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Ramudamu addresses the crowd in Kurseong Picture by Vivek Singh

Kurseong, Dec. 7: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today said referring the Sixth Schedule bill to a parliamentary standing committee was equivalent to throwing it in the dustbin.

“The bill will not be passed in the next hundred years. It was referred to the Standing Committee on December 4, which is as good as dumping it in a dustbin. This is a victory for the people who refused to accept anything less than Gorkhaland. Have faith in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and it will give you Gorkhaland,” Binay Tamang, the press and publicity secretary of the Morcha, told a gathering of a thousand people at Kurseong Motor Stand today. The meeting was also attended by K.S. Ramudamu, the Morcha vice-president. (more…)

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Kalimpong, Dec. 7: Residents of this town are expected to come out in droves tomorrow to take part in a procession demanding peace in Kalimpong.

Organised by Citizens’ Rights Forum, Kalimpong, the procession will speak out against the politics of bandh that has returned to the hills with a vengeance in the recent past.

Tomorrow, before the procession starts from Mela Ground, three speakers representing different generations will address the gathering, giving voice to the people’s discontent. “In a democracy, political parties have a right to protest, but that should not be at the cost of the citizens’ rights,” said Shamsher Ali, one of the organisers.

Afterwards, the participants will march down R.C. Mintri Road, 10th Mile and Main Road before stopping in front of the subdivisional office.

The rally comes in the backdrop of the recent five-day shutdowns called by the newly formed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the GNLF.

“The only silver lining is that the shutdowns galvanised the people against the politics of bandh. If tomorrow’s rally lives up to its billing, it should send a strong message to the political parties to change their language of protest,” said an observer.

At the end of the rally, the citizens’ forum will submit a memorandum to the subdivisional officer, P.T. Sherpa, urging the administration to do its bit to ensure peace in Kalimpong.

“The way in which activists of both the political parties went around brandishing weapons like khukuri and swords right in front of the police should never be allowed in a civilised society,” said Rajen Lama, a resident of Kalimpong. Lama had a white peace flag hoisted on his motorcycle for the entire day today.

In fact, like Lama, many more motorists and motorcyclists were seen moving around with white flags. “These people willingly hoisted the peace flags on their vehicles, which shows how deeply they want peace in Kalimpong,” said a volunteer who was distributing the flags on Main Road.

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Darjeeling, Dec. 7: The GNLF has decided to launch an agitation for a separate state if there are further delays in granting Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling hills.

Party leaders seem to have accepted the fact that it could take at least a month before the Standing Committee submitted its report to Parliament. The GNLF decision is being seen as a move to pressure the Centre and the Bengal government into speedy implementation of the Sixth Schedule bill.

The bill, for which a constitutional amendment is needed, was shelved after a section of Lok Sabha members demanded that it be referred to a parliamentary committee. (more…)

www.thestatesman.net

KURSEONG, Dec. 6: The GJMM Press and Publicity, secretary, Mr Binay Tamang today informed that the litigation filed in Delhi High Court on 26 November, by the GJMM delegation, against the Centre, State government and the DGHC caretaker Mr Subash Ghising, has been admitted in Delhi High Court, today. According to him, the signatories of the Memorandum of Settlement, which was held on 6 December, 2005 over the Sixth Schedule status to Darjeeling hills, have been summoned within 15 days by the Delhi High Court.

Statesman News Service

KURSEONG, Dec. 6: The Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha is showing signs of accelerating its political process against the GNLF in the Darjeeling hills. Changing tack from the aggressive mode, the GJMM has decided to bring out a ‘pen rally’ in Kurseong tomorrow ostensibly to counter the GNLF’s 24 November ‘khukuri (traditional dagger worn by Nepali/ Gorkha people) rally.’

The GJMM’s decision to intensify the movement against the GNLF comes at a time when the Parliamentary standing committee has decided to visit the Darjeeling hills and seek the people’s opinion on the deferred Sixth Schedule Bill.

In addition to the proposed pen rally, the GJMM has also decided to launch a campaign throughout the hills against the Sixth Schedule proposal. The campaign includes public meetings and door to door visits to “educate” the people on the effects of the Sixth Schedule. (more…)

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Darjeeling, Dec. 6: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to celebrate the shelving of the Sixth Schedule bill from tomorrow.

In a departure from traditional modes of celebration in the hills, the party has urged its supporters to light seven earthen lamps in front of their houses at 7pm every day from December 7. The ongoing winter session of Parliament, in which the Sixth Schedule bill could not be passed, comes to an end on December 7. Morcha leaders, who are opposed to the special status, had lobbied with the BJP leadership who insisted that the amendment bill be first placed before the Standing Committee for discussion.

Binay Tamang, the press and publicity secretary of the Morcha, said: “When Lord Ram returned from exile, the people celebrated the dawn of Ram Rajya by lighting earthen lamps in front of their houses. Our celebration too will usher in a Ram Rajya in the hills.”

According to observers, the Morcha leadership’s attachment to the digit 7 can be traced to their belief in numerology. In fact, Morcha president Bimal Gurung had once told The Telegraph that 7 has always been unlucky for GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh.

“After the Gorkhaland agitation, Ghisingh had opened a unit in Sikkim and the party had contested elections from seven constituencies. All the candidates had lost badly,” said Gurung. In keeping with the belief, the Morcha was floated on October 7.

In Panighata, 40km from Siliguri, a Morcha rally was pelted with stones this evening, said additional superintendent of police Rajesh Yadav. The rallyists were forced to take shelter in the local police outpost

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Dec. 5: A smug Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced that it would start mobilising public opinion to stall the Sixth Schedule bill from being passed altogether.

Bimal Gurung’s newly floated party is confident after the constitutional amendment bill for inclusion of the Darjeeling hills in the Sixth Schedule was sent to a parliamentary Standing Committee yesterday. This means that the bill will not be passed in the winter session and will probably be placed in Parliament sometime in March at the earliest. (more…)

The Times of India
4 Dec 2007, 0235 hrs IST , Keshav Pradhan & Mohua Chatterjee , TNN

KOLKATA/ NEW DELHI: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s problems are far from over. After the flak over his government’s handling of the Nandigram, Rizwanur and Taslima issues, the chief minister suffered another huge loss of face when L K Advani on Monday flatly refused to support his bid to push Darjeeling into the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution through the back door.

“We are not against you or Bengal. We object to the way the Opposition and parliamentary procedures have been bypassed in this case,” he reportedly told the CM when the latter visited his house to solicit BJP support.

On Friday, home minister Shivraj Patil piloted a Bill seeking an amendment to the Sixth Schedule without going to Parliament’s standing committee. The Left expected Parliament’s approval by Thursday - not possible without BJP help as UPA-Left lacks the two-thirds majority needed to pass the Bill.

The CM rushed to meet Advani after the latter made his views public. Prior to this, the BJP leader had met with leaders from Darjeeling-based Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which opposes the Sixth Schedule proposal.
During his meeting with Bhattacharjee, Advani expressed his “displeasure” over the delay - the Bill was sent to him only on Friday.

The CM is understood to have said while he wanted to approach BJP earlier, the Centre had assured it would speak to the Opposition party. “I’d asked Patil to do the needful thrice in the past,” he reportedly told Advani.

BJP informed Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee about its decision to oppose the Bill. Advani told Patil cooperation couldn’t be expected if Sonia Gandhi criticized BJP for being “merchants of death” in Gujarat.

Advani, however, assured the CM his party would not contest the content of the Bill when it comes up for discussion. Earlier, BJP had said the Sixth Schedule (which is exclusively for tribal areas in the North-East) is not suitable for Darjeeling, where non-tribals are the majority.

BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, who heads the standing committee on home affairs and is a Rajya Sabha member, criticized the Centre for introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha. “Generally, Bills related to the home ministry are introduced in the RS.”

The CM has been pressuring the Centre, saying delay in passing the Bill will plunge Darjeeling into turmoil. But, the ground situation in Darjeeling is different. Barring GNLF and CPM, no other hill party supports the Sixth Schedule proposal.

As news of Advani’s refusal reached Darjeeling, GJM activists went around the town shouting slogans against the Sixth Schedule. “Besides Advani, we’ve met BJP leader like Swaraj, Jas-want Singh and V K Malhotra,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said from New Delhi. Efforts are also on to win over BSP’s Mayawati.

“The CM and Ghisingh were trying to take India for a ride over Darjeeling,” said Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists’ R B Rai.

Statesman News Service

Kurseong/Darjeeling, Dec. 4: The long awaited dream of the GNLF, over the Sixth Schedule status to Darjeeling hills has been presently shattered, as the Bill was deferred today by the parliamentary standing committee, instead of passing.

According to parliamentary sources, the Sixth Schedule Bill was today deferred by the standing-committee and probably, within a month the standing committee members will be visiting Darjeeling hills, where the members will take the opinion of all the parties of Darjeeling hills and take their account over the Sixth Schedule status.

The Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling, Mr Dawa Narbula, confirmed that the Bill has been deferred by the parliamentary standing committee but he was unable to ascertain the time period of their visit to Darjeeling . He informed that no discussion regarding, the demand for Gorkhaland, was raised in the Parliament today. (more…)

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Darjeeling, Dec. 4: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today said the Lok Sabha’s decision to refer the Sixth Schedule bill to the Standing Committee was their victory even as a stunned GNLF tried to put up a brave face.

Members of Subash Ghisingh’s party, which has been clamouring for the Sixth Schedule, said they, too, were happy with the decision.

The GNLF was banking heavily on Parliament passing the bill today to counter the anti-special status voices. With the BJP taking an unexpected stand last evening, Ghisingh’s party did receive a jolt but the party leaders maintain that it was definitely not a “setback”.

“We are happy that the bill has been referred to the standing committee. During the review we can get more powers and are in a win-win situation,” claimed Deepak Gurung, president, GNLF Darjeeling Branch Committee. (more…)