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Kalimpong, Oct. 31: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) today held its first public rally in the subdivision at the Motor Stand here.

However, a large chunk of the nearly 15,000 supporters apparently came from outside the subdivision. They arrived in no less than 700 vehicles from various parts of Darjeeling, Kurseong and the plains. The supporters of the new outfit were seen all over the town well before 11am, when the meeting began.

During the meet, GJM president Bimal Gurung went hammer and tongs at the local GNLF leadership, especially targeting its Kalimpong unit president Dawa Pakhrin. He also hailed murdered strongman and one-time associate of Subash Ghisingh, C.K. Pradhan, as a martyr and sought a CBI inquiry into the murder.

Gurung also expressed support for another former GNLF leader, Chhatrey Subba, who has been incarcerated in a Jalpaiguri jail on charges of masterminding an attack on Ghisingh near Kurseong on February 10, 2001.

“We will work towards securing the release of Chhatrey Subba,” said Gurung.

Both Pradhan, who was killed on October 3, 2002 some time after he fell out with Ghisingh, and Subba were torchbearers of the Gorkhaland agitation in Kalimpong and Gurung’s statement is in keeping with the rebel outfit’s pro-Gorkhaland stand.

The GJM president also announced that his party would gherao the Lal Kothi, the DGHC headquarters in Darjeeling, for 15 days beginning November 7.

“After that I will come to Kalimpong and spend about a month here touring the hinterland,” Gurung said.

Wishing all readers a Very Happy Dashain and Tihar

Sabaila Dashain Tihar ko dherai dherai subhakaamana.

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Kalimpong subdivisional officer P.T. Sherpa today handed over Rs 2.5 lakh to the kin of the five landslide victims who died on September 7.

T.B. Subba and his wife Sukmit of Seokbir Khani, Kamal Tirwa and his daughter Sheetal of Mongbolbustee and Shanti Chettri of Chota Bhalukhop were killed by landslides triggered by torrential rain.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Oct. 18: The monsoon has reduced large stretches of NH31A to treacherous dirt tracks and contributed to reducing the number of tourists coming to Kalimpong and Sikkim during the Puja holidays.

This hill town, for example, has seen a fall of about 30 per cent in tourist arrival this season compared to last year.

“The bad road condition and the fear of political turmoil in the hills are probably the reasons for the dip in tourist arrival,” said Sanjogita Subba, the president of the Kalimpong Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association.

However, things could have been much worse if the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which maintains the highway that connects Kalimpong and Sikkim to Siliguri, had not worked overtime over the past few weeks.

The Telegraph today inspected the badly affected stretches of the road to get a clearer picture of the effort put in by the BRO in restoring the connectivity so promptly. After all, no less than 60 landslides, most of them triggered by rain, had occurred between Sevoke and Rangpo, a distance of 52km, in early September.

On top of that, the BRO has been hamstrung by the lack of labour force and non-availability of stone quarry.

“The NHPC hydel projects on the Teesta have attracted a major portion of the local labour force. We have taken up the matter with the Kalimpong subdivisional officer (P. T. Sherpa) who has promised to help,” said a BRO official.

Despite such constraints, the BRO has managed to repair breaches all along the highway right up to Gangtok, though at some places the road is yet to be opened to two-way traffic.

“We must first carry out sufficient repairs to allow two-way traffic along the entire highway. After that we will completely resurface a 14km stretch of the road from Sevoke railway crossing to Lohapool and repair other damaged portions,” said the BRO official.

With all work expected to be completed by March-end, the next spring should see an increase in the number of tourists to the region.

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Kalimpong, Oct. 15: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) will formally launch its Kalimpong unit after a public rally here on October 31.

A 53-member working committee has been formed to oversee the preparations for the rally. The members of the committee come from diverse backgrounds, but all of them are united in their opposition to the GNLF and the Sixth Schedule and are one with GJM president Bimal Gurung on the Gorkhaland issue.

Gurung had formed the GJM earlier this month after he was expelled from the GNLF for anti-party activities.

The committee, which will automatically stand dissolved after the formation of the GJM’s Kalimpong unit, was formed at a meeting here yesterday. Prominent among the members of the committee are columnist Harka Bahadur Chettri, an independent councillor of Kalimpong Municipality Bijay Sundas, Kalyan Dewan and D. Subba.

Sundas, who is also an executive member of GJM, said the party has been getting overwhelming response from all corners of the subdivision. “We are taking our time in launching the local unit, because we are extra careful about getting the right persons at the forefront,” he said.

Though GJM sympathisers are not willing to go on record, but the public meeting is expected to be attended by Gurung himself.

The local GNLF unit has so far put up a united front and has solidly stood behind Subash Ghisingh. “Try as he may, Gurung will fail to make any impact here. Kalimpong is not Darjeeling,” said a senior GNLF leader here.

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Kalimpong, Oct. 9: Come Diwali, the hills will come alive with the sound of music.

A Solo Instrumental Competition, with the thrust on Western classical music, will be held at Saptashree Gyanpeeth here on November 10. The open competition is being organised by My Peace Organisation, a local NGO.

Four faculty members of Bach Music Academy in Vienna, Austria, will be the star judges at the competition. They are Mari Naka (piano), Luis Morais (violin), James Rapport (contrabass) and the director, Hanns Stekel (violin, viola and flute).

Prior to the competition, auditions will be held in Kurseong, Kalimpong, and Darjeeling to select three contestants each in three different instrumental categories: guitar, violin and keyboard. “The contestant will be judged on the basis of timing, beat, length of the piece, rhythm, feel while playing and technique,” said event coordinator Abhinash Chhetri.

The organisers will give cash awards of Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 to the first, second and third finishers in all the categories. “The event will encourage our children to take up Western classical music and, maybe, even a make a name for themselves in the world of music,” said Chettri.

The four musicians from Vienna will also play selected pieces of Bach, Mozart and Strauss at a concert here on November 11. The proceeds of the concert and donations collected for it will be used to fund the free music institute for poor children that has been recently opened here by My Peace Organisation.

“The classical music lessons imparted by us will be at par with the ones at any other international music institute,” said Chogyal Rimpoche, who heads My Peace. He added that the music institute would soon be affiliated to Bach Music Academy.

After the first batch of students complete their graded examinations, efforts will be made to form a symphony orchestra and give it national exposure. “The very talented ones among the children will be given an opportunity to pursue their skills abroad,” said Chogyal Rimpoche.

The music institute apart, My Peace plans to set up an orphanage and old-age home in Kalimpong.

Statesman News Service

GANGTOK, Oct. 7: Over 5,000 people took part in a mass rally organised by members of the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association at Kalimpong yesterday to protest against upcoming hydroelectric power projects at Dzongu, a Lepcha reserve in North Sikkim.
People from Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha communities ad members of various social organisations took part in the rally that started from 10th Mile Fatak and culminated at Damber Chowk, a stretch of five kilometre.
“We will do whatever we can to stop setting up of hydel power projects at Dzongu,” said Mr Lyangsong Tamsang, president of ILTA.
The Lepchas from Kailmpong and Darjeeling have already started hunger-strike to express their solidarity with members of the Affetted Citizens of Teesta who have launched a tirade against the Sikkim government over the issue. The relay hunger-strike of the Lepchas has completed 108 days in Sikkim, 47 days in Kalimpong and 37 days in Darjeeling.
Mr Dilip Kumar Pradhan, a member of Seva Kalyan Samiti, said: “Not only Lepchas, all people should oppose the Sikkim government’s bid to disturb the sanctity of Dzongu.” Those who participated in the rally included members of the Government Pensioners’ Association, Seva Kalyan Samiti, All India Nepali Scheduled Caste Association, Kalimpong, Darjeeling Hill Muslim Association and Milanee Club.

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Kalimpong, Oct. 2: All seems to be well — at least for now — on this side of the Teesta with the local unit of the GNLF busy celebrating the cabinet approval of the Sixth Schedule status since yesterday.

In fact, all three major players of the party in Kalimpong — unit president Dawa Pakhrin, local MLA Gaulan Lepcha and municipality chairman C.K. Kumai — went down to Bagdogra today to receive Subash Ghisingh, who is back from an official trip to Bali in Indonesia.

Observers feel the cabinet announcement has come as a boon to the GNLF leader.

“It was godsend, otherwise who knows the revolt from Darjeeling could have spilled over here as well,” said an observer. Not that the local unit of the party has betrayed any visible signs of revolt, though a section of the party rank and file are known to have become a frustrated lot.

“Used as they were to enjoying the benefits of power for close to two decades, it is but natural for GNLF leaders to be frustrated given that they have been rendered powerless for over two years now,” said the observer.

Pakhrin, however, insisted that the uncertainties of the last couple of years have in no way affected the party’s morale in the subdivision.

“We continue to repose faith in Ghisingh’s leadership,” said Pakhrin.

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Kalimpong, Oct. 1: Lepcha organisations from the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim have come together to form a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to intensify their on-going agitation demanding that all hydel power projects proposed for the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu be scrapped.

The JAC will be headed by L.S. Tamsang, the president of the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association (ILTA) and comprises members of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), Concerned Lepchas of Sikkim and the Rong-Ong-Prongzum (Lepcha Youth Association), besides other Lepcha associations.

Tamsang will be assisted by ACT’s Dawa Lepcha as secretary and four vice-presidents — Athup Lepcha (ACT president), Dorjee Lepcha (Prongzum president), S.M. Lepcha (chief adviser to ILTA) and Nima Thsering Lepcha.

Dorjee later told The Telegraph that the decision to form the JAC was taken as the on-going Dzongu agitation was not creating the desired impact. “With the formation of the JAC, we hope to coordinate our agitation better,” he said.

The JAC will start off with a procession from 10th Mile to Damber Chowk here on October 6. “We will invite members of other communities to be part of the rally. From October 6 we will also be holding regular public meetings,” said the Prongzum president.

Tamsang is away in Jaipur, Rajasthan, attending a conference. Tomorrow, he will meet the chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Kunwar Singh, in New Delhi.

ACT members — who have been spearheading the protest in Sikkim — expressed happiness at the formation of the JAC. “It is a welcome move. Henceforth, the JAC will be able to coordinate between the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim and organise programmes more effectively,” said Tseten Lepcha, the chief coordinator of ACT.