उत्तर बङगाल बिकाश मन्त्री गौतम देवको बिरोधमा कालो झण्डा देखाईयो Mamata plays with fire in the hills

उत्तर बङगाल बिकाश मन्त्री गौतम देवको बिरोधमा कालो झण्डा देखाईयो

http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/main-news/98-citizen-news/5524-2013-02-13-05-00-30.html

बङगाल सरकारको बिरोधमा आज कालो झण्डा देखाईएको हो – बिनय तामङ

डी के वाइबा, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ 12 फरवरी। लेप्चा समुदायका मानिसहरुले शुरु गरेको आमरण अनशन समापन गरेर फर्केका उत्तरबङगाल बिकाश मंत्री गौतम देवले आज पहाडमा प्रथम पल्ट बिरोधको सामना गर्नुपर्‍यो।

यहाँको थाना डाँडा स्थित त्रिकोण पार्क अनि टाउनहल परिसरमा लेप्चा समुदायका मानिसहरुले गत छ दिन देखि जारी राखेको आमरण अनशन फिर्ता गरिदिने राज्यकी मुख्यमंत्री ममता ब्यानर्जीले सन्देश पठाए पछि आज उक्त सन्देश लिएर कालेबुङ आईपुगेका थिए।

मुख्यमंत्रीको सन्देश लिएर कालेबुङ आईपुगेका मंत्री देवले लेप्चा समुदायका मानिसहरुले शुरु गरेको आमरण अनशन जुस पिलाएर समापन गरेर सोझै सिलगडी फर्किरहेको समयमा तिनले बिरोधको सामना गर्नु पर्‍यो। यहाँको आठ माईल भएर जादै गर्दा देवलाई गोजमुमो पार्टी कार्यकर्ताहरुले व्यापक मात्रमा भेला भएर बिरोध गर्दै कालो झण्डा देखाए। मोर्चा कार्यकर्ताहरुले अचानक सडकमा निस्केर कालो झण्डा देखाउँदै बिरोध प्रदर्शन गर्न थालेपछि केही बेरसम्म तिनको वाहन अघि बडन सकेन।

अन्तमा उक्त बिरोधहरुको सम्मुखिन बनेका उत्तर बङगाल बिकाश मंत्री गौतम देवलाई पुलिस प्रशासनले सक्रियता अप्नाउँदै सुरक्षित निकाले। यता कालेबुङमा बिरोधको सामना गर्न परेका मन्त्री देवलाई 31 ए राष्ट्रिय राजमार्ग चित्रेमा पनि कालोझण्डा देखाएर मोर्चा समर्थकहरुले जोडदार बिरोध प्रदर्शन गरे। उक्त प्रदर्शन अवधी कुनै अप्रिय घटना नहोस भनेर पुलिस प्रशासनले कठोर सुरक्षा व्यवस्था अप्नाएको थियो। आज यसरी अचानक पहाडमा मन्त्री गौतम देवको बिरोधले गोजमुमो अनि तृणमूल कङ्ग्रेस पार्टीको सम्बन्ध बिच्छेद बनेको स्पष्ट बनेको छ।

यता उक्त कालोझण्डा देखाएर बिरोध गरिनुको घटना बारे गोजमुमो सहसचिव बिनय तामङले यसरी स्पष्टिकरण दिएका छन। "गोजमुमो पार्टी लेप्चा जातिको बिकाशको बिरोधमा छैन। मोर्चाले लेप्चा बिकाश परिषदको पनि बिरोध गर्दैन। आज बङगालकी मुख्यमन्त्री ममता ब्यानर्जीले दार्जीलिङको चौरास्तामा आएर गोर्खाहरुको अपमान गरिन अनि कालेबुङमा गौतम देव आएर गोर्खाहरुको छत्तिमा टेकेर अपमान गर्ने कार्य गर्दैछ। यहाँ बङगाल सरकारले बारम्बार गोर्खाहरुलाई अपमान गर्ने कार्य भएको कारण यो कालो झण्ड देखाएर सरकारको बिरोध गरिएको हो" बिनय तामङले स्पष्ट भने।

Mamata plays with fire in the hills

Bharti and her son finally met the Chief Minister last week

In the past two years, Bharti Tamang had sent at least seven letters to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking an appointment and pleading for a fair investigation into her husband and hill leader Madan Tamang's murder. Not once did the CM get back, till last week.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) called up Bharti in Darjeeling on February 4 and asked her to come to Kolkata immediately to meet Mamata. "This is urgent," she was told. Accompanied by her son Sanjog, she met the CM at the Writers' Buildings on February 6. At the meeting, Mamata reportedly expressed regret at not having met them earlier, and said she had committed a "blunder" in extending a hand of friendship to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). The family, which has been complaining about feeling insecure in Darjeeling, was also provided security after the meeting ended.

While the Tamangs refused to talk, the closed-door meeting by all accounts revolved around the Tamang murder case.

And the reason is easy to see: As the relationship between the GJM and Trinamool Congress worsens, the case has become one of the most important tools and political bargaining points in Darjeeling's scheme of things.

Any proper investigation in the case is likely to lead to the top GJM leadership. So far, the Trinamool Congress regime has ensured this doesn't happen. Despite the FIR naming several leaders of the party and despite telephone call intercepts indicating their hand in the murder, they have not even been questioned; the state government has not handed over the transcript and the recordings of the conversation between the alleged assailants and senior GJM leaders to the CBI despite repeated requests; and the CBI, which had asked the government's approval to include a CID officer, Ardhendu Pahari, in the chargesheet, is yet to receive any response. The prime accused in the case, Nicole, had fled from Pahari's custody.

However, the case isn't the only weapon the CM is wielding against the GJM, with whom relations have soured over the separate statehood demand. The state Cabinet recently cleared the Lepcha Development Council. Lepchas and Buddhists constitute about 20 per cent of the hill population and are listed as Scheduled Tribes. Lepchas are also the original inhabitants of Darjeeling hills. Notwithstanding that the gambit could prove disastrous for the Darjeeling hills, which has a large number of SC/ST groups, Mamata is obviously hoping caste politics will help her cut the GJM say in the hills.

"We have been demanding the council for several years. It went unheard. But now, with political interests (in mind), the government has approved the Lepcha Development Council. The government and and the political parties of the hill are doing unnecessary politics over our identity and our lives," said Bhupinder Lepcha, convener of the Lepcha Rights Movement.

The GJM has called a strike protesting against the formation of the Lepcha council.

GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said, "CM Mamata Banerjee has started playing with the emotions of the people of the hills. She is trying to apply the divide and rule policy on us... There is no provision for setting up of the council under the GTA (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration) Act and it cannot be set up."

That may not be the only development council on Mamata's plate either as she takes on the GJM. At a meeting with a section of the Adivasi Vikash Parishad last week, the CM said she was willing to explore the idea of an Adivasi Development Council as well, in the Dooars and Terai region.

A section of the Adivasis in the foothills of Darjeeling had earlier aligned with the GJM in the hope of being a stakeholder in the region's development under the GTA. However, Gurung has suffered loss of credibility with them for failing to include 400 mouzas of Terai and Dooars region under the GTA.

Tribal leader John Barla who met Mamata said: "She asked me about the problems of Terai and Dooars region. We demanded a Terai and Dooars development council and autonomy in the area for development of tribal people. She agreed to support us."

In toughening her stand against the GJM and its call for a separate state, Mamata may also be sending a signal to the neighbouring areas before the scheduled panchayat polls.

Such a stand is bound to get her votes in the polls in several districts bordering Darjeeling, such as Coochbehar, Jalpgiguri, Siliguri and Dinajpur.

The Madan Tamang case

May 2010: Top leader Madan Tamang of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, the only dissenting voice against Bimal Gurung and his men in the Darjeeling hills, is hacked to death allegedly by GJM activists during a public meeting. Tamang was addressing a public meeting, defying a ban imposed by the GJM.

August 2010: Nicole Tamang, one of the prime accused, flees from CID custody. He is still at large.

August 2010: CID files a chargesheet naming 30 people and listing 61 witnesses. Key GJM leaders named in the FIR left out of the chargesheet.

January 2011: State government hands over the case to the CBI following a petition by Tamang's wife Bharti in the Calcutta High Court.

August 2011: The CBI files a supplementary chargesheet, implicating Dipen Maley, spokesperson of the GJM's youth wing, Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha. Maley is arrested. Gurung fields Maley in the GTA election as a candidate.

November 2011: CBI informer and a witness in the case, Naveen Gurung, is murdered in Darjeeling.

December 2011: Dil Kumar Rai, named by the CID in the chargesheet, is killed in Singla on the West Bengal-Sikkim border.

September 2012: With all the nine arrested persons in the case granted bail in 2012, Bharti moves the Supreme Court, urging that an SIT comprising "officers of impeccable integrity" be set up to conduct a probe.

February 18: The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict.

Demand for Lepcha Development Council outside GTA's purview

KOLKATA, 12 FEB: The state backward classes department today issued a resolution for setting up of Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Council for the development of the Lepchas under its administrative control outside the purview of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The council would be formed as registered cooperative society to be guided by the West Bengal Societies Registration Act 1961 with a general council and executive body with members nominated by the state government chosen either from the Lepcha community or state government officials. 

"Since the Lepcha Council is not bound by any geographical area and may include members from Kalimpong or Jalpaiguri it cannot be put under GTA. Moreover, it is a registered cooperative society," said an official of the  department.  A delegation of the Lepcha Rights Movement today met Mr S K Thade, secretary of the backward class welfare department. 

 "We also came to know a grant will be sanctioned for the council which will be spent for the development of the Lepcha," said a team member. The general council will have 31 members and the executive body 11 members. The council will work for over all development of Lepchas and protecting their ethnic identity, language and culture.  

The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) has been protesting against the state government's move to set up the council outside the GTA's purview.  

Govt passes resolution hours after Lepchas call off fast

Minister Gautam Deb at the site of hunger strike in Kalimpong on Tuesday (photo courtesy: Rabin Rai)

Nod to Lepcha board

Feb. 12: The Mamata Banerjee government today passed an order in Writers' to establish a development board for the hill Lepcha community, hours after they broke their fast in Kalimpong in the presence of minister Gautam Deb who was shown black flags by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The resolution says the Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Board will undertake all necessary work for the protection and promotion of the Lepcha language and historical and cultural landmarks of the community.

The board will also work to promote and support artisans and farmers of the community, the resolution said.

The board, which will be registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961, will be able to take loans from national and international financial institutions to achieve the goals of the board.

It will also be able to obtain funds from various government departments for development projects meant for the Lepchas, believed to be the original inhabitants of the hills.

A senior official at Writers' Buildings said: "It is now clear that the state government wants to set up a board similar to the GTA. The board will also enjoy some of the facilities like the GTA."

The board will have two separate wings — the general and the executive. But members of both the bodies will be nominated, unlike the GTA where the majority of members are elected.

The general body will have 31 members, of whom four will be government officials and the rest nominated by the government from among the Lepchas.

The general body would be the apex body of the board. It will have the power to pass audited accounts and budget estimates.

It will transact any business suggested by the executive body.

The general body will be headed by a chairperson nominated by the state government from the Lepcha community. The four state officials will be the member secretary and three ex-officio members.

For the post of member secretary, the state will appoint a senior bureaucrat on deputation.

The executive body will have 11 members, of which two would be government officers and the rest, including the chairman and the vice-chairman, Lepchas nominated by the state.

Senior officials at Writers' Buildings said the state government has made it clear that it would have proper control over the board as all Lepcha members would be nominated by the state.

The state cabinet had approved the proposal of setting up of the board on February 2 soon after the chief minister's visit to Darjeeling where Morcha supporters had raised Gorkhaland slogans after Mamata said "Darjeeling is a part of us".

Today, in the presence of north Bengal development minister Deb, the Lepchas ended their six-day-old hunger strike in Kalimpong.

Lepcha leaders later said they had got an "assurance" from the chief minister over phone last night that the proposed board would be formed at the earliest.

Deb reached Kalimpong Town Hall around 10.30am and offered a glass of juice to the fasting Lepchas.

Morcha assistant secretary Binay Tamang, who was in Kalimpong today, expressed his party's displeasure after the fast was broken.

"Do the Lepchas want to live under their mother or stepmother? And what is the guarantee that the state government will deliver…. They (the Lepchas) have become victim to the state government's conspiracy, not us," he said.

Tamang, however, repeated that the Morcha was not against Lepchas getting any benefits for the community.

The most influential Lepcha leader in Kalimpong today raised the question of permanency of the board if it was formed under the GTA. Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association president L. Tamsang said a board under the government would be a permanent entity, but it would not be so if it was formed under the GTA.

"If it (the board) is under the state government, it will be permanent. But the GTA may (tomorrow) say we don't want the GTA. What will happen to the socio-economic development (of the Lepchas) then?" he asked.

Asked if the Lepchas were willing to explain this position to the Morcha, Lepcha Rights Movement convener Bhupendra Lepcha replied in the affirmative. "We will meet and talk to them and explain our position," he said.

Leaders of the Lepcha Rights Movement, which had spearheaded the hunger strike, said the chief minister has personally told them last night over phone that the board would be formed under the state government. "The chief minister told our leaders in a telephone conversation that the board will be formed under the state government," Bhupendra said.

Morcha leader Tamang said his party was opposed to the Mamata Banerjee-led government's divisive moves in the hills. "Our party president (Bimal Gurung) will come to Kalimpong on February 16 and the next day he will address a public meeting there. Our future course of action will be announced there," he said.

"It is the government action and intention we are opposed to. Let me remind you, the GTA passed a resolution on December 14 last year to form the Lepcha development board. We don't have a recording of it, but even the chief minister had earlier agreed with us that the board would have to be under the GTA. But she now proposes to form the board by encroaching on our powers," Tamang said.

When Deb was leaving the hills for Siliguri around noon, his car was stopped twice — at 8 Mile near Kalimpong town and Chitray, 14km from the town on NH31A, by black-flag waving Gorkhaland supporters.

Tamang was among the group of 150-odd Morcha crowd that tried to block the minister's car at 8 Mile. In both places protesters lay on the road to block Deb's car. Some of the agitators banged on Deb's car with sticks. Policemen cleared the way for Deb by physically removing the protesters lying on the road.

Tamang later said: "We did not protest when he (Deb) was going up to meet the Lepchas because we wanted to prove that we are not against them. However, we agitated while he was returning to protest the manner in which they (the state government) stamped on us first in Darjeeling and today in Kalimpong," he said.

"We had earlier said that if the GTA Sabha's resolution (to bring the board under the GTA's purview) is not accepted by the state government, we would go to the Supreme Court. We are not going to court against the Lepcha development board but against the state government for violating the memorandum of agreement and also the GTA Act," Tamang said.

Late tonight, seven Morcha members were arrested for obstructing Deb's convoy, but released on bail. Among them were three GTA members from Kalimpong — Kazmi Bhutia, Kalpana Tamang and Samuel Gurung.