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Gangtok, July 31: Two members of Affected Citizens of Teesta, who have been fasting for 43 days, were today force fed at Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital.

Dawa T. Lepcha and Tenzing Gyatso Lepcha were admitted there more than 15 days ago. Dr Namgyal T. Sherpa, a senior medical consultant, observed that since “both of them had very high level of ketone bodies” which could affect the kidneys and lead to “serious complications” any moment, the hospital decided to feed them with the Ryles tube.

The ACT members are on hunger strike to demand the immediate scrapping of all the mega hydel power projects in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu in North Sikkim.

The Sikkim government, which had earlier issued an ultimatum to the protesters to withdraw the fast and yet remained silent after its expiry, today invited ACT members for another round of talks.

The opposition parties submitted a joint appeal to chief minister Pawan Chamling, urging that the state should give up its “adamant” stand and resolve the crisis.

Yesterday, the parties had called on Sikkim Governor V. Rama Rao and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention.

ACT today thanked the Lepchas of Darjeeling hills for organising a peace rally yesterday to express solidarity. “We consider it a valiant effort by our brethren…to save Dzongu and the Lepchas,” the chief coordinator of ACT Tseten Lepcha said.

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Siliguri, July 30: Lepchas from different parts of the Darjeeling hills today marched to the district magistrate’s office in Darjeeling to express solidarity with members of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), who are on a hunger strike in Gangtok.

The peaceful rally was organised under the aegis of the Kalimpong-based Rong Ong Prongzom (a Lepcha youth organisation) and led by its president Dorji T. Lepcha.

Dressed in traditional Lepcha attire, the rallyists marched from Chowrastha to the district magistrate’s office and submitted a memorandum to the additional district magistrate S. Mukherjee.

They demanded that the Bengal government pressure the government of Sikkim to scrap all the hydel projects proposed for Dzongu — a land holy to the Lepchas.

The Lepcha youths also threatened to organise hunger strikes in cities like Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai if their demand was not fulfilled or if the Sikkim government used force against the peaceful ACT protesters in Gangtok. They have claimed that the Sikkim government had violated Article 371(f) of the Constitution since under the provisions of this act, Dzongu was protected as a Lepcha reserve.

Earlier the Prongzom had blocked NH 31A at Melli for two hours in support of their protest.

In Gangtok, the fast led by ACT general secretary Dawa T. Lepcha and Tenzing Gyatso reached the 42nd day today with no possible solution in sight. The government that had issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the fasting members a few days ago, maintained a studied silence on the issue.
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Gangtok, July 27: Members of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) continued their hunger strike as the government ultimatum ended at mid-day today.

In a letter to the ACT president yesterday, Sikkim chief secretary N. Chingapa had asked the protesters to withdraw their fast within 24 hours or face “action as per law”.

It was an intense day at B.L. House on Sonam Gyatso Marg — the site for the relay fast — where three monks and six others including three women continued their hunger strike. The site of the fast was surrounded by politicians cutting across party lines, journalists, intelligence personnel and ACT supporters, waiting for the “action” to take place. Two ACT members, Dawa T. Lepcha and Tenzing Lepcha, continued their fast for the 38th day today at Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital.

Two minutes downhill from B.L. House, at Sadar police station, a platoon of Sikkim Armed Police stood prepared in combat fatigues and protection gear. Top district police officials had also assembled at the police station. However, the orders never came. No action was taken till late in the evening.

ACT members submitted a memorandum to Sikkim Governor V. Rama Rao in the afternoon, seeking his intervention. Following Chingapa’s ultimatum, Opposition leaders came together at Himalchuli here and passed a resolution for the formation of a joint action committee to “save democracy in Sikkim”.

In Kalimpong, GNLF branch president Dawa Pakhrin today appealed to the Sikkim government to ensure that the sanctity of Dzongu, which is considered holy by the Lepchas, is preserved.

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Gangtok, July 26: The Sikkim government has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to members of Affected Citizens’ of Teesta (ACT) to withdrawing the hunger strike.

In a strongly-worded letter, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, chief secretary N.D. Chingapa has “sincerely” appealed to the “genuine” members of ACT to introspect on the ongoing hunger strike and the likelihood of it being used by anti-national and anti­state forces.

Chingapa also heads the special panel created to solve the issue.

The government has “requested” that the hunger strike be called off in public interest within 24 hours from the time of receipt of the letter, failing which the state government would have no alternative, but to take necessary action as per law.

The hunger-strike entered its 36th day today.

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Kalimpong: CPM zonal committee members disrupted work for about one-and-half-hour at the local branch of the SBI on Thursday to protest against the “shabby service” given to customers after the introduction of core banking solutions.

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Gangtok, July 25: Another meeting between members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) and the high powered committee of the Sikkim government ended in a stalemate today.

ACT representatives claimed that they had been told earlier in the day that Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling would meet them. However, when they reached Samman Bhavan later in the evening, they were informed that the meeting with Chamling could take place only if they gave up the hunger strike that entered the 35th day today

The ACT members then met the high-powered committee .

Representatives of the body pressed for the formation of an independent committee to review the hydel power projects.

Gangtok, July 24: The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) has written to Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling asking for an independent quasi-judicial committee to review all projects including those proposed in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu.

In the letter, the ACT members thanked the chief minister for his pledge to uphold the sanctity of Dzongu and added that they had always sought an amicable and peaceful solution to the problem.

“Since negotiations with the authorised committee seem to have reached a stalemate, we seek your direct intervention in this matter,” read the letter signed by ACT president Athup Lepcha and other senior members.

The ACT members have demanded that the composition of the committee would have to be agreeable to both sides. They have also demanded that all activities related to the Panan hydel project in Dzongu, including land acquisition, be kept in abeyance.

A meeting between the chief minister and ACT seems likely tomorrow, according to some of the mediators.

The hunger strike led by ACT general secretary Dawa Lepcha and 20-year-old Tenzing Lepcha has entered the 35th day today. The two are continuing their fast at Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital where they are admitted. Both are suffering from high fever, headaches and nausea, sources said.

by Janice Mukhia

If ever there was a point in our past that changed the fabric of our entire community, I would have to flip the calendar to lay a finger on Sunday, the 27th of July, 1986.

Indeed, that is a day that will go down in the annals of Kalimpong history as “Our” Black Sunday. It is a day that continues to live in infamy, for in that tragic moment we all turned a corner and underwent a complete transformation. Quite unknowingly we bid farewell to our inborn innocence and inherited, what some have quite candidly labeled as, the “Inheritance of Loss”. We undoubtedly inherited a great loss, the burden of which we carry to this day.

It did not all start out that way, or rather no one had quite envisioned the tragedy and atrocity that that day would bring upon us.

It was a bright, hot summer day in late July. The Gorkhaland agitation—the demand for a separate state for thousands of Nepalese living in Darjeeling and its sub-division had gripped the hills. Every man, woman and child’s interest and involvement in the agitation was adequately piqued. The movement undoubtedly, had reached a fever pitch. Darjeelingeys brimmed with fervor towards the cause, and supported it with a dedication that almost equaled blind faith. A burning passion for the land had kindled the heart of every darjeelingey, and every lip pledged support to give their life, if need be, for “our maato”.

On 27th of July, 1986, I woke up to the murmurings of an entire village drenched in a carnivalesque mood. Women draped in colorful chowbandi cholos paced the streets with saipatri malas hanging around their neck. Men in daura suruwals and khukuris slung by their sides walked alongside, eager to impress their female counterparts. Every other person, musically challenged or not, sported a beat or two on the madal. Festoons fluttered in the afternoon breeze, and shouts of “jai gorkha-jai gorkhaland” pierced through the ravines and cliffs. On that day, cultural, societal, economic and religious boundaries seemed to fade and had merged as one. Everyone, be it bahun, rai, limbu, kami or damai spoke with ONE voice, with one purpose, such as, or had never been seen before.

At the heart of all the festivities was a much somber issue. The Indo-Nepal treaty which in way had sealed the fate of the Nepalese and their status quo in India lay at the heart of this contentious issue. Shrouded in uncertainty, Clause 7 of the treaty came to be synonymous with the ambiguous legal status of the Nepalese living, not only in the Darjeeling Hills but throughout India. Our “Identity” as legal residents of India was in itself brought to question. A mass campaign was therefore organized, to burn the flags of the two countries and to nullify the treaty. Leaders at the local level had planned a non-violent march to the main town square to make their demands heard. It came as a step in the direction to gain an equal footing as rightful, legal, tax-paying citizens of India.

As expected there was a huge turn-out. Processions from all quarters of town with its share of musicians, dancers, men, women and children converged at the main town square roughly around mid-day. But just as they were approaching the police head-quarters someone heard a loud boom. Unaware of what was going on, the crowd continued under the impression the sound was from a firecracker. Then the boom was followed by yet another, then another and yet another loud boom. No one quite knew what was going on, but commotion broke loose as a lady fell to the ground with blood streaming down her temples. As realization of a cruel reality slowly filtered in, mass hysteria ensued.

Armed forces, unbeknownst to the crowd had crept atop buildings along the road, and were firing blindly, mercilessly and ruthlessly at the unarmed crowd below. Women scurried to protect their young ones from flying bullets. Children ran aimlessly even as their fathers were shot down like animals on a firing range. Mothers saw their sons falling by their side, children witnessed blood streaming down the cheeks of their parents. The elderly lay dying by the street, struggling to let go of their last breath. Men attempted to combat the oppressors with bare essentials, but to no avail. Every shot fired from a vantage spot gave birth to an orphan or to a widow. In the end, cries for a loved one, cries of loss and cries of pain were drowned among a heap of bodies that lay strewn along the road and hill slopes. Gold ear-rings lay unclaimed by the gutter, sarees lay drenched in blood, a stray pair of sandals lay by the road side even as its owner lay face down against the hot, hard and rough surface of a blood stained road. After what seemed like hours of massacre, all that remained were remnants of life or lives that once was, or once could be. Deathly silence crept upon the land, as confusion gave way to mourning. It was a horrid spectacle reminiscent of a scene out of the Crimean war.

The Law of the land or rather the lawlessness behind the action towered above the din of death. Surely no law or an attempt for its justification could legitimize a gruesome act of this magnitude. Our Human Rights had been violated. Our Constitutional rights had been violated and seized from us, but alas who was there to speak for the dead, or rather, who among the living could testify against this gross injustice. Celebration turned to lamentation, laughter to tears and hope to hopelessness. Kalimpong and her children had been murdered, yet, who was there to grieve for the dead or console the living? It was a dark, a very dark period in our lives. Indeed, the cries of the innocent reverberate, to this day, in the streets and in the building alleys.

Many years have passed since Kalimpong first tasted the bitterness of death. Many years have passed since that fateful day in July, when we lost so many of our loved ones to gross injustice. Many years have passed since that black Sunday, yet memories of their painful death stare upon us like an open wound. We have shed many tears since; we have buried many loved ones since, and continue to grapple with the pain inflicted upon us.

Politics and politicians have inevitably forgotten or rather, have chosen to forget the trail of tears that the people have shed. They remain true to their fabric, choosing rather to pursue interests that fuel their individual pursuit for fame and fortune.
A massacre of a different kind now looms large amidst us. It is now up to us to remember the price we paid to gain what was rightfully ours. It is up to us to cherish and respect the life and death of those who we once lost. It is up to Kalimpong and her people, to remember and hold onto the hope that was once alive.

Just as the soul of every martyr remains aflame within the pages of our history, so too “Our Story” remains immortal in our psyche: Our Story is worth the memories!

Gangtok, July 22: The Sikkim government will go ahead with the implementation of the mega hydroelectric power projects in North Sikkim, including those proposed in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu.

Chief minister Pawan Chamling said this at a meeting yesterday, thus breaking his silence over the ongoing protests against the projects.

“We will not compromise with the development process in North Sikkim. Once the projects are operational, they will meet the power needs of the state and generate a revenue of Rs 2,000 crore per annum,” Chamling said before a gathering of landowners from Dzongu at Samman Bhavan here.

He also claimed that the majority of people from the area is in favour of the hydel power projects and added that the good of the community would not be held hostage by a few disgruntled persons.

“The fast is sponsored by opposition parties who are using the innocent Lepchas to further their vested interests. The agitation is anti-Sikkimese,” Chamling alleged.

The chief minister was referring to the indefinite hunger strike organised by members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) since June 20 to protest against the hydel power projects. ACT general secretary Dawa T. Lepcha and 20-year-old Tenzing Lepcha, a member, have been admitted to hospital after their health deteriorated.

Chamling asked the ACT members to withdraw their hunger strike within 24 hours and accept the government’s offer for a dialogue on the issue.

Earlier, representatives from Dzongu spoke on behalf of the landowners and common people stating that they were happy with the Panan hydel power project proposed in their area. Dzongu MLA Sonam Gyatso and health minister Hissey Lachungpa also put forward their observations supporting the projects.

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Gangtok, July 16: Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling today said the sanctity of Dzongu has to be protected at any cost.

He said this at a review meeting at the conference hall of the Tashiling secretariat. The meeting was called to discuss the ongoing hunger-strike by members of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT).

The ACT members are demanding that all mega-hydel power projects, set to come up in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu in North Sikkim, be scrapped and all similar projects across the state be reviewed.

This is the first meeting on the issue in the presence of the chief minister. Chamling was abroad when the fast began 26 days back.

According to a release issued by the state information and public relations department, the chief minister also said a high-level state committee has already been formed to look into the issues related to the hydroelectricity projects. The committee, headed by chief secretary N.D. Chingapa, has been instructed to meet the ACT representatives and to look into the matter at the earliest.

No other details of the meeting were forthcoming. The meet was attended by the minister for commerce and industries R.B. Subba, health minister Hishey Lachungpa, Dzongu legislator Sonam Gyatso Lepcha, political secretary to the chief minister K.T. Gyaltsen and senior state government officials.

Two previous meetings between the state government and ACT have ended in a stalemate since no decision could be taken in the absence of the chief minister. At the meet today, the chief secretary apprised the chief minister on the situation.

As the hunger-strike enter Day 27, a woman ACT member, Chungkipu Lepcha, had to be shifted to Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital after her health deteriorated during the day.

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Gangtok, July 13: General secretary of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) Dawa T. Lepcha, who has been on hunger strike for the past 23 days, was shifted to hospital this morning after his pressure dropped drastically.

Lepcha, who is also a documentary film-maker, has been admitted to Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital. Twenty-year-old Tenzing Gyatso Lepcha, an ACT member, was admitted to the same hospital five days ago with high fever and low pressure. Both the activists said they would continue fasting at the hospital. Thirteen other ACT members are fasting at B.L. House on Sonam Gyatso Marg here.

The ACT members are on hunger strike to demand the immediate scrapping of all the mega hydel power projects in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu in North Sikkim.

A saline channel attached to his right hand, Tenzing, told The Telegraph that he was not willing to give up so soon. “I have already come this far and I think there is no stopping until a positive decision is reached. I am ready to give up my life in the course of this protest,” said Tenzing who has recently taken his final-year examinations at Sikkim Government College. (more…)

Siliguri, July 10: A police officer has been accused of assaulting a man whose Chevrolet Tavera had been stolen for allegedly “misleading forces”.

Additional superintendent of police Humayun Kabir denied thrashing businessman Gautam Sen. “He came to my office in Kalimpong with a woman tantrik and insisted that she knew where the stolen vehicle was. We set up checkpoints at various places, but in vain,” Kabir said.

Sen’s car went missing last Wednesday. His driver, Rajen Naser, was found dead the day after. “On Sunday, my brother took a Maruti van and went to the Dooars in search of his car and spotted it. Five persons were inside,” Sen’s brother said. Sen called Kabir but the vehicle apparently sped away before the police arrived. Kabir apparently called Sen to his office after that.

“I was asked to sing We Shall Overcome, while he beat me up for misleading his forces,” he said from hospital.

The police admitted he lost consciousness in the police station, but the hospital said no injury marks were found on him.

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Kalimpong, July 9: The movement against NHPC’s Teesta Low Dam Projects here has received a shot in the arm by the protests in Sikkim against the mega hydel power projects coming up in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu.

Rong Ong Prongzom, the Kalimpong-based organisation of Lepcha youths, today announced that it would block NH 31A on Wednesday to express their solidarity with the Sikkim protesters.

The Siliguri-based North Eastern Society for Preservation of Nature, on the other hand, has decided to organise village meetings to get the community’s opinion on the Teesta low dams, which are in various stages of implementation. The Society believes that it is important to ask people about the projects now when their adverse effects on the environment have become evident.

“We can show the people how scientific studies were bypassed by NHPC,” said Society secretary Saumitra Ghosh.

The Society is in touch with Affected Citizens of Teesta, which is leading the Dzongu protests, as well as the Kalimpong-based NH 31A Bachao Committee.

A sustained campaign by the Committee has recently resulted in the Union surface transport ministry asking the Geological Survey of India to investigate the landslides on NH 31A, which many believe are caused by the NHPC projects.

Gangtok, July 8: Representatives of the Sikkim government, led by local MLA Sonam Gyatso Lepcha, held a public hearing in Dzongu today to win the support of landowners for the mega hydroelectric projects coming up in the Lepcha reserve.

Around 200 people gathered at Namprikdang in North Sikkim, many of them arriving in vehicles sporting the flag of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). The legislator has been defending the hydel power projects in the area even as protests against the plants gain momentum in Sikkim.

Even today, many landowners from Dzongu stayed away from the SDF show of strength at Namprikdang and were instead seen at B.L. House in Gangtok, where the indefinite hunger strike begun by Affected Citizens of Teesta entered its 18th day. ACT wants the state government to scrap all the projects coming up in Dzongu and review the ones planned for other parts of the state.

Two meetings between members of the organisation and the government have ended in a stalemate.

One of the protesters, 20-year-old Tenzing Gyatso Lepcha, had to be admitted to Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital this morning after his blood pressure dropped. Tenzing, along with ACT general secretary Dawa Lepcha, had been admitted to the hospital once before but both had refused food even there.

Another member of ACT, Chimi Lepcha, is still in hospital.

Some 12 others are also on fast. Many landowners have also been participating in a relay hunger strike, which is also being held at B.L. House.

Yesterday, the members of ACT wrote to chief secretary N.D. Chingapa to say they were willing to end the indefinite hunger strike if the state government agreed in writing to certain conditions.

The organisation is being supported by Concerned Lepchas of North Sikkim and the Sangha (the monks’ body) of Dzongu. Lepchas of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong have also decided to form a joint action committee to back the cause.

ACT already has many opposition parties and certain organisations within the state on its side.

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Kalimpong, July 6: A man died in an accident on NH 31A last night, hours after a driver was found murdered on the same highway a short distance away.

Sunil Chandra Prakash, the administrator of Rockvale Academy here, died when the car he was driving — a Honda City — missed a curve and fell into a 400-foot gorge near Birikdara on NH 31A last night.

Prakash was returning to Kalimpong from Siliguri when the mishap occurred. “When he last spoke to his wife over the phone around 10pm, he was still in Siliguri,” said a family member.

The administrator had gone to Siliguri to buy construction material as he had been extending a part of his house to build a room for his son Samit, said Akay Lee, a friend of Prakash. “I rang him on his cellphone around 8.30 last night and he said he was in Siliguri,” Lee recalled.

“I asked him to come back before it got too late. I told him to be careful as it was raining hard in Kalimpong, That was the last time I spoke to him,” added Lee, who had known Prakash for 20 years.

The accident came to light this morning when some residents of the area discovered the car in the gorge. They immediately informed police, who took the help of a crane to recover the body.

A distance of about 15 feet separated the body and the car.

Prakash, who was in his early fifties, is survived by his wife, Sarala, and son Samit, who is studying to be a doctor in Pokhara, Nepal.

Humayun Kabir, the additional superintendent of police of Kalimpong, said there was no suspicion of foul play in the death of Prakash and it was being treated as a case of accident.

However, a little distance away from Birikdara, some unidentified persons slit the throat of Rajen Tamang, a driver from Sukna near Siliguri, on Wednesday night and dumped his body on the Teesta riverbed below.

The body was found between Geilkhola and 27th Mile yesterday afternoon.

The police said a person had hired Tamang’s pick-up van in Siliguri on Wednesday and they left for Gangtok through NH 31A. According to records available at the Sikkim Police’s Rangpo checkpoint, the van passed the place on its way back from Gangtok at 9.45pm.

“We believe Tamang was murdered sometime between Wednesday midnight and 1am. There must have been more than one person involved in the incident,” said a police source.

The post-mortems on both the bodies were conducted at the Kalimpong subdivisional hospital today.