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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