Misplaced Priorities: Vidhyarthi Morcha and the Tribal Status Signature Campaign

7:52 AM

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schedule tribe

Gorkha Janmukti Vidhyarthi Morcha (GJVM), the student body of GJM has embarked on a signature campaign apparently aimed at Thanking the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in advance and requesting the government to grant ST status for all the Gorkhali communities.

While it is good to see GJVM getting active, we however feel that they need to set their priorities right.

While other Morcha frontal organizations such as Yuva Morcha, Nari Morcha etc can easily collect the signatures or even independent organizations like Bharatiya Gorkha Janjati Sangarsha Mahasangh is already doing so, it might help if the students channelize their enthusiasm and energy towards issues that directly impact the students.

The demand for a Central University for the hill region is a long pending demand of the students and is also necessary to secure the future of our community, however we are unaware of any initiative led by the Vidhyarthi Morcha in this regard.

Misplaced Priorities: Vidhyarthi Morcha and the Tribal Status Signature Campaign

The Vidhyarthi Morcha will do well if they would rather focus on the issue of Central University and run a similar signature campaign for achieving it, instead of wasting their time and energy on an issue which is better suited for others.

GJM party bosses should also encourage the students to focus on Central University issue, instead of getting them to collect signatures for ST status, which at the best, is a waste of their good efforts.


Via TheDC

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Govt College Darjeeling merit list shows more outsiders than local applicants

5:19 PM

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Hill

Darjeeling, June 21: The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha (GJVM) has said it will stop classes indefinitely at the Darjeeling Government College from tomorrow as the institution had admitted more students from outside the Darjeeling hills for first-year honours courses.

 Govt College Darjeeling

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's students' arm today planted a flag at the college gate. Redham Thapa, the student's representative at the college and a member of the Vidyarthi Morcha, said: "Tomorrow, we will not allow the gates to be opened."

He said: "The first merit lists for honours courses were out on June 19 but we hardly found any student from the Darjeeling hills on the lists. The college was set up for the local population and if they fail to get admission, where will they go?"

Vidyarthi Morcha leaders said the outfit had no problem with online admission, tried in the college, which started classes in 1948, for the first time.

The first lists for honours course students in various streams were released on Friday.

"We had made a representation to the teacher in-charge on Friday and had asked him to solve the issue within 24 hours. Since no development has taken place after 24 hours, we have decided to indefinitely close the college," Thapa said.

Kunga Hesay Zimba, another student representative of the college, said: "In previous years, around 80 per cent of the seats were filled by local students. We want the same norm to be followed."

There is no written rule that the government college has to admit a certain percentage of students from the local area.

Thapa said: "Just to cite an example, in the 61 seats for geography honours, only 13 are from the hills have been listed for admission. Similarly, for microbiology honours, only three of the sixteen seats have gone to local people. In botany and zoology, only three and seven local residents have got admission, respectively. The total number of seats in botany and zoology are 32 and 33 seats, respectively."

A senior college official agreed that this time more students from outside had taken admission as the process was online.

There are 624 honours seats and 1,023 pass course seats in Darjeeling Government College.

Prajwal Lama, officer in charge of the college, said: "As of now, I have not received any instruction." Lama said that on Friday a higher education department official in Calcutta had directed him to send a list of local and non-local candidates.

Nupur Das, the secretary of the undergraduate council at North Bengal University, said in the evening: "We have not received any information from the college so far. We will surely check it out tomorrow."

Source:Telegraph

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Gorkhaland in the next four and half years - Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha

10:17 AM

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mirik live news

The Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha today held a press conference in Mirik, exuding confidence on the BJP-led central government to help the formation of Gorkhaland in the next four and half years. The press conference was conducted by GJYM central committee president Sanjay Thulung in the presence of secretary Amriut Yonzon and central committee member and GTA Sabhasad Prakash Gurung. 

GJYM leaders at the press conference in Mirik on Friday.

The leaders said the next few years will be important for the youths from the hills and all should unite together for the cause. They said the formation of Gorkhaland will be a great boon for the development of the hills as well as the thousands of unemployed youths. The GJYM will also form a committee to take the demand for Gorkhaland ahead. Meanwhile, the youth leaders also informe.

Source: EOI

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Darjeeling history to be taught in schools and colleges demands GJVM

11:39 AM

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History

The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha (GJVM) has come up with a demand stating students of the Darjeeling hills should get to read and garner knowledge about the history of their area. This comes after the University Grants Commission recently announced that colleges and universities of the northeast should accord special status to the history of that region and teach it at the educational institutions.

Darjeeling Eden Sanitarium

Addressing a press conference here in the afternoon, GJVM vice-president Deep Thapa said colleges in the Darjeeling hills should also emulate the UGC’s decision and include the history of the region in their syllabus.

He said, “Darjeeling, Sikkim and the Dooars are not included in the Northeast Council, but students of these regions should be imparted knowledge of the history of their land.”

Thapa added the GJVM has already written to the UGC and the vice-chancellor of North Bengal University on the matter to impress upon them the seriousness in which the demand is being envisaged.

Source: EOI

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GJVM condemns the atrocities against the Gorkhas in Manipur and Meghalaya

9:37 PM

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Sikkim

Sikkim 20th April: Gorkha Janamuki Vidhyarthi Morcha (GJVM), Sikkim chapter strongly condemns the act of atrocities against the Gorkhas in Manipur and Meghalaya. 

GJVM made the following statement: 
First of all, we demand strong legal action against the person who was involved in the brutal rape of 13 years old Gorkha girl of Manipur and proper compensation be given to the victim and her family. We vehemently condemned the other cases of molestations and attempts of rape on Gorkha women in the state within a period of a month. These kinds of reports have been constantly raised by facebook and other social network users from the community in the region, those cases were casually taken by other news sources. We demand a speedy legal proceeding to take necessary action. We condemned the act of brutality by the Manipur police against innocent demonstrators demonstrating in democratic way protesting the rape of 13 years Gorkha girl. 

Gorkha Janamuki Vidhyarthi Morcha logo

There is nothing hidden that the police action was an inhuman and coercive action taken to suppress the democratic voice of minority Gorkha community in the state who were demanding nothing other than an immediate action against the culprits involved in brutal rape against a teen girl. As citizens of a country which claimed to be the largest democracy following the norms of right to equality and social justice, the protesters had a constitutionally given right to carry out the same. There should be an immediate action against those policemen who shot fire at protest rally on national highway 39 leaving death of two Gorkha youths and seven other injured. The government of Manipur must declared an ex-gratia of Rs. 20 lakh each to the families of deceased and Rs. 5 lakh each to the people who suffered injuries. We appeal to all humanitarian agencies and NGOs to take the issue seriously to provide proper justice and protection to the victims.

Apart from the above incidence, there are other reports regarding the inhuman and atrocious actions being carried by anti-social elements in Meghalaya. Recently, a ‘notice to quit’ was released by a Meghalaya based banned underground outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) against the indigenous Gorkhas/Nepali speakers living in Meghalaya. The report on “Sillong times” dated April 17, 2014 reads, “…The banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has asked people from the Nepali community to quit from the entire districts of Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and especially from Langpih, with immediate effect, on the ground that “the illegal Nepali foreign settlers in Langpih…” ( Read more at http://www.theshillongtimes.com/2014/04/17/hnlc-issues-quit-notice-to-nepali-residents ). This fatwah (notice) has been growing a source of extreme fear traumatizing the Gorkha/Nepali speakers in Meghalaya. According to various local media sources as well as social networks (especially facebook) dealing with the issues of community, Gorkha/Nepali speakers in the state are living in the jaw of insecurity as well as uncertainty of existence in the state. 

Gorkha Janamukti Vidhyarthi Morcha Sikkim Chapter demands immediate intervention of state agencies to tackle this issue without fail before it leads a massive human crisis in the state. Any outburst of conflict rooting out of this issue, only the state and central government shall be answerable to it. Hence, we seek urgent involvement of Meghalaya government as well as government of India to deal with the issue in time to avoid any kind of unwanted incident. Similarly, we want to appeal to all the regional and national organizations from the community to come forward united on these issues and bring it on the regional as well as national level. It is high time that all organizations dealing with the issues of Gorkha community in all northeastern states as well as entire country to join hands with other local and national Humanitarian agencies, socio-democratic institutions, NGOs and other voluntary organization to avoid any inhuman atrocities against genuinely bona fide Gorkha citizens of the region.

Gorkha Janamukti Vidhyarthi Morcha, Sikkim Chapter,
Kumar Nepal, President
Pallav Ram Bhujel, Gen. Secretary
Tenzin Khunphel, Chief patron.

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GJVM geared to improve eduaction quality in government Schools

9:21 AM

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Hill

Concerned with the worsening state of education in government institutions in the Darjeeling hills, the GJM’s student wing, Gorkha Janmukti Vidhyarthi Morcha (GJVM), is gearing up to impart teaching tips to teachers.

GJVM Kurseong branch president Sonam Lama

The GJVM is planning visits to government schools across the hills in its bid to upgrade the quality of education at the primary level.  Talking to media persons today, GJVM central committee member and Kurseong branch president Sonam Lama said the organisation is not blaming the teachers for the decline in education.  “All of us are acquainted with the fact that almost all parents, irrespective of their financial capacity, send their wards to private schools for better education,” Lama said.

The gJVM leader added: “There could be myriad reasons for government-run primary schools in the hills to gradually lose their capabilities. This must be stopped. The government schools must be revived so that the financially weaker sections of society get encouraged to sends their wards to such schools.”  He also noted that although private school teachers get lower salaries in comparison to their government counterparts, the system of management in government schools lacks the quality private schools provide.  “Hence, to promote quality education, we have plans to host awareness programmes on education in government schools across the hills,” informed Lama.

 Lama said the GJVM is hopeful of succeeding, especially by roping in newly recruited primary teachers as they are fresh and enthusiastic.  “With their help, we can uplift the level of education in government run primary schools,” said the GJVM leader, while informing the organisation will form volunteer groups to launch its school visit mission.

Source:EOI

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