SIKKIM OBSERVER   Aug 11, 2012

Sikkim OBSERVER

enters

27^th YEAR

of publication

THIS WEEK

I’m not in toppling game: Ramdev

“Bring back black money”; demands independent CBI

New Delhi, Aug 10: Yoga guru Ramdev yesterday launched a three-day fast along with his supporters demanding immediate action to enact a strong Lokpal and steps to bring back black money stashed away in foreign banks failing which he will announce his future strategy.

Returning to Ramlila Maidan in the heart of the capital from where he was bundled out in the middle of night in June last year after a police crackdown, the yoga guru claimed his agitation was neither against any individual nor targeted at any political party.

Taking his supporters by surprise, Ramdev announced he would go on a fast for three days over demands that also include an independent CBI, PTI reported.

"We will go without food and water for three days. After that, we think about our future strategy," he told his supporters.

Offering to talk to the government on the issues, Ramdev also demanded a change in the process of appointing Election Commissioners, CAG, CVC and CBI director.

He also shed some light on his association with the erstwhile team led by Anna Hazare, saying he was supportive of the agenda being pursued by the social activist but was not part of the team.

"The fight for Lokpal has not ended but we will take it forward. All corrupt people have to be punished," he said and demanded that a strong Lokpal Bill be passed in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.

Ramdev's comments assume significance as they come days after Hazare called off his fast and disbanded his team which has decided to take a political plunge.

"We are not against any individual or party. Our intention is to make India a great nation. This is not to overthrow someone from power," he said.

Ramdev said he has no political agenda and the second phase of his protest will be announced if the government does not agree to his demands on blackmoney, Lokpal Bill, appointment procedures and making CBI independent.

Youth body condemns dual citizenship allegation against Sikkim varsity VC

Gangtok, Aug 10: The All Sikkim Educated Self-Employed & Unemployed Association has condemned the dual citizenship made against Sikkim University Vice-Chancellor Mahendra P. Tamang by Dr. Shiva Sharma.

In a press statement, the Association President, Nawin Kiran Pradhan, said Sharma’s “controversial statements” against “outsiders” and Tamang in particular was “irresponsible” and “won't do good for anyone.”

Pradhan has also cast doubts on who is backing Sharma to make emotive charges against Tamang in the Facebook.

“We don't know on whose behest interest Dr. Sharma is working, but we know these kind of irresponsible statements and perceptions won't do good for anyone,” Pradhan said.

 “As an association we view the rights of the Sikkimese must never be diluted and have always stood by it. We will never compromise in Sikkimese issue and will never tolerate the remaining rights of Sikkimese being diluted but at the same time we truly acknowledge the service and efforts of all those be it teachers, journalists, governments, employees, businessmen, lawyers etc. who came to Sikkim and served the Sikkimese,” Pradhan added.

Tamang, who is the founder-vice-chancellor of the Sikkim University since its inception in 2007, is a Nepali from the Tamang community and is originally from Darjeeling. Sharma accused him of holding Indian as well as Nepali citizenship.

Alleging that Tamang has “deceived” the Central Government, Sharma has urged the Central and State governments to probe into the allegations failing which he will be forced to approach the court.

Ramdev supporters hold rally, dharna in Gangtok

Gangtok, August 10: Joining hands in the national movement against corruption and black money spearheaded by Baba Ramdev and his Bharat Swabhiman Trust (BST) at Ram Lila Maidan, New Delhi, the Sikkim chapter of the Trust also staged a dharna here in front of East District Collectors office yesterday.

A total of 60 members of the BST from across the State took part in the dharna.

Briefing the media, General Secretary of the Trust Pushpa Devi Poudyal stated that the dharna is staged in the State to support the twin issues of corruption and black money raised by Baba Ramdev. The dharna is indefinite and based on the direction of the high command, Poudyal said.

Apart from the dharna the Trust also organized a candlelight rally from Bansilal Petrol Pump to Zero Point in the capital yesterday.

Hum Kisi Se Kom Nahi

“Our face is different but our heart is Indian”

Mark Twain said, only half in jest, that Americans learnt geography through the wars their country waged.

In India, it appears, it takes an occasional Olympic hero – like the pint-sized pugilist Mary Kom – to impart a similar lesson in the geography of places that exist outside of our normal range of vision.

On Twitter on Monday, @tonytongbram used the upsurge in national interest in the sporting fortunes of Mary to conduct a pop quiz – and elevate the cartographic awareness of many Indians. On a map of India’s northeastern region, he asked Mary Kom’s many fans to try and identify Manipur, the State from which she hails.

Many of those who responded said they didn’t earlier know where Manipur was, but now they did. That, he said, was his “humble goal”.

The northeastern States are endearingly referred to as the “seven sisters”, but the familial collective also masks a failing in many of us “on the mainland”: an inability to tell all the ‘sisters’ apart on a map – and a deeper incuriosity about the region. Amitabh Bachchan may not be guilty of any of these, but he too erred momentarily, while saluting Mary Kom, in referring to her as being from Assam. And although he quickly rectified his error of geography, he illustrated a common-enough mental lapse.

If it takes a Mary Kom to advance the frontiers of our understanding, it’s a consummation devoutly to be desired. Manipur is, of course, a State that, like much of the northeastern region, has fallen off the map of our collective consciousness – to the point where even the periodic economic blockades (which compels Mary Kom to cook on woodstoves) and Irom Sharmila’s hunger strike of 11-plus years don’t make it to media headlines.

So, if it takes a Mary Kom to advance the frontiers of our understanding, it’s a consummation devoutly to be desired.

But Mary Kom isn’t just teaching us to mark places on a map. Typical of someone who punches above her weight, she also subconsciously holds up a mirror to another duplicitous side of our mental make-up.

The effusive readiness with which many Indians have embraced Mary Kom contrasts sharply – and hypocritically – with the racist stupidity and ethnic stereotyping that is inflicted on many of those from the northeastern States in the big cities in “the mainland”.

Mary herself knows what it is to be mocked in Delhi’s mean streets. In a recent expansive profile of Mary Kom in Intelligent Life, Rahul Bhattacharya writes: “When (Mary Kom) walks the streets of Delhi with her fellow north-eastern athletes, they are sometimes mistaken for Nepali domestic help. ‘I tell them we are not Nepali, we are Manipuri, so don’t speak like that, this is very bad manners.’ At other times they are taunted with the gibberish dispensed to those with oriental features: ‘Something ching ching ching ching they start speaking, I don’t know what. Even they don’t know what! We are feeling bad. We are Indian.Ya, the face is different. But heart is Indian.’”

On occasion, the latent racism goes too far, as some recent tragic instances involving students from northeastern States – Richard Loitam (in Bangalore), amchanphy Hongray (in New Delhi), and Dana Sangma (in Gurgaon) – illustrate.

But even when it is not lethal, expressions of racism, whether directed at one of our own or of foreign extraction, shame us all.

For instance, during Saina Nehwal’s matches with Chinese players at the Olympics, The Hindu’s China correspondent Ananth Krishnan observed a stream of racist public outpourings from Indians directed at the Chinese.

Such racist name-calling was again shamefully in evidence during a recent visit to China by an Indian youth delegation made up of youth representatives from various political parties. Media accounts of their indecorous conduct recall that the male members of the youth delegation “made lewd remarks of the dressing style of some Chinese girls and called them ‘chinkis’.” Subsequently, they picked on girls from northeastern India who were part of their own delegation as well.

As Ananth Krishnan observed, “For people who love to play victim abroad, we unashamedly tolerate racism to Asians and Africans.”

Perhaps someone needs to put the fear of Mary Kom into those who would resort to such racist name-calling. As this blogger observed: “Next time you use insulting slang for people of North East, remember… Mary Kom, the Olympian boxer, is from Manipur. She’ll whack you.” (The Hindu)

Editorial

ASSAM DISCORD

Lack Of Political Will

The editor of this paper wrote in his monthly magazine, Spotlight on Sikkim, which he edited: “…the Centre must accept the fact that citizens of any country have the right to resist foreign domination be it in the form of military aggression from without or mass infiltration to capture power from within.” The editor also warned: “A country which aspires to follow the democratic principles in all fields of human development cannot for long endure if it encourages a government of foreign nationals, by foreign nationals and for foreign nationals.” Do these words sound like the statements made in the Parliament by opposition leaders on the present situation in Assam? This was written in 1983 and the focus was on Sikkim’s ‘stateless’ vis-à-vis citizenship issue. The anti-alien issue in Assam led by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) in the early 1980s led to the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 when the Congress party led by Rajiv Gandhi was in power at the Centre.

It is most unfortunate that after AASU leaders formed the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government in Assam on the emotive foreigners’ issue the issue was given a quiet burial. Both the Centre and State governments of the day are to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs. The root cause of ethnic violence in Assam over the years lies on the unresolved problems of illegal immigrants. That the Congress party banked heavily on Muslim migrant vote-bank from Bangladesh in Assam is an open secret. Congress leaders in both Houses of the Parliament had no answers to BJP leaders’ clear cut charges that the ongoing violence in lower Assam is not an ethnic issue but a foreigners’ issue. "Assam violence is not about ethnic riots. It is neither Hindu versus Muslim problem. It is an Indian versus illegal migrants issue," BJP leader LK Advani rightly informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday on the inaugural day of the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The 1985 Assam Accord signed between Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, chief minister of Assam at that time, states that those immigrants who came to Assam from Bangladesh till 1966 will be given citizenship, those who came between 1967 and 1971 be allowed to settle down but not given voting rights and those who entered after 1971 should be deported. Just before the Assam Accord the Central Government established a tribunal in Assam to detect foreign nationals. However, the Supreme Court in 2005 declared the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983, as violative of the Constitution of India. The apex court held that the IMDT provided protection to illegal migrants and was not in accordance with the spirit of the Assam Accord.

The Supreme Court observed: “There can be no manner of doubt that the State of Assam is facing external aggression and internal disturbance on account of large scale illegal migration of Bangladeshi nationals and it becomes the duty of the Union of India to take all measures for protection of the State of Assam because it poses a threat to the integrity and security of the North-Eastern region.” The apex court had directed the Centre to constitute adequate tribunals to detect illegal migration in accordance with the Foreigners Act, 1946. The failure to follow the apex court’s directive has led to the present crisis in Assam. The BJP rakes up the alien issue when it is in power but remains silent when it is in power. The Congress may have to pay a big price for its vote-bank politics in Assam. However, at stake for failure of the authorities to deal with the root cause of the crisis in Assam on a long-term basis will be the country’s security interest in a strategic and  volatile region. When the volcano of ethnic tension erupts in the Northeast it will be too late.

OBSERVER Archives

Pandit Nehru’s visit to Sikkim in December 1957

By Rajen Upadhyay

Pandit Nehru at Paljor Namgyal Girls' School, Gangtok on Dec 28, 1957

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India, also known as Chacha Nehru, had a great admiration with the erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim.  During his tenure as the Prime Minister of India he has visited the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim and had received approbation from its subjects.

As per the report of Kanchenjunga, the first news based Nepali journal of Sikkim, the late Indian Prime Minister reached Rangpo, a bordering town (that bordered Sikkim with India) in the morning of 28th December 1957 on his way to Gangtok, the Capital of Kingdom of Sikkim.

He was warmly welcomed by then Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal, the heir apparent Palden Thondup Namgyal, Nari K. Rustamji the Indian Dewan and the Executive Councillors of Sikkim Assembly. The journal further informs that the Indian Prime Minister was greatly welcomed by the people of Rangpo.

 “A crowd, busy in watching football match get into the town after hearing his arrival to wave their hands to the Prime Minister,” the journal reports.  After the grand welcome at Rangpo Dak Bunglow, Pandit Nehru inspected the working at Rangpo copper Mining. He further insisted for the creation of own Indian machines for the development of such mines in Sikkim. After his brief visit to Rangpo Copper Mining the Indian Prime Minister visited Singtam Bazar and acknowledged the greetings made by the people of Singtam at School Phatak. At Singtam, he visited food preservation factory, constructed under the Seven Years Plan adopted by the Royal Government of Sikkim.

He was also warmly welcomed by the people at 32 NO Ghattey School (now Brihaspati Parsai Sr. Sec School) Ranipool Golai, Deorali and Gangtok Bazar. The jeeps accompanying the Indian Prime Minister made several rounds of the capital clamouring the slogan of Panchseel Zindabaad.  On the same day, the Indian Prime Minister also visited Technical Institute, Tashiling Secretariat and STNM hospital and made a round of the Capital Town. In the evening, Pandit Nehru attended Garden Tea Party at Sikkim Palace hosted by the King Shree Panch Maharajadhiraj Sir Tashi Namgyal.

The Report of Pt. Nehru’s visit was published in Kanchenjunga, (Vol.5 year 1957) the first News based journal of Sikkim. A copy of this journal is preserved by Shree Ganesh Kumar Pradhan of Rhenock at his private museum Ramgauri Sangrahalaya Rhenock East Sikkim) (Sikkim-history hunter blog)

It’s locals vs. outsiders in Assam, says Gadkari

Guwahati, Aug 10:  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari has accused the Congress party of using Bangladeshi intruders for vote bank politics in Assam following the recent ethnic clashes.

 "Don’t give the ongoing violence in Kokrajhar and other districts a communal colour"

The ongoing violence in Kokrajhar and neighbouring districts of Assam was not a Hindu-Muslim issue but a fight between people of Indian origin, including Indian Muslims, on the one side and “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” on the other and should thus not be given a communal colour, Gadkari said here on Tuesday.

Gadkari, who was speaking at a discussion on “Bodo Hindus — Refugees in their own land: Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators — the new kingmakers in an Indian State?” organised by the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation here, said the fact that Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had said the Centre was late in deploying the Army and Bodo leaders indicated that directions had been issued to the Border Security Force not to fire live ammunition at “Bangladeshi infiltrators” exposing the Union Government’s stance.

Accusing the Congress of playing vote-bank politics in the region since Independence,  Gadkari said the present flare-up was a manifestation of this flawed policy. He said 50 km of the 272-km border with Bangladesh was still porous and people were entering through this open area with weapons, attacking locals and grabbing their land while the government was not doing anything.

“We had a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance partners today [Tuesday] and would be raising this issue in both houses of Parliament on Wednesday. A protest has also been planned at Jantar Mantar and BJP MPs would be donating a month’s salary for the victims of the Assam violence.”

Describing the violence, as “a big national problem” and not one of Bodo people or Assam alone, Gadkari said it is not a political issue and the BJP would not allow it to be made one.

“It is a simple question of infiltration in the area by people of foreign origin. Will we keep our doors open, allow them to attack people of Indian origin, and grab their properties just because of vote bank politics?” he asked.

Kokrajhar MP S.K. Bwismuthiary made a fervent appeal to all Indians to stand as one in saving the indigenous people. “If India is really our country, it should stand up for us now. It is not a problem of Bodo or Assamese people, but of the whole country.’’ Darjeeling’s Mt. Everest Hotel may be reopened soon

Darjeeling, Aug 10: Darjeeling’s famous Mt. Everest Hotel, which has been shut down since early 1970s, is likely to be opened soon.

The Oberoi Group, one of the leading hospitality firms in India, is toying with the idea of reopening the hotel in Darjeeling after a gap of more than three and half decades.

"We are keeping a close watch on the situation in Darjeeling. Our group has a property on five acres in the hill town. It was closed in the late Seventies. If we want to reuse the property, then we have to reconstruct the entire structure. It is not in a good shape," the vice-chairman of EIH, S S Mukherji told reporters in Kolkata earlier this week.

Oberoi Mount Everest Hotel in Darjeeling was started in 1914 by Aratoon Stephen and named 'The Darjeeling Family Hotel'. In 1950, it was leased out to Oberoi group for a period of 100 years.

Milk Union team on Denmark visit

Gangtok, Aug 10: The Board of Directors of the Sikkim Milk Union is on their Exposure Tour to Denmark and Switzerland from 5th of August 12 to 13th August 12.

The team consists of nine elected board of directors (4 from West Sikkim, 2 from South Sikkim and 3 from East Sikkim Village milk cooperative society) and the Managing Director. 

The objective of the tour is to expose the dairy farmers of Sikkim to the developed economies in order to understand and practically see the practice of dairy farming and dairy enterprise, according to Managing Director of the Union Dr.P.Senthil Kumar.

Denmark is one among the leaders in global dairy sectors, especially in organic dairy farming, Kumar said.

Denjong Tsogpa performs puja of late Khenpo Dechen

Gangtok, Aug 10: The Denjong Nangten Sungkyob Tsogpa offered Monlam prayers with butter lamps at Ray Monastery in east Sikkim on the fourth week on the passing away of late Khenpo Dechen of Phensang Monastery.

 The monks performed rituals befitting the weekly puja Duen-tsig for the late Rinpoche amid the presence of the members of the Tsogpa, according to its General Secretary Khandu Lhamu Chingapa.

The Tsogpa has also made a contribution of one Mani Khorlo for the Rau-Mani Lhakhang in memory and honour of the late Khyen Rinpoche. Another Gyamtsoe (butter lamps) were also offered in memory of the Venerable Tashiding Gomchen Lama.

Top priority to sports: Rai

Namchi Aug 10:  The 66th Independence Day Knock-out Football Tournament got kicked off here in Veterinary Ground at Singithang on Monday.

 K.N Rai, former Minister and now Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, Government of Sikkim, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

Organized annually by South District Football Association (S.D.FA), in the first match of the tournament Central Pandam Academy humbled Dalam Sports Association Sombaria, by 3 goals to 1.

In his inaugural address, Rai urged the youth to channelize their energy and potential in sports and in productive and creative things and also informed them how the State Government has given top priority to sports and sports persons in the State.

14 teams which also includes a team from neighbouring Darjeeling will be fighting  for the coveted trophy. 

Bhaichung places Sikkim in football map of India

By Bhargab Sarmah

Located at the altitude of 1800 metres, Gangtok’s Paljor Stadium is one of the highest football stadia in the country. This beautiful stadium, which traces its origin back to 1939, has more often than not remained stagnant during the past few decades when it comes to sports activities. However, when the Sikkim Football Board, with the help of the legendary Baichung Bhutia, founded the United Sikkim Football Club, things took a turn for the better for the scenic stadium in Gangtok.

The birth of the ‘Snowlions’ has turned the stadium into a hotbed of football activities during the past eighteen months. With United Sikkim now having qualified for the I League, the country is all set to get a taste of top division football at the Paljor Stadium. Despite expectations not being sky-high from the fans regarding United Sikkim, considering it being the club’s first ever season, the football aficionados in the state would be hoping for a strong season in the league and in cup competitions from their boys. The club’s co-owner Bhaichung Bhutia, also a member of the announced squad, has already underlined survival from relegation as the club’s primary target.

Paljor Stadium, Gangtok

United Sikkim coach Philippe de Ridder is a popular name among the Indian football fraternity. During his time in this country, the Belgian manager has managed a few Indian clubs, East Bengal being the most notable one.

When De Ridder took over as the coach of the United Sikkim side, it was quite a different challenge for him. His first task was to help his boys in clearing the hurdle of I League Division 2. ‘Indi’, as De Ridder is popularly known, didn’t disappoint the fans of the club. Inspite of losing Renedy Singh and Sushil Kumar Singh, two important players of the club, to Meghalayan top division club Shillong Lajong FC, De Ridder helped United Sikkim wade through the waters of I League Division 2. Playing the final rounds in front of their own fans at the Paljor Stadium, United Sikkim FC topped the final standings with 22 points to their name, thus ensuring that the Bhaichung Bhutia co-owned club plies its trade in the I League for the 2012-13 season.

Once their I League qualification had been guaranteed, Philippe de Ridder set about making wholesale changes to his squad. The club held various trials for youngsters, thus leaving no stone unturned in their search for the best possible side. The Belgian coach has, over the course of the past few months, put together a side blended with talented youngsters and seasoned professionals.

With the signings of experienced campaigners like Anwar Ali and Zenith Mashangva, and the presence of the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, the youngsters will surely find little problems in settling into the United Sikkim squad. Taking a look into the side, De Ridder seems to have cleverly put together a very bright side, certainly capable of challenging for a spot in the top half, although aspirations of winning the league title seem a bit far-fledged at the moment. It is in the cup competitions, i.e. the Federation Cup, Durand Cup and the IFA Shield, where United Sikkim can realistically look forward to challenging for silverware.

Bhaichung Bhutia

United Sikkim has already brought in a couple of foreign players in the form of goalkeeper Tae Yoon of Korea and Nigerian midfielder Salao Nuruddin. Two slots for foreign players still remain to be filled. Among defenders, Anwar Ali stands out as the most experienced whereas the club can also rely on the services of local lad Nim Lepcha, among others.

The midfield looks fairly strong with the likes of Beikhokhei, Zenith, Debnath , local player Nima Tamang, etc. Bhaichung Bhutia, Budhiram Tudu and Nadong Bhutia are the three forwards named in the squad. With Bhaichung past his prime, the mantle will lie on Budhiram Tudu to come up with the goals. The former East Bengal striker, who failed to make it past five league appearances with the Kolkata giants, would surely like to prove a point with United Sikkim. The club also has a few talented players in its reserve team to pick from, when the right time arrives.

Despite being a home to thousands of football lovers, Sikkim has never had one of its clubs locking their horns against the country’s best sides at the top level. This has all changed in recent times with the emergence of United Sikkim Football Club. The State that has gifted the nation with one of its best ever strikers, can finally have top division football in its own backyard. It is now in the hands of Indy’s boys to weave their magic with their feet against the best players in the country.

SIKKIM People & Places

GURUDONGMAR CONTROVERSY REVISITS LACHEN VALLEY

A Sikh Gurudwara at the sacred Gurudongmar lake in North Sikkim irks local people

J. Kalzang

Buddhist prayer flags at Gurudongmar lake in Lachen, North Sikkim.

 Gurudwara Gurudongmar Sahib temple at Gurudongmar lake premises in Lachen, North Sikkim.

Ever since the 8^th century when Guru Rinpoche (Lord Padmasambhava) visited Sikkim while he was on his India-Tibet journeys the local people in the former Buddhist Kingdom of Sikkim have regarded the holy lake of Gurudongmar in Lachen, North Sikkim, as a sacred pilgrimage centre for Buddhist devotees. Gurudongmar (17,100 ft), located in the upper reaches of the picturesque Lachen Valley, was unknown to most people in the State before 1962 when China invaded India through Sikkim. But the only migratory highlanders (Lachenpas) of Sikkim have always maintained the holy sanctity of Gurudongmar lake as a Buddhist pilgrimage centre.

However, with the advent of ‘progress’ and ‘development’ more people got interested in the holy lake so much so that a zealous group of army personnel turned the lake into a  Sikh pilgrimage centre in the 1990s. A section of the Sikhs believe that the holy lake was visited by Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, in the 16^th century. This view led to construction of a Gurudwara at the lake premises which evoked sharp reactions from the Lachenpas, who took up the matter with the State Government.

When the controversy took a political turn the Chamling Government set up a panel to look into the matter. The high-power panel recommended that the entire lake area be restored to its pristine glory. Unlike many other faiths most holy places of the Buddhists in Sikkim do not have artificial constructions. Locals prefer to worship the sanctity of the area in its natural settings.

Unfortunately, due to many reasons, which remain unexplained, construction works at the lake premises have remained the same, leading to further claims that the Gurudongmar lake is also a religious centre for the Sikhs.

The anger of the Lachenpas on the controversy resurfaced recently when websites, including wikipedia, associated Gurudongmar lake with Guru Nanak. “The wrong information/misinterpretation has not only confused the people who read the accounts, but also hurts the sentiments of the peace loving and innocent people of the area,” said a statement of the Lachenpas which is being circulated. It said until the Indian Army was posted in North Sikkim in the 1960s there was no record or claim that Guru Nanak visited Lachen and Lachung valleys in North Sikkim.

“It is a historically known fact that Guru Padmasambhava visited Sikkim in the eighth century and had blessed its land, lakes, rivers, caves, rocks and trees,” the statement said, while adding, “Guru Padmasambhava had also hidden many treasures and texts for the benefit of future generations. These are clearly mentioned in the dialogues between Tibetan king King Trisong Duetsen and Guru Padmasambhava texed by many eminent scholars.”

SIKKIM OBSERVER         Aug 4, 2012

Youth body threatens mass movement on fake Sikkim Subject Certificate issue

Will seek help of social organizations, political parties

Gangtok, Aug 3: The issue of fake Sikkim Subject Certificate (SSC) and Certificate of Identification (COI) is unlikely to get a quiet burial even if vested interests want it. A former Sikkim MP and a former minister are behind the All Sikkim Educated Self Employed & Un-employed Association’s bid to begin a mass movement on this vital issue that has great relevance to the identity and unity of bonafide Sikkimese hailing from three ethnic communitiesFormer Lok Sabha MP Pahalman Subba chaired a meeting of the Association here recently where the issue of fake ‘Sikkim Subject Certificate’ was discussed and a tentative strategy was chalked out to get to the truth of the matter.

Former Minister and Convenor of Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) Tseten Tashi Bhutia was also present during the meeting. While Subba is looked upon as one of the main backbones of the OBC community, particularly the Limbus, Bhutia has been leading a steady campaign on behalf of the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals in the State. The Association President Nawin Pradhan was also present during the meeting.

The Association’s resolution passed during this crucial meeting said it would give top “priority” to the issue of fake SSC/COI and would urge the establishment to take the issue “seriously” and “act” on it, a release of the Association said.

It has threatened to “initiate a mass movement” with the help of social organisations and political parties if the authorities fail to initiate serious steps on the issue.

PM Subba

Nawin Prahan

According to sources, of the around six lac people in the State only about three lac possess Sikkim Subject Certificates. Sources also said more than 30,000 people in the State possess fake Sikkim Subject Certificates. Holders of fake SSCs are enjoying benefits and facilities which are meant for bonafide Sikkimese who possess genuine SSCs.

It may be mentioned that the SSCs were issued during the Chogyal era when Sikkim was ruled by the Chogyals (kings). After Sikkim became a part of India in 1975 the government has stopped issuing the SSC. However, thousands of fake SSCs have been issued by the authorities after the merger in 1975.

Tseten Tashi Bhutia

‘Third force’ only alternative to ‘unresponsive govt’: Anna

New Delhi, Aug 3: Social activist Anna Hazare and his team announced on Thursday they would call off their indefinite fast against corruption at 5 pm on Friday and proposed forming a "political alternative" as an answer to an "unresponsive" government.

 Making the announcement to thousands of flag-waving cheering supporters, Hazare had said he and Team Anna, as members of his civil society followers are known, were calling off their fast on Friday 5 pm. The condition of three of the team, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai, who have been on fast for the past ten days, has worsened causing concern among supporters and the authorities.

Hazare's announcement of a political alternative got an immediate response on social networking sites, with most welcoming the move while some wondered how the apolitical movement was suddenly changing colours. India's next general elections are due in 2014 and political maneuvering has begun keeping the polls in mind.

But the government was quick to react, with Congress minister Ambika Soni saying "we had always held that Team Anna was goaded by politics, and it is a good thing that they have come out in the open with their intention".

As Team Anna's plan to form a political alternative on Thursday created a buzz, the government and Congress took a jibe at them saying their "real intention" has come out in the open while BJP said the civil society group has every right to form a political party.

"We have always said that these people seemed inspired by politics. It is good that whatever the intention was has come out clear. Many of the stances they took seem to suggest this. I am glad that they have gone ahead," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters in New Delhi.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, a bitter critic of Team Anna, said his opinion about their "real intentions" has now been confirmed.

BJP demands CBI probe on SMU in Sikkim    

Sikkim BJP President Padam B. Chettri

Gangtok, Aug 3: The BJP has demanded CBI investigation in the State into the alleged irregular functioning of the Sikkim Manipal University, which allegedly made huge sums of money running into crores by running illegal distance learning courses.

Sikkim BJP unit chief Padam Bahadur Chettri said CBI probe into the matter in the State was required as the SMU has “jurisdiction only in Sikkim; it has no meaning across Sikkim border.”

Chettri said on July 27 the CBI registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against V N Rajshekharan  Pillai, former Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University, for allowing two private universities  -  Sikkim Manipal University (SMU)  and Punjab Technical University (PTU)  -   to run distance learning courses in violation of laid down procedures by abusing official position and by committing criminal conspiracy.   

Quoting CBI’s FIR, Chettri said, “the two universities made close to Rs 470 crores by running distance learning courses at their centres in five years.”

He said SMU admitted 17.6 lakh students in its 728 study centres all over India between 2004 and 2011 and made a profit of Rs 85 crore.

According to the BJP chief, the FIR said: “SMU is a self-financed state university established in 1995. It had approached DEC in 2004 for approval of conducting 51 courses/ programmes in distance mode. The experts of DEC examined the study materials and observed discrepancies which were communicated to SMU on July 3, 2006. Without any examination of the response of SMU, Prof  Pillai allowed a provisional approval for a period of one year, i.e., for 2007-2008 and post facto recognition was given on August 29, 2007 by manipulating minutes of meetings of the third meeting of the joint committee held on August 7, 2007.”

Both the  universities reportedly did not get the approval of the  joint committee of AICTE, UGC and IGNOU but Pillai still gave approval for the courses setting aside the laid down guidelines, CBI sources said. 

 “Since the main Headquarters of the SMU are in Sikkim, the CBI may conduct investigation in Sikkim,” Chettri said.

Power panel to submit report by August 10

Gangtok, Aug 3: A high-powered committee has been constituted by the Sikkim government to look into the implementation of the under construction hydro-electric projects in the State.

The committee constituted recently under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso has been asked to submit its report by August 10, official sources said.

Besides looking into various issues of projects under construction, the committee will also seek to resolve such issues with a view to expedite their implementation, PTI reported.

In November last, the government had constituted a high- powered committee to look into issues concerning the three hydel projects proposed on the Rathong Chu in West Sikkim.

The committee had recommended the termination of two of the projects, namely, Lethang and Tashiding. Subsequently, the government, accepting the committee’s recommendations, had issued a notification for their termination.

There are several under-construction projects in the State. After the termination of the 2 projects in West Sikkim and another 4 in north Sikkim recently by the government, the projects number about 23.

The issues range from erosion of traditional lifestyles of the people to influx (mainly of labourers) required by the project developers.

A major issue of concern is the environmental impact of such projects on small States like Sikkim.

CM stresses on quality education

Gangtok, Aug 3: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling stressed the importance of value-based education in order to make students successful in their future ventures. He said his government continues to give top priority to quality education in the State, where 20 per cent of the budget is set aside for education sector.

While addressing a mammoth meeting of students and teachers here at the Tenzing Namgyal Memorial Ground (Guards Ground) recently, the Chief Minister said the State Government has decided to award a cash of Rs one lac to class 12 toppers, followed by Rs 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 to those who came second and third respectively.

The orientation programme on quality education and development organized by Human Resource Development Department, Government of Sikkim was witnessed by 12,269 students from class eight to twelve and 2,312 teachers from six constituencies from in and around Gangtok, an IPR release said.

HRDD Minister NK Pradhan while addressing the gathering talked about holistic development of human resources in the State.

Editorial

MARCH FORTH

Third Alternative A Must

The decision to join electoral politics by Team Anna is a welcome move. There can always be another national anti-graft organization to fight corruption in high places. Team Anna, working under the banner of India Against Corruption, has generated a nationwide awareness of the growing menace of corruption in the political system in India. An insensitive and unresponsive establishment in a democracy is not worth fighting against. It must and should be speedily replaced by a more democratic and pro-people government. Team Anna’s decision to join politics and fight elections is a fitting reply to the political elite – ruling and opposition – which wants to preserve status quo and carry on looting the nation all the time and everywhere. Right thinking individuals from all over the country must rise up to the occasion to provide a third alternative to the Congress and BJP. The so-called ‘third front’ of non-BJP and non-Congress forces should also be kept aloof as most of its leaders are fence-sitters and rank opportunists.

If the elected representatives of the people fail to pay heed to the voice of the people as has been seen in the anti-graft campaign despite enormous pressure from the people it is a signal for right-thinking Indians to chalk out a new course for the country.

In Manipur, social activist Irom Sharmila has been on hunger strike for a good cause for more than a decade and no one, including the government, has responded to her call. In Sikkim, the Lepchas staged a prolonged anti-mega dam hunger strike a few years back which lasted for more than a year but the State Government remained unresponsive. Finally they had to pack up their bags and go home quietly. In Assam, social activist Akhil Gogoi, who is leading another anti-mega dam agitation, was recently beaten up allegedly by Congress workers. Former Lok Sabha Speaker projected himself as a tribal leader and fought the recent presidential polls. Not only his own party (NCP) dumped him but tribal legislators from his own Northeast region failed to back him. Why? No one wants to displease the UPA government at the Centre which controls the purse. Greed binds those in power and fear of losing power keeps the flock together. Both Sangma and Hazare has done the right thing by deciding to form their own political outfit and march ahead.  Those in power will respect only those who have power and it is time that right-thinking Indians come together and capture power at the Centre and in the States. This may take a long, long time but any journey must begin with a step even if it is a faltering one.

SACRED SIKKIM- III

Natural and cultural heritage of Beyul Demajong

By Sonam Yongda

Dzongu has one of the largest congregations of monasteries in Sikkim some of which house priceless relics. Two significant ones are Tholung and Lingthem monasteries. Aptly named ‘stoney valley’ the Tholung Gompa is the most inaccessible monastery in Sikkim and can be accessed only after a three-day trek through dense forests and across steep ridges. The monastery houses many antique treasures like thankas, horse saddles and thigh bone trumpets. It is said that Lhatsum Chempo, Sikkim’s patron saint, had an intuition about the foreign invasion and sent the most precious of the sacred objects of various monasteries in Sikkim to Tholung for safe keeping. All the relics are kept in 13 sealed boxes that are opened for public once every three years.

Because of Dzongu’s exclusive nature among the pristine natural settings, traditional rituals and worship of the natural deities like mountains, hills, lakes, groves, caves, spring etc still continue to be practised in every village. Each village has its own local mountain or hill deities to propitiate. Mount Kanchenjunga is the most important deity of them all. Known for their deep knowledge of ecology and botany, the Lepchas have a history of coexistence with nature and their religious beliefs restrain them from cutting trees, polluting lakes, destroying hills and cliffs. They believe that such activities would have unpleasant consequences and result in calamities or bloodshed. Sacred landscapes such as Kabi and Tholung’s sacred groves embody Lepcha culture and indigenous knowledge systems.

Therefore, every year the Lepcha’s pray to propitiate gods and spirits to ensure fertility of the land and maintain peace and environmental balance. This myth has a renewed ecological relevance as it encodes an environmental wisdom that has sustained the Lepchas in this shifting, precarious landscape for centuries. The main livelihood activity of the Lepchas is a mixed farming system which includes agriculture, home gardens, horticulture, livestock rearing, and agro-forestry which provides sustenance to the local communities while preserving the biodiversity of the region.

Sikkim as Mahaguru Padmasambhava’s most sacred hidden country Bay-yul Dhebu Phunsum Chopei Jong (Demo Jong) has a very long tradition of Buddhism which has been its official religion (Gazetteer of Sikkim, 1883 by HH Risley, Page 172). It was Mahaguru Padmasambhava who actually introduced Buddhism in this hidden ocuntry in the 8^th Century A.D. and has since been deeply ingrained in the psyche of the Sikkimese people. He also hid a large number of both major and minor Treasures for the benefit and rejuvenation of dharma when the same is uprooted in Tibet. More of these sacred hidden treasures such as Denjong Neyig (guide to the sacred locations of Demo Jong), Nesol (Offering to the local guardian deities of Demojong), Rigzin Sog-drub, etc. were later discovered by Gyalwa Lhatsun Chenpo in the late 16^th century. It was Lhatsun Chenpo who institutionalized Buddhism in Sikkim. The first Denjong Chogyal (Dharma Raja) soon after his enthronement proclaimed Buddhism as the national religion of Sikkim and appointed 18 Ministers from monks out of the total of 36.

It is  submitted  here  that  the  entire  area  below  Mt. Khangchen Dzonga in West Sikkim  is enunciated  as  most  sacred  areas  of  Sikkim though Sikkim as a whole is considered very sacred. It is mentioned that Khangchen Dzonga, the abode of the guardian deity of Sikkim, is surrounded by other deities of Sikkim, identified in the form of mountains, rocks, waterfalls, lakes, trees and sacred caves like the Great Four Caves and Lakes. There is a mention of most of the places within the vicinity of the Khangchen Dzonga such as Dubdi, Thragmo Rong, Phamo Rong, Tashiding, Sangha-Choeling, Pemayangtse, Rabdentse, Rathongchu, etc., as abodes of deities guarding the land from all directions. It is also, mentioned in the text that burning of any undesirable things like meat, killings, destructions of objects of worship like stupas, cutting down of trees and plants, misuse of lakes, destruction /

 defacement of hills and rocks of the sacred areas of Sikkim would directly affect the deities of Sikkim and will invite disasters and natural calamities.

   The region also has a number of glacial lakes in the higher reaches which are very sacred. The Rathongchu, itself sacred, has its source in nine holy lakes at the higher elevations, very next to the grand Khangchen Dzonga peak. Besides, the river in the Yuksam region itself is considered to have 109 hidden lakes. These visible and hidden lakes identified by Treasure Revealer (Ter-ten-pas) are presiding deities, representing wrathful and compassionate as well as positive and negative. During the annual Bumchu Festival of Tashiding (being observed since many centuries back), Rathongchu River remains the focus of all which turn partly white at the exact portion where it meets River Rangeet and from where designated quantity of water is collected for the Holy Vase, thereby attracting thousands of devotees from far across including Himalayas, Nepal, Bhutan etc.

Pang Lhabsol is the most important Sikkimese prayers in veneration of the guardian deities of Sikkim. Gyalwa Lhatsun Chenpo prescribed prayers for deities of Sikkim and to propitiate them is indicative of the widespread respect of the Sikkimese people towards these entire sacred regions. In fact, the very cultural fabric of Sikkimese society is obviously dependent upon the conservation of the whole landscape within the sacred Khangchen Dzonga without which, the very identity and charm of the Demo Jong is lost or is worthless to mention or identify. (concluded)

Provide CCTVs for media safety: Sikkim Press federation

Gangtok, Aug 3: While welcoming the Arunachal Pradesh Government’s  decision to install CCTV cameras in all media houses in Arunachal Pradesh to ensure protection for working journalists and media houses in that State, the  Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists (SFWJ) has urged State governments in the Northeast, including Sikkim, to  “provide CCTV cameras to all media houses so that journalists and media houses in the region work in a safe and secure environment to carry out their professional duties.”

A press release by the Federation’s General Secretary Khagendramani Pradhan said this was necessary as Northeast and Sikkim have “a history of threats and assaults to mediapersons and attacks on media houses.”

This appeals comes following the recent attack on Tongam Rina, Associate Editor of Arunachal Times, an English daily published from Itanagar. Rina was shot at near her work place by unidentified gunman.

 The SFWJ, which is affiliated to the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ), has also urged “all journalists in the region to stay united and to speak up unitedly and effectively if the Press is under any kind of assault or pressure.”

The Federation has also demanded the speedy arrest of the culprit who was responsible for attack on Arunachal journalist.

Several regional, national and international media organizations, including

Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ), Arunachal Press Club (APC), Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC), National Federation of Newspaper Employees (NFNE), South Asia Women in Media (SAWM) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have also strongly condemned the attack on Rina.

Appointments in govt departments illegal: ASESEUA

Gangtok, Aug 3: The All Sikkim Educated Self Employed & Un-employed Association has urged Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso to ensure that employments in the State Government departments adhere strictly to the rule of law and orders of the Supreme Court.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary, the Association has alleged that non-transparent and haphazard appointments in various departments have not only caused unnecessary burden on the State exchequer but are also against the rule of law and judgement of the Supreme Court.

The Association has alleged that many appointments have been made “through the back door” and subverting the rule of law to accommodate candidates of influential politicians. Such practices have “resulted in imposing a considerable financial burden on the State exchequer besides depriving a large number of qualified, competent and meritorious citizens from competing for the numerous vacancies in the departments,” the letter said.

  Citing the verdict of the constitution bench of the  Supreme Court, dated: 16/4/2006,  in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Uma Devi and others, which overruled numerous judgments of the High Courts and the Supreme Court itself in matter of public employment and laid down the laws to enable the State to enforce  judicial precedent in letter and spirit, the Association said, “Even after the six years of Uma Devi judgment, the State of Sikkim has failed to be a model employer and the haphazard and clandestine method, and the manner of public employment continuous unabated to the detriment of large a number of qualified, competent and meritorious applicants from within the State.”

The Association gave examples of alleged illegal and arbitrary in three cases involving Lawrence Lepcha, Pritam Gurung and Dr. Ashim Anand Pradhan. The Association has demanded that appointments to these three persons be set aside.

‘Save Sikkim’ lambasts govt on “illegal appointments”

Gyalshing, Aug 3: ‘Save Sikkim’, a non-political organization, has lambasted the State Government for its “illegal appointments” to government services.

In a press statement, Yapchung Bhutia said the appointments were made in total disregard to the Supreme Court order and State Government rules on recruitment.

“It is not a new phenomena in Sikkim to recruit near and dear ones of ruling politicians and top bureaucrats in the Government service. But now enough is enough,” the release said.

“We have to fight against this practice and as an organization fighting for the Sikkimese interest, SAVE Sikkim is with ASESE&UA in eradicating this system,” the release added.

 Sex education in schools vital: Pradhan

Gangtok, Aug 3: A State-level advocacy-cum-co-ordination meeting was held here recently to deliberate on the introduction of Adolescence Education Programme in schools in the State.

In his power point presentation, Dr. Uttam Pradhan, Project Director of Sikkim State AIDS Control Society highlighted the importance of introducing AEP module in school syllabus, through life skills development, an IPR release said.

He explained the gathering about the four main components of the AEP, namely Adolescence Reproductive Sexual Health (ARSH), HIV & AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI)/Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI), and Drug/Substance Abuse.

Pradhan called on the authorities at HRDD, senior health officers, heads of schools, and civil society to realize the complexities of the issues faced by adolescents and the consequences. He reiterated that the correct intervention at school level will ensure a safer and healthier society.

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN        Aug 1, 2012

 74% turnout for peaceful GTA polls  

Darjeeling, July 31: At least 74% turnout was recorded in the first Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) polls in the hills on Sunday. Voting in the 17 of the total of 45 seats was peaceful and at least 74% of the electorate participated in it, said Darjeeling District Magistrate Saumitra Mohan.

Superintendent of Police Kunal Agarwal said there had been no untoward incident from any part of the hills.     

There are a total 45 seats in the GTA, 28 of which have been won uncontested by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. The CPI-M and Trinamool Congress had withdrawn from the contest. An independent also contested in the polls in Nimdong constituency in Kalimpong.

Despite TMC’s withdrawal from the polls, some of its nominees took part in the polls. While some TMC candidates say that the party failed to inform them of its decision to withdraw from the polls others say since they could not withdraw from the race since they had already decided to contest.

Several opposition parties in the hills boycotted the polls as they feel that the GTA was a sellout to the statehood demand.

Voters of Belgachi and Panighata did not participate in the polls as they do not want to join the GTA, PTI reported.

 People in Sukna boycotted the polls as they felt there had been no development in the past few years.

CBI books ex-IGNOU Vice-Chancellor

Permission to Sikkim Manipal University illegal:CBI

New Delhi, July 31: Rajasekharan Pillai, former Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University, has been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly misusing his position to grant approval to two universities to run distance learning courses in 2009 despite certain deficiencies highlighted by an expert committee.

Pillai, who was also holding the post of Distance Education Council chairman, granted permission to Punjab Technical University and Sikkim Manipal University for running two distance education courses for which he was allegedly not authorised.

The CBI suspects that Pillai had received some sort of illegal gratification in lieu of granting permission to the two universities.

Following registration of the case, the CBI on Friday conducted searches at the residence of the former Vice-Chancellor at Thiruvanthapuram. The role of the two universities’ managements is also being probed.

Pillai has denied charges leveled by the CBI.

"All guidelines and procedures were followed while granting permission to Sikkim Manipal University and Punjab Technical University to offer IGNOU's distance education courses," he said in a statement.

CBI, which booked Pillai, said that during his tenure as IGNOU VC between 2006-11, Pillai had allegedly misused his official position to allow Sikkim Manipal University and Punjab Technical University to run distance learning courses in violation of laid down procedure.

China presses Panchen Lama to address unrest in Tibet

Beijing, July 31:  As suicides continued unabated in Tibet, China for the first time pressed Panchen Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist monk being groomed to counter the Dalai Lama's influence, to campaign against the self immolations, especially among young monks.

22-year-old 11th Panchen Lama, who was appointed in 1995 by China replacing his Dalai Lama appointed "predecessor" Choekyi Gyaltsen at the age of six in a controversial circumstances, began taking active role in the recent months with high-profile publicity from the state-owned media, PTI reported.

Mostly based in Beijing, the young Lama, who is also the Vice President of Buddhist Association and nominated member of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference, for the first time stepped out of main land China in April this year and attended a Buddhist conference in Hong Kong.

Since last week he is touring Lhasa, the provincial capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, making high-profile visits to Buddhist temples and monasteries and urging monks to safeguard China's interests and work for social stability.  

Described by China's official Xinhua news agency as "a spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism", the young Lama on Thursday visited the Tibet Buddhist Theological Institute in Lhasa and called on monks to "love their country and abide by laws".

Opened in October 2011, the institute hosts 150 students, including monks from various Tibetan Buddhist sects.

After performing the rituals, Panchen Lama, regarded as the second most highest monk after the Dalai Lama, asked students to abide by national laws and serve the country and its people.

"I hope you can make good use of the sound learning conditions that the institute provides to learn the essence of Buddhism and safeguard our country and serve its people, so as to be true Buddhists," he said.

In his meeting with local leader on July 24, the Lama said it is both the "basics" and responsibility for a religious person to help people do good deeds, and promote harmony and social development by religious preaching.

His comments were made in the back drop of 44 self immolations by monks and other Tibetans in different parts of Tibet but mostly in Abba county in Sichuan province.

The suicides were stated to be aimed at protesting high security as well as to demand the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.

China against Indian influence in Nepal in the name of federalism: Baidya

Baidya

Kathmandu, July 31: “Foreign influence in Nepal in the name of federalism is not at all acceptable to China”.

This is the Chinese message communicated through the courtesy of Chairman Mohan Baidya Kiran of Nepal Communist Party-Maoist. Baidya returned home after a ten-day trip to China.

 “As a friendly neighbour China has expressed that growing foreign influence in Nepal in the name of federalism is not acceptable,” Baidya told media persons at a press meet here on Thursday.

“It is true that China is not in favour of ethnicity based federalism. However, they do not want to dictate their terms. They are worried if Nepal being influenced by foreign forces will undergo disintegration while adopting the federal model”.

 “I found the Chinese quite concerned over the present state of peace and constitutional processes”, he said and added, “I found the Chinese leaders concerned whether we will be able to restore peace and draft our constitution.”

“The Chinese leaders told me that we should not have divided the party”, Baidya told reporters.

 “I told them that since the leaders of Unified Maoists Party were on the verge of surrendering all the achievements of decade long revolt, I told them that to preserve those historical milestones the party split was a needed move”.

He also claimed that China takes his party as a strong nationalist political force.

“I was assured that China will never interfere in the internal matters of Nepal whereas it will continue extend supporting for the prosperity of Nepal”.

JK ‘stateless’ face uncertain future

 Jammu, July 31: It's a trauma that has lingered for 65 years. Some 2,000-3,000 Hindu families had migrated to Jammu and Kashmir from West Pakistan when the sub-continent was partitioned in 1947. Many of the elders have died, but their descendants, who have swelled to 2,00,000, are yet to get citizenship rights because the State's constitution does not permit this.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured them some four years ago that he would have their case examined. In spite of this and despite petitions in the Supreme Court and the State High Court, there has been no movement forward, IANS reported.

Sixty-year-old Mela Ram Bhagat put it poignantly: "Manmohan Singh is also a refugee but he has become the prime minister. We are still where we are.”

The villian of the piece, as it were, is article 370 of the Indian Constitution by virtue of which Jammu and Kashmir has a special status. Those originally from the State have citizenship rights and are called ‘State Subjects.’ These State subjects can own property, get government jobs, free higher education and the like.

This is not so for the refugees as their ancestors were not original residents of the State. Thus, even though they have access to government healthcare they don't have the rights of the other citizens. Curiously enough, they can vote in the Lok Sabha elections but not in the State Assembly elections.

They are not even entitled to ration cards, as a result of which they have to buy their provisions from the open market. This is quite a tall order as most of the refugees are daily wagers and barely manage to eke out a living. The others run small shops, tea stalls and the like.

The original families had realised way back in 1947 what they were in for and wanted to shift to neighbouring Punjab but were disuaded from doing so by then Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who assured them of justice.

"We do feel bad about this, but what can we do now? At the time of partition even some of us wanted to shift to Punjab from Digiana (on Jammu's outskirts) but Sheikh sahib (Abdullah) promised that we will get all rights. Now we are children of no where and no one," Bhagat lamented.

"Although we are human beings, yet we are living the life of an animal. This is our fourth generation here. But still we are aliens here," added Bhagat, who lives with his family in a mud house in the Niki Tawi area on the western outskirts of Jammu. The small house is on a rented piece of land as the refugees cannot buy property in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The worst part is that we are not even entitled to government scholarships. They (the school authorities) ask for a state subject certificate if we want to pursue higher education. And we cannot pay for private education. We are three sisters and a brother and our father is a labourer. What do we do?" Sunita Rani, 17, who just finished her Class 10, asked while speaking to IANS, tears in her eyes.

She wants to study further but the situation does not permit her to do so as one

In all this, the politicians are fishing in troubled waters, says Labha Ram Gandhi, a leader of the refugees.

"The Kashmir-centric political setup does not want to take this decision in favour of us (refugees) living in Jammu as it would amount to losing the Kashmiri vote bank. This has become a political issue," Gandhi said.

Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla of the Congress speaks for the political spectrum: "There is a technical problem in making them state subjects as Article 370 does not permit this. But we are thinking of providing them basic facilities.”

Editorial

ETHNIC TENSION

Locals Fear Illegal Migrants

Ethnic tension in ‘Bodoland’, which has now erupted in a violent manner, is not an isolated event in Assam, a State that has faced many communal violence and political upheavals in the past so many decades. In 1971, after the Pakistani crackdown in East Bengal, more than one million refugees sought shelter in Assam. Most of them went back after the creation of Bangladesh, but nearly 100,000 remained. After 1971, there occurred a fresh, continuous and large-scale influx of land-hungry Bangladeshi peasants into Assam. But land in Assam had by now become scarce, and Assamese peasants and tribals feared loss of their holdings. However, this demographic transformation generated the feeling of linguistic, cultural and political insecurity, which overwhelmed the Assamese and imparted a strong emotional content to their movement against illegal migrants in the eighties.
Migration of outsiders into Assam has a long history. The British administration had encouraged migration of thousands of Biharis to work on the tea-plantations and of hundreds of thousands of Bengali peasants to settle on the vast uncultivated tracts of Assam. Till recently, Assamese landlords had welcomed the hardworking Bengali tenants in the sparsely populated Assam. Between 1939 and 1947 Muslim communalists encouraged Bengali Muslim migration to create a better bargaining position in case of partition of India. Partition led to a large-scale refugee influx from Pakistani Bengal into Assam besides West Bengal and Tripura. 
Though illegal migration had surfaced as a political matter several times since 1950, it burst as a major issue in 1979 when it became clear that a large number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh had become voters in the State. Afraid of their acquiring a dominant role in Assam's politics through the coming election at the end of 1979, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (Assam People's Struggle Council), a coalition of regional political, literary and cultural associations, started a massive, anti-illegal migration movement. The current Bodo-Muslim violence in Kokrajhar and its adjoining areas showcase the undercurrents of ethnic tension in Assam and many parts of the volatile northeast region of India.
Assam violence: A history of conflict rooted in land

By Kishalay Bhattacharjee and Sandeep Phukan

Guwahati: At 3 pm on Thursday (July 26), 100 soldiers carry out a flag march - an exercise to demonstrate the Army is on hand and working to revive law and order - in Jurigaon, a small village in Kokrajhar district of Assam. There is no civilian in sight. There are the remains of homes set on fire.  Some cattle deserted by its owners strays aimlessly.

Jurigaon is one of the villages defeated by the ethnic conflict that has ripped through the lower Assam in the last week. 42 people have been killed. Two lakh people are homeless - some among them have found room in refugee camps in places like Bijni and Bongaigaon; others wait in line.

The violence was triggered when four young men from the indigenous Bodo community were killed in a part of the Kokrajhar district inhabited mainly by Muslims. Those killings - and the ones that followed - are the unforgiving manifestation of the multiplying pressures on the land in this part of the state. The Bodos - the indigenous advidasis - have sustained their community through agriculture for decades. But in recent years, wave after wave of Muslim immigrants - some from across the border in Bangladesh - has convinced them that they are being robbed of their land.

The conflict began when the British ruled India and brought Adivasis from the Chhota Nagpur plateau to Assam, putting them to work in tea gardens, and assigning them small pieces of land in exchange. In mid-30s, settlers from East Bengal (what is now Bangladesh) started arriving here. They were hard-working and they were cultivators, who knew how to make the land work for them. The local tribals - the Bodos - now found themselves up against the adivasis brought in by the British, and Bengali-speaking Muslims from East Pakistan or Bangladesh. By the mid-70s, the lines were so clearly drawn between the communities that neighbours were undisguised enemies.  The tension between the communities rode out through student politics, spawning militant outfits with conflicting agendas.

One of those groups - the Bodo Liberation Tigers or BLT - decided to fold into the Congress government in 2003. The Bodoland District Territorial Council was set up to govern four areas. Non-Bodos in this part of Assam argue that political power at the hands of Bodos has altered the dynamics on the ground and that's a source of constant fear among non-Bodos.

Since the 90s, clashes have erupted with such frequency and force that Bodoland has become home to one of the highest internally-displaced people.  The changing demographics forge violent assertions of identity.

The All Minority Students Union, which has been protesting against the attacks on non-Bodos, says it has been writing to Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for two months, warning of the increasing tension. The government refutes charges of indifference.

Through the crisis, the Congress has to balance political equations. It needs the vote of both Bengali Muslims in the area, as well as its Bodo coalition partner. (NDTV)

China needs to be sensitive of India's concerns: Analyst

Gasa Dzong at the Bhutan-Tibet border in Northern Bhutan
As Bhutan, India's closest ally is all set to establish diplomatic ties with China, a Chinese strategic analyst said Beijing should be sensitive to New Delhi's anxieties while improving its relations with South Asian states.

"With the increasing impact of China in South Asia, Bhutan has begun to enhance its ties with China, as the two countries agreed to establish diplomatic relations, stirring a new round of geopolitical concerns for India - the traditional power of the sub-continent," Chinese state-run Global Times said.

The understanding was reached between the recent meeting between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Bhutanese counterpart Jigmi Y Thinley on the sidelines of UN Conference on Sustainable Development at Brazil.

Bhutan is the last of the South Asian states to open up to China, after Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, besides Pakistan which has developed "all weather relations" with Beijing decades ago.

Yang Xiaoping, an expert on Indian studies at the state run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said India's concerns about growing influence of China in South Asia are understandable, but unnecessary.

"Historically, India has wielded a strong political influence unmatched by any other county in this region, so it is worried that China's involvement will shake its status," she told Global Times. China's expansion is focused only on financial cooperation. China loaned money for the construction of Sri Lanka's (USD 1.5 billion) port, but the facility is managed solely by Sri Lankans, she said.

South Asia will not be focus of China's diplomatic agenda in the coming decades, because most of the conflicts between China and the US occur in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, she said.

Yang also said that China should understand India's concerns, saying that the two sides have complementary strengths, and they can help ensure regional stability.

Chinese official strategic analysts are taking more favourable view of China-India ties in the recent months as India too has begun making forays into China's backyard with its 'Look East Policy' firming up its ties with Vietnam, Japan and South Korea besides consolidating its linkages with ASEAN countries.

A number of write-ups by analysts here in recent times have asked Beijing to take note of India's independent stance in foreign policy despite being wooed hard by United States.

Some have argued that China's push into South Asia also made India to focus on improving its relations with neighbouring countries.(The Economic Times)

Sikkim, Northeast join Team Anna on graft campaign

Anna to visit Sikkim: Sikkim team

YT Lepcha during a hunger strike in Gangtok (file pix: Sikkim Now)
New Delhi, July 31: Supporters from the northeastern states can be spotted more often at Team Anna's fasts now. At Jantar Mantar, several from Sikkim are keeping fast with team members and youths from the northeast studying in the city have also begun to drop in.

"We are five of us," says Y T Lepcha, who runs the Swatantra Sramik Sangathan in Sikkim. His companions come from south and east Sikkim. He wears a straw cap with peacock feathers, traditionally worn by the Lepcha community, and carries a sheet of paper with its various features explained in Hindi.

"I thought people might ask about the cap," he says. "I want to request the group to visit the State. Our leaders only make speeches. None of that is translated into action." He has brought with himself a 2011 CAG report with the sections dealing with issues like roads and garbage disposal highlighted, a national daily reported.

Padam Sharma, who accompanied Lepcha and spoke during the rally, said team leader Anna Hazare has accepted their invitation to visit the State.

"Our support here is directly related to our backing for Irom Sharmila," says Imphal-based student Bob Wiju. He is in the city to write an entrance exam and has spent his free time at the protest. "Manipur is one of the most corrupt states, all funds are misused. The issues are the same as here."

Wiju admits that northeast locals don't relate to the movement here but he says, "If such protests are held in Manipur, they will find a lot of support." He also adds that the language barrier — most of the speeches at the fasts have been delivered in Hindi — may also have been a reason for the large number of students from the northeast in Delhi not joining in.

Brothers, Tridib and Bijoy Bordoloi, attended the protest on Wednesday for the first time. Though they are not fasting, they explained that they support Anna in his cause. "Anna is speaking about issues that affect us all. Right now he seems our best bet," says Tridib, elder of the two, who works in finance.

But Jamia student Bijoy said, "The issues Anna speaks about might affect all, but they are discussed in a general manner. The problems of the northeast require more careful handling."

Don’t fool people, Upreti tells govt on student scholarship

Congress leader KN Upreti

Gangtok, July 31: Senior Congress leader KN Upreti has urged the HRD Department to immediately clear all dues to students who have been assured scholarships by the State Government.

The former HRD minister came down heavily on the government for its alleged failure to make payments to students who were awarded scholarships on the basis of ‘merit’ or their poor economic condition.

Upreti’s remarks come at a time when Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has made promises to reward students who performed well in their school leaving exams.

The government is merely fooling the people, said the Congress leader in a press statement.

“If the government and for that matter the department of education has no resource to make payment then why are they fooling the student communities by their commitment to pay scholarship and all high talks on the welfare of the student communities,” Upreti said.

 “As we all know, a great number of parents from poor section of the society send their children outside for further studies sincerely believing that the government would award scholarship to their wards, are now feeling cheated by the government as the department of education which is responsible for payment has failed to pay even once when the course for which the candidate was sent has almost been completed,” Upreti said in his press release.

“We express our extreme displeasure on the matter and demand that all dues be cleared by the concerned department immediately so that the students suffer no more,” he added.

HC refuses stay on GTA poll results

Ghising

Kolkata, July 31:  The Calcutta High Court Friday refused to pass any interim stay on the declaration of results of Gorkhaland Territorial Authority (GTA) election and oath-taking of the elected members.

Justice Dipankar Gupta refused to pass an interim order on a plea by All India Gorkha League (AIGL) and directed that the parties in the case would abide by the final outcome of the case. The AIGL had moved the petition earlier this month seeking a stay on the GTA election and its counsel Bikash Bhattacharya prayed for an interim stay order, PTI reported.

Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) President Subash Ghisingh's counsel Arunabha Ghosh submitted that as the matter involved the future of lakhs of Darjeeling residents, it be taken up at the earliest. Justice Gupta directed that the matter would come up for hearing on August 10.

The oath-taking of elected members of the first GTA, which replaces the earlier Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, is scheduled on August 4. Ghisingh had on June 14 filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court challenging the GTA Act 2011 claiming that it was ultra vires to the Constitution. The petition claimed that the GTA Act could not come into force in Darjeeling Hills without amending the Constitution.

The Constitution provides that if the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act, 1988 (DGHC) was repealed, the entire area would come under the purview of the Indian Panchayat and Municipalities Act, the petition stated. If the DGHC was scrapped, the new act could not come into force without amending the Constitution, Ghising's petition claimed. The court directed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President Bimal Gurung, who has been made a respondent in the case, to file his affidavit in opposition to the petition within August 4

Cong banked on illegal migrants for vote-bank politics in Assam:BJP

Guwahati, July 31: Blaming the Congress government for illegal immigrants for Assam violence, BJP has charged the Congress with "inaction" in checking their entry into the country for vote-bank politics and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

The BJP pressed that Indo-Bangladesh border be sealed immediately and sought more deployment of army and para-military forces to check the spread of violence that had so far claimed 45 lives in the State.

"The government did not take appropriate action in time to prevent the Assam violence.... Illegal migrants are behind the problem. But the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government is not doing anything on the issue.... It is only doing vote bank politics," BJP general secretary Vijay Goel said.

Goel, who is incharge of party affairs in Assam and headed a fact-finding team that visited the violence-hit areas of Assam, charged the State Government with not being "sensitive" to the problem.

"They are not sensitive to the problem. If they do vote- bank politics, they will get such results," Goel said, demanding that "Tarun Gogoi should immediately resign as Chief Minister, as he has failed to take appropriate steps to stop the violence."

Goel said the situation in violence-hit areas of Assam was still tense and people will not go back to their homes unless the Army deployment is done in the interiors of affected areas in the state.

"The deployment of Army and para-military forces is still very low.... It is only doing flag marches on main roads and not visiting the interiors. If that does not happen, confidence will not be built and people will not return to their homes," Goel said.

Arunachal govt to provide CCTVs to media houses

Tongam Rina

Itanagar, July 31: The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to install CCTV cameras in all media establishments of the State to instill confidence in the working journalists. Political secretary to CM Bamang Tago on Thursday visited all media houses in the capital complex with experts and technicians to survey and finalize installation of CCTV cameras, sources said.

The media fraternity, represented by the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and Arunachal Press Club (APC), met Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on July 20 and expressed concern on the safety and security of working journalists. They also sought fast-tracking of all pending cases related to assault, manhandling and threats to mediapersons and media houses in the past, The Times of India reported.

Assuring cooperation and immediate steps, Tuki had issued specific directions to concerned authorities to fulfill the demands placed by APUWJ and APC in order to instill confidence amongst the working journalists as they were shaken after the attack on Tongam Rina, associate editor of Arunachal Times on July 15.

The chief minister had emphasized on installation of high resolution CCTVs in all mediahouses as it is a necessity for investigation and identification of criminals. He had also mooted the idea of CCTV installation in all important public places and market complexes.

"Some media houses have already installed CCTVs, which are, however, of poor resolution. We will replace these with high resolution CCTVs and install CCTVs in all media houses, which do not have one. Poor resolution hampers speedy investigation. The installation process will be completed within a few days," said Tago.

As in Sikkim, a vote to Sangma hits Tripura politics

Sangma

Agartala, July 31: A vote against Pranab Mukherjee in the just-concluded presidential election has triggered a controversy in Tripura. Both the ruling CPI-M and opposition Congress are blaming each other for cross-voting despite committing to support Pranab.

The election result reveals that out of 57 votes cast in Tripura, Pranab got 56 and one went to P A Sangma. However, both the parties opposed to Sangma.

The ruling CPI-M has pointed fingers at lone INPT legislator Bijoy Kr Hrankhwal for voting in favour of Sangma, indicating that the issue of tribal sentiment and political differences with Mukherjee was the reason of cross-voting. Both Congress and INPT have denied the claim and stated that CPI-M had hatched a conspiracy to scrap the political alliance in anti-Left forces.

Leader of the opposition, Ratan Lal Nath, said, "Voting was done in secret ballots. How can the CPI-M allege that Sangma got Hrankhwal's vote. Rather, I believe, it is a planned conspiracy of CPI-M and may be Chief Minister Manik Sarkar himself cast his ballot for Sangma for politics."

Hrankhwal said, "This is an attempt of the ruling party to malign me for its narrow political interests in the coming assembly elections." He added that political activities of Congress and INPT have put Manik Sarkar in trouble in all 20 tribal reserve seats and it was nothing but an attempt to breach INPT's relation with Congress.

Sikkim, too, faced a similar situation recently when one vote of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, which has all 32 seats and backs the UPA at the Centre, went to Sangma. Dissident ruling party legislator PS Golay abstained from voting. Golay’s aide and former MLA Bhojraj Rai alleged that the ruling party conspired to cause misunderstanding between the rebel leader and the UPA.

 INTERVIEW Mary Kom

Hurt at missing out on a medal at the World Championships for the first time, MC Mary Kom (29) tells Harish Kotian she's looking for revenge at the upcoming London Olympics

For Manipur’s Mary Kom, her first bout at the 2012 London Olympics is going to be doubly special. Firstly, it will be the realization of a long-cherished dream to compete on a big stage like the Olympics. Second, the bout is on the fifth birthday of her twin sons Raengpe and Naidong.

Mary Kom speaks to rediff. com in an exclusive interview. Excerpts.

ON HER TWIN SONS:

I will be fighting my first bout at the Olympics on August 5th, which is also the fifth birthday of my two sons. It is both a good and bad thing for me. The good thing is that I feel it will be a lucky day for me, but the bad thing is that I will miss both my children. I want to win that bout; it will be the best present for my two sons. It is very difficult for me as a mother, because I miss them a lot. They keep calling me a lot everyday.

PREPARATIONS:

The preparations are going on well. I was able to analyse my opponents during the World Championships. Even though I did not win the gold, I was able to take a lot of positives from the event which will help me in preparations for the Olympics.

(Having won a gold in the 45kg at the 2002 World Championships, three gold in the 46kg at the 2005, 2006 and 2008 editions and a gold in the 48kg in the 2010 event, Manipur's 'Mother Mary' was disappointed.)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS & OLYMPICS:

I was very hurt that I didn't win the gold medal at the World Championships. I was very upset that I didn't win a medal, because in every championship before this I won a gold medal on five previous occasions. I think I was unlucky to not get a medal, but, at the same time, I am happy that I qualified for the London Olympics.

I am very, very angry and I hope to remove this anger on all my opponents at the Olympics.

GOD & ALI

I don't believe in mental training. I just do the normal physical training and my normal boxing training. The only mental training for me is praying to God.

I am a big fan of Muhammad Ali; I took up boxing when I was small because of him. I love his style, his footwork in the ring and everything else that he did.

ON HER FANS

I think getting so much support from Olympic Gold Quest and love from all the Indians fans is a big motivation for me to do well at the Olympics.