We won't accept compulsory imposition of Bengali language" - RB Rai (CPRM)

4:00 PM

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West Bengal

LANGUAGE ISSUE: "We won't accept compulsory imposition of Bengali language" - RB Rai

Senior Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM) leader and former Member of Parliament RB Rai has come out strongly against the proposed implementation of Bengali as a compulsory languages to be taught in schools.

Speaking to the press Mr RB Rai who was one of the leading figures in the struggle for the recognition of Nepali as one of the National languages of India under the VIIIth schedule of the Indian Constitution, said "the third language should remain optional and shouldn't be made compulsory and shouldn't be forcefully implemented... Optional means the right to choose, there was talk about having a third language in schools earlier too and Hindi along with other languages were given as a choice for the third language... today they want to remove Hindi and make Bengali language mandatory... we will not accept this... no one can impose the language people don't want to learn and we oppose any such move in strongest terms."

Mr. Rai also said, "this issue should not be given a political colour, and people from various backgrounds such as Literature, Education and Society should give leadership to the movement opposing any such move... and if it is done at a political level, then a collective leadership must be formed to steer the language related protests."

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CPRM announced Assembly election candidates from three hill constituencies

9:56 AM

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Politics

Darjeeling 20 Mar 2016 The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist today announced the names of its candidates from the three hill constituencies for the Assembly election. The CPRM, which was formed in 1996 by disgruntled CPM leaders of the Darjeeling hills, has never contested Assembly elections. The party had earlier short listed two names from each hill constituency.

CPRM president RB Rai, the former Rajya and Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling, announced the candidates’ names after a meeting of the party’s central committee. CPRM spokesperson Govind Chhetri will contest from Darjeeling, Arun Ghatani, general secretary of the Democratic Revolutionary Youth Front (DRYF), will stand from Kurseong, while CPRM central committee member Kishore Pradhan has been fielded from Kalimpong. Until now, the CPRM had not fielded its own candidates for the state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, partnering with or supporting candidates of other parties including that of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

While announcing the names, the CPRM president said, “Our primary agenda is a Gorkhaland state as also development and parcha-patta (land rights) of tea garden workers. However, it appears that none of the political parties have taken up this agenda in earnest, which is why we have decided to field our own candidates.”

When asked whether the party had kept the option open for an alliance despite fielding its own candidates, Rai said, “Any alliance will depend on the other parties accepting our agenda, otherwise we will go on our own.”

The CPRM came into being after most CPM leaders of the hills dissociated themselves from the parent body saying it was against the statehood demand. The party has continued to give priority to the statehood demand since then.

“The issue of our identity is of primary concern. We may or may not achieve a separate state, but we will continue to work towards achieving it under all circumstances,” Rai said.

On whether there was any plan for an alliance with the Democratic Front – the conglomeration of four political parties including the CPRM - Rai said it was an altogether separate matter. “The Front was formed with the twin objectives of a speedy trial of the Madan Tamang murder case and restoration of democracy in the hills. The issue of elections was not discussed even though some Front leaders had wanted to field consensual candidates,” he said.

The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), the All India Gorkha League (AIGL), and the Darjeeling Sikkim Ekikaran Manch (DSEM) - the other three constituents of the DF - are yet to announce their decision on the upcoming Assembly election.

(EOIC)

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CPRM public meeting in Darjeeling, came down heavily on GJM

9:56 AM

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Politics

"Even the Hottest Sun, Must Set" - R B Rai [CPRM]

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM) organized public meeting was supposed to be a regular affair till three days ago, but with the GJM top brass getting implicated in the Madan Tamang murder case, it turned in to one of the most awaited political rallies in recent memory... and the CPRM leaders didn't pull any punches.

Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist organized public meeting in Darjeeling

Aiming straight at the GJM and its leadership, CPRM President R B Rai said, "nothing stays forever... those who have played with the emotions of common people need to realize this... even the sun with the fiercest heat, must set when dusk arrives..."

Drawing parallel with the history, Mr. Rai said, "just how Mir Zafar's loss in the Battle of Plassey and caused our entire nation to be enslaved by the British... in the same manner one individual [read Bimal Gurung] has stabbed the hearts of the Gorkhalis of Terai and Dooars to meet his own ends... so all of us need to be careful."

CPRM Youth leader Mr. Arun Ghatani said, "the judicial system may function slowly, but it does function... if Staymava Jayate is the creed of India, then those responsible for Madan Tamang murder case, must be punished for their crimes."

He reiterated the demand for conducting Panchayat elections in the hills, and said, "panchayat elections have not been conducted for the past 15 years, who is responsible for this delay? why are our people being deprived of their rights? why should our people have to suffer due the the incompetence of the current political dispensation? Numerous posts are empty and employment opportunities of our youths have been compromised... who is responsible for this apathy?"

Taking a salvo at the GJM run Municipalities, Mr. Ghatani added, "the GJM Municipalities say they will check building of highrises in the hills... let me remind them... it is their own leaders who are making these highrises all over the hills... who gave them permission? an enquiry needs to be conducted to ascertain those who are responsible for turning Darjeeling into a concrete jungle"

Taking salvo at the lack of basic facilities in the hills, such as drinking water, Mr. R.B Rai said, "today drinking water has become rarer than petrol in Darjeeling... the Balasan Drinking Water project for which Rs 55.88 crores was sanctioned when Dawa Norbula was the MP in 2006, has not yet been completed... will the people of Darjeeling ever get to drink clean water? is the current party in power capable of delivering such basic facilities? I don't think so"

Speaking at the occasion, CPRM Spokesperson Mr. Govind Chettri said, "Those in power [GJM] try to sell small contracts as development... in Gurgaon our people were brutally beaten up... even the police officer used derogatory remarks against our cheli-beti... not even one protest was organized against such a heinous crime by the ruling party..." he added, "Such derogation will never be addressed by stop-gap measure like the GTA... we need Gorkhaland state..."

He further said, "those who said they would bring Gorkhaland by 2010, are today talking about 2017... if they cannot raise the issue, they can surrender..."

Questioning the lack of commitment and sincerity on the part of GJM and BJP towards Darjeeling and Gorkhaland he said, "where is the fact finding committee promised by the Home Minister? where is the MP who was supposed to raise the issues of Municipality, tea garden workers? Both GJM and BJP are only interested in 2016 elections.... and nothing else..." he added.

Via: TheDC

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CPRM GJM unites for Gorkhaland

10:51 AM

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Politics

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM), usually a bitter critic of Gokha Janmukti Morcha(GJM), has welcomed the latter’s initiative in organizing the two days seminar on creation of a Gorkhaland state which was attended by important speakers from Delhi.

CPRM GJ M unite for Gorkhaland

CPRM, too, supports the idea of Gorkhaland, and has often criticized GJM and its predecessor Gorkha National Liberation Front of compromising with the West Bengal government in their anxiety to form the hill council.

On Wednesday, after a central committee meeting to discuss GJM’s seminar on Gorkhaland, CPRM spokesperson Govind Chhetri said: “We welcome and congratulate GJM on having organized the seminar which was attended by speakers from various political parties with influence in Delhi. It will certainly give impetus to our statehood demand”.

Speakers such as Subramanian Swamy from the BJP and Keshav Rao, the Telangana Rastriya Samity TRS MP from Telengana, voiced their support in favour of creating a Gorkhaland state in the two-day event organized by the Study Forum, GJM’s intellectual wing.

CPRM pointed to the common stress made by the speakers from Delhi to unite and struggle for statehood in peaceful and democratic way. “Most of the speakers have advocated for joint struggle with participation of political opponents. Pro-statehood parties in the hills are in majority and also leaders from other states have promised to extend support. GJM being the largest party here and an ally of the BJP must take initiative to reach out to others,” Chhetri said.

Significantly, CPRM underscored the stress placed by speakers at the seminar on the need to unite and struggle for statehood in a peaceful and democratic way.  “Most of the speakers have advocated for joint struggle with participation of political opponents. Pro-statehood parties in the hills are in majority and also leaders from other states have promised to extend support. GJM being the largest party here and an ally of the BJP must take initiative to reach out to others,” Chhetri said.

However, CPRM also set conditions for a joint struggle for separate state. “We will join hands with GJM to make the statehood demand stronger but will only do so without compromising. We want the GJM to let go of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to build pressure on the government to make think of other options,” Chettri said. “One cannot sit in a government chair and at the same time agitate against it,” he pointed out.

“Just see the example of how Uttarakhand and Telangana were created. They did not consent to any alternative arrangements including its leaders accepting government posts,” said the CPRM spokesperson. His obvious reference was to GJM president Bimal Gurung, the GTA chief executive, a post which he had given up in the second phase of the agitation post-2007 and again accepted, later.
“The time is right. The BJP is in the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already said that the dreams of the Gorkhas were also his. However, if they (BJP) are sincere then they should
start the process to bring an official bill for creation of a Gorkhaland state in the parliament which will not be so difficult for them,” Chhetri said.

Source:EOI

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Mahendra P Lama filed his nomination, closed doors for tie-up with BJP-GJM

10:59 AM

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Mahendra P. Lama

Noted academician and president of the newly floated Darjeeling-Dooars United Development Foundation, Mahendra P Lama, filed his nomination today as an Independent candidate, closing all doors for a tie-up with the BJP-GJM in Lok Sabha election 2014.

Mahendra P Lama on his way to file
 his nomination as an Independent candidate

As has been seen in the last couple of days, Lama too arrived with a large entourage of supporters to file his nomination at the district magistrate office in Darjeeling.

Speaking after submitting his papers, the DDUDF president said, "I am delighted to file my nomination on behalf of the hills people. I am sure victory will be ours.”

Leaders and supporters of the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist and the All India Gorkha League, who have decided to support Lama's candidature, also participated in the silent rally taken out by the DDUDF.

The GJM had initially snubbed Lama's appeal for support citing that the latter had announced his candidature without making any communication. A few days ago, however, GJM president Bimal Gurung appealed to Lama to forget differences for the greater cause (of a separate state) and extend support to BJP candidate Ahluwalia, through a post on a social network page, but this was rebuffed by the DDUDF president as expected.

Asked to lay out his election campaign strategies, Lama pointed out the need of the hour was to bring about a change in people's perceptions.

"Foremost in our six point agenda is the creation of a separate state by including the Darjeeling and Dooars regions. I have found that people are deeply frustrated and confused with the present state of affairs. But I want to tell them to forget all the past and concentrate on a new future," the DDUDF backed independent candidate said.

Besides a separate state, other issues in DDUDF's election manifesto include placing Darjeeling in the North East Council, ushering in a Panchayati Raj, re-opening of all international borders for trade activity, boosting of the local economy, implementing the minimum wage act in tea gardens and bringing the best educational institutions to develop the future of the youths.

Other Independent candidates who filed their nominations today were Nima Lama of the Gorkha Rasthriya Congress, which advocates the merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim, Niranjan Saha of Aamra Bangali, a Siliguri-based anti-statehood outfit, and Arun Kumar Agarwal.

BJP-GJM candidate SS Ahluwalia, meanwhile, already campaigning in the hills, today met the Lepcha community under the All India Lepcha Association banner in Darjeeling. The Lepchas have been demanding a Primitive Tribe status since 1997 along with other issues pertaining to the welfare and development of their community.

Source:EOI

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CPRM to contest panchayat elections in the Darjeeling hills

11:35 AM

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Politics

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist has decided to participate in the panchayat elections in the Darjeeling hills as and when they are held. The decision was taken recently by the party at one of its regional committee meetings.

CPRM regional committee general secretary Sekhar Chhetri.

But as a precondition, the CPRM wants a three-tier panchayat system in place in the Darjeeling hills. At present, only Gram Panchayats are functioning as elections have not been held since 2005. Block development officers are running the gram panchayats in the region.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha took up the issue of a three-tier panchayat system before the state and central governments in the November 20 and 21 bipartite and tripartite meetings in Kolkata.

cp said his party will contest the panchayat elections whenever they are held.

“We must participate in the process in a democratic system as it is part of our fundamental right. We have decided to contest the panchayat election when the state government holds it in the Darjeeling hills. But we first want a three-tier panchayat system in place here for the benefit of the people,” he said.

It may be noted that Gorkha National Liberation Front chief Subash Ghisingh had refused to allow panchayat samitis in the hills in 1988 while accepting the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) after a bloody agitation for separate statehood. Once again, when Ghisingh started demanding Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling hills, he did not allow gram panchayat elections to take place.

Meanwhile, along with the panchayat system, the CPRM wants bifurcation of the existing eight blocks comprising the hills.

“We want the existing blocks to be increased along with the number of gram panchayats. This is needed because the population of the region has increased manifold, while doing so will also greatly benefit the people,” said Chhetri.

There are 112 gram panchayats in the three sub-divisions under the eight blocks.

“This year, we want to work with fresh impetus and energy. We will float new people-friendly programmes and expect our units to implement them at the ground level. We will also start organisational and political awareness camps,” said Chhetri, adding that from January 15, the party will start a “jan samparka” campaign in the hills in a bid to reach out to the people.

Source:EOI

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CPRM - hill leadership should learn from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi

11:02 AM

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Politics

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM) today stated that the hill leadership should learn from the ongoing activities of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi. CPRM spokesperson Govind Chettri while talking with reporters said the AAP has proved that an honest leadership can go ahead to attain anything. He claimed the AAP leadership has done what no other parties could do in their tenure. He opined, “As soon as the AAP came to power, they started their tasks without even settling themselves to the office. They have already started to fulfill the promises they had made.”

CPRM spokesperson Govind
Chettri in Kurseong on Thursday.

Condemning the leadership in the Hills, he said the leadership as soon as coming into power has worked against the interest of the public by implementing several taxes and directives. He added the Hill leadership has been self-centered, working for personal benefits and allegedly accused a few to be involved in rampant corruption.

He also cited the initiative of the AAP in Delhi to reduce the present electricity tariff, saying "if the tariff in Delhi can be reduced then it can well be done for the Hills as there are several hydel projects in the region." He said the CPRM leadership has approached various hydel power officials and protested with rallies from Darjeeling to Rammam Hydel Project site demanding reduction in electricity tariff.

Source:EOI

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