Thursday, February 10, 2011

Gurkha People TRAPPED in Power Politics Most Violent as all Brahaminical Political Parties play with the Fire in the Himalayan SNOW!Maoists condemn police action on GJM workers, support Morcha!ULFA calls talks with the Centre 'constructive'!Chhattisg

Gurkha People TRAPPED in Power Politics Most Violent as all Brahaminical Political Parties play with the Fire in the Himalayan SNOW!Maoists condemn police action on GJM workers, support Morcha!ULFA calls talks with the Centre 'constructive'!Chhattisgarh HC rejects Binayak Sen's bail plea!


Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time -FIVE  HUNDRED   EIGHTY THREE

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com/

Chhattisgarh HC rejects Binayak Sen's bail plea!

Gurkha People TRAPPED in Power Politics Most Violent as all Brahaminical Political Parties play with the Fire in the Himalayan SNOW! The flame that burns the hill station, Darjeeling now reached state capital Kolkata. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has faced several criticisms over the "police atrocity" that the innocent people suffered again in Darjeeling recently.In renewed Gorkhaland agitation, two supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) were killed on Tuesday as police fired on a crowd in Jalpaiguri district. This was the first case of police firing since the Gorkhaland movement resumed more than two years ago in October 2007 under the leadership of the GJM, which had wrested its present role from the Gorkha National Liberation Front.The GJM said that three of its supporters who sustained bullet injuries were very critical.

Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday rejected the bail application filed by human rights activist Binayak Sen. The two-judge division bench of Justice TP Sharma and Justice RL Jhanwar gave no reason for rejecting the bail petition. The entire process lasted for just a couple of minutes after the court assembled.

Reacting to the court order, Sen's mother Anasuya Sen said, "I knew the bail plea will be rejected. I am not disappointed, I am hurt."

"There is no legal action in what they have done. Whatever the state has done is illegal," his mother said.

"My son cannot do anything wrong. My son is innocent, he is honest, he is a human rights activist, he is a very good doctor. Believe me he is the best son of our motherland. Ilina Sen will approach the Supreme Court. I believe that Supreme Court will rule in favour of Binayak Sen. I believe that in Supreme Court Binayak Sen will get a better judgment," said Anasuya Sen.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Ilina Sen, Binayak Sen's wife said they will move Supreme Court against the court order.

"Chhattisgarh High Court is order highly deplorable, condemnable. Prosecution has trapped him It is an injustice done to him. We will take this to Supreme Court and get justice for him," said Naxal ideologue Varavara Rao, reacting to the court order.

"It is a lengthy judgement. The contention of state government was accepted by the court. Every argument placed before the court by us was rejected. We will appeal in Supreme Court as soon as possible," said Mahendra Dube, Binayak Sen's counsel.

"This order was only related to bail. Final order on the sedition case is yet to come," he said.
Sen was sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court last year on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites.

Sen, vice-president of People's Union of Civil Liberties, was convicted for sedition and sentenced to life imprisonment along with Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha for colluding with Naxals to establish a network to fight the state.

Guha's bail application was also rejected by the court.

Additional District and Sessions Judge B P Verma had held the trio guilty under provisions of section 124 A (sedition) and 120 B (conspiracy) of IPC and Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act on December 24.

Meanwhile,Maoists today slammed the state government and the Centre for opening fire on agitators and killing two in the Darjeeling hills and lent its support to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's movement for a separate Gorkhaland."We condemn the way the police opened fire on innocent agitators at Sipchu yesterday that left two dead," CPI-Maoist said in a statement."Maoists are sympathetic to the GJM for its movement in the hills and support it," the statement said.As a mark of solidarity with GJM's movement, the Maoists have called for a 24-hour bandh in its strongholds of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts on February 11."We will observe black day and organise rallies in Jangalmahal area tomorrow," the statement said.

On the other hand, ULFA calls talks with the Centre 'constructive'! ULFA leaders on Thursday called the first round of talks with the Home Secretary GK Pillai 'constructive'.An eight-member delegation of ULFA leaders held the first round of peace talks with the Centre in the capital. ULFA Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa led the delegation.

"After a long time, we have come out for a solution. Today's meeting with the Home Secretary was constructive," said the ULFA delegation.Apart from Rajhkowa, vice chairman Pradip Gogoi, foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury, finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika, deputy commander-in-chief Raju Barua, publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary, cultural secretary Pranati Deka and ULFA ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain were part of the ULFA delegation.

"We are here with the aim to resolve the conflict through political dialogue," said ULFA leader Sashadhar Choudhury.

ULFA described the talks as a confidence building measure and said will also meet the PM on Monday.

Leaders of the banned ULFA also met Home Minister P Chidambaram as they began face-to-face unconditional talks with the Centre in an attempt to usher in peace in insurgency-hit Assam.
The talks raised hopes of an end to three decades of insurgency in Assam. Home Minister Chidambaram, after the talks, said he hopes to give the ULFA an honourable and just solution within the framework of the constitution.

"I have met ULFA team. Now talks have begun and we hope to give them an honourable and just solution," said Chidambaram.

The Home Minister also said, "I welcome them. I assured them that the Government of India and government of Assam will engage them in sincere and meaningful talks and I am confident that we can find just and honourable solution."

The agenda for the talks were set last Thursday when ULFA accepted the proposal for peace talks without any pre conditions. But the hurdle in the talks is ULFA commander in chief Paresh Barua who is rejecting the talks. He has sent a video of him dancing with bihu dancers in Burma, sending a clear message that he is refusing the talks.It remains to be seen what steps the Central Government will be taking to bring Barua to the peace table.

The Bimal Gurung-led GJM has been leading the renewed Gorkhaland agitation for over two years by sidelining the Gorkha National Liberation Front, which had been spearheading the movement since the 1980s.

After Tuesday's firing, the entire Darjeeling hills saw a shutdown and Gorkhaland supporters in the Kalimpong sub-division attacked government properties and set afire public buses.

Trouble started after 11 am when the joint forces of West Bengal police, the India Reserve Battalion and the CRPF reached Sipchu, 550 km north of Kolkata, where the GJM was organising a hunger strike, and asked the agitators to disperse. Prohibitory orders on assembling were in force in the area.

Sub-divisional officer (Malbazar) Debjani Bhattacharya confirmed the death of the two GJM supporters. She said that five policemen were injured, one of them seriously.

GJM assistant secretary Binay Tamang said, "Police and the CRPF resorted to lathicharge, opened tear gas shells and fired at least 50 rounds of bullets on peaceful GJM supporters."

The incident is significant because it has the potential of derailing the talks between the Centre, the state government and the GJM on the course of the proposed Gorkhaland.

Darjeeling: The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has called for an indefinite shutdown on Thursday to protest the deaths of two of its supporters in police firing two days ago. GJM has sharpened its stance on Gorkhaland with one of its leader, Harka Bahadur Chettri, announcing that there can be no interim arrangements.

Reacting to Tuesday's violence Chettri said, "When the mob, the public, they don't have a space, they do not belong to a party, public is public and when they saw a 6 year boy being shot point blank, when they saw a 23-year old young girl shot point blank, lying in a pool of blood and seeing this in the TV screen, what can you expect?"

He blamed the West Bengal government for turning a "peaceful movement into a bloody one". "So far as the future of the next tripartite talks is concerned, I am very clear that this particular important question should be addressed by the state government because state government which fought that round, which turned this peaceful movement into a bloody one, still the GJM has refrained from violence, in fact the president of GJM made an appeal, even went to the extent of saying that if this arson and these continues, then I will withdraw my movement," he said.

"Despite that the state government is bent upon converting this significant important issue into a political slogan. Now it is time that the state government and the leadership there should show some amount of generosity. We are people, we are not sub human beings. Treat us like citizens of this country. That's what we are asking," he added.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/no-interim-arrangements-on-gorkhaland-gjm/142960-37-64.html


The Opposition party BJP claimed that West Bengal government is "inhuman and "shameful" and also urged the central government to initiate CBI investigation into the "killing" of two Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) members on Feb 8.


Darjeeling MP and BJP senior leader Jaswant Singh on Feb 9, met home minister P Chidambaram and requested him to appoint CBI for the investigation.

"It reflects the shameless and inhuman nature of the West Bengal government. I charge the West Bengal government and police with dividing the people rather than taking the initiative for unity," stated Singh.

GJM members, however, observed indefinite strike which has been started from Wednesday, Feb 9. Several people took to the streets to protest the shooting by police of two activists demanding separate Gorkhaland.

Central government has already deployed two companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the hills to assist the four companies of the Central police force and the State police in maintaining law and order.

GJM members too demanded CBI investigation for the justice of the "peaceful protesters" as they accused state police of "unprovoked firing."

The Darjeeling hills in West Bengal were peaceful Thursday but normal life was paralysed by the indefinite shutdown called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) to protest the death of two supporters in police firing two days ago.

'There are no reports of any untoward incident. The situation is peaceful and under control. The security forces are on high alert,' Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) Randhir Kumar told IANS over phone.

Vehicular movement was almost nil and offices, shops and commercial establishments remained closed in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong - the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district. Darjeeling is 635 km by road from Kolkata.

Life was normal in the Dooars - at the Himalayan foothills in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district - where police firing had taken place Tuesday leading to the death of two GJM supporters, including a woman.

GJM, which is spearheading the movement for a separate Gorkhaland state in the hills, claims the death toll is three. GJM president Bimal Gurung has announced Rs.300,000 payment for the families of each of the 'three victims'.

The hills have seen a fresh bout of unrest since Tuesday after police resorted to firing in the Dooars Tuesday following a clash with GJM supporters who tried to violate prohibitory orders there.

Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, GJM activists set ablaze several government bungalows and a checkpost and looted ammunition from a police outpost, police say.

GJM leader Harka Bahadur Chettri said his outfit's central committee would meet in the evening to decide the course of the movement. 'We will sit and discuss and decide the course of the movement. But I can assure you it will be democratic,' Chettri told IANS over phone.

Terming the police firing and the subsequent violence as a 'conspiracy' of the West Bengal government, he said: 'They want to create a volatile situation so that the movement can be curbed in the name of containing law and order'.

An indefinite strike and shutdown called by the Gorkha Janmukhti Morcha (GJM) has virtually brought Sikkim to a standstill.

The National Highway which connects Sikkim with rest of the country was damaged and several visitors were stranded in Gangtok.

Anand Das, a tourist said: "I have an emergency and have to get back home as soon as possible. I have my passport Inquiry, so I have to go and now I'm stuck here. I left at about 5 am and I didn't know there was a strike here. If I knew, I could have done something but now I will have to stay back here

The shutdown affected the state economically. The tourism sector was at the receiving end of the demonstrations.

The President of Travel Agent Association of Sikkim, Lukendra Rasaily said, "People are quite scared of such untoward happenings and naturally tourists are not going to be bold to stay in such a place"

The GJM is protesting for a separate Gorkhaland state out of West Bengal.

Hilly regions of Darjeeling , Kalimpong and Sukna and besides other places in Siliguri , Jalpaiguri and Dooars in the foothills were also affected.

Strikes take Darjeeling tea estates off the boil

By Andrew Buncombe in Delhi

Thursday, 10 February 2011


The hills in Darjeeling, famed for their celebrated tea estates, came to a halt yesterday as large crowds of people took to the streets to protest the shooting by police of two activists who were part of a movement demanding a separate state.

While the shut-down was not total, officials from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), a political party which is fighting for a state within India, claimed "thousands and thousands of people" answered the call for an indefinite strike. Reports suggest work was suspended at the majority of the tea estates, which had been in the process of harvesting the highly-prized "first flush" of the season.

"Our people came out on the streets after our members [died] from sustaining bullet injuries," Roshan Giri, general secretary of the GJM, said from Darjeeling. "We have demanded an investigation inquiry into this... they fired to suppress the Gorkhaland movement. Our people were on hunger strike, the national flag was flying. How could they open fire?"

In the aftermath of the shooting, which happened as protesters were holding a rally, hundreds of people went on the rampage, attacking government property and setting fire to at least 20 buildings. The chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, unsuccessfully lobbied for the army to be dispatched. "The GJM's violent methods are not at all acceptable," he said. "When efforts are on to evolve a political solution to the Darjeeling issue... the GJM has gone for violent methods."

The battle by the Nepali-speaking Gorkhas to break from West Bengal and form their own state inside India dates back several decades and at one time was spearheaded by an armed struggle that resulted in 1,200 deaths. Four years ago, the GJM was formed to try and secure the goal using what it promised would be peaceful means.

The desire for statehood is pushed by two factors. Firstly, the people of Darjeeling, once known as the Queen of the Hills, argue with some justification that the state authorities in Kolkata have ignored the hills area and failed to provide schools, hospitals or infrastructure. Secondly, they say the Gorkhas suffer discrimination across much of India from people who do not know where Darjeeling is. They claim that their own state, but one that remained part of India, would elevate their profile.

The GJM has often called strikes or shutdowns to put leverage on the state and national authorities. However, not everyone in the hills is in favour of them because of the economic hardship it enforces on people. On some occasions, while hotels and restaurants have been shut and roads blockaded, the GJM has made an exception for the hills' 87 tea estates, which are said to support more than half of the 1.2 million-strong population.

Sandeep Mukherjee, of the Darjeeling Tea Association, said work had been halted at a time when the estates were harvesting the first flush. While Darjeeling only accounts for 1 per cent of all the tea produced in India, more than four-fifths is exported. "The tea estates have 55,000 permanent workers who are not going to get paid because they are not checking in. It is causing economic hardship to them as well as damaging the producers," he said.

The local MP, Jaswant Singh, met with the country's home minister to discuss the matter. He called the actions of the West Bengal authorities "shameful and inhuman". He added: "I charge the West Bengal government and police with dividing the people rather than taking the initiative for unity."

The police claimed 20 people, including seven police officers, were hurt in clashes that took place before the firing, and that they fired on the authorisation of a magistrate to restore order.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/strikes-take-darjeeling-tea-estates-off-the-boil-2209882.html

Army shoots down Bengal call
State says still keen
SUJAN DUTTA
Karuna Tigga, the lady home guard recuperating at a Jalpaiguri hospital, said on Wednesday that she was hit on the head thrice with a khukuri by a woman. "A woman hit my head with a khukuri. She hacked me thrice," the mother of two said. Picture by Biplab Basak

Yelahanka, Feb. 9: The defence ministry is treating as "withdrawn" the Bengal government's request to deploy the army in the Darjeeling hills after a firm refusal by the military force to get embroiled in civilian strife.

"My understanding is that Bengal has already withdrawn its request," defence minister A.K. Antony, here to inaugurate the Aero India civil-military air show, said this afternoon.

"The police can handle the situation," Antony told a media conference, but did not give details on why the Bengal government should withdraw the request its chief secretary, Samar Ghosh, confirmed had been made yesterday.

The Bengal government put out a nuanced version, insisting the request had not been withdrawn but adding that the defence force was not needed for the time being.

"The requisition for deployment of the army has not yet been withdrawn. It is still pending with the Union ministry of defence. The final decision on the requisition is yet to be taken," additional director-general (law and order) Surajit Kar Purkayastha told The Telegraph this evening.

Mohan Gandhi, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, echoed him: "The requisition for army deployment has not been withdrawn. But at the moment, we don't require the army." Gandhi had said yesterday he expected the army to be deployed by this morning.

In the evening, state home secretary G.D. Gautama said: "The army is still required. We will press on with the request."

The Darjeeling hills remained peaceful today, barring a stray incident at Ghoombhanjan, near Ghoom, where a forest check-post was set on fire.

Sources in Bengal described the state government's insistence as a face-saving effort. Other sources said that since the defence minister has spoken and if the situation does not spin out of control in the hills, only political intervention at the highest level could prompt any rethink now.

At Yelahanka on the outskirts of Bangalore, Antony confirmed with defence secretary Pradeep Kumar, seated next to him at the media conference, if the Bengal government had withdrawn its request.

Later, Kumar told this newspaper: "It is my understanding (that Bengal has withdrawn its request). Maybe the Union home ministry has sent additional (central police) forces."

Antony was asked to clarify the Centre's stand on the Bengal government's request in view of his own position stated last month that the military should be used for internal security duties only as a last resort.

Last night, an army headquarters source had told The Telegraph: "Our professional opinion is we are not meant to control riots. Now it is up to the political leadership to decide if all resources had been exhausted and army deployment is the only option left."

In a note in November, the army had explained how frequent deployment for internal security duties — its secondary role — hampers its training and preparation to meet external threats. The army explained that it was also stretched because of its continuous deployments in the Northeast and in Jammu and Kashmir.

Last month, on Army Day, the chief, Gen. V.K. Singh, had said that there was some concern that state governments often asked for troops to be deployed without using all the resources that they have. "The army cannot, can never, be used in the first instance," he had said.

Darjeeling is a sensitive area. The army has a brigade headquarters in Darjeeling. Troops from the brigade, whose area of responsibility also covers a part of Sikkim, are posted on the border with China.

In addition, the army recruits a number of troops for its Gorkha battalions and special (para) forces from the Darjeeling hills. Nearly every family in the Darjeeling hills has or has had a soldier serving in the forces. The army would not like to be seen as pitted against people in the region that is a catchment area for recruitment.

Even so, a request from a state government to deploy the army is taken seriously. But Gen. Singh is clear on when and how his troops should be used for internal security. Just before taking over as the chief in March last year, he was the eastern army commander based in Fort William, Calcutta.

Army headquarters sources said that he has treated the request with the merit it deserves "and he is himself familiar with the situation". Gen. Singh was also in Yelahanka today but was not available for comment.

A defence ministry source said the army's view was communicated to the Union home ministry. Even during the peak of the Subhash Ghising-led GNLF agitation in the Darjeeling hills in the late eighties-early nineties, the army was not deployed.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR CALCUTTA BUREAU
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110210/jsp/frontpage/story_13562501.jsp

Morcha loses bodyguards
OUR BUREAU

Feb. 9: Police have withdrawn the armed bodyguards assigned to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership a day after the flare-up in north Bengal, prompting suggestions that the state government is reviewing its "no-confrontation" policy.

Darjeeling police pulled out four armed guards tasked to protect Morcha president Bimal Gurung. The lone security guard for general secretary Roshan Giri was also withdrawn.

"I can only confirm that the security personnel have been withdrawn," Darjeeling superintendent of police D.P. Singh said.

The additional director-general (law and order), Surajit Kar Purkayastha, said in Calcutta that the decision to withdraw the bodyguards was "entirely" that of the district administration. "It was taken without our intervention. We don't foresee higher threat for the two because of the withdrawal," he said.

But sources in the administration said the decision to withdraw the security forces was an indicator that the state government was reviewing its "no-confrontation" policy towards the Morcha.

"Earlier, the district administration would conveniently look the other way whenever the Morcha supporters took the law into their own hands," an official said. "But after yesterday, the administration is perhaps sending a message that it would no longer look the other way."

If a conscious decision has been taken to enforce the law, it reflects a perception in the Left government that it should cut its losses and try to make some gains at least in the plains. The government was proceeding with extreme caution till now in order to ensure that the tripartite talks were not jeopardised.

However, with the differences over an interim set-up appearing irreconcilable unless either side yields some ground, a truce before the Assembly polls looks remote. After yesterday's violence, the Morcha has said the "interim chapter" is closed.

In Jalpaiguri, the administration told the Morcha that its demand to hold a meeting in the Dooars could be considered if a proposal was submitted. But it denied the Morcha permission for a "long march".

Sibchu, the epicentre of the clashes yesterday, falls in Jalpaiguri. The government fears a law and order problem in the Dooars, which has Adivasi groups opposed to Gorkhaland, if the march is allowed.

However, officials said the Morcha could go ahead with hunger strikes in specified locations of the Dooars.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110210/jsp/frontpage/story_13562503.jsp



Gorkhaland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gorkhaland (Nepali: गोर्खाल्याण्ड) is the name of the proposed state in India demanded by the Nepali/Gorkhali-speaking Gorkha ethnic group in Darjeeling and the Dooars in north West Bengal. The demand for a separate administrative unit in this region has existed since 1907, when the Hillmen's Association of Darjeeling submitted a memorandum to Minto-Morley Reforms demanding a separate administrative setup.[1]

View of Darjeeling, where the Gorkhaland movement is based

In Independent India, Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) was the first political party from the region to demand greater identity for the Gorkha ethnic group and economic freedom for the community.

The movement for a separate state gained serious momentum during the 1980s, when a violent agitation was carried out byGorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) lead by Subash Ghising. The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of a semiautonomous body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) to govern certain areas of Darjeeling district. However, in 2008, a new party called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha raised the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland once again.[2]

Contents

 [hide]

[edit]History of the Area

Before the 1780s, the area of Darjeeling formed a part of dominions of the Chogyal of Sikkim, who had been engaged in unsuccessful warfare against the Gorkhas of Nepal. From 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the entire region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai.

In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from overrunning the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkhawar broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Sugauli Treaty in 1815. According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company (i.e. the area between Mechi River and Teesta river).

Later in 1817, through the Treaty of Titalia, the British East India Company reinstated the Chogyal of Sikkim, restored all the tracts of land between the Mechi River and the Teesta river to the Chogyal of Sikkim and guaranteed his sovereignty.

General view of Darjeeling, in 1870

The controversy did not end there. Later, in 1835, the hill of Darjeeling, including an enclave of 138 square miles (360 km2), was given to the British East India Company. In November 1864, theTreaty of Sinchula was executed, in which the Bhutan Dooars with the passes leading into the hills and Kalimpong were ceded to the British by Bhutan. The present Darjeeling district can be said to have assumed its present shape and size in 1866 with an area of 1234 sq. miles.

Prior to 1861 and from 1870–1874, Darjeeling District was a "Non-Regulated Area" (where acts and regulations of the British Raj did not automatically apply in the district in line with rest of the country, unless specifically extended). From 1862 to 1870, it was considered a "Regulated Area". The term "Non-Regulated Area" was changed to "Scheduled District" in 1874 and again to "Backward Tracts" in 1919. The status was known as "Partially Excluded Area" from 1935 until the independence of India.

[edit]Post-Independence India

Proposed Gorkhaland map

In the 1980s, Subash Ghising raised the demand for the creation of a state called Gorkhaland within India to be carved out of the hills of Darjeeling and areas of Dooars and Siliguri terai contiguous to Darjeeling. The demand took a violent turn, which led to the death of over 1200 people. This movement culminated with the formation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988.

The DGHC elections were due in 2004. However, the government decided not to hold elections and instead made Subash Ghising the sole caretaker of the DGHC till a new Sixth Schedule council was established. Resentment among the former councillors of DGHC grew rapidly. Among them, Bimal Gurung, once the trusted aide of Ghising, decided to break away from the GNLF. Riding on a mass support for Prashant Tamang, an Indian Idol contestant from Darjeeling, Bimal quickly capitalized on the public support he received for supporting Prashant, and was able to overthrow Ghising from the seat of power. He went on to found the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha raising the demand a state of Gorkhaland.[3]

[edit]2009 BJP Support for Gorkhaland

Ahead of the 2009 general elections in India, the BJP again announced their policy of having smaller states and to create two more states,Telangana and Gorkhaland, if they won the general election. In the July 2009 budget session of Parliament, three Parliamentarians - Rajiv Pratap Rudi, Sushma Swaraj and Jaswant Singh - strongly pleaded for creating a state of Gorkhaland.

[edit]Recent Developments

Singing Gorkhas in Darjeeling

The demand for Gorkhaland has taken a new turn with the assassination of Madan Tamang, leader of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League. He was stabbed to death allegedly by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters on May 21, 2010, in Darjeeling, which led to a spontaneous shutdown in the three Darjeeling hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.[4][5]

After the murder, the West Bengal government threatened action against Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, whose senior leaders are named in the FIR, meanwhile hinting discontinuation of ongoing talks over interim arrangement with the Gorkha party, saying it had "lost popular support following the assassination".[6]

[edit]References

  1. ^ http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/dtnews/opinions/political/1810-the-parliament-is-the-supreme-and-ultimate-authority-of-india.html The Parliament is the supreme and ultimate authority of India.
  2. ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2007/11/16/stories/2007111662691500.htm Demand for Gorkhaland raised again.
  3. ^ http://www.livemint.com/2008/03/19224412/Indian-Idol-reignites-demand-f.html Indian Idol reignites demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling hills.
  4. ^ "Gorkha leader Madan Tamang killed, Darjeeling tense"The Times of India. May 21, 2010.
  5. ^ Gazmer, Deep (May 22, 2010). "Gorkha leader Madan Tamang hacked in public"The Times of India.
  6. ^ Gazmer, Deep (May 26, 2010). "Tamang's murder threatens to derail Gorkhaland talks"The Times of India.

[edit]External links

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Gorkhaland an unfinished mission

Keshav Pradhan, TNN, Jan 18, 2010, 04.05am IST


KOLKATA: Right from 1977, when Jyoti Basu took over as West Bengal CM, Darjeeling had been a thorn in the side of the Marxists. Highlighting neglect and apathy by Kolkata, a number of hill outfits were clamouring for the region's separation from West Bengal. 

As a pragmatic politician, the Communist legend tried to make his party's long-standing demand for regional autonomy for Darjeeling a reality. To begin with, he overhauled the Darjeeling Hill Areas Development Secretariat set up by his friend and predecessor, Siddhartha Shankar Ray. He asked CPM to move a Bill in Parliament seeking autonomy for Nepali-dominated areas of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts. About a year after Lok Sabha shot down the Marxist proposal, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) led by Subash Ghisingh began an armed struggle for Gorkhaland in May 1986. 

The bloody 28-month statehood stir turned out to be the most trying period for CPM since the Naxalbari movement. Despite his party's opposition to TADA, Basu showed no qualms about using the controversial Act to contain the GNLF. With the Centre's help, he managed to bring Ghisingh to the negotiating table almost two years after the Gorkha stir took the hills by storm. All this while, the Communist leader continued to enjoy the support of hill organisations that had fought for the Nepali language alongside him. 

Later in May 1979, Basu again emerged as a hero of the hills when he opposed Morarji Desai's description of Nepali as "a foreign language". As the Gandhian's remarks sparked riots in the region and hundreds began to march towards Raj Bhavan to stop him from leaving Darjeeling, Basu, bluntly remarked, ''I don't agree with the Prime Minister.''

Read more: Gorkhaland an unfinished mission - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gorkhaland-an-unfinished-mission/articleshow/5464161.cms#ixzz1DZHaP1PA

Read more: Gorkhaland an unfinished mission - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gorkhaland-an-unfinished-mission/articleshow/5464161.cms#ixzz1DZH1qRSr



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