Reporter

Gangtok, June 14: The Sikkim unit of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), began its six- month state-wide padyatra against corruption on Sunday.

The six-member BJP team comprises Sikkim BJP President Padam Chettri, General Secretary Padam Sharma,  and party members: Prabhuram Kharka, Laten Sherpa, Amber Sunwar and Dawa Sherpa.

Briefing the media before the padyatra here Chettri informed that they will focus on South and West Districts and plan to visit remote areas where Chief Minister Pawan Chamling failed to reach during his current village-to-village tour of the State.

During their visit, the BJP team will collect complaints from the public in a complaint form. The team will focus on issues related to health, education and food.

Chettri has also asked government officials to accompany the team during the tour to explain the various developmental activities undertaken by the Chamling Government in the last 17 years.

EDITORIAL

INDIA’S NORTH EAST

Follow The Middle Path

Despite the many peace accords signed with insurgent groups sub-nationalism sentiment still persist in India’s troubled-torn Northeast region. While the demand for sovereignty in certain parts of the region, including Assam, is still making its presence felt regionalism is still a core political issue for most people in the region. Laldenga’s Mizo National Front, NB Bhandari’s Sikkim Parishad and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s Asom Gana Parishad to a large extent captured the imagination of the people of the northeast in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Bhandari and Mahanta’s betrayal of the people’s trust for their failure to follow the ‘sons of the soil’ policy gave space to national parties such as the Congress party to make inroads into the region. Torn between violent insurgent groups and failed regional party leaders the people of the northeast, who have much in common with the peoples of the South East than mainstream India, are now being forced to embrace national parties which provide them with semblance of democracy and development. The bitter truth is that the people of this region deserve more than what they have got since independence.

   New Delhi needs to take a new look to the problems and prospects of the Northeast. It cannot and must not continue to encourage corrupt politicians with dictatorial tendencies to rule the region. The Centre must realize that in pursuing a US-type of policy in Middle East in the vulnerable Northeast region would prove futile in the long run. Propping up leaders to maintain a façade of peace in the region by suppressing genuine urges of the people will prove counterproductive. There is the need for genuine leaders from all walks of life in the region to join hands and carve out a better future for the people. New Delhi must and should take a new look and evolve a ‘middle path’ policy to face the growing challenges in the region. There is no other alternative if it wants to avoid a united uprising in the region in the near future.

Upreti calls everyone to fight ‘rampant corruption’ in Sikkim

SIKKIM OBSERVER     June 11 2011

After revocation of expulsion order Upreti calls everyone to fight ‘rampant corruption’ in Sikkim

Observer News Service

Gangtok, June 10: Former Minister and senior Congress leader KN Upreti wants the State unit of the Congress party to function in a democratic manner and welcome anyone to join the party to fight against “rampant corruption”, “ruthless repression” and “injustices” of the Chamling Government.

Upreti’s call comes after he and six Congress leaders’ expulsion from the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee was revoked by the party high command.

A press release by Upreti, who has just returned from Delhi, says the SPCC’s “illegal and arbitrary” expulsion of seven SPCC members in March this year has been revoked by the AICC.

After their expulsion Upreti and company made representations to the party high command challenging the impugned order.

Responding to their petition, AICC incharge of Sikkim, Luizinho Faleiro, in his order dated June 4, 2011, stated: “I am directed to convey that Expulsion Orders dated 25.3.2011 of the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee expelling the following Congress members of the State for four years from 25^th March, 2011, have been revoked.”

The order added that Upreti and others – Phuchung Bhutia, Bharat Basnett, Arun Kumar Rai, Avinash Yakha, Nima Wangchuk Bhutia and Laxuman Gurung – who were expelled from the party for their alleged “anti-party activities”, “shall continue to be members of the Congress Party.”

The expelled members have thanked the party high command for its prompt and positive action regarding their expulsion.

Upreti and six others were expelled from the SPCC when Upreti tried to contest the SPCC President’s post during the party elections held here recently.

Upreti backed out from the contest after the party high command asked its State units to pass a one-line resolution authorizing party President Sonia Gandhi to choose party chiefs in the States.

However, the SPCC went ahead with the polls and as a result SPCC President N B Bhandari was re-elected.

GJM supporters hail Darjeeling agreement

Opposition condemn mandate misuse

C. Tamang

Darjeeling, June 10: Hundreds of Gorkha Janmukti supporters greeted party general secretary Roshan Giri and two other leaders when they arrived here from Kolkata, hailing the much-awaited agreement ending the 15-year-old Darjeeling problem.

Raising slogans in support of the 'positive' agreement, the supporters draped 'khada' around Giri and the two other leaders Harkabahadur Chhetri and Sankar Adhikari when they got down from train at the New Jalpaiguri railway station in the morning, reported PTI.

Chhetri, the GJM spokesman, expressed satisfaction at the agreement and said the hills would now witness all-round development, particularly in health, education and water supply.

Chhetri said the Gorkhaland demand would be discussed in the tripartite meeting to be called soon.

He said the decision to set up two committees - one to look into the territorial composition of the new hill council and the other on tea garden areas - was a welcome development.

While both chief minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) are happy at finally reaching a solution to the Darjeeling problem, Opposition parties in the hills have condemned the agreement.

AIGL President Bharati Tamang said the GJM, which won the Assembly elections on Gorkhaland issue, had betrayed the people.

The GNLF, too, accused the Morcha of betraying the people’s trust. “People trusted them and voted the GJM only because they thought that the party would help eke out Gorkhaland for them. Now, the GJM is singing a different tune,” stated GNLF’S Palden Dorje Lama.

The CPRM said by signing an agreement with Writers’ Building the Morcha leadership had misused the people’s mandate.

Cleanliness drive in Gurudongmar, Lachen

P. Rai

Lachen, June 10: Gurudongmar Lake situated at the 17,100 ft in Lachen, North Sikkim, is one of the most sacred high altitude wetlands in Sikkim. Though located in an isolated corner of the State, the wetland receives a large number of domestic tourists estimated at around 15,000 every year, and with Sikkim establishing itself on the tourism map of the country, this number is on the rise. Apart from tourists, Gurudongmar Lake is also visited by locals going on pilgrimage.

While tourism offers incentives to the communities, the threats that it poses to these fragile landscape also cannot be ignored.

WWF-India Khangchendzonga Landscape Programme, as part of its High Altitude Wetlands conservation Project in Sikkim, has been working with the local youths of the village of Lachen  under the banner of Lachen Tourism Development Committee since early 2011 on sensitizing the community on conservation issues. Awareness programmes have been organized for students, taxi drivers as well as tourists.

As part of the same initiative, to mark the celebration of world environment day WWF –India in collaboration with LTDC organized a two- day event on 5th and 6th June at

A 29 member team comprising of members of Lachen Dzumsa, LTDC, WWF – India and media representative organized a cleanliness drive around  Gurudongmar Lake. While at first glance the area around the lake looked clean and garbage-free, on closer inspection the team found that over the years there had been quite an incredible accumulation of garbage. The team divided into groups to tackle different areas of the lake and armed with sacks and gloves collected all the waste lying in these areas.

Phensum Lachenpa, President LTDC later remarked – “Never had we imagined that thirty big sacks we were carrying would be filled with the garbage from Gurudongmar Lake”.

Pipon II from Lachen,  Tenzing Choyang Lachenpa, who was also part of the team, encouraged them by participating in the cleanliness drive himself. He said that it was a great initiative taken up by the youths of Lachen, which had to be continued and supported.

During the cleanliness drive it was found that most of the garbage had accumulated towards the outlet of the lake. The team also got support from the Army based there, and 20 jawans also helped in collection of the garbage.

During the occasion, signage providing useful information on Gurudongmar Lake and a Code of Conduct to be followed by visitors were put up near the holy lake. A separate site for offerings was also designated near the lake side, so as to regulate the practice of making offerings inside the lake.

All the waste material was collected in large sacks and brought back to Lachen, where the team again spent the evening segregating the waste into recyclables consisting of tins, plastic and glass bottles. Clothes, cardboards and paper were also segregated into different sacks.

It was found that while a large part of the collected garbage consisted of tins and plastic bottles that could be sent for recycling, there was also a large quantity of plastic wrappers that could not be recycled and would have to be dumped. But the segregation of the recyclables at least did reduce the amount of garbage to a considerable extent.

On the second day of the campaign 6th June, the team targeted the Lachen Village for the cleanliness drive. The Chief Guest for the day was MLA – Lachen Mangan  T.W Lepcha, while addressing  the gathering prior to the cleanliness drive, appreciated the efforts made by the youths of Lachen and congratulated them for cleaning up the sacred lake of Gurudongmar. As a word of caution, he also mentioned that youths had to look beyond the scope of contracts and build their capacities and skills for entrepreneurship.

A rally was also organized to flag off the cleanliness drive in which students from Lachen School actively participated and also assisted in clean up of the village. Members of LTDC targeted the local dumping site of Lachen to retrieve all the plastic bottles, tins and glass bottles that had been dumped to send for recycling. A total of 35 sacks of recyclable items were retrieved from the dumping site.

The Army posted at Chaten, located below Lachen, offered support for transport of the waste to the dumping site nearby. The materials segregated will be sold off for recycling. Chewang Lachenpa, General Secretary of LTDC, thanked the Army for lending their support to the cause and hoped for their cooperation also in the future. On the occasion Landscape Coordinator of WWF- India Priyadarshinee Shrestha and Senior Project officer Laktsheden Theengh also participate at clean drive programme.

Editorial

NEW SITUATION

Strike A Fine Balance

As talks begin on formation of a new council for the hill people in Darjeeling criticisms will start pouring in blaming the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for betraying the people on the statehood issue. The Morcha leadership had stated that their landslide victory in the recently-held Assembly elections in West Bengal, where Morcha candidates won all three seats in the hills (Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong) with an overwhelming margin, was a mandate for Gorkhaland state. Howver, within less than a month after the results of the polls were declared Morcha leaders are all excited about the formation of the new interim set-up. According to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the inititial deal of the new council has already been signed at Writers’s Building.

Morcha’s opponents in the hills will surely try to raise the statehood issue with a view to exposing Gurung and Co.’s mischief. They will also raise the issue of seeking justice to the murderers of AIGL Madan Tamang and put more pressure on the Morcha leadership. The demarcation of the Gorkha-inhabited areas in the plains of Dooars and Terai will take more than six months. The new council cannot be formed before the territorial issue is finalized. All set and done the Morcha leadership needs to show more tact and wisdom in dealing with the changed situation. While Darjeeling desperately needs an economic face-lift, which Mamata has promised, the Gorkhas believe that their main issue is identity and not development. To pull through this situation the Morcha leadership must strike a fine balance between conviction and compromise.

ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN

BJP on Sikkim padyatra from June 12

Gangtok, June 10: The Sikkim unit of the BJP has decided to begin a village-to-village campaign in the State from Sunday (June 12) to access “corruption and malpractices” in centrally-sponsored schemes in all the four districts of the State.

Speaking to Sikkim Observer, State unit BJP President Padam Bahadur Chettri said he and some of his colleagues will meet the villagers and find out how the State Government has misutilised central funds in the name of development.

He said the decision to go on a padyatra was taken at the recent national executive meeting held in Lucknow.

In his letter to Chief Secretary ND Chingapa, Chettri has said the party’s decision to “access the development works at the level of Gram Panchayat Units, Primary Health Centre and Lower Primary Schools” comes in the backdrop of 2G spectrum scam and CWC scam and is aimed at pointing out “corruption and malpractices” into all ongoing programmes and projects at the grassroots level.

The BJP has also asked government officials to accompany them to “enlighten” them on these projects.

TIBET-CHINA DIALOGUE – II

“The Tibetan issue needs to be resolved between the Tibetans and the Chinese”

The second and last portion of the statement of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, on the present status of dialogue between the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government delivered at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore, November 24, 2010.

The Essence of the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way Approach

One of the fundamental points that the Chinese officials fail to acknowledge is the fact that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is sincere and serious in his efforts for a solution within the framework of the People’s Republic of China through his Middle Way Approach.

His Holiness and the Tibetan leadership in exile took the courageous decision not to seek Tibetan independence but genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people that would ensure their basic needs of safeguarding their distinct culture, language, religion and identity and the delicate natural environment of the Tibetan plateau.

The Middle Way Approach is a way to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet and to bring about stability and co-existence between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples, based on equality and mutual co-operation. Its origin goes back to the mid-1970s when His Holiness had internal discussions with his advisors. Over the years the Tibetan leadership in exile refined the concrete features of the Middle Way Approach to in the light of existing political realities in the PRC.

Official Chinese media continue to label His Holiness as being a separatist, who wants to regain Tibetan independence. They refer to contents of his statements of the past, including the Five Point Peace Plan and the Strasbourg Proposal, deliberately ignoring His Holiness’ subsequent appreciation of Chinese concerns and clarification of his position.

Our Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People clearly outlined His Holiness’s Middle Way Approach.

Our Memorandum and the Note to the Memorandum have been well received by many governments, parliaments, institutions, organizations and individuals as being very reasonable and legitimate. Many are surprised and deeply disappointed with the Chinese government’s reactions. Finding the Chinese government’s position inappropriate, they continue to emphatically urge them to engage in a substantive dialogue with us on the agenda of the Memorandum. For example, following a meeting between His Holiness and President Obama on February 18, 2010, the White House released a statement saying, “The President commended the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government.”

Wider Implications of the Unresolved Tibetan Issue

Resolving the Tibetan issue concerns not merely the rights of the Tibetan people. Rather, it concerns the future of the Tibetan Buddhist culture, which impacts both the Tibetan people and the broader international community. Tibetan Buddhist culture, which, promotes a culture of compassion that is much needed in Tibet, in China and the region as a whole. When we talk about Tibetan Buddhist culture we are not talking about the religious aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.

Specifically, China is aspiring to be a superpower but such a status cannot be achieved purely through military and economic strength. Rather, moral authority is a very important condition and this can be imparted by the Tibetan Buddhist culture.

From the geopolitical perspective, too, if the issue of Tibet is resolved, it will be a positive factor not only in the relationship between the two upcoming global powers, India and China, but also to the region as a whole. Here, I concur with Singapore's Foreign Minister, Mr George Yeo, who wrote in an article that “Tibet is part of a much larger Asian drama that is changing the world”. Certainly, on account of geo-political, strategic and environmental reasons, the situation in Tibet will have deep impact to the changing landscape in Asia.

Environmentally, the Tibetan plateau is of great importance with scientists virtually naming it as the Third Pole. Tibet is the source of many major Asian rivers. Thus, if the Tibetan environment is impacted, it affects the global environment.

There is another implication about the Tibetan issue that impacts the Chinese people themselves. Today, there is increasing awareness of the Tibetan situation among the Chinese people. This is even more evident among the intellectuals and with younger generation. Many of them have courageously called for pragmatic approach to the Tibetan issue and sees His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the key factor in helping resolve the Tibet issue. They have realized that the attitude of the Chinese Government to the issue of Tibet will have a direct bearing on China’s own future, including its domestic stability and international standing.

Some Challenges

I have no reasons to doubt the Chinese authorities repeated assertion on the Tibetan issue that the “door is open for dialogue and the negotiations”. At the same time, I cannot help but feel concerned about their sincerity and seriousness in pursuing the present process for a substantive and meaningful outcome.

It seems that a section of leadership in Beijing continues to entertain the illusion that the problems in Tibet can be solved or confronted by economic means and that the China’s global standing as a economic and political power provides them leverage both domestically and internationally to impose its arbitrary stand.

They also continue to deceive themselves with the belief that the Tibetan problem will cease to challenge them once His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is no more with us or the issue will lose its edge due to his advanced age.

The biggest concern of the Chinese leadership is the legitimacy of its rule in Tibet. The Chinese leadership knows that only one individual, the Dalai Lama, has the capability and authority to provide that. His Holiness is aware of the People’s Republic of China's concerns and sensitivities. For this reason we have conveyed directly to the Chinese leadership, and His Holiness has also publicly stated, that he stands ready to lend his moral authority to endow an autonomy agreement, once reached, with the legitimacy it will need to gain the support of the Tibetan people and to be properly implemented.

    The Chinese Government has also been making the case that it would like everyone to respect its core issues, most importantly, the issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the PRC. As can be seen from the points I have made here, we respect these concerns. At the same time, we also have a core issue, namely the preservation and promotion of the distinct identity of the Tibetan people. The Chinese Government must acknowledge and respect this legitimate right of the Tibetan people and work with us accordingly.

     Fundamentally, the Tibetan issue needs to be resolved between the Tibetans and the Chinese. Just as the Chinese Government does not want a third party involvement, we Tibetans, too, feel the right way is to resolve it through talks with the Chinese leadership. At the same time the issue of Tibet is of international concern with direct bearing on the peace and stability of Asia.

It is essential for students of the Tibetan-Chinese conflict to clearly understand and appreciate the differences between the fundamental positions of our two sides. Some experts do not seem to understand this.

The Way Forward

We do not see any reason why we cannot find a common ground on the Tibetan issue if the Chinese leadership has the sincerity and the political will to move forward.

We are convinced that this could be done without rewriting the history of Tibet. This is because if we go on the path of rewriting history of Tibet it will then not only lead to complicating further some of the existing conflicts in China’s relationship with others, but even give birth to new ones. Furthermore, the Chinese leadership needs to ponder whether it should make claims on the basis of some past imperial actions and should understand the international ramification and repercussion if it continues to do so.

Today’s Chinese leaders are also talking about establishing a harmonious society. We certainly support this endeavor as we believe it will directly impact China’s policies on the Tibetan people. However, it is clear that there cannot be a harmonious society without equality among nationalities.

Tibetans, especially those who are inside Tibet, continue to face the stark reality of the absence of equality at every level. Prominent Tibetan leaders, including the Late Panchen Lama, have repeatedly voiced their concerns in this regard by saying that any talks about unity should be preceded by the presence of equality.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has a forward-looking approach and has shown his willingness to take any initiative necessary that is in the interest of the Tibetan people, that will encourage harmony and stability in the People’s Republic of China, and that will promote peace in the region. His Holiness is committed to work with the Chinese Government so that the Tibetan people can maintain their distinctive identity, regain their pride and dignity and the stability and unity of the People’s Republic of China are ensured.

Once again, I am grateful for this opportunity to share my thoughts at this prestigious institution. (concluded)