TMC Demands Expediting Madan Tamang Murder Case Trial

2:54 PM

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Trinamool Congress

The Trinmool Congress yesterday organized a rally and demanded that the ongoing trial relating to Madan Tamang murder case be expedited. In addition, the TMC pasted posters across Darjeeling towns and question the delay by CBI in concluding the investigation and the delay in trial.

Speaking to the Press, TMC leader Ms. Sharada Subba said, "even after so many years have passed, those who murdered Gorkha leader Madan Tamang are roaming free and justice is yet to be delivered... so even though the matter is sub-judice we have been forced to comment."

When asked to comment on the timing of the demand for arresting Madan Tamang murder case being raised as protest over Language issue is intensifying, TMC working President NB Khawas said, "these are two separate issues, we will protest the delay in justice for the family of Late. Madan Tamang and we will continue this protest as long as justice is not delivered."

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First party (ABGL) formed for a separate state no longer features on Darjeeling’s political map

9:13 AM

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TMC

In house of man who started Gorkhaland stir, a family united by 3 political parties.

"The first ever party formed to fight for a separate state of Gorkhaland (ABGL was formed in 1943 by Damber Singh Gurung) no longer features on Darjeeling’s political map."

The Tamang family in Darjeeling is unique, at least politically. While Bharti Tamang, wife of late Madan Tamang heads the Akhil Bhartiya Gorkha League (ABGL), son Sanyog Tamang is with the ruling Trinamool Congress. Madan’s brother, Amar Lama, on the other hand, is backing Kalimpong MLA Dr Harka Bahadur Chettri’s Jan Andolan Party (JAP).

Bharti (69), who stays at Rhododendron — a bungalow surrounded by bushes of bright fuschia azaleas — in the town, is fielding only two candidates, both in Dooars. Her husband, former ABGL chief Madan Tamang was murdered in broad daylight in May 2010 allegedly by workers of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) headed by Bimal Gurung.

Slain ABGL leader Madan Tamang’s son Sanyog and wife Bharti at their residence in Darjeeling on Sunday. While Sanyog is a TMC member, Bharti heads ABGL. Madan’s brother is backing Jan Andolan Party.Express photo by Partha Paul.

“We are supporting Jan Andolan Party in Kalimpong and therefore, have not fielded candidates from there. We have also decided not to field candidates in Darjeeling and Kurseong,” Bharti said, not giving a reason why.

Her 35-year-old son, Sanyog Tamang, was hopeful of bagging the ruling party ticket for Darjeeling, but was passed over. “In this family, different members belong to different parties. My mother heads ABGL, I am with Trinamool and my uncle is with JAP,” he said.

The first ever party formed to fight for a separate state of Gorkhaland (ABGL was formed in 1943 by Damber Singh Gurung) no longer features on Darjeeling’s political map.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Bharti said: “But they all came and sought my blessings… We support everyone except the GJM.”

The family alleged that despite warrants issued on court orders for the 13 named in Madan’s murder, no arrests have yet been made in the case.

In the 2011 Assembly polls, riding on sympathy wave at Madan Tamang’s murder, ABGL had fielded candidates in three main hill constituencies but lost all. “The ABGL could have won then. It needed to strike the iron while it was still hot. But it did not manage to capitalize on the situation. Now, it is no longer politically important,” said a political analyst.

But Sanyog claimed a number of anomalies determined the 2011 results. “We came to know later that there were many polling booths where votes weren’t even counted. We knew we had the support of the people, but in the face of rigging, of course my mother would lose,” he said.

On a rocking chair in Rhododendron’s conservatory, where Madan Tamang would usually sit, a sketched portrait of his is kept. A shelf holds a framed certificate that says he was a member of the National Geographic Society. “Most people knew my husband as a politician. But more than a politician, who would not compromise on Gorkhaland, he was a naturalist,” said Bharti.

The couple would supply and export seeds of rohododendrons and work for hours — with no employed gardener — on the estate plantation. Now, the Tamangs have shut down the seed business. Also, shut is the tea estate they ran in Meghma — while half of the estate fell Indian side, the other fell in Nepal.

Via indianexpress

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MAHAYUDH OR MAHA-CON? - JAP Anmol Prasad

10:56 AM

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Politics

Writes: Anmol Prasad

One cannot help musing on another can of worms that the Gorkha Janmukti has opened through Amar Rai, its candidate in Darjeeling for the Assembly Elections.

“In a statement reported in the papers today, Amar Rai claims that Gorkhaland would have been attained a long time ago but for lack of unity, the movement has been set back.”

If that be so, why murder the sixty-year old AIGL leader Madan Tamang? Was he not championing Gorkhaland? In all his interviews, did he not consistently support the Gorkhaland demand? Did he not appear before the Parliamentary Standing Committee opposing the Sixth Schedule proposal? Is this how the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha proposes to promote unity?

“The good Professor goes further to expound to his credulous readers, that the views expressed by Rahul Sinha, General Secretary of the BJP, that Gorkhaland will not be created are his own views and not that of the BJP.“

JAP Anmol Prasad

If that be so, why then does the BJP not announce the formation of Gorkhaland? Is it still 'sympathetically considering' the matter? Why did the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha outsource our MP seats for two whole terms, claiming that the BJP would grant the Gorkhaland demand?
“Amar Rai claims that the reason for Ahluwalia not placing a Bill for the creation of Gorkhaland in Parliament is that a Private Member's Bill would have less value. “

Of course it would have less value. But then, if the ruling party is in favour of Gorkhaland, what prevents the BJP itself from bringing such a Bill? Why does Ahluwalia have to bring a Private Member's Bill when he is a powerful member of the BJP, if not for the reason that in reality, the BJP does not support the demand?

“Amar Rai claims ‘The demand for Gorkhaland is a Great War’.“

A Great War against whom, if not the BJP itself? This statement is a clear admission of the fact that the BJP is anti-Gorkhaland. Poor Darjeeling, which elected no less than two BJP Members of Parliament successively. The BJP is in an overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha and in a perfect position to table a Bill for the creation of a new state after Cabinet approal. The parties in the Rajya Sabha have not gone on record opposing the demand. What then is the need for a Great War if not for fighting the BJP. If that be so the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha must stop hoodwinking the people, it must come clean and admit that its masters in New Delhi have rejected the proposal for the creation of a separate state.

The sad truth is that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is now rudderless. It's leader does not have the political depth needed for spearheading the demand. It desperately needs patronage from New Delhi to protect itself against the various charges of murder, corruption and violence it has unleashed in the hills through its militia. Therefore it distracts the people by raising miscellaneous issues of development such as the failure of the Gorkland Territorial Administration, the recognition of communities as Scheduled Tribes, water shortage and [its favourite bogey] discrimination by Bengal. Having fastened its toothless gums on the mammaries of the welfare state, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha finds it hard to let go of power. Which is what it should do, if it claims to be the champions of Gorkhaland. The fact of the matter is that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is actually in a crisis and one may expect it to try and reinvent itself as a development-oriented party, if Amar Rai's obsession with affairs municipal is anything to go by.

The role of the intellectual is to speak truth to power. None of us here in Darjeeling can lay any claim to any intellectuality; suffice it to say that when even the districts' educated bourgeoise, made up of the Amar Rais, the Swaraj Thapas, the Rohit Sharmas and the Sarita Rais continue to support and perpetuate a corrupt and violent fascist regime for their own selfish interests, when they fail to stand up and speak the truth to power, the future is very bleak indeed. One cannot but cringe when one hears Sarita Rai announce during her campaign that she would resign from the Legislative Assembly at once, the moment Bimal Gurung gives her the order. And this, even before she has been elected as an MLA.

Be warned: the BJP and its allies will never ever grant Gorkhaland. The real adversary to the creation of a separate state is the Central Government. The BJP does not want the formation of India's 30th state and will never accede to the demand. It's inconsistent and ham-fisted policies in Nepal have deeply coloured its perceptions towards Darjeeling and its people. It fails to see us as fully paid up Indian citizens and will continue to demoralise and distract us by extending patronage our past, present and future Bimal Gurungs so that the movement for a separate state gets driven into the ground. Over and over again. Unless we take our future into our own hands, organise a democratic, secular and broad-based leadership bereft of tin pot dictators like Bimal Gurung.

In a sense Amar Rai is right. It's going to be a Great War after all.

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Hill development boards to support the Trinamul Congress in Assembly polls

8:27 AM

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Trinamool Congress

Darjeeling, April 8: The chairmen of six development boards of different communities in the hills today said they wanted members of their communities to support the Trinamul Congress in Assembly polls as a token of gratitude for the formation of the bodies.

The heads of six development boards formed by the Mamata Banerjee government were present at the first-of-its-kind meeting at the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan Hall today. The meeting was addressed by the chairmen of Tamang, Sherpa, Bhutia, Mangar, Limbu and Rai development boards.

The chairman of the Lepcha development board, however, was absent from the meeting "as the representatives of the community were busy with preparations for their own meeting".

Sanjay Moktan, the chairman of the Tamang Development and Cultural Board, said: "The state government has helped us in our development and we have, therefore, decided to help that political party."

Asked if that political party was the Trinamul Congress, Moktan said: "Obviously. If the leadership of that party is supporting us, we, too, need to back them. However, we cannot tell all our community members to vote for a particular party. We believe that it is our responsibility to support that party which is helping us."

The chairmen of the 7 hill development boards at the meeting.Picture by Suman Tamang

The seven communities, including the Sherpas, for which the boards have been formed, make up more than 35 percent of the hill population.

Observers, however, believe every member of a particular community is not expected to follow the chairman's line of thought. "Moreover, there are also rival organisations within the communities which are not too enthused about the development boards," said an observer.

Moktan said the meeting had also been called to end the "oppression" being perpetuated by a political party. "The meeting has also been called to seek freedom from the oppression that is being perpetuated by a political party. We believe the party is not allowing us to develop our language and culture."

Although Moktan did not take the name of the political party, it was clear that he was referring to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Asked about the oppression, Moktan said: "When a member of the Tamang community was killed in broad daylight here, we could not even protest."

The killing was in reference to the murder of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League leader, Madan Tamang, in May, 2010.

Palden Bhutia, the chairman of the Bhutia Development Board, said: "All we want to say is that we need to feed the cow that provides milk to us."

Bhutia said the meeting had been organised not by the development boards but by organisations representing the six communities.

Nima Wangdi Sherpa, the chairman of the West Bengal Sherpa Development Board, said: "Apart from the chairmen of the six development boards, representatives of the Darjeeling Indigenous Schedule Caste Welfare Association and the Bhujel community were also present. The two communities are demanding development boards and we would extend support to them."

With regard to the absence of the chairman of the Lepcha development board, Sherpa said: "As the representatives of the community were busy with preparations for their own meeting, they could not attend today's meeting."


Telegraph

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Kolkata HC Asks Morcha to File Affidavit on Madan Tamang Murder Case.

12:19 PM

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murder

Taking cognizance of the recent petition filed by Ms. Bharati Tamang, the wife of Late. Madan Tamang, the Kolkata High Court has asked Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to file an affidavit explaining why their bail should not be cancelled.

In her petition, Ms. Tamang had accused that despite being out on bail, GJM leaders have continued to get embroiled in criminal activities, as a result of which numerous cases have been filed against them. In her petition, she has said that, "GJM leaders are taking advantage of the bail and indulging in criminal activities... their bails should be cancelled."

The court is set to meet on Feb 26, to deliberate the case.

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Madan Tamang murder case - Petition in Calcutta High Court seeking early hearing

10:08 AM

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murder

Calcutta, Feb 15: Bharati Tamang, the wife of ABGL president Madan Tamang who had been killed in Darjeeling in May 2010, today moved a petition in Calcutta High Court seeking early hearing of the applications for anticipatory bail by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and others.

A CBI court in Calcutta had asked Gurung and 22 other accused in the Madan Tamang murder case on May 29 last year to surrender before it. They soon moved the high court to avoid the summons.

In her petition, Bharati claimed that as the hearing of the petitions moved by Gurung and others was not taking place and the judge had issued an interim stay on their arrest, she and other members of the AIGL had been facing regular threats from Morcha activists. She approached the division bench of Justice Asim Roy and Justice M.M. Banerjee, which was assigned to hear the pleas by the murder accused.

Madan Tamang who had been killed in Darjeeling in May 2010

The bench advised Bharati to file an affidavit and assured her that they would hear her petition on Wednesday to fix an earlier date of hearing Gurung's petition.

The pleas by Gurung and others came up for hearing before the division bench last on February 9. But CBI counsel Ashraf Ali sought time till May because additional solicitor general, Maninder Singh, who had held the brief on behalf of the CBI in the particular case, would not be available.

The division bench expressed anguish over the delay on the part of CBI and postponed the hearing till May.

But today, Justice Roy, the senior judge of the division bench, told Bharati's counsel: "On Wednesday, I will try to fix a date in April for hearing of the case."

Source:Telegraph

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Bharati Tamang to Write to High Court Over Expediting Madan Tamang Murder case Hearing

8:39 AM

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murder

Writes: Vivek Chhetri

Bharati Tamang, the wife of slain ABGL leader Madan Tamang, has said she will write to the chief justice of Calcutta High Court to expedite the process of hearing the anticipatory bail pleas of Bimal Gurung and 22 other Morcha leaders named in the CBI chargesheet on the murder of her husband.

The Democratic Front, a conglomeration of four political outfits from the hills - the ABGL, CPRM, GNLF and Sikkim-Darjeeling Ekikaran Manch - today took the decision.

Pratap Khati, the convener of the front and general secretary of the ABGL, said: "Bharati Tamang has decided to write to the chief justice of Calcutta High Court to expedite the process of hearing the anticipatory bail application. We have faith in the judiciary system but the continuous delay in passing an order on the anticipatory bail application is making us frustrated. Even if bail has to be granted, let it be granted but we would request the court to pass an order on this application."

Bharati, who was seated beside Khati, said: "I will send the letter in the next few days."

The hearing of the anticipatory bail application is slated for November 17.

The CBI had named Gurung and senior Morcha leaders like Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Bhupendra Pradhan, Asha Gurung, Lt Col (retd) Ramesh Allay and others in a chargesheet filed at a city session court in Calcutta on May 29.

Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the Kalimpong MLA who resigned from the Morcha recently, is among the 23 named in the chargesheet.

Tamang was hacked to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010, by suspected Morcha supporters when he was preparing to hold a public meeting.

Source: Telegraph

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Plain truths from the hilly ‪Gorkhaland

12:55 PM

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Politics

‬Write: Debjyoti Chakraborty & Pramod Giri 

The era of middle class and westernised Nepali leaders with their humble followers has all but faded away in the northernmost territories of West Bengal but violence still seethes in the three hill sub-divisions — Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. The key to making sense of it all lies between the stories of Bimal Gurung and Bharati Tamang, along a continuum that rises from salt-of-the-earth politics to peaks of frightening violence.

Madan Tamang was a suave businessman, and the rebel voice who owned a piece of the Berlin Wall. He was more exception than rule, and the manner of his death only exposed the dark side of aspirational Gorkha politics, as did the lack of aftermath.

Bharati is still in a state of shock. After her husband’s violent death on May 21, 2010, people trooped in with their condolences, but no one raised a voice against the killing. “I ask them why they kept mum when Madan’s neck was almost severed with a khukri and the culprits are still roaming around? They have no answer.”

At one level, Tamang’s brutal death was but a spike in Gorkha discontent. It was in the mid-1980s that the discontent among the tea garden workers and the long suppressed opposition to ‘Bengali colonialism’ — the ‘babus’ took over when the ‘sahibs’ left — first found its voice in a former army man who sought a separate state for Gorkhas — all those who live in the hills, not just Nepali-speakers.

Subhash Ghising had burst upon the scene. The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader found a support base among the urban youth, who had no job opportunities other than the tourism industry, and the organised labourers in tea gardens.

Ghising’s road ahead was quite clear, since by the time the GNLF emerged, the CPI(M) trade unions had lost much of their clout. Sub-nationalism took centrestage.

Gurung, says one Darjeeling-based political observer, is the real political successor of Ghising, although it is he who drove the GNLF patriarch from the hills on July 26, 2008. Ghising died a broken man on January 29 this year, “in exile” in Siliguri.

Gurung, the new Alpha male, saw his opportunity when Ghising accepted a ‘mock state’ — only an autonomous district administration. Gurung formed his own party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, on October 7, 2007. The Gorkhaland flag kept flying.

The demands are the same, the sentiment identical. Even the path is similar, if not exactly parallel. What’s different is the man at the top. Gurung is accessible, the big brother always ready to listen, but one who can turn extremely aggressive if things are not to his liking.

But Gurung is a worried man these days. On September 30, the GJM’s youth wing held a huge rally in Kalimpong. The trigger: the resignation of Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri from the party. One of the GJM’s three MLAs, Rohit Sharma, had quit the assembly. Another one, Trilok Kumar Dewan, quit both the assembly and the party. But Chhetri just quit the party and retained his assembly seat. That’s why the rally, and it’s location in Chhetri’s home turf.

Gurung wanted his three MLAs from Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong to resign from the assembly to protest against CM Mamata Banerjee’s increasing interference, from controlling funds to setting up separate development boards for not only non-Nepali ethnic groups but also some Nepali-speakingsubgroups.

Why should separate boards be set up when there’s an elected autonomous territorial administration formed through a tripartite agreement between the state, the Centre and the GJM, reasoned Gurung’s outfit.

For Gurung, the latest Trinamool inroads represent more than just vote-bank politics. He considers them a direct attack on Gorkha identity. The Mamata effect is most evident in Kalimpong, where Trinamool flags and posters of Didi are everywhere. It hurt more as there were rumours that Chhetri, an intellectual icon of the Gorkha hills, a man fluent in Nepali, Hindi, English and Bengali, may soon join hands with Banerjee. In fact on September 30, when Gurung was addressing the rally in Kalimpong, Chhetri was in Kolkata.

Chhetri and his followers started organising small rallies from September 10, demanding district status for Kalimpong subdivision — a counter to Gurung’s statehood demand.

When these correspondents reached the Kalimpong rally site, poets were regaling the audience with sarcasm and, of course, how the Gorkhas had been suppressed since 1962 when then chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy argued that the Nepalis were not in a majority in the hills as their language was not spoken by all the hill people.

The people were hooting, laughing and roaring. But no one left his or her seat. No one rushed to the dais where the leaders were seated. The reason: samarpan, anushasan, ekta (surrender, discipline and unity).

Most of the cadres, however, are not bothered that there’s no space for democracy, though. But that’s the reason, people think, Gurung’s two MLAs Chettri and Dewan, have left him.

And when Gurung rose to speak, the decibel level was almost unbearable. The next half an hour was a lesson on how to control the crowd with just words, camaraderie and threats to the government. The rider was: “Our movement will be peaceful. We’re from the land of Gandhi.”

But the possibility of violence is always alive in the hills. GNLF general secretary Mahindra Chhetri confirmed later in Siliguri that his party was preparing for a violent showdown with Gurung, and that the next election would see the return of the Ghising clan to the hills.

Mann, Ghising’s son and the GNLF president, kept smiling awkwardly when the GNLF general secretary, a former CPI(M) leader, kept on blazing away against the GJM, and not, interestingly, so much against Banerjee.

After the Kalimpong rally, these correspondents met Gurung at a hotel on a remote hilltop outside Kalimpong. There’s only one potholed approach road to the hotel and every car that took that road was being monitored. There were cadres everywhere, fanned out to spot any trouble.

We found him at the lobby of the hotel, surrounded by his aides, friends, supporters and, of course, favour-seekers. We waited till he managed to shoo them away and led us to a room to tell us about his life — the story of a boy from the tea gardens.

Gurung speaks plainly, but beneath all that bonhomie and good-natured banters, one can sense the simmering violence. The GJM is waiting, prepared for ambushes from the plains.

Source: Hindustan Times

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Bengal Government Associated With Madan Tamang Murder? - Public Liberation Association

6:24 PM

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West Bengal

Faiyaz Shafique Ansari for TheDC

Poster by "Public Liberation Association" Pasted on Bhanu Bhakta Statue in Darjeeling Chowrasta Asks "Is Bengal Government Associated With Madan Tamang Murder?"

A poster pasted on Bhanu Bhakta statue at the heart of Darjeeling - Chowrasta by a group, which calls itself "Public Liberation Association" has caused mild sensation in the town.

The poster reads, "The PLA party wants to inform the general public that in 2001 GNLF supreme Subash Ghising was attacked at Sat Ghumti, after a few months the Bengal government arrested the revolutionary leader Chattra Subba from near Indo-Nepal border. Bengal government put Chattra Subba in jail for 11 years, without any proof.

Poster by "Public Liberation Association" Pasted on Bhanu Bhakta Statue in Darjeeling Chowrasta

Then on May 30, 2010 our Gorkha leader Madan Tamang jiu was murdered in broad daylight, the government has adequate proof against those who are involved, and despite that the government has not done anything to arrest these murderers.

Could it be that the Government is in cahoots with the murders???

The Bengal needs to answer our query at the earliest"

It is signed PLA and a stamp is also affixed.


Via The Darjeeling Chronicle

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Mamata Banerjee withdraws cases against GJM, launches green project for Darjeeling

11:15 PM

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Politics

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced her government's decision to withdraw over 100 cases against the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists and leaders initiated during their separatist movement.

Mamata Banerjee launches green project for Darjeeling

On a three-day visit to Darjeeling hills, Banerjee during the day also launched the Rs. 500 crore 'Clean and Green Darjeeling' project under which 53,000 toilets will be built across the district.

"Our chief secretary and home secretary were in talks the GJM leadership on the issue. We have decided to withdraw 115 cases against the GJM leadership," said Banerjee in the presence of GJM senior leadership.

Most of these cases include law and order violations like holding road blockades and were clamped on GJM leaders before 2011.

The decision has come as a relief to the GJM leadership which has been indicted by the Central Bureau of Investigation for the murder of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang.

The Clean and Green Darjeeling is a joint initiative of the state government and the autonomous hill council, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) headed by GJM supremo Bimal Gurung.

"'Clean Darjeeling Green Darjeeling' will run on a mission mode to ensure clean living in Darjeeling with sanitation facilities in homes and community sanitary complexes, solid and liquid waste management, ban on plastic bags, cleaning of springs and roadside plantation," Banerjee said.

The project will encourage water conservation through rainwater harvesting in rural and urban areas along with green cultivation through afforestation, she said.

"This will also help in development of horticulture and medicinal plants that will also boost the local livelihood.

"It is our mission to restore the Queen of Hills Darjeeling to its pristine glory. It is our commitment to our future generation. West Bengal government and GTA are working together for that," added Banerjee.

Via business-standard

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High court cannot hear anticipatory bail peal on Madan Tamang murder case - CBI

10:56 AM

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madan tamang

The CBI today filed an affidavit claiming the high court had no jurisdiction over the petitions by Bimal Gurung and 22 others of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha seeking anticipatory bail in the Madan Tamang murder case.

A file photo - telegraph

Justice Asim Kumar Roy, a senior judge of the division bench, asked Gurung's counsel to file an affidavit-in-opposition within 10 days and fixed the matter for hearing on August 28.

The stay on the arrest of Gurung and the others would continue till the hearing is over.

Gurung and 22 others had been accused in the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League president Madan Tamang's murder case and on May 29, a city-based CBI court had asked them to surrender before it.

To avoid the summons, Gurung and 22 others had moved anticipatory bail pleas before the division bench of Calcutta High Court.

Today, the CBI affidavit was produced before the division bench of Justice Asim Kumar Roy and Justice Moloy Marud Banerjee.

The CBI special counsel Manindra Singh claimed that since the investigating agency had filed a fresh chargesheet naming Gurung and the others in response to a Supreme Court order, only CBI courts could hear the cases.

"The Supreme Court had directed my client to conduct a fresh inquiry into the Tamang murder case and file a comprehensive report before it. So, the apex court is monitoring the case. My client had already produced the comprehensive report at the Supreme Court and in the same time, submitted the chargesheet to the CBI court," Singh told the high court division bench today.

"Since the CBI court had issued the summons asking the accused persons to surrender before it, the accused would have to obey the order. The high court cannot entertain their anticipatory bail pleas at this stage," he added.

Senior advocate Sekhar Bose, the counsel appearing for the 23 accused, opposed Singh's plea saying they had every right to move anticipatory bail pleas before the high court.

Justice Roy then asked Bose to file an affidavit-in-opposition within 10 days. The next date of hearing is August 28.

Source: Telegraph

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Hearing on Madan Tamang Case anticipatory bail adjourned till July 29

9:37 AM

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madan tamang

The high court today adjourned for four weeks the hearing of the anticipatory bail petitions moved by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and 22 other party leaders and activists accused in the Madan Tamang murder case.

Hearing on Madan Tamang Case anticipatory bail adjourned till July 29

The case was adjourned following a prayer from the CBI, which is investigating the case.

"The CBI informed the court that it wants to engage a special lawyer. For the sake of fair justice, this court is granting the prayer and adjourning the hearing for four weeks. The case will come up for hearing on July 29," the division bench of Justices Ashim Kumar Roy and Moloy Marut Banerjee said in the brief order.

The CBI produced the original case diary today in response to yesterday's order by the bench. Although the case was supposed to be heard at 2pm, it started at 4.25pm, five minutes before the end of court hours, because of a number of pending criminal cases.

The bench had yesterday said it would get the case diary photocopied at the high court as the CBI had said the photocopier at its office in Salt Lake was out of order. But seeing the volume of the document, the court asked the CBI to submit the photocopies on the next date of hearing.

During today's hearing, Justice Roy, the bench's senior judge, asked CBI counsel Ashraf Ali: "Please tell me whether your client had tried to arrest Bimal Gurung and the other accused persons during the course of the investigation. Now, why do you want to see them arrested?"

In reply, the CBI counsel said the special lawyer who would hold the brief of the case would reply to the judge's queries.

Amitesh Banerjee, the counsel appearing for Tamang's widow, Bharati, alleged before the court that the petitioners (Gurung and the others) were regularly threatening his client and other witnesses.

"Unless the petitioners are taken into custody, a fair trial is impossible," he said.

Justice Roy asked Banerjee to file an affidavit within a week, stating details about his client's allegations against the accused persons.

Source: Telegraph

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CBI Fails to Produce Madan Tamang Murder Case Diary - Xerox machine not working

9:43 AM

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madan tamang

The CBI today failed to produce in Calcutta High Court a photocopy of the case diary in the Madan Tamang murder case saying the Xerox machine at the agency's Salt Lake office was out of order, prompting the judges to express surprise.

"Is that so? This court had ordered the investigating agency to produce the photocopy of the case diary two weeks ago. The photocopy machine of such an important agency has been out of order for so many days? Why did the agency not try to make photocopies from another place?" asked Justice Ashim Kumar Roy, the senior judge on the division bench.

The bench of Justices Roy and M.M. Banerjee was hearing the anticipatory bail prayers of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung, who recently met Mamata Banerjee and visited Delhi, and 22 other leaders and workers of the hill party in the murder case of ABGL leader Tamang. They have been named in the CBI chargesheet.

Advocate Ashraf Ali, the counsel representing the CBI, told the court that the agency did not make photocopies from outside the office to maintain secrecy of the documents.

"Then do one thing. Produce the original case diary in court tomorrow. We will make photocopies of the relevant pages in the high court. Before hearing the prayers made by the petitioners, we want to see the case diary," Justice Roy said.

The CBI lawyer then requested the court to adjourn the case as his client wanted to engage a senior lawyer from Delhi.

Justice Roy said: "If your client wants to engage a senior lawyer, then we have nothing to say. But you will have to produce the original case diary before this court at 2pm tomorrow."

CBI sources said the agency had no other alternative but to try and buy time since the legal cell at its headquarters in Delhi was keen on engaging a senior lawyer instead of the Calcutta-empanelled ones representing it.

CBI officers said the agency's office in Salt Lake's CGO Complex had only one photocopier and it was lying defunct for a few days.

"A case diary is at least 500 pages. And it's not just the diary. You need to submit other documents along with it in court," an officer said. "We couldn't risk getting the documents photocopied from outside."

In response to an earlier order of the bench, the CBI today produced a copy of the comprehensive report on its investigation into the Tamang murder case. The agency had earlier submitted the document to the Supreme Court.

In the report, the CBI had filed a copy of the final chargesheet, which it submitted to Bankshall Court in Calcutta.

After going through the comprehensive report, Justice Roy asked the CBI lawyer: "In your chargesheet, you have prayed before the trial court to summon the accused persons under non-bailable charges. At the time of summoning the accused, how can you say whether the accused should be called under bailable or non-bailable sections? It is the discretion of the court whether it would issue arrest warrants against the accused or not."

The CBI counsel said a reply would be furnished during later hearings.

Source; Telegraph

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Bharati Tamang discharged from the Hospital

11:46 AM

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Politics

 Ms. Bharati Tamang, AIGL President and wife of Late Madan Tamang has recovered from health complication arising after her hunger strike and has been released from the hospital.

Speaking to the press briefly Ms. Tamang said, "I respect the law of the land and I have full faith in the court systems..."

She added, "I do feel weak, so I will be heading home straight away, as doctors have advised me to take complete rest... I will decide on the future course of action only after that..."

No one from AIGL or Democratic Front, under whose banner Ms. Bharati Tamang had launched her hunger strike, were present at the hospital, and only her family members were present.

Apparently all the AIGL leaders had gone to meet Bengal Chief Minister Mamata at that time, where as other Democratic Front leaders had a meeting going on at the same time.

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Even God cannot save Bimal Gurung - Pratap Khati

11:33 AM

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Pratap Khati

Vivek Chhetri
Darjeeling, June 18: The Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League today told Mamata Banerjee that a judicial investigation should be conducted to find out lapses of the previous government and the district administration that could have led to the murder of the party's chief Madan Tamang in 2010.

Pratap Khati Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League  general secretary

Party general secretary Pratap Khati said: "We have told the chief minister that Bimal Gurung cannot be trusted. Following the chargesheet even God cannot save Bimal Gurung."

He said: "We requested the chief minister for a judicial inquiry. The role of the then government and the district administration has to be looked into as there were many lapses. We have learnt that the instruction given by then IG of north Bengal, K.L. Tamta, on issues regarding security arrangements at the public meeting which was to be addressed by Madan Tamang was not followed by the district police superintendent."

He said the escape of Nickole Tamang, one of the accused, from CID custody should also be probed.

"As per norms he should have been kept at a police lock-up for an overnight stay and should not have been with the CID. Also, we do not know why the CID's investigating officer, K.S. Paharia, was not brought to book. We have requested for a judicial inquiry so that the real facts and the involvement of the government can come to light," Khati said.

Khati was part of an ABGL delegation which met Mamata Banerjee at Richmond Hill here around 1.30pm today and submitted a memorandum.

The ABGL also raised the issue of the recent arms case in Darjeeling.

"We have told the chief minister that one of the elected GTA Sabha members, whose name had figured in a case related to seizure of arms in Assam is untraceable. There were reports of the involvement of NSCN (Khaplang) in the case. These groups were involved in the recent ambush in Manipur. We have told the chief minister that Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri used to frequently visit the north-eastern states and they cannot be trusted," said Khati.

"Nothing happens in the Morcha without Bimal Gurung's knowledge," he said.

Told about the bonhomie shown by Mamata and Gurung yesterday, Khati said: "There can always be political compulsions."

Khati today also claimed that the chief minister had instructed her officials to send a bouquet and good wishes message to Bharati Tamang, the widow of Madan Tamang.

"The chief minister gave us a patient hearing today and also promised to meet us when she returns to the hills in September this year," said Khati.

Source; Telegraph

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Bharati Tamang lifts Hunger Strike

9:48 PM

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madan tamang

Bharati Tamang, wife of Late Madan Tamang, who was in hunger strike since Sunday demanding the arrest of all the GJM ledaers named in the CBI chargesheet under the banner of Democratic Front, has lifted Hunger strike today at 5:15 pm due to serious health problem.

Bharati Tamang lifts Hunger Strike

Meanwhile, spokesperson of Democratic Front, Mr. Sankhar Hang Subba said that "Court verdict was in favour of us and we respect Court proceedings. And it is not the bail that granted it is simply making the case stronger in favour of us."

source; TheDC

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GJM arrest put on hold for next 2 weeks - orders High Court

8:04 PM

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political news

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders accused in Madan Tamang murder case got some relief as Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the CBI not to execute arrest warrants issued against them. Calcutta High Court today directed CBI not to arrest them in connection with the Madan Tamang murder case till the disposal of their anticipatory bail plea.

GJM leaders in murder case charge

The bench of Justice Ashim Kumar Roy and Justice Malay Marut Banerjee directed the agency not to arrest the accused till the disposal of the plea.The court further asked the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to file an affidavit within two weeks.

Prime accused in the case Nickol Tamang had, however, disappeared mysteriously from Pintail village near Siliguri, where he was being held by state CID on August 21, 2010 for interrogation following his arrest.

Tamang's widow Bharati Tamang launching a hunger strike for indefinite period, pressing for the arrest of the accused.

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GJM case to be heard on Monday, judge threats the lawyer

8:10 AM

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madan tamang

A Calcutta High Court judge today persuaded some of the lawyers who have gone on a three-day ceasework because of the "heat wave" to attend his court, threatening to strike the cases off the cause list if they did not appear.

 Calcutta High Court 

Justice Ashim Kumar Roy's decision to remove the cases from the list if they were not heard today forced three lawyers pleading for anticipatory bail of their clients to take part in the proceedings. The lawyers, who were on the court compound, included the one appearing for Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and other party leaders. The Morcha leaders have sought anticipatory bail in the Madan Tamang murder case.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung and 22 other party leaders have been chargesheeted by the CBI in connection with the murder of the ABGL chief in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010. The hearing of the anticipatory bail plea will continue on Monday.

If a case is struck off the cause list, it takes at least 14 days to make its way back to the queue, a crucial time period in cases of anticipatory bail pleas.

Yesterday, Justice Roy had slammed lawyers, particularly the state-empanelled ones, for going on leave. He had asked a lawyer who had kept the case diary with himself to appear before him today.
Justice Roy told the three state-empanelled lawyers who attended his court today: "The government you are representing in court is not supporting your ceasework. Then why are you abstaining from work? Why are you keeping case diaries with you? It should be kept either in the court's custody or with police."

At 2pm, Justice Roy summoned public prosecutor Manjit Singh and told him: "You should not allow the state-empanelled lawyers to take away case diaries with them." Singh assured the judge that such a thing would not be repeated.

Justice Roy then took up the list of cases and decided to hear some of them. When the case relating to the anticipatory bail pleas of the Morcha leaders came up, the judge asked an advocate to locate Sayan Dey, the lawyer of the bail applicants.

When Dey arrived, Justice Roy told him: "Either you start the hearing of your case today or I will strike the matter off the list."

The lawyer requested the judge to hear the case on Monday. But Justice Roy said: "For the 23 accused in the case, you have filed at least six anticipatory bail applications. The last one was filed on June 10, the first day of your ceasework. When you can file a case in the midst of a ceasework, why can't you start your arguments now?"

Dey then started the submission, narrating to the judge his version of how and when Tamang was murdered.

According to court sources, around a dozen cases were disposed of today.


Source: Telegraph

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Bharati sets Sunday deadline for fast onto death stir, DF prepares Sunday address

10:21 PM

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madan tamang

Darjeeling June 11: If the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders are a worried lot at present in the hills, the opposition (read anti-GJM outfits), specifically AIGL, are not far behind. Apprehensive of CBI taking its time to arrest top rung GJM leaders despite warrant being issued, Bharati Tamang, the AIGL president has decided to sit on a fast onto death stir from Sunday.

Political forum–'Democratic Front' in Darjeeling

Twenty-three GJM leaders of high profile has been charge sheeted by the CBI on the Madan Tamang murder case. A Calcutta city court has already issued warrant of arrest for the 23 leaders including Bimal Gurung, the GJM chief. However, with GJM filing anticipatory bail at the Calcutta High court and hearing for the same pending because of cease work for three days, the party which rules the GTA is a worried lot.

The CBI whatsoever has not arrested anyone so far and things have no gone well with the AIGL. “The fast onto death is a last resort for me. The CBI is only dillydallying arrest,” Tamang told journalists on Thursday. Bharati Tamang is also the widow of slain leader Madan Tamang.
Tamang had been murdered on May 21, 2010 under broad daylight at Clubside in Darjeeling while overseeing preparation for a public address that he was to make on the very day.

Bharati’s fast onto death is expected to be followed by a public meeting on Sunday to be organized by the Democratic Front (DF). The DF is a conglomeration of four anti-GJM hill parties formed with an aim to return democracy in the hills. The conglomerate also vouches to work for seeking justice in the Madan Tamang murder case.  The DF comprises of the AIGL, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist, Gorkha National Liberation Front and the Sikkim Darjeeling Merger Forum.

“Permission has been applied for the meet on Sunday. We have also put up posters to sensitize the mass in the hills,” said Shankar hang Subba, the spokesperson for DF.

CPIM withdrawal 

Ironically, days after the formation of the conglomerate the CPIM has withdrawn itself from the DF. The CPIM top leadership in the district feels that the DF should also take up other issues. “The Madan Tamang murder is a sub-judice matter and we find no point is seeking justice through a forum seems redundant. So we withdrew,” said Saman Pathak, a CPIM district secretariat member.

The DF countered saying that the CPIM’s decision to step back has many reasons. “The CPIM was heading the Government when Madan Tamang was murdered. The role of the then West Bengal Government on this issue is murky. Why were there no adequate security arrangements despite anticipation of trouble? How did Nickol Tamang, supposed to be the mastermind of the murder, disappear from the custody of the CID?” said Pratap Khati, the ABGL secretary.

Source: The Himalayan Mirror

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CBI chargesheet against GJM leadership

8:40 AM

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Roshan Giri

VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, June 10: The following are some of the charges listed in the CBI chargesheet against the leadership of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in the Madan Tamang assassination case.

A court had given permission to the CBI to arrest the leaders, who have denied the charges and have sought anticipatory bail from Calcutta High Court. The bail plea is pending in court.

Bimal Gurung (right), Asha Gurung and Roshan Giri 

Bimal Gurung, 51

As president of the Morcha, he had the final say in all major actions committed by party workers. Since 2007, when the Morcha was formed, there were many attacks on the offices, meetings and residence of ABGL leader Madan Tamang.

Gurung hatched a criminal conspiracy along with other Morcha leaders and in several meetings, he threatened to finish off the Opposition in Darjeeling. In furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, he took the extreme step of organising his supporters to attack Madan and kill him as the latter had repeatedly highlighted the alleged corruption of the top leadership of the Morcha, including that of Gurung.

On the day of the incident, Gurung was in Kalimpong along with Dinesh Theeng, Devendra Sharma, Binay Tamang, Col Ramesh Allay and most of the Morcha leadership. Gurung's bodyguard, Dinesh Rai alias Kaila, who had struck the deadly blow on Madan and killed him, was in Darjeeling town. Sharma and Theeng were regularly getting updates about the progress of events during that attack in Darjeeling from Nikkal Tamang alias Nickol Tamang.

At a meeting at Chandraman Dhura organised days before Madan was killed on May 21, 2010, Bimal Gurung had openly said he would kill all Opposition leaders.

In April 2010, he was at Salbari, near Siliguri, and Nikkal Tamang was heard telling him: " Daju (Gurung), we have to get rid of Madan."

In the first week of May 2010, Bimal Gurung had a meeting with the other accused - Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Harka Bahadur Chhetri, Asha Gurung, Pradip Pradhan, Col Ramesh Allay, Devendra Sharma, Dinesh Theeng and some other leaders - at the Singamari party office "where they had conspired to prevent Madan from carrying out his political activities in the hills and even eliminate him if the situation so demanded".

(The dates and timings of the meetings have not been mentioned in the chargesheet.)

Binay Tamang, 49

As assistant secretary of the party, Binay Tamang was a key adviser to the Morcha. He was a key conspirator in the attack and murder of Madan.

He hatched a criminal conspiracy along with other Morcha leaders and threatened to wipe out the Opposition from Darjeeling at several meetings. He was in touch with Roshan Giri on the morning of the murder as evident from the call records of his mobile phone.

His last conversation on May 20, 2010, at 9.55pm was with Nikkal Tamang. On the morning of May 21, 2010, he had sent several text messages to Harka Bahadur Chhetri.

Binay Tamang attended the meeting organised in the first week of May at the Morcha's Singamari party office.

Harka Bahadur Chhetri, 57

As media secretary of the Morcha, he was a key adviser to the party. He was a key conspirator in the attack and murder.

He hatched a criminal conspiracy along with other Morcha leaders and in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, he took the extreme step of organising party supporters to attack Madan and kill him.

He received several text messages from Binay Tamang on the morning of May 21, 2010.

He had continuously threatened Madan in the media and at public meetings.

He was part of the meeting in the first week of May at the Singamari party office.

Pradeep Pradhan, 57

As vice-president of the party, he was a key adviser and key conspirator in the murder.

He hatched a criminal conspiracy.

He talked to accused Alok Kant Mani Thulung and Nagendra Pradhan after the murder, keeping himself updated about the success of the attack.

He continuously threatened Madan in the media and at public meetings.

He attended the meeting at Singamari.

Col Ramesh Allay, 69

He is the chief of the Gorkhaland Personnel, an unarmed force independent of Bengal police, and one of the main advisers to the Morcha and key conspirator in the attack and murder.

Madan's ABGL had decided to convene a public meeting on May 21, 2010, at Chowk Bazar but Morcha supporters occupied the area from May 20 on the instructions of Allay. The ABGL was compelled to organise the programme at another venue (Upper Clubside) in Darjeeling.

He hatched a criminal conspiracy.

He had continuously threatened Madan in the media and at public meetings.

He had attended the Singamari meeting.

Roshan Giri, 48

As Morcha general secretary, he was responsible for the activities of the party. He was a key adviser to the Morcha and a key conspirator in the murder of Madan.

He hatched a criminal conspiracy.

A newspaper report establishes his involvement and indicates the plan to kill Madan. His mobile number was under interception on that day.

Call data records reveal that on May 21, 2010, he was in constant touch with Nikkal Tamang through the mobile number issued in his wife's name. He was in constant touch with Binay Tamang, Devendra Sharma, Pemba Tshering Ola, Mamta Rai and other chargesheeted persons such as Alok Kant Mani Thulung, Puran Thami, Keshab Raj Pokrel, Naresh Rai, Kismat Chhetri and Pravin Subba.

(Some of these names figure in the CID chargesheet that was filed before the CBI chargesheet. The CBI has co-opted the CID chargesheet.)

He continuously threatened Madan in the media and at public meetings.

He attended the May meeting at Singamari.

Asha Gurung, 49

She headed the Nari Morcha and was a key adviser and conspirator in the attack and murder.

She led the Nari Morcha that organised a meeting on May 19, 2010, at Sumeru Manch in Darjeeling to disrupt the ABGL meeting.

She was near the site where Madan Tamang was murdered, monitoring everything and giving directions to Morcha cadres. She also talked to Mamta Rai, Roshan Giri, Puran Thami and Babita Ganguly after the incident. The names of these persons figure either in the CBI chargesheet or the one filed by the CID.

She was seen sitting in a vehicle just below Keventer's, which is close to the murder site. Some of the assailants fled in that vehicle.

She continuously threatened Madan in the media and at public meetings.

She attended the meeting at the Singamari party office.

Devendra Sharma, 53

He was a key adviser of Gurung and had hatched the criminal conspiracy.

He was at Kalimpong along with Gurung and other senior Morcha leaders. He was in regular touch over telephone with Nikkal Tamang, Alok Kant Mani Thulung, Sushma Rai and Roshan Giri, all of whom were in Darjeeling. Their names figure in the chargesheet.

He continuously threatened Madan in the media and at public meetings.

He attended the meeting at Singamari.

The names of the following two figure in the chargesheet filed by the CID on August 30, 2010, which the CBI has accepted and taken cognisance of.

Nikkal Tamang, 48

In the chargesheet, it has been alleged that he was found talking to several senior leaders of the Morcha on the morning of the killing. No fresh charge has been filed against Nikkal Tamang as he had already been chargesheeted by the CID. He has been named as one of the prime accused in the murder. Nikkal Tamang had been arrested on August 16, 2010, but he escaped from CID custody at Pintail near Siliguri on August 22, 2010.

Dinesh Subba alias Dinesh Rai alias Kaila, 32

In the CID chargesheet, Kaila has been charged with the murder of Madan Tamang. He is absconding since the killing of the ABGL leader.

Although he has not been officially chargesheeted by the CBI since his name figures prominently in the CID chargesheet, the CBI chargesheet mentions: "Investigation further established that seeing armed supporters of the GJM (Morcha), the members of the ABGL fled from the spot. Later, Madan was attacked by this murderous unlawful assembly. One person in the group, identified to be Dinesh Rai alias Dinesh Subba alias Kaila, armed with a patang (a long, sharp sword) attacked Madan Tamang in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy."

Source: Telegraph

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