www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, March 12: The Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation today forced the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to cut short a workshop for heads of hill institutions.

The JSTO sent a message to the board last night, asking it to wind up the four-day workshop organised by its Sarva Siksha Abhiyan cell for headmasters on “extended module for quality management and quality education”. It was being held at Disha Bhawan here since Wednesday.

“The holding of the workshop at a time when we are fighting for our just demands is absolutely meaningless and even ironic given the fact that almost half of the attending delegates are not full-fledged heads of institutions,” said Tshering Tamang, chief coordinator of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s education monitoring cell (EMC). (more…)

The Telegraph
AVIJIT SINHA

Siliguri, March 12: More than 100 teachers supporting a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha union have refused to collect the answer scripts of the Madhyamik exams for evaluation to pressure the government into fulfilling their demands. (more…)

Mr. Samiran Paul is a Kalimpong resident and a photography enthusiast. His online album has been added to the list of Kalimpong photography sites.

Below are some photos from his album.

(more…)

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, March 11: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced a number of “peaceful” programmes — starting with one in Delhi — in the lead-up to the fifth round of tripartite talks, but deferred a decision on the composition of the team that would represent the party at the political-level meeting.

“The names of the delegation members will be revealed on March 15. The party president (Bimal Gurung) has indicated that the delegation will not be a big one,” said Morcha spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri at Deolo, 5km from here.

Binay Tamang, the Morcha’s assistant secretary who briefed the media along with Chhetri, said the secret proposal the party had sent to the Centre would also be revealed in Deolo the same day.

“Members of the party’s frontal organisations from the hills, the Dooars and Terai and Siliguri will be present on the occasion,” he added. (more…)

The Times of India
Deep Gazmer & Pinak Priya Bhattacharya, TNN,
Mar 11, 2010, 04.01am IST

DARJEELING/SILIGURI: It was a day of high drama over Gorkhaland. Bimal Gurung, angered by media reports on his deadline to ‘commit suicide on March 10′ if he cannot get Gorkhaland, tried to shoot himself in Kalimpong.

About 80 km away, in Siliguri, GNLF loyalist Rajen Mukhia appeared before the media with a noose, ready to hang himself if Gurung succeeded in meeting the statehood deadline.

Gurung was “stopped” from killing himself by scores of Nari Morcha supporters. And Mukhia went home, alive and well, carrying the rope back for another day. The melodrama played out in the backdrop of severe criticism of Gurung and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for making an impossible promise of achieving Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010. Local newspapers have been carrying front page articles on Gurung’s suicide deadline, giving fodder to his opponents to taunt him.

At a public meeting in Kalimpong, Gurung’s patience finally cracked. Mobbed by reporters, he angrily asked for his briefcase to “fulfil my promise”. The GJM’s women’s wing swarmed him, pleading with him not to kill himself. Other partymen snatched his briefcase and backed off, refusing to give it to Gurung.

It is not known what Gurung keeps in his briefcase which he carries everywhere. After some tense minutes, Gurung seemed to calm down and said: “I took the vow to commit suicide on March 10, thinking there was a strong political current in favour of our ally, the BJP. Unfortunately, BJP could not come to power. But that’s not my fault. Otherwise we could have achieved Gorkhaland much before 2010,” Gurung claimed.
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www.kalimpong.info

From Himalaya Darpan

From KalimNews

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

KalimNews: Bimal Gurung did not shoot himself on 10th March 2010 but he was reminded of the day and his promise by Opposition leaders and the media. He was haunted by the promise he made during the 2007 and 2008 public meetings in several places including Kalimpong.

The whole day he was chased by media personnel in Kalimpong and he repeated today the same statement made by him yesterday in a party meeting stating if you want me to die I will shoot myself. And there was some body language indicating that he was annoyed or disturbed with the media’s activities. He even tried to open his briefcase to bring out (guess ) an arm but he could not find the key and there was a hue and cry among the party workers and there were slogans against the media with threatening.

Later Binay Tamang Asst Secretary of GJMM apologised with the media during a press conference for the unwanted behaviour towards the media. He repeated the same plea that those who misbehaved with media were not the party workers.

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www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

Calcutta, March 10: Bimal Gurung, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was prevented by his bodyguards today from carrying out a threat during a public meeting in Kalimpong to “put a bullet” to his head for failure to realise his “vision”.

However, in a twist of irony, some Morcha leaders told journalists not to file reports or photographs of the incident. Later, the Morcha said that a report could be published but not the photographs of the particular incident

In the interest of readers who cannot be denied information and a chance to be apprised of the extent to which Gurung was prepared to go for statehood, The Telegraph is reporting the event as well as carrying an illustration done in Calcutta based on information from the ground.

The Morcha president was in the middle of his speech on Leechi Ground when he expressed remorse for not being able to realise his “vision” (of getting Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010) and walked towards a table on the middle of the dais and tried to open a suitcase kept on it.

However, before he could open the box, one his bodyguards snatched it from him. “I only want to put one bullet in my head. You can’t prevent me by surrounding me,” Gurung said, as the people seated on the dais circled him.

Around 500 people gasped and some screamed but Gurung returned to the microphone and continued his speech. “Mero mun ma ekprakar ko bahi raheko cha (I am having a strange feeling),” he said and wished his party’s central committee and the people well before ending his speech.

As soon as Gurung was through with his speech, the party’s assistant secretary, Binay Tamang, took the microphone and promised to ensure the safety of Gurung, as the audience shouted “Jai Gorkhaland” and “Jai Bimal Gurung”.

Some people wiped tears. Tamang then made a request to the people in the hills, the Dooars and Terai to pray for the next three days for a long life for Gurung. “Gorkhaland will happen in the presence of Bimal Gurung,” Tamang said.

Earlier in his speech, Gurung said he was aware that many people were waiting for today in order to see if he would act on his threat to kill himself. “I have come to spend my last few moments in your backyard. I am a father’s son. In the past 30 months, I have struggled with many things, but I have never tried to undermine your issue,” he said.

Gurung had in the past promised to deliver Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010.

“We had tied up with the BJP because it promised to create new states within 100 days of coming to power. Had the BJP come to power, Gorkhaland would have happened much before 2010,” he told the gathering.
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www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

The Morcha president, Bimal Gurung (centre), at a meeting in Kalimpong on Wednesday. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Rajen Mukhia shows the rope to ‘commit suicide’ in Siliguri on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, March 10: GNLF leader Rajen Mukhia today organised a media conference holding a rope with noose and iterated his promise that he would hang himself if the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha could keep its pledge of achieving the separate state.

“After Bimal Gurung’s assertion that he would achieve Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010 or else he would shoot himself in public, I had announced that if he could deliver on the promise, I would commit suicide by hanging,” said Mukhia, the convener of the Terai branch of the GNLF.

According to Mukhia, the Morcha is making empty promises to fool the people of the hills.

“Since this morning, I have been carrying this rope (with noose) to hear from the Morcha leadership that they have achieved Gorkhaland and to commit suicide to keep my word. I rang up Alokekantmani Thulung ( a central committee member of the Morcha) at 11.19am and asked him where Gorkhaland was. He could not answer and now I want to see how the Morcha leader will keep his word or else, we interpret this as another attempt by him to fool the people in the hills,” said the GNLF leader. (more…)

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, March 9: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has divided the Kalimpong municipality area into four zones and formed committees as part of its ongoing exercise to restructure the party and extirpate factionalism.

The four committees — urban zonal committee (UZC) I, UZC II, semi-urban zonal committee (SUZC) I and SUZC II — will replace the earlier town committee. UZC I will comprise municipal wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 11 and 12, while UZC II will consist of wards 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Wards 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 23 form SUZC I and wards 17, 19, 20, 21 and 22 are part of SUZC II.

The Morcha held a public meeting here today to select the office-bearers of UZC I. D.C. Khati was chosen the president of the committee in the presence of the party president, Bimal Gurung. Tara Lohar and Anand Garg were selected vice-presidents and Pratibha Kumai named the secretary. (more…)

The Telegraph

Darjeeling, March 9: The Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation has decided not to evaluate the answer scripts of the Madhyamik candidates this year and has threatened to abstain from invigilation during the coming Higher Secondary examinations unless its demands are fulfilled.

Bijay Pradhan, the general secretary of the union affiliated to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, said: “We had submitted a list of demands to the state government on June 30, 2009 and had met bureaucrats, including the additional chief secretary. These officials are passing the buck between the DGHC and the state government. We strongly believe that the government is responsible for all that ails the education system in the hills.” (more…)

The Telegraph

Darjeeling, March 9: BJP Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Pratap Rudy will move a private member’s bill seeking the creation of Gorkhaland in the Upper House of Parliament on March 12.

“I was told by Rudy’s private secretary that the MP would move a private bill in the Rajya Sabha on March 12 seeking the creation of a separate state for the Gorkha people. The bill is of immense importance for us and we thank Rudy for his consistent effort to highlight the issue in Parliament. The statehood issue will again be highlighted when Rudy moves the bill,” Roshan Giri, the Morcha general secretary, said here today. (more…)

The Telegraph
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Pranita and Nikita at work. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha)

Kalimpong, March 8: Two young girls have been making gainful use of their mobile phones, sending out text messages of local and regional news headlines to subscribers interested in keeping themselves updated with breaking and developing stories.

The duo of Pranita Chhetri, 21, and Nikita Bariely, 22, had launched their news service, SMS Headlines Every Evening on Mobile (SHEEM), a little more than a month back. Till date they have 150 odd subscribers with some of them based in as far as Mumbai and Mizoram.

In Kalimpong alone, they have around 100 subscribers.

To get this daily service, one has to pay Rs 10 for registration and Rs 50 per month as subscription fee.

“We source our stories from the local television channel, radio and even the Internet. While selecting the top stories of the day, we are guided by Manoj Rai, who works for a local news channel,” said Pranita, a second-year English honours student of Kalimpong College.

After selecting the top stories of the day, the girls sit together in the evening and type in the headlines in their cellphones as a text message before sending it to their subscribers.

Nikita, a graduate in geography from the same college, said: “We mainly work from home. However, before sending out the messages in the evening, we come together at one place and do our work.”

Heera Chhetri, who has been guiding the two friends with the selection and presentation of the news items, said it was refreshing to see youngsters making good use of SMS. “When other kids use the technology for meaningless stuff, these two are using the same for gainful purposes. They need to be encouraged,” he said.

Currently, the subscribers get to read only the headlines of the top stories through SMS. The girls, however, said they have plans to upgrade the service in future by providing links that will enable a subscriber to read, hear or watch the news in detail.

“Depending on the feedback we receive from our subscribers, we intend to improve our services,” said Pranita.

The experience of working in such a venture, the girls hope, would hold them in good stead when they look for a full-time career.

“As it is, getting government jobs, or even private ones, are becoming increasingly difficult. This experience will better prepare us to stand on our own feet in the future,” said Pranita.

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www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

Calcutta, March 8: Ministers Asok Bhattacharya and Surjya Kanta Mishra will represent the state at the political-level talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on March 18, the Bengal government said today.

There were no surprises when chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti announced the name of Morcha bete noir municipal affairs and urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya as one of the representatives. Bhattacharya’s name has been doing the rounds for sometime. The other representative, Mishra, is in charge of health and is a member of the CPM’s state secretariat.

The Morcha leadership had said on Sunday that it would declare the composition of its team only after the Bengal government disclosed the names of its representatives. (more…)

The Telegraph

Darjeeling, March 8: The teachers’ union of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has declared eight primary schools across the Darjeeling hills “closed” because of the absence of permanent teachers.

“Eight schools are now being run only by casual and voluntary teachers and we consider them as closed. Appointments to the posts of primary teachers have not been made for long and this is the fallout of the faulty system of the Bengal government. Since casual and voluntary teachers do not have any financial powers, the primary teacher’s union is terming these institutions as closed,” said Bhusan Thapa, the general secretary of the Gorkha Primary Teachers’ Organisation (GPTO). (more…)