जकसले दियो क्रामाकपालाई जवाब... साहित्यकार इन्द्रबहादुर राई हङकङमा...Carrot & stick to bring back straying lot - Morcha unit sets return-to-fold deadline for party deserters

जकसले दियो क्रामाकपालाई जवाब

मनोज बोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ,20 अप्रेल। क्रामाकपाले गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चाको भातृ सङ्गठन जनमुक्ति कर्मचारी सङ्गठनलाई शंका गर्दै चुनाउ ड्यूटीमा यो सङ्गठनका कर्मचारी सदस्यहरूले मोर्चाको पक्षमा काम गरेको बताएको थियो। जसको उत्तर दिँदै जकसका अध्यक्ष खड्गविक्रम सुब्बाले क्रामाकपालाई मनको बाघले खाइरहेको जनाए। हिजो क्रामाकपाको कालेबुङ आञ्चलिक समितिको पक्षबाट किशोर प्रधानले जकस मोर्चाको भातृसङ्गठन रहेको अनि चुनाउको ड्युटीमा यही सङ्गठनका कर्मचारीहरूले बुथहरूमा मोर्चाको पक्षमा काम गरेको आरोप लगाएका थिए। 

सुब्बाले भने, हो, कर्मचारीहरू मोर्चाको भातृसङ्गठनका कार्यकर्ताहरू हुन्‌, तर सबै कर्मचारीले चुनाउ आचार संहितालाई कदर गर्दै काम गरेका छन्‌। यसकारण नै सबैतिर चुनाउ शान्तिमय रह्यो। कतै पनि कर्मचारीहरूले कुनै एउटा दलको फाइदामा काम गरेको भए चुनाउ शान्तिपूर्ण हुँदैन थियो। क्रामाकपालाई मनको बाघले खाइरहेको छ। क्रामाकपाको यसप्रकारको टिप्पणीलाई हामी दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण मान्नेछौं। गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति माकपाबाट छुट्टिएको क्रामाकपामा अझ पनि माकपाको मानसिकता देखियो। जसले चुनाउ लड़ेन उसले चुनाउबारे टिप्पणी गर्नु अनि हाम्रो पवित्र सङ्गठनलाई आरोप लगाउने कामलाई हामी आपत्तीजनक मान्नेछौं।

साहित्यकार इन्द्रबहादुर राई हङकङमा

मनोज बोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ,20 अप्रेल। नेपाली साहित्यको क्षेत्रमा शिखर मानिएका इन्द्रबहादुर राई आज बिहान नै हङकङ पुगे। तिनीसित तिनकी वृद्धा अर्धाङ्गनी मायादेवी पनि साथ छिन्‌। निक्कै पाको भइसकेका राई जुनै पनि कार्यक्रममा आफ्ना स्वास्नीसित नै देखिन्छन्‌। तिनकी पत्नी मायादेवी विना एकक्षण पनि बस्न नसक्ने इन्द्रबहादुर राई हङकङ पनि आफ्नै मायालुको साथमा पुगे। नेपाली महासङ्घ हङकङको आयोजना र नेपाली साहित्य प्रतिष्ठान हङकङको संयोजनमा सम्पन्न हुन गइरहेको 'हङकङमा नेपाली साहित्य र विचार गोष्ठी'-मा प्रमुख आतिथ्य दिँदै राई हङकङ पुगेका हुन्‌।  

कार्यक्रम तालिका अनुसार अप्रिल 23 तारिख सॉंझ 6 बजीदेखि याउ मा तेइको कम्युनिटी हलमा शुरु हुने कार्यक्रममा प्रतियोगितात्मक कविता गोष्ठी, हङकङबाट उत्पादित विचार गोष्ठी हुनेछ जहॉं राईले हङकङेली नेपाली साहित्यिकहरूमा तेस्रो आयाम, लीला लेखन र विश्व साहित्य, दर्शनमा बोल्ने कार्यक्रम छ। 

यस कार्यक्रमको प्रत्यक्ष प्रसारण मिडिया पार्टनर दोबाटो डट कम- ले गर्ने भएको छ। कार्यक्रमलाई संरक्षण गर्न हेम लिम्बूको संयोजनमा हेजेन राई, धन थापा, जे. एन. ज्ञवाली, किसन राईको एउटा टोलीको संरक्षण परिषदको पनि गठन भएको छ।  इन्द्रबहादुर राईले तेस्रो आयाम र लीलालेखनमाथि मात्र होइन हङकङबाट उत्पादित विचार र दर्शनमाथि पनि गहन विचार राख्ने सम्भावना छ। 

अहिले हङकङका उपन्यासकार कवि देश सुब्बाले भयवाद-माथि कार्य गरिरहेका छन्‌ भने भर्खरै विश्वभरिका कविहरूले साइबर राईटिङलाई माथि उचाल्दै रेखा कविता-लेखन पनि यहींबाट शुरू गरिएको छ। विश्वभरिबाट अहिले रेखा कविता लेख्ने कार्य भइरहेको छ भने दार्जीलिङबाट युवा कवि मनोज वोगटी पनि यस लेखनसित सम्बद्ध रहेका छन्‌। आलोचक डा.गोविन्दराज भट्टाराईको भूमिका सहित एघाह्र जना विश्वभरिका कविहरूको संयुक्त रेखा कविता-नामक कविता संग्रह प्रकाशित हुने भएको छ जसमा मनोज वोगटीका चारवटा कविता रहेका छन्‌। 

राईले भयवाद अनि रेखा कवितामाथि पनि आफ्नो विचार राख्न सक्ने कार्यक्रममा जुटिरहेका कवि देश सुब्बाले जनाएका छन्‌। राई दम्पतिको यो दोस्रो विदेश यात्रा हो। यसभन्दा अघि उनीहरूले बेलायतको यात्रा गरेका थिए । इन्द्रबहादुर राई नेपाली साहित्यका शिखर पुरुष हुन्‌। उनलाई विश्व दर्शनको ज्ञाता पनि मानिन्छ। हङकङमा उनको आगमनले त्यहॉंका साहित्यकारहरू निकै उत्साहित भएको देश सुब्बाले जनाएका छन्‌। तिनी अनुसार कार्यक्रमलाई विशिष्टता दिन आयोजक र संयोजक संस्था यतिखेर कम्मर कसेर लागेका छन्‌। नेपाली महासंघ हङकङका अध्यक्ष प्रदिप थापा भन्छन्‌- उहॉंजस्तो विद्वान्‌ व्यक्तिको उपस्थितिले हङकङको उचाइ बढाएको छ। त्यस्तै संयोजक संस्था प्रतिष्ठानका अध्यक्ष टंक सम्बाहाम्फे भन्छन्‌-इन्द्रबहादुर राईको आगमनले संसारभरिका साहित्यकाररूको ध्यान हङकङमा तानिएको छ। यता संरक्षक समितिका संयोजक हेम लिम्बू पनि भन्छन्‌, जतिसक्दो कार्यक्रमलाई सफल पार्न सहयोग गर्न हामी एकदमै उत्साहित भएका छौँ।

Tight security for the EVMS at Kalimpong College. Photo: Mukesh Sharma

The JAKS meeting in progress at the Gymkhana Club on Wednesday. Picture by Suman Tamang Carrot & stick to bring back straying lot- Morcha unit sets return-to-fold deadline for party deserters Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, April 20: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has warned its members to come back into the party fold by setting a deadline, realising that a section of its supporters had deserted the outfit after many of them were seen at GNLF meetings before the elections. The first frontal organisation of the Morcha to start the drive to bring back the straying lot is the Janmukti Astai Karmachari Sangathan (JAKS), whose members are contractual workers of the DGHC. The move is expected to be started by other Morcha affiliates too in the coming days. The JAKS today held a meeting at Darjeeling Gymkhana Club where it set a May 13 deadline for all those members who had left the party to return to the organisation. “We are setting a deadline for May 13 for the return of those members who have left us. After the deadline, we will not be in a position to take back any of you,” said Machendra Subba, the president of the JAKS. Subba’s statement was aimed at a number of contractual workers who had deserted the party and were seen supporting the GNLF during the election campaign. Earlier Morcha chief Bimal Gurung had warned the GNLF president to leave the hills once the elections were over. Dangling a carrot with the stick, Subba said: “A new government is likely to come to Bengal and we need to stand united and be ready to further our cause.” Taking a dig at the GNLF, Subba, said: “The state government had given the green signal to Subash Ghisingh (the then chairman of the DGHC) to start the regularisation process. He never followed the order and our present fate is solely because of Ghisingh.” Since the Morcha was formed in 2007, the workers have been agitating under JAKS for the regularisation of their jobs. Following an indefinite hunger strike by the workers, the state government had on September 17, 2009, given a written assurance to start the process to make them permanent. The fax sent by then home secretary, Ardhendu Sen, had stated: “The government has authorised the DGHC to start the regularisation process against the sanctioned vacancies in all categories which it is authorised to do as per the existing act and the recruitment rules.” The fax had prompted the Morcha workers to break their hunger strike. The fax essentially meant that 3,472 contractual workers of the DGHC were to be made permanent while the fate of the remaining staff was to be decided later. Subba today said: “We are demanding that the entire 6,321 workers in the Group C and D categories in the council should be regularised (in one go).” When even after Sen’s assurance the workers had renewed their agitation, then DGHC administrator B.L. Meena had given in writing to the JAKS on October 30, 2009 that the regularisation process would start from November 17 the same year. But the state government later maintained that the frequent closure of government offices was delaying the process. Meena, on his part, claimed he had given the written assurance under duress. Morcha sources said the party would also start a drive to consolidate its support base in certain areas. “During the election campaigns we were able to identify pockets, especially in the Kurseong-Mirik-Soureni belt where people who had once supported us had switched to other parties. In most cases, the switch was prompted by the differences with the local leadership. We will try and get them back into the party fold.” In the dark about repoll, say voters TT, Raiganj/Cooch Behar, April 20: Repolling in two booths one each in North Dinajpur and Cooch Behar passed off peacefully today but many voters complained that they came to know about it at the last moment and cast their votes for the third time. The booths are located in Burihan in North Dinajpur’s Karandighi and Balarampur in Cooch Behar’s Natabari Assembly constituency. The Election Commission had ordered a re-poll as in both the centres the number of voters shown as having exercised their franchise did not tally with the number of ballots cast in the EVMs. In Burihan, the polling personnel had failed to erase the votes cast during the mock polls conducted before the actual voting. At the booth today, there were many who had cast their ballots thrice since Monday. Jamil Asgar was one of them. “On polling day there was some problems with the EVM. Those of us who had cast our votes were asked to wait. We again exercised our franchise and got another finger marked. I had no idea that there was a re-poll today. I was supposed to go somewhere else and was heading for the bus stand. I could have missed the re-poll today had I not stopped to see find out why people were queuing up in front of the booth,” said Asgar, holding up his three fingers marked with the indelible ink. The Congress candidate from Karandighi, Subhash Goswami, said the repoll had to be ordered because of the inefficiency of the polling officials. “The administration informed us about the repoll late last evening. Our workers spent the night going door-to-door and informing the voters. Many voters had by then left the area, they could not recast their votes,” Goswami said. The sitting MLA of Karandighi, the Forward Bloc’s Gokul Roy, alleged his party workers could not inform all the voters as the repoll notice came after 7pm yesterday, giving them less than 12 hours. “The Election Commission has on one hand appealed to all to cast their votes but on the other it informed us late at night that there will be a repoll the next day. We demand that the presiding officer in charge of this booth on Monday be punished,” Roy said. North Dinajpur district magistrate Sunil Dandapat said after getting the order for repoll, he had tried to engage as many people as possible to make voters aware of the event. “As far as action against the presiding officer is concerned, that will be taken up later,” Dandapat said. He said till 4pm today, 76 per cent of votes had been cast at Burihan. There are 835 voters in the booth. In Natabari, 84 per cent of the 690 voters in Balarampur cast their votes till about 4pm. Mom cries rape, girl denies TT, Jaigaon, April 20: A woman in Goabari today complained to police that her 18-year-old daughter was raped by a local CPM leader but a few hours later the alleged victim denied that any such incident had taken place. Sources said the accused leader stays with his family in Subahspally. Saira Bewa, who had filed the complaint with Jaigaon police around 4.30pm yesterday, said the leader had taken in her daughter as a domestic help for the house he has in Calcutta. For two years, Saira had been asking him to bring her daughter back from the city. “The 18-year-old girl finally came back to Jaigaon about a month ago but she continued to work for the leader at his house in Subhapally. Yesterday, Saira told us that the leader had raped her daughter, got her pregnant and even made her undergo an abortion,” said a police officer. The alleged victim was untraceable for a few hours but turned up at the police station late at night to say that the charges levelled by her mother were false. “She told us repeatedly that the allegations made by her mother were baseless and that the woman was trying to extract money from the leader,” the officer said. “The girl’s statement was recorded before a judicial magistrate in Alipurduar court. She has been sent for medical examination under police custody,” said Samir Majumdar, the government lawyer of Alipurduar court. Driver & escort dead TT, Malda, April 20: An ambulance driver and a person escorting a patient died in a road accident at Kaluadighi today when the Malda-bound vehicle collided head on with a truck. Police have identified the deceased as Utpal Mondal, 37, a resident of Malda, and Malati Mondal, 60, of Gajole. They were on their way to Malda with Malati’s grandson Pintu, who was suffering from high fever, for treatment. Pintu, however, escaped with minor cuts and bruises and is under treatment at the Malda district hospital. The police have arrested the truck driver and seized the vehicles. Forces shift TT, Malda: Of the 112 companies of central forces deployed in Malda district for the polls, 109 companies left for Nadia and Birbhum on Wednesday for the second phase of elections to be held on April 23. Malda district magistrate Rajesh Sinha said the rest of the companies would remain in the district to keep a watch on post-poll developments and provide security to the strong rooms till May 13. Death protest TT, Siliguri: A section of the residents of Dasharathpally demonstrated at the Bhaktinagar police station on Wednesday evening, demanding “proper” investigation into the death of 17-year-old Pinky Modak who was found dead on her bed on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, after the body was released following a post-mortem, the girl’s father Amal, a vendor of fast food, neighbours and relatives brought it to the Bhaktinagar police station. They alleged that she was murdered but refused to name any suspects. Police had earlier registered a case of unnatural death. The hour-long demonstration was withdrawn around 9pm.