SIKKIM OBSERVER Saturday   July 13-19,  2013    

Gangtok rally against ‘foreigner’ tag

“We are Sikkimese, not Foreigners”

Gangtok, July 12: In a bid to put more pressure on old settlers to erase the ‘foreigner’ tag on Sikkimese Nepalese in their petition in the Supreme Court a large section of the people in the State, particularly Nepalese, held a rally here yesterday.

Held under the aegis of Denzong Welfare Association (DWA), the rally started at 5^th Mile in Tadong and ended at the Paljor Stadium. Supported by several social organizations and political parties the rally was organized to ensure that the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim (AOSS) either withdraw or amend its application in the apex court that reportedly stated that Sikkimese Nepalese in the State are ‘foreigners’. This has greatly hurt the sentiments of the people, particularly the Sikkimese Nepalese who are one of the three ethnic communities of the former kingdom and possess genuine Sikkim Subject Certificate.

One of the placards in the rally said, “We are Sikkkimese Not Foreigners.” The Sikkim People”s Forum headed by former chief secretary PK Pradhan, which is likely to play a major role on the issue, will meet Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on the issue. It has called everyone to respond to the need of the hour in a peaceful manner.

Incidentally, the matter is being heard in the Supreme Court today and AOSS has already assured that it would amend its petition to placate the Sikkimese Nepalese.

SDF govt ‘dictatorial’, democracy suppressed: SNPP

 Demands Subba & Co’s release

    SHRP supporters on protest-mode on ‘foreigner’ tag

Gangtok, July 12: The Sikkim National People’s Party (SNPP) has strongly condemned the arrest of A.D. Subba, President of the Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad (SHRP), and other members of the party for protesting against Sikkimese Nepalese being labeled as ‘foreigners’ by members of the old settlers in the State.

SNPP President Biraj Adhikari said his party “strongly protests the attempt to deny any form of democratic protests by the dictatorial Government of the Sikkim Democratic Front.”

Adhikari in a press statement said the attack “is another example of the high handedness of the State government after the barbaric police attacks on the office of another opposition party in the state.”

The SNPP also expressed its surprise “at the utter lack of sensitivity of the administration to the heightened sense of anger of the majority community in Sikkim due to the petition” of the old settlers filed before the Supreme Court.

“The party demands that all detainees be released without condition immediately and suggests that the administration be more vigilant when tackling democratic forms of protest in the future,” the release added.

Subba, who was undergoing medical treatment at the STNM hospital here on Wednesday, has alleged that  some of his party members who were arrested were beaten up in police custody. This allegation has been denied by Police authorities.

DIG (Range) Sikkim Police, MS Tuli said SHRP took out the procession without permission and have been booked under sections 188, 353, 283m 436 and 34 IPC.

Stop Teesta projects: West Bengal

Kolkata, July 12: West Bengal wants the Centre to stop all future hydel projects on the Teesta river, the State's Irrigation Minister Rajib Bandopadhyay says.

Bandopadhyay told bdnews24.com that he has taken up the issue with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has agreed to move Delhi on the issue.

The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation ( NHPC) has already set up three hydel projects on the Teesta in East Sikkim and at Kalijhora and Ranvi on the Bengal-Sikkim border.

"They (NHPC) have plans for ten more such projects to generate power from the Teesta. But this cannot be allowed," Bandopadhyay said.

The Minister said that while these projects may be run of the river types and would not involve much reservoir storage, sudden release of water from the upstream during the monsoon could lead to an Uttarakhand type disaster from areas alongside the Teesta downstream.

"It could wipe out huge populations in West Bengal and perhaps further down in Bangladesh if there's such surge in water volume due to abrupt release," Bandopadhyay said, citing experts in his department.

The town of Jalpaiguri suffered heavily during 1968 in such an event when the Teesta swelled up suddenly due to heavy rush of water from upstream.

The NHPC, he said, have finalised these projects including the ten latest ones without consulting West Bengal, which was clearly unacceptable.

China defends latest Ladakh incursion, says PLA troops were patrolling its side of LAC

Beijing, July 12: Virtually defending the latest incursion by the PLA in the Chumar sector in Ladakh, China on Wednesday said its troops were patrolling on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and asserted that "status quo" should not be changed pending a final settlement.

"I have seen the relevant reports but I am not aware of the specific situation", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing when asked about the incident that took place ahead of Defence Minister AK Antony's visit to Beijing last week, PTI reported.

"Chinese Defence forces have been patrolling along the Chinese side of the LAC of the China-India border", she said. "The general situation in the border areas is stable. We have the consensus that pending the final settlement of the boundary question no one of us (none from India or China) should change the status quo along the LAC", she said, indirectly asserting that neither side should resort to any infrastructure development.

Aerial view of five tents erected by intruding Chinese troops inside Indian territory in Daulat Beg Oldi sector of Ladakh

"China would like to make joint efforts with the Indian side to safeguard peace and tranquillity of the border areas", Hua said. The incident took place on June 17 when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops intruded into the Chumar sector in Ladakh and smashed some bunkers besides cutting wires of cameras installed at the Indian border post.

While the Army headquarters is tight-lipped about the incident, the broken camera equipment was returned to an Indian Army patrol at a flag meeting on July 3 in Chusul area following furious negotiations between the two sides, DNA reported.

Chumar, a remote village on Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh border, is being claimed by China as its own territory

China, India pledge on border

More talks for troops in Sikkim, Ladakh and Arunachal

New Delhi, July 12: India and China on Saturday pledged to strengthen the existing agreements on maintaining peace and tranquility along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC). The two sides also agreed on a slew of confidence-building measures, including increased military-to-military contact and frequent border meetings between commanders.

“Peace and tranquility on the border was an important guarantor for the growth and development of bilateral cooperation, trust and understanding between the two militaries,” said a joint statement released after Defence Minister AK Antony met his Chinese counterpart General Chang Wanquan at Beijing, The Tribune reported.

The two Asian giants agreed to quickly conclude negotiations on the proposed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement. The two ministers announced greater interaction between their defence forces. This is major change as India had suspended all military relations with China after the latter refused visa to its General and chief of the northern command in 2009.

Antony and his counterpart reviewed the working of various agreements and protocols to maintain calm at the border. A standoff in Ladakh had escalated tension between the two sides in April this year.

The joint statement listed new proposals to ramp up military ties. Senior military commanders from service headquarters, command/military region and field formations will go on exchange visits on a regular basis. Troops stationed on the border will engage in talks more often. The border personnel meetings will now take place with greater frequency and at more locations.    

   Currently, such meetings take place twice in a year at each of the three designated spots - Chusul in Ladakh, Nathula in Sikkim and Bumla in Arunachal Pradesh. The two navies will increase ship visits, consider conducting joint maritime search and rescue exercises and cooperate in counter-piracy operations. Similarly, the air forces will expand their functional exchanges. Military training institutions will also strengthen their exchanges at the faculty and student levels.

General Chang Wanquan has accepted Antony’s invitation to visit India. Antony’s visit to China was the first by an Indian Defence Minister since 2006.

Editorial

SUPREME COURT VERDICT

Cleaning Up The System

The Supreme Court’s latest bid to clean up the political system in the country should be welcomed. Those, including politicians and political parties, opposing it giving some lame excuses should be ignored. The Supreme Court has said parliamentarians and lawmakers convicted of a crime will be immediately disqualified. The court struck down as ultra vires, or invalid, a provision of the Representation of the People Act, which protects legislators and gives them three months to file an appeal. The SC decision will not apply to lawmakers who have been convicted and have filed their appeals in the higher courts before the pronouncement of this verdict. The court order also says a convicted lawmaker cannot contest elections again or cast his/her vote from jail.This ruling could lead to several lawmakers in Parliament and state assemblies losing their seats. According to findings by the Association for Democratic Reforms, an NGO, 1,460 sitting MPs and MLAs face criminal charges in various cases.

Under Sec 8(3) of the RPA, a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from contesting elections. Further, he or she cannot contest for six years even after acquittal. However, sub-section 8(4) says a lawmaker, if convicted, cannot be disqualified if he or she files an appeal in a higher court within three months. The court’s decision should come as welcome news for the election commission, which has been pushing for this amendment in the law for a while now. Political parties have opposed such a step by reasoning that it would lead to people levying false charges against politicians to prevent them from contesting.

Sikkim district on priority list for health care

Gangtok, July 12: One of the districts in the State has been identified as one of the 184 high priority districts (HPD) in the country which will receive funds from the Centre for health care facilities.

The high priority dictricts (HPDs) were decided based on their poor indicators. Relative ranking of districts has been done within a state (based on composite index) and bottom 25 per cent of the districts have been selected as high focus districts for that state, senior health officials said, PTI reported.

These 184 HPDs include 17 districts from Madhya Pradesh, 19 from Uttar Pradesh, 10 from Rajasthan and Bihar, 9 from Maharashtra, 8 from Gujarat, Karnataka, 6 from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, 5 from Haryana, Manipur, Chattisgarh, Punjab and West Bengal, 4 from Meghalaya and Mizoram, Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh, 3 from Kerala and Uttarakhand and one Pondicherry, Sikkim and Tripura.

Sikkim women rescued from Goa prostitution den

Panaji, July 12: Eighteen women, most of them from northeastern states and Nepal, were rescued after a raid on a Goa night club which doubled up as a prostitution den, police said on Monday.

Two people, including a pimp and the night club's owner Ronnie Chakravarthy, were arrested after the Saturday raid in Calangute, said police inspector Nilesh Rane.

"The victims are mainly from Manipur, Sikkim and Nepal. There was a Goan girl too. They had been hired as waitresses and dancers, but in fact they were used for prostitution," Rane said.

Calangute, located 20 km from Panaji, is one of the most popular beach villages in Goa and known for its night life.

20 weavers undergo handloom training in East Sikkim

Gangtok, July 12: A 60-day Integrated Handloom Development Scheme (IHDS) training on handloom weaving for 20 weavers of Rongney, East Sikkim sponsored by Office of the Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Government of India, Ministry of Textiles and organized by Sikkim Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd., , Gangtok was concluded on Saturday.

The programme was attended by the Panchayats of 30 – Rongey – Tathangchen G.P.U. Indra Maya Pradhan, Vice-President, Rinzing Dorjee Bhutia, Panchayat Secretary, Munna Chettri, Member, Shanti Gurung, Member and officer of D.H.H. Chozang Tshering Lepcha, Deputy Director (Training), and Jigme Pintso Bhutia, Assistant Director (IHDS).

Jigme Pintso Bhutia, Assistant Director (IHDS), informed the weavers on information relating to handloom sector development i.e. health & life insurance, weavers credit card, yarn pass book, subsidy on yarn, mill gate price etc. in the State.

The Panchayats were very thankful to the department for organizing such training in their area. Looms, accessories and raw materials were also distributed to weavers through the Panchayats for initiating the launch of their first products. Certificates were also awarded to the trainees.