Who is Balkrishna Subedi – Indian or Nepali?

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN JUNE 29, 2011

Who is Balkrishna Subedi – Indian or Nepali?

CBI begins probe on Ramdev’s aide

Himalayan News Network

Lucknow, June 28: The CBI on Sunday started a preliminary inquiry into the identity of Acharya Balkrishna, man Friday of Yog Guru Baba Ramdev. Balkrishna has been accused of concealing his identity to procure an Indian passport. He is allegedly a citizen of Nepal.

The complaint has been filed by Acharya Pramod Krishnam of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti (Vedant Ashram) and the Peethadhishwar of Kalki Peeth.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has accused Balkrishna of having shifted to India after allegedly committing a crime in Nepal. His complaint, referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the department of personnel and training, speaks of concealing truth and aiding in anomalies during processing of his Indian passport issued from the RTO, Bareilly (UP), a national daily reported.

Passport officer (PRO-B) Sudhakar Rastogi when contacted said that he was not in a position to provide specific details of the passport in question off-hand. "However I am sure of one thing: if a passport is issued by this office, it means that all proper documentary requirements have been met with. Otherwise, the passport would not have been issued in the first place," Rastogi said.

The CBI sources, quoting those associated with the probe, said that there were reports suggesting that Balkrishna is in possession of two passports issued from India. He is also said to be in possession of a Nepali passport. "This is in gross violation of the Nepal Citizenship Act, 2006 which states that any citizen of Nepal who obtains citizenship of another country must surrender his Nepalese citizenship and Nepalese passport as well. India also does not approve of dual citizenship," the sources said.

According to Balkrishna, he was born in Haridwar (India) while his parents were Nepali. He claims to have lived in India for the better part of his life. "Anyone who is born in India is a citizen of this country by birth. I am an Indian citizen and proud of it as well. I have done no wrong at all. Each and every travel document that I have in possession is a valid official document issued by the government or its agencies," Balkrishna had said recently, talking to mediapersons at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.

He also cited the provisions of Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 which allows Indian citizenship to any Nepali who has lived in India for eleven years or more. Balkrishna said his ancestral home was in Syangja district of Western Nepal, where his father (Jayaballav Subedi) and mother live presently. There are reports quoting Jayaballav that Balkrishna was born in India and brought back to Nepal when he was barely 3 months old. When he left Nepal again, he was 11-years-old and studying in Class VI.

Balkrishna is seen as the brain behind Baba Ramdev's host of trusts and companies, including Patanjali Yogpeeth, which itself is supposedly worth over Rs 1,100 crore. The group has incorporated more than 30 different firms dealing in medicine, real estate and construction as well, within a span of five years starting in 2006.

 Balkrishna is believed to have joined hands with Baba Ramdev and his aide, Karamveer, in early 1990s, after they met at Tripura Yoga Ashram in Haridwar, where they assisted in preparing Ayurvedic medicines.

Editorial

PRESS FREEDOM

Civil Society Must Speak Up

The recent murder of Jyotirmoy Dey, one of India’s foremost investigative journalists in Mumbai, are disturbing signs for a country such as India which prides itself in a free and robust Press. The heinous act has caught the attention of renown social activist Anna Hazare, who has written to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, demanding speedy action to curb attacks on journalists. Hazare has rightly pointed out that attacks on members of the Fourth Estate, which is considered the fourth pillar of democracy, “is a serious threat to India’s democratic structure.”

     While Dey’s murder has hit the headlines in both print and electronic media there are hundreds of journalists in the sub-continent who are working under tremendous pressure from the authorities, including corrupt officials and insurgent and militant groups. Their work not only gets unnoticed no one, including the media, takes note of them when they are under attack. For instance, in the last 24 years 23 journalists have been murdered in the State of Assam in the Northeast. For fear of incurring the wrath of the powers-that-be even local newspapers often fail to give adequate coverage to such condemnable acts. The national media is often too busy chasing irrelevant issues and events.

  Governments must do more than protect the media from violence. Suppression of Press freedom comes through numerous ways such as threats, economic squeeze, libel suits etc. In smaller states in India where even opposition parties succumb to government pressure it is the Fourth Estate which is forced to report the truth and expose the misdeeds of vested interests and those in power. Most of the time independent journalists in small towns go about their job at great risk to their life and property. In such a scenario stringent laws to protect journalists are not enough; members of civil society in each and every village, town and cities in India must come out in the open to protect Press freedom if they wish to live in a decent and civilized environment. Nothing less than this is acceptable to those journalists who are working in the frontiers of Press freedom.

Lay persons take over Christian educational institutions in Kurseong, Shillong

C. Tamang

Kurseong, June 28:  Starting with Goethals Memorial School, Kurseong, in 1990, St Edmund’s College has become another institution of the Christian Brothers to have a non-clergyman as the principal.

Sylvanus Lamare, a doctorate in Khasi literature, was appointed as the successor to Brother E.V. Miranda, the last principal of St Edmund’s College, belonging to the Christian Brothers congregation of Blessed Edmund Rice.

 Lamare, who has been a lecturer at the college for over 20 years, was expected to take over the prestigious institution from June 1.

   Since its establishment in 1924 by the Christian Brothers principals of the college, the first college to be set up in Meghalaya, has always been selected among Christian Borthers.

 “Over the last 20 years, the Christian Brothers have been empowering members of the laity. We also discovered that the common people were ready to take up leadership roles in our institutions,” Br C. D’Abreu, rector of the college, said.

Founded by the Christian Brothers in 1907, Goethals Memorial School, located near the picturesque town of Kurseong, is named after Jesuit Archbishop of Calcutta, Paul Goethals. The land for the school was donated by the Maharaja of Bardhaman.

On the death of Paul Goethals, Archbishop of Calcutta, in July 1901 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta commemorated his memory by the establishment of an educational institution for boys in Kurseong.

In February 1907 classes started in the building erected by the first Principal Br. M.S.O Brien (1907–1914). The number of boys in residence was 110. The official opening took place on 30 April 1907.

Other educational institutions in Darjeeling run by Christian missionaries are finding it increasingly difficult to get principals who are not only Christians but men and women of character and integrity.

Schools such as St. Paul’s, St. Joseph’s and Mt. Hermon School in Darjeeling no longer have foreign principals from the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Team Anna wants Assam activists freed‎

Train services disrupted, blockades in city by protesters, Gogoi’s release demanded

P. Ghosh

Guwahati, June 28: Social activist Anna Hazare’s civil society group India Against Corruption (IAC), which is spearheading the Lokpal Bill movement, on Sunday demanded the release of two activists arrested in Assam and sought an apology from the government.

“India Against Corruption, Delhi, strongly condemns such high-handed, brutal and undemocratic actions of the government and requests all citizens to join hands to oppose the government’s grave misconduct,” said an IAC statement.

“Gogoi and Mukut must be immediately released by the government, an apology issued, and the police officers responsible for the arrests disciplined,” it added. The activists — Akhil Gogoi and Mukut - of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) — were arrested from the Guwahati Press Club premises on Friday for allegedly inciting violence earlier in the week in Assam’s capital Dispur. Three people were killed and more than 50 others injured in police firing in the incident.

“This is an example of the type of criminal behaviour by the government that is alienating the people of the Northeast and giving rise to and fuelling armed rebellion by various groups,” the statement said.

IAC said at the time of his arrest, Gogoi was explaining to the media how some unknown people in the crowd and some members of Youth Congress had burned vehicles.

“Instead of arresting the real culprits, the government arrested the very people who raised their voices against state crime, maladministration and corruption in the public distribution system in Golaghat district,” the statement added.

After the arrest of the two RTI activists the State has been witnessing a series of series of violent protests. While several groups staged blockades on various parts of the city, the locals of Fatashil Ambari - offended with the government's eviction drive - went even a step ahead: they sought a re-election in the area. A dawn-to-dusk Assam bandh was also called to free Akhil Gogoi on Saturday.

"Before the polls, the Congress candidate came to us and assured that we will not be evicted. We voted for him and now when his party is ruling, Talukdar (local MLA) is not listening to us. He has not visited us once to know our plights. We want a re-election here and this time we will certainly defeat the Congress candidate," alleged Golap Kalita, member of the Shantinagar Unnayan Samity.

More than 500 locals from various areas like Ambari, Lalganesh, Garchuk, Ganeshpara, Shantinagar, Dhirenpara and Pamohi assembled at Fatashil Ambari T-lane and blocked the road. The protesters pressed for immediate release of Akhil and asked the government to sit with him for a dialgoue.

"If our leader is in jail, how can any talk be fruitful? He should be released without any condition. The government should talk to him and sort out the land patta problem," said said Lila Narzary, a widow who was evicted recently.

Train services were partially disrupted in Assam on Sunday due to blockade by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) to protest the arrest of its general secretary Akhil Gogoi. As picketeers squatted on the tracks New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express was delayed for some time at Pathsala.

Dibrugarh-Kamakhya Express was detained at Jamuguri station at 11 am as picketers blocked the tracks on the Lumding-Furkating section, while Lumding-Tinsukia passenger train was detained at Borpathar.

The farmers body has announced a 'jail bharo' on Monday.

Sikkim Cong sending conflicting signals on fight against corruption

By A Staff Reporter

Gangtok, June 28: The State unit of the Congress party is sending conflicting signals to the people as far as its lack of will to fight rampant corruption in the State administration is concerned.

Seven Congressmen, including former minister and senior Congress leader KN Upreti, who have been reinstated into the party following the party high command’s rejection of their expulsion by the SPCC for their alleged anti-party activities, may not be able to do much to raise the corruption issue against the Chamling Government as the party high command has not shown much interest on the issue.

More than a year has passed by since SPCC President NB Bhandari submitted the much-talked-about and well-circulated “Sikkim Mahaloot” magazine, published by Sikkim Pradesh Congress Sandesh, which highlighted alleged rampant corruption involving Chief Minsiter Pawan Chamling and his past and present Cabinet colleagues, to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In his letter, dated June 25, 2010, to Sonia Gandhi, Bhandari sought for “appropriate action” to direct the CBI to launch investigation into the disproportionate assets case filed in the Supreme Court and CBI against Chamling & Co. This letter is published in the magazine, which has been printed in English and Nepali and widely circulated throughout the State and in New Delhi.

AICC general secretary K Jayakumar in-charge of Sikkim and Tripura, who was here last week, did not give much indication on CBI cases against Chamling. He only came here to “dispel rumours that the Congress party was opposed” to addressing issues such as corruption, black money and Lokpal.

During a meeting of the SPCC held here, Jayakumar said the party high command recently decided to revoke expulsion orders of Upreti & Co. after reviewing the matter.

Dissident group in the Congress camp led by Upreti gradually lost faith in Bhandari when he allegedly was not taking CBI cases against Chamling seriously. They also maintain that members of the SPCC were in the habit of filing dozens of RTI applications against the government mainly to blackmail the administration and extract money.

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.