One Dead As Poll Vehicle Skids off the Hill in Bijanbari Darjeeling

8:31 AM

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election

Darjeeling 17th April 2016 One CRPF Jawan was killed last night after a vehicle carrying polling personnel plunged down a hill near Relling in Bijanbari Darjeeling.

According to police, the vehicle was carrying 7 polling personnel, which included 2 CRPF Jawans who were returning after conducting the polls. Due to rain the vehicle skidded off the road and plunged down a hill.

Sadly a CRPF jawan NC Pradhan was killed on the spot, while three others were grievously injured. The three critically injured polling personnel were brought to Darjeeling District Hospital and are undergoing treatment.

Bijanbari Darjeeling

Police sources stated that the EVM Machine was recovered with the help of locals, firebrigade and civil defense personnel.

"A CRPF constable died and six were injured when a vehicle carrying the polling team from Bijanbari in Darjeeling constituency fell into a gorge around 8.30pm. The EVM was recovered and the injured were taken to hospital" - Telegraph

Via The DC

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Bir Bahadur's dream, successful 'Swashh Bharat Abhiyaan' in his village

4:43 PM

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story

Bir Bahadur has switched his gun and baton with a broom after retiring as a CRPF man. Every morning this 65-year old man sweeps the 2 km road stretch of his village Chenga Busty under Mirik block of Darjeeling district.

Bir Bahadur

Bir Bahadur has been cleaning the road since the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' on October 2, 2014. He wants to spread awareness among the people of having a clean and neat surrounding.

"I want to involve the villagers to make their area neat and clean by two years. This was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and our Prime Minister Modiji who has asked people to help in making 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan' successful. I want to fulfil their dreams in my village within two years," said Bir Bahadur.

"The villagers initially thought Bir Bahadur has gone senile but now many have come to understand his noble mission.

"This old man wakes up at 4 am and starts sweeping the entire road of our village. Earlier people said that he has gone mad but now few people have joined him for the noble work which benefits the society," said a local resident Tika Sharma.

Diwakari Chhetri, the president of Chenga Nari Sewa Samity informed that Bir Bahadur comes forward to help and support needy people and in every social work.

Prashant Acharya
for I Love Siliguri

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Darjeeling wakes up to bandh sparked by rumours

8:31 PM

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madan tamang

Amitava Banerjee

The morning after a Kolkata court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to arrest 23 top leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) within 20 days, Darjeeling woke up to an undeclared bandh on Sunday.

Darjeeling has witnessed frequent bandhs over the years, with the Gorkha National Liberation Front and
GJM enforcing shutdowns in support of their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. (HT Photo)

Though no group called a shutdown, rumours started doing the rounds from Saturday night that a bandh had been declared over the court’s order to arrest the leaders, including GJM president Bimal Gurung.

From early in the morning, shopkeepers gathered at Chowk Bazaar in Darjeeling to start business during the busy tourist season. CRPF personnel deployed in the area were seen patrolling the town.

Posters with threats were seen across the town.

If GJM President Bimal Gurung is arrested, the hills will burn,” said one poster, signed Janta

“If GJM President Bimal Gurung is arrested, the hills will burn,” said one poster, signed “Janta” (public), that was pasted in Chowk Bazar. The posters further fuelled rumours already circulating about a bandh and traders did not open their shops.

A GJM leader, who did not want to be named, said, “We have not called a bandh.”

The political uncertainty triggered an exodus of tourists.

With the mercury soaring in the plains, Darjeeling had witnessed a boom in tourist arrivals in recent weeks.

“Everything was fine till yesterday but now we are being forced to leave as restaurants and eateries are closed. If the bandh continues, how will we manage? The situation is very uncertain,” said Rohit Sharma, a tourist from Delhi.

Sharma said he planned to spend the remainder of his holiday in Sikkim. Vehicles were busy ferrying tourists to Siliguri in the plains and to Sikkim.

The CBI recently charged 23 senior GJM leaders with murder, criminal conspiracy and rioting with deadly weapons in connection with the murder of All India Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang on May 21, 2010. Tamang was killed while overseeing preparations for a public meeting at Upper Clubside in Darjeeling.

Based on the charge-sheet, the city sessions court in Kolkata issued arrest warrants for the 23 on Saturday.

“We are keeping a close watch on the situation. We have adequate forces to deal with any situation,” said district police chief Amit P Javalgi.

Raj Kanojia, director general (coastal), is camping in Darjeeling to keep tabs on the situation. He met the police top brass in Darjeeling on Saturday.

Darjeeling has witnessed frequent bandhs over the years, with the Gorkha National Liberation Front and GJM enforcing shutdowns in support of their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. In August-September 2013, GJM called a bandh that spanned 43 days.

The people of Darjeeling often have no option but to submit to these prolonged bandhs.


Source: HT

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Crossroads...or the roads still to be crossed

11:40 AM

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Subash Ghising

Writes: Ashwin Lama

We woke up today to the sad news of the demise of the Father of the Gorkhland movement in India ...Mr Subhash Ghising passed away in a Delhi hospital last night....must be in peace or may not have been..Where ever he is now may his soul "Rest In Peace"...I am a little down right now not because the man was personal to me but these days my moods have been such...I cant even call it the monthlys ...may be call it the "Cross Roads"...

I dont know how lucky we were or are to have been born in a generation which we today call "The Boot Cut Generation"...The magniicient 80's is what I am talking about..It gave to us torn jeans...long hair..a lot of heavy metal bands ...the so called Maiden...ACDC...Metallica...They all came up to us then or may be we went into them with our pencils knowing exactly how to rewind and forward and get to the exact song that we wanted to hear..

We get everything on a touch screen today...I don't know what to call the method we used then...the swing..the pencil or how good and accurate we are at knowing what we exactly we wanted and how went about achieving it. That small pencil and the way we swirled it around the cassete to go to the exact song we wanted to hear might sound weirdish in front of the life we live today...But then I am sure a lot of us have those beautiful pencil memories..

The warriors who fought CRPF armed with automatic weapons... with their Khukuri and Khanduwa.

Talking about Pencils ...I was around six years old still writing with pencils(pens were for boys...infact North Point my Alma Mater didn't allow us to to wear trousers and use pens till the 5th grade...pencils were fine ..but the half pants in the cold wintry mornings still serves as a memory of bliss and beauty...We exactly know how does the cold wind blow...and where does it hit you the most..ask any North Pointer....It was during those years that we had major school breaks.....major in a sense that other than the mandatory three months winter break.

I still remember one long break for a forty day period..To us those days holidays meant fun ..fun and fun....And probably in the fun and fun...I saw my father fire a hand made gun into the skies just about where my grandparents lived. I could never understand the significance of it but then Dad used to say "Times are Such" we need to be prepared..I didnt really understand the importance of the preparation and what it was for but then as a I kid ..I was proud that my father knew how to shoot a gun...

Ah yeah...I learnt one more word then " Revolution"....Someone rightly said some where if its a revolution then we are sorry for the inconvenience...Today after all these years ...I would say they ought to be "sorry"...it was one morning as per my father right in front of the old "Bata" in town he saw three well combed and oiled heads without their bodies attached to them...

For us those days those were stories and tales...But then now after so many years of the sad and horrific 1986 that the people around our place saw and lived...They are not stories and tales from "Aesops Fables" any more...They are hidden silences of what we call the most tear ful times in the history of our place..It was 1986 when I first heard the name "Subhash Ghising"...

I am not writing a tribute on him..nor am I crticising what we did and didnt...or what could have been...They were funny stories too that we heard during the era .. A Pala (Tibetans adress the fathers as Pala}in toonsong made momos for his restaurant ...not trusting the fact the town would actually be shut down for forty days...Infact he had made momos in plenty (btw what they sell in streets here in delhi are not momos..they probably can be called "NOMOS"..injustice even there...they have killed the way our momos look and taste) but then the town didnt open....on the third day he had no choice but to throw away the momos as they had started stinking...he unwillingly served it his pigs and to his utter surprise the pig for once in his gulp and gulp looked up at pala and asked "Pala Gorkhaland Payo ki keh ho.?(Pala did we get Gorkhaland or wat?)..Never had the pala been so generous on the pig..lucky him at least an animal fared and was fed well..."

I guess that where i first heard the word "Gorkhaland" from a pigs mouth...The innumerable days when my father and the entire male members of the family had to sleep in jungles and forests cos they would be raids anytime of the day or night...and then once caught you never knew whether u were coming back alive or not...I still remember we used to have a small kitchen downstairs and a small peep window through which Ama used to peep out the whole night and watch what was happening around...

A lady with short hair was shot in her chest cos the CRPF guys took her for a male,,,My uncle and his band of musicians famously ccomposed the song "Hain Bharat Timilai Gorkha ko Maya Cha"(India do you love the Gorkhas or not)...We were taught small but significant war cries...I still remember my three year cousin always raping and humming "Ek Do Ek...Gorkha Marena..CRPF ko goli leh Gorkha Marena(One to one..the gorkkhas didnt die....the bullets of the CRPF couldnt kill the Gorkhas")

But know they did die...they died in plenty..they died in a counts which may be innumberable....had there been a survey like those that happen on tvs these days for everything...or Had there been an over the top Arnab Goswami shouting on News hour tonight we would have the exact figures and the extent of damage it caused...I dont feel sad or infact i feel numb about what exactly is "Gorkhaland"...

I mostly crack jokes on life and people...I hardly crack jokes on times and situations or causes or revolutions ...not my cup of tea at all(the Green tea is in right now..and how ironic infact the foreigneers made us realise its benefits and values though we boast that the best teas are produced in Darjeeling)...In so many years of drinking tea...I dont know but this is my personal opinion I havent come across a family in Darjeeling that actually knows how to brew tea the way its supposed to be..Arent we caught up there as well?Its like an Italian not knowing how to do a Feta or a French unaware of Riesling or Pinot Knoir....

Yes an "ERA" has passed away (in reality death is the only constant) it took an era away...But then don't you ever ask yourself that more than two decades later we are still at the "Cross Roads"...Will we ever actually be able to cross the road...

Cheers!!

[This is my own personal view point...No intentions to hurt feeling and sentiments...No intentions to defame or be insensitive towards any one.. Its a joke that I thought needed to be cracked today....Hope u all would share the joke around]

Source: The Darjeeling Chronicle

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CRPF and Police Raid a House in Tukvar - GJM Accuses Police of Vandalizing

8:51 AM

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GTA

Police today raided two houses at Tukvar, the GTA constituency of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung, in search of Sanjay Thulung, an elected member of the hill autonomous body.

CRPF Raid a House in Tukvar - GJM Accuses Police of Vandalizing

Thulung had allegedly ordered for arms and ammunition which had been seized in Assam on November 8. He is untraceable.

Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling, said: "We are patrolling the area. We had an input that Sanjay Thulung was staying in a house."

The houses of Jaspal Gazmer and Dinesh Theeng were raided by the police

A Morcha leader alleged that the police had vandalised the house of Gazmer during the raid at 5.30pm. "We protest the vandalism by police," said the leader.

Binay Tamang, an assistant secretary of the Morcha, said: "If the police have specific information, they can conduct a raid. But they should not harass innocent people and vandalise their property. We condemn such action of the police and the party's central committee will hold a meeting in Darjeeling tomorrow to discuss this issue."

Gurung and Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri are currently in Varanasi.

Pics clicked by Himalaya Darpan clearly show vandalism.

According to Jaspal Gajmer, the police and CRPF jawans entered their home without any notice and started to vandalize their place. He further accused teh police of misbehaving with his daughter who is a student of Class - 11, and accused that police even snatched her books which she was studying.

His wife, Mrs. Gajmer said that the police entered the house and said that they were sent by the SP and vandalized the house. She said the children are terrified and are in a state of shock, she asked, "if they are looking for an individual, why did they snatch the book off of my daughters hands? can anyone hide a person in a textbook?"

GJM leader Binoy Tamang stated that the police had even entered Kanchenjunga School without taking any permission from the school authorities, and that the students are terrorized.

Speaking to the press Anita Tamang wife of Dinesh Theeng said, "the police had entered our house and asked the whereabouts of my husband, and when I said, I didn't know... they threatened me and said that if I do not reveal his whereabouts they will arrest me... when I asked, what wrong has he done? they do not answer... right now annual examinations of my children are going on.. and because of police action my children are unable to concentrate on their studies... we haven't even had food since last night... "

Darjeeling SP Chaturvedi has, however denied the charges.

[With inputs from Telegraph and HD, Pics via Himalaya Darpan: shows vandalized house of Jaspal Gajmer]

Source: DC

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A painting of Gorkhaland Movement July 27, 1986

10:15 PM

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photos

A painting depicting the brutal killing of peaceful protesters by the CRPF on July 27, 1986 that was put on display at the venue of Sahid Diwas organised by the Kalimpong Unit of GNLF attracted a lot of attention.The depicted atrocity was committed at Thana Dara, Kalimpong.

History and the brave martyrs immortalized in canvas.

A painting of CRPF firing - Gorkhaland Movement July 27, 1986

Brutal killing of peaceful protesters by the CRPF on July 27, 1986

Source: GNLF Facebook fan page

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Centre to withdraw forces from Darjeeling hills

8:46 AM

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Politics

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday expressed her annoyance at the Union home ministry's decision to withdraw 13 companies of central paramilitary forces, 9 of which are deployed in Jhargram and 4 in Darjeeling.

Centre to withdraw CRPF from Darjeeling hills

Speaking in the state Assembly, Mamata argued that Bengal's international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal require the presence of central forces and any unilateral decision by Centre can affect the status-quo by stretching the state police to the brink. The chief minister, sources said, has indicated to her MPs to take up the matter with North Block and home minister Rajnath Singh.

Trinamool MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay has already raised the issue in Lok Sabha and spoke to Singh on this. "We have requested the Union home minster to discuss it with chief minister Mamata Banerjee before taking a call. Withdrawal of forces now may have law and order implications," said Sudip, adding that Singh has promised to enquire into the details.

Chided by an Opposition remark on her anxiousness over the issue if Jangalmahal is indeed smiling, Mamata said, "Is the CAPF meant only to sit in Delhi? Bengal's geography requires the presence of central forces. Many like CRPF, SSB, ITBP and BSF are here. Though law and order is a state subject, this is a federal government. Any unilateral withdrawal will have its bearing in the state," she said.

Now, 40 companies of CAPF are deployed in West Mindapore, of which 15 companies are manning a 70 kilometre-border spread over 9 forests in four blocks of Jhargram. These 15 companies of central forces are stationed in 26 camps at Gopiballvpur 1 and 2, Jamboni and Binpur 2 blocks under Jhargram police district. Buddhadeb Das, CRPF DIG stationed at Jhargram, said, "We have received instruction that two companies of central forces will be withdrawn from Jhargram. I have no instruction about other forces."

Source: timesofindia

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Gautam Deb Wants More CRPF in Darjeeling Hills

9:19 AM

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violence

Following the electoral trouncing that Trinmool Congress got in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb had offered to resign, but Mamata Banerjee had rejected his offer. Following which Mr. Deb has been traveling across the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency to analyse the political situation. 

North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb in Badamtam
-Photo : Himalaya Darpan

In a move which has astounded political observers in North-Bengal, the NBD Minister Mr. Deb said he will place a demand with the high command of his party, Trinamul Congress, for more paramilitary forces in Darjeeling Hills. He said that reports of post-poll clashes between his party men and those belonging to the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) have prompted him to make such a demand and stated, “The situation in the Hills is not normal. I will propose the party high command to deploy more paramilitary forces in the Hills.” 

The Hills already has a large number of forces deployed at various places since the Gorkhaland agitation last year. According to the Darjeeling superintendent of police, four companies of Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF) and around 1000 other personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), and others, are currently deployed in the Hills.

Speaking to TheDC a veteran politician observer said, "Normally it is the political party leaders who would request the government to deploy paramilitary forces, but this is perhaps for the first time the Minister (and thus the Government) has said he will request a political party for permission... This clearly shows that for the TMC the party is above the government." 

Mr. Deb was speaking to the reporters, after visiting Katarey in Badamtam and meeting the victim of recent arson Mr. Dhan Bahadur Tamang, who lost all his belongings in the fire on 20 May.

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