कालेबुङका रेफरीले कुटे झारखण्डका खेलाडीहरूलाई
मनोज वोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ,12 अगस्त। संसारभरि नै फुटबल खेल आयोजना हुन्छ तर आजको कालेबुङमा जस्तो घटना विश्वको कुनै ठाउँमा घटेको छैन। खेलाडीहरूबीच धक्काधक्कीभएको पनि देखिएको छ, धम्साधम्सी भएको पनि देखिएको छ, रेफरीहरूमाथि हातापाई भएको पनि देखिएको छ तर रेफरीहरूले खेल सक्ने वित्तिकै खेलाडीहरू पिटेको कहीँ देखिएको थिएन जो आज कालेबुङमा देखियो।कालेबुङ स्पोट्र्स एसोसिएसनले मेला ग्राउण्डमा खेलाइरहेको स्वतन्त्रता दिवस फुटबल टुर्नामेन्टमा रेफरीहरू कति स्वतन्त्र रहेछन्, त्यो झारखण्डका खेलाडीहरूलाई रेफरी टोलीले देखाइदिए।
घटना यसरी घट्यो
स्वतन्त्रता फुटबल टुर्नामेन्टको आज पहिलो सेमि फाइनल थियो। खेल थियो झारखण्ड साउथ-इष्ट फुटबल रेलवे अनि गोर्खा बिग्रेट लखनउबीच। खेललाई निर्णय गरिरहेका थिए प्रमुख रेफरी प्रमोद गुरूङ, थर्ड अम्पायर महेश छेत्री अनि लाइन्य म्यान इष्टमन लेप्चा अनि अर्जुन भुजेलले। खेल भइरहेको थियो। पहिलो गोल गोर्खा बिग्रेटले लगायो। दोस्रोपल्ट झारखण्डले गोल गर्दा लाइनम्यानले त्यसलाई अप्साइड देखाए। झारखण्डका उत्तेजित एक खेलाडी दगुरेर आउँदा अचानक एक लाइनम्यानसित ठोक्किए। लाइन्स म्यान लडे। तिनी लडेपछि तत्कालै खेलाडीलाई रेफरीले रेड कार्ड देखाएर खेलबाट बाहिर गरिदिए। घटना यति मात्र हो। खेल भइरह्यो अनि झारखण्ड 2 गोलको विरुद्ध गोर्खा बिग्रेटबाट 6 गोल पाएर पराजित बन्यो।
खेलाडीहरू अस्पतालमा
खेल सकिएको सिटी त रेफरीले फुक्यो तर त्यसपछि भने कालेबुङका ती चार रेफरीहरूले आफ्नो खेल शुरू गरे। झारखण्डका एक खेलाडी मूलतम सिंहले यसबारे यसरी आरोप लगाएका छन्, मूल कारण के हो थाहा छैन,लाइनम्यानसित ठोक्किएको रिस् हो कि अथवा कुनै खास कारणले हो थाहा छैन तर खेल सक्ने वित्तिकै हामीलाई चार रेफरी अनि कमिटीका चार सदस्यले कुट्न थाले। दर्शकहरू हाम्रा पक्षमा उत्रिएकोले हामी बॉंच्यौं। यही मौकामा हामी भागेर थाना आइपुग्यौं। हाम्रा धेरै साथीहरूलाई गम्भीर चोटपटक लाग्यो। साथीहरू ग्राउण्डबाट अस्पताल लगिएको छ। धेरै ठाउँ फुटबल खेलियो तर यस्तो खाले फुटबल खेलिएको थिएन। हामी कालेबुङबासीलाई अनुरोध गर्छौं यस्तो खाले खेलाडीलाई रेफरीले पिट्ने खेल अब कहिले नखेलाइयोस्। यस्तो असुरक्षा हुन्छ भने, खेल्न आएकोले पिटाइ खाइन्छ भने यस्तो खेल नखेलाइएकै राम्रो। तिनले अझ भने, हामी 2 हजार किलोमिटर टाडाबाट बोलाएकोले पहुना भएर खेल्न आएका हौं। घटनाबारे पुलिसलाई जानकारी गरेका छौं, तर मुद्दा भने हाल्दैनौं। टाडाबाट मुद्दा धाउन सक्दैनौं।खेल सक्ने वित्तिकै रेफरीहरूले झारखण्डका खेलाडीहरू पिट्न थालेपछि माहौल नै अशान्त बन्यो। दर्शकहरू मैदान झरे र झारखण्डका खेलाडीहरूको बचाउमा उभिए। खेलाडीहरू भागरेभाग भए। भाग्ने भागे, नभाग्नेहरूले खानुसम्म रेफरीहरूको पिटाइ खाए। भागेका खेलाडीहरू सोझै थाना पुगेपछि एकैक्षणमा आइसी प्रसाद प्रधान दलबलसहित ग्राउण्ड पुगेपछि स्थिति सामान्य गरियो। आइसी प्रसाद प्रधानले मैदानमा उत्तेजित दर्शकहरूलाई आरोपीहरूलाई कार्वाही गरिने आश्वासन दिँदै स्थिति सामान्य भयो।
भोलि बाहिरका खेलाडीहरू नखेल्ने सम्भावना
रेफरीहरू घटनापछि कता सुइँकुच्चा ठोके पत्तो पाइएन। यता केएसएका सचिव प्रण्य शिलालले रेफरीहरूको आफ्नै एसोसिएसन रहेको अनि केएसएले उनीहरूलाई कन्ट्राक्टमा ल्याएको बताउँदै भने, जुन घटना भयो, त्यो नहुनु पर्थ्यो। झगडा गराउने हाम्रो उद्देश्य होइन। दोषीहरूलाई कार्वाही गर्नेछन्। भोलीको खेलमा कालेबुङका रेफरीहरू लगाउनेछैनौं। बाहिरबाट नै मगाउने कोषिश गर्नेछौं। लडाई कतिबेला भयो हामीले थाहा पाएनौं। जुन धक्काधक्की भएको थियो, त्यसको निम्ति खेलाडीलाई माफ माग्न लगाउन हाम्रो सल्लाह भइरहेको थियो तर अचानक यस्तो घटना घटेकोले तत्काल हामीले केही गर्न सकेनौं। यस घटनाको कारण भोलीदेखि उताका खेलहरू खेल्न कालेबुङमा बसेका बाहिरका खेलाडीहरू असुरक्षाकोकारण नखेल्ने भनेर चलिरहेको हल्ला सम्बन्धमा प्रश्न गर्दा तिनले खेलाडीहरूको सुरक्षाको जिम्मेवारी लिएर सबैलाई मनाएर खेलाउने बताए।
यता गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चाका कालेबुङ सचिव शुभ प्रधानले घटनालाई दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण बताउँदै स्वाधिनता दिवस आउन दुइदिन मात्र रहेको अनि दिवसको मुल आकर्षण नै फुटबल रहेकोले सबैलाई संयम कामय गरिदिने आह्वान गरे। तिनले भने, ग्राउण्डमा खेल भइरहँदासम्म रेफरीसित नै प्रसाशन रहन्छ तर खेल बाहिर कसैलाई पनि यसप्रकारको कुटपिट हुन्छ भने निश्चय नै उनीहरूलाई पुलिसले कार्वाही गर्नेछ। तिनले स्वाधिनता दिवसलाई मध्यनजर गर्दै कसैलाई पनि उत्तेजित नभइदिने अनि शान्ति कायम राखिदिने आह्वान पनि गरेका छन्।
राजधानी दिल्लीमा क्रामाकपाले उठायो गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग
क्रामाकपा पब्लिकेसन सेल, कालिमन्युज, नया दिल्ली, 12 अगस्त: दार्जिलिङमा सरकारद्वारा त्यहाँको एक राजनैतिक दल गोजमुमोसित मिलेर जी.टी.ए-को सम्झौता गरिएकोछ। सय वर्षभन्दा अघिदेखिको जनताको आकांक्षाको गला दबाएर राज्य सरकार र केन्द्र सरकारले जन-बिरोधी कार्य गरेकोछ र यस कार्यको विरुद्ध, क्रान्तिकारी मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी संघर्षको मैदानमा ओर्लीरहेछ। उक्त कुरा गणतान्त्रिक क्रान्तिकारी युवा मोर्चा महासचिव अरुण घतानीले, अल इन्डिया स्टुडेन्ट असोसिएसन र रिभोल्युसनरी युथ फ्रन्टको संयुक्त आयोजनामा आयोजित 'भ्रस्टाचार बिरुद्धमा' सय घन्टे छात्र-युवा मोर्चाबन्धी अभियानलाई सम्बोधन गर्दै बताए। देशमा चलीरहेको भ्रस्टचारमा ठुला राजनैतिक दलसितै क्षेत्रीय तहमा भैरहेका भ्रष्टचारबारे पनि सचेत रहनुपर्ने बताउदै दार्जीलिङमा दागोपाप गठनकालदेखि गोजमुमोको आन्दोलन अवधिसम्मै भएका भ्रष्टचारबारे सभालाई अवगत गराउदै, दार्जीलिङमा जातीय आन्दोलनको नाममा व्यापार चलाउन कतिपय तथाकथित नेताहरूलाई सरकारले खुला छूट दिएको कुरालाई बताउदै उनले हिजोका दिनसम्म सम्पत्ति श्रोत पनि धेरै नभएकाहरू आन्दोलनमा अझ सम्पन्न बन्दै गएको बताए।
घतानीले बताए अबको दिनमा देशभरिका साँचो गणतान्त्रिक तथा जनवादी समुह, राजनैतिक दल र राष्ट्रवादी समुहहरूसित मिलेर क्रमाकपाले अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलनलाई नेतृत्व गर्नेछ। कुनै पनि नक्कली राष्ट्रवादीहरूलाई सरकारले प्रयोजन गर्ने वा किन्ने प्रचलन अघिदेखि नै चल्दै आएकोले उपरान्त क्रमाकपाले जनवादी शक्ति तथा श्रेणीबाट सहयोगको अपेक्षा गरेकोछ। उनले भने अलग राज्यको स्थापना मात्र दार्जीलिङका जनताको मूल आकांक्षा हो यसको सरकारले गोर्खा जातिको आत्मनिर्णयको अधिकारलाई अस्विकार मात्र नगरेर अर्कोतिर अगनातान्त्रिक र भ्रष्टचारी शक्तिको कोपभाजनको शिकार जनतालाई बनाईरहेछ जसको हामी जमेर विरोध जनाउदछौं।
दार्जिलिङको कानुन व्यवस्था सरकारले जनताको आवाज र गणतान्त्रिक हक-अधिकारलाई दबाउन जानी-बुझी आतंकपूर्ण स्तिथि सिर्जना गरेर न्यायको आवाज दबाउने कुचेष्टामा गोजमुमोलाई सहयोग पुऱ्याइरहेको कुरा बताए। उनले भने-'जुन दार्जिलिङमा केही काल अघि रातको अन्धकारमा कसैले स्टोभ बिस्फोट गरेको आरोपीलाई केही दिनभित्र नै पक्राउ गर्न सक्यो त्यही प्रसाशनले दिनको उज्यालैमा सैयौ मान्छे र प्रहरीजवानको आँखैमा हत्या गरिएका मदन तामाङको हत्यारा भने एक वर्षमा पनि पक्राउ गर्न सकेन। वास्तवमा सरकार साँचो अपराधी पक्राउ गरेर जनतालाई निर्भय बनाउन चाहदैन बरू जनतालाई अझ असूरक्षित बनाएर आफ्नो इच्छा र स्वार्थ लाद्ने कार्यमा लिप्त छ।
देशको राजनीतिमा भ्रष्टचार हटाउन सम्पूर्ण जनवादी शक्ति एक भएर लड्नु पर्ने जनाउदै। भ्रष्टचारको लडाईमा क्रमाकपा साथै ग्रकायुमो जनवादी शक्तिको साथमा रहेको छ भन्ने बताए। भने अर्कोतिर कार्यक्रममा उठेको कार्बी-आन्ग्लोङ अटोनोमस स्टेटको मागप्रति क्रमाकपा साथ रहने र उनीहरूले पनि गोर्खा जातिको दीर्घकालीक अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको मागलाई सहयोग पुऱ्याउने अपिल गरे।
कार्यक्रममा देशभरिका १२ क्रान्तिकारी भाइचारा समुहको उपस्थिति रहेको थियो। क्रान्तिकारी मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्त पार्टीले आफ्नो पार्टीको पक्षबाट पनि १२ अगस्तको दिन नया दिल्लीको जन्तर-मन्तर परिसरमै आफ्नो सांकेतिक धरना पालन गर्ने भएकोछ।आजको कार्यक्रममा दिनभरी बिभिन्न बामपन्थी समुह र राजनैतिक दलका नेतृत्वहरूले सम्भोधन गरेको कार्यक्रममा देशभरिका बिभिन्न प्रान्तबाट आएका जनवादी संस्कृतिक कलाकारहरूले क्रान्तिकारी गित गाएर जन्तर-मन्तरको धरना परिसरमा उपस्थित हजारौं छात्र-युवा समुहले रातो झन्डा नचाएर भ्रष्टचार बिरोधी सत्तासिन साथै विपक्षी राजनैतिक दलको धज्जी उडाइरहेका थिए।
१२ अगस्त क्रमाकपाको दिल्लीमा सम्पन्न गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति
कालिमन्युज, नया दिल्ली :दार्जिलिङमा सरकारले सुनियोजित ढंगमा गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक सवाललाई बिकासको सवाल बनाएर क्षय रोगको बिमारीलाई त्यसको मूल औषधि दिनुको साटो ज्वरो दवाउने पेनकिलर खुवाएर समस्यालाई सुल्झाउनको साटो अझ नराम्रो घतले उल्झाउने कोशिष गरिरहेछ। आज दिल्लीमा आयोजित क्रामाकपाको गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति दिल्लीको जन्तर-मन्तरमा आयोजित सांकेतिक अवस्थानलाई सम्बोधन गर्दै तारामणी राईले बताए। तिनलेभने अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग बिकासको निम्ति नभएर भारतबर्षभरि छरिएर बसेका गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक चिन्हारी र सुरक्षाको प्रश्न हो। त्यसैले अब उपरान्त क्रमाकपाले यसलाई नेतृत्व गरेर जानेछ।
उनले सरकारलाई प्रश्न गर्दै भने, 'भारतमा कसैको निम्ति पनि कुनै राज्य, जाति र जनताको निम्ति पनि बिकास एक स्वाभाविक, प्राकृतिक प्रक्रिया हो। तर गोर्खा जातिले बिकासको निम्ति पनि सरकारसित सम्झौता गर्नु पर्छ र त्यसको निम्ति जी.टी.ए. जस्तो व्यवस्था थाप्नु पर्छ भने गोर्खा जातिको जीवन र बिकास जस्तो कुरामा पनि सरकारको व्यवहार दोयम दर्जाको रहेको स्पष्ट हुन्छ। के भारतमा बिकासको निम्ति सम्झौता गर्नु पर्ने नियति नै गोर्खाको नियति हो भनेर सरकार देखाउन चाहन्छ? उनले प्रश्न गरे।
देश र स्वाधिनता अनि सरकारी उदासिनतामाथि बोल्दै राईले भने 'देश स्वाधीन भएको वर्षौं पछी पनि देशका उत्पीडित वर्ग र उत्पीडित जाति-गोष्ठी स्वाधीन छैनन्। अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको संघर्षमा तिनै उत्पीडित वर्ग, जातिगोष्ठीहरू तथा देशका सच्चा गणतन्त्रवादी व्यक्तिबिशेष र दलहरूबाट साथ सहयोग पाएर नै आफ्नो संघर्षलाई अघि बढाउनेछ। अब सरकारले जसरी गोर्खाजातिको राजनैतिक अपेक्षालाई अवामानना गर्ने सरकार अब दार्जिलिङको जातीक संघर्षको नया आगो थाम्न तैयार बसुन्' सांकेतिक धरनालाई सम्बोधन गर्दै सी.पी.आई.एम.एलका नेता मोहम्मद सलिमले अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग र मुद्दालाई देशभरिका जनता अघि पुऱ्याउन सी.पी.आई.(एम.एल.) सदैव क्रामाकपाको साथमा रहने बताए। उसरी नै तमिल नाडुबाट एम.डी.एम.के. नेता थान्जई था मुरुगेसनले आफ्नो पार्टीबाट अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको मागलाई समर्थन रहने जनाए।
राजधानी दिल्लीमा क्रामाकपाले उठायो गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग
क्रामाकपा पब्लिकेसन सेल, कालिमन्युज, नया दिल्ली, 12 अगस्त: दार्जिलिङमा सरकारद्वारा त्यहाँको एक राजनैतिक दल गोजमुमोसित मिलेर जी.टी.ए-को सम्झौता गरिएकोछ। सय वर्षभन्दा अघिदेखिको जनताको आकांक्षाको गला दबाएर राज्य सरकार र केन्द्र सरकारले जन-बिरोधी कार्य गरेकोछ र यस कार्यको विरुद्ध, क्रान्तिकारी मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी संघर्षको मैदानमा ओर्लीरहेछ। उक्त कुरा गणतान्त्रिक क्रान्तिकारी युवा मोर्चा महासचिव अरुण घतानीले, अल इन्डिया स्टुडेन्ट असोसिएसन र रिभोल्युसनरी युथ फ्रन्टको संयुक्त आयोजनामा आयोजित 'भ्रस्टाचार बिरुद्धमा' सय घन्टे छात्र-युवा मोर्चाबन्धी अभियानलाई सम्बोधन गर्दै बताए। देशमा चलीरहेको भ्रस्टचारमा ठुला राजनैतिक दलसितै क्षेत्रीय तहमा भैरहेका भ्रष्टचारबारे पनि सचेत रहनुपर्ने बताउदै दार्जीलिङमा दागोपाप गठनकालदेखि गोजमुमोको आन्दोलन अवधिसम्मै भएका भ्रष्टचारबारे सभालाई अवगत गराउदै, दार्जीलिङमा जातीय आन्दोलनको नाममा व्यापार चलाउन कतिपय तथाकथित नेताहरूलाई सरकारले खुला छूट दिएको कुरालाई बताउदै उनले हिजोका दिनसम्म सम्पत्ति श्रोत पनि धेरै नभएकाहरू आन्दोलनमा अझ सम्पन्न बन्दै गएको बताए।घतानीले बताए अबको दिनमा देशभरिका साँचो गणतान्त्रिक तथा जनवादी समुह, राजनैतिक दल र राष्ट्रवादी समुहहरूसित मिलेर क्रमाकपाले अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलनलाई नेतृत्व गर्नेछ। कुनै पनि नक्कली राष्ट्रवादीहरूलाई सरकारले प्रयोजन गर्ने वा किन्ने प्रचलन अघिदेखि नै चल्दै आएकोले उपरान्त क्रमाकपाले जनवादी शक्ति तथा श्रेणीबाट सहयोगको अपेक्षा गरेकोछ। उनले भने अलग राज्यको स्थापना मात्र दार्जीलिङका जनताको मूल आकांक्षा हो यसको सरकारले गोर्खा जातिको आत्मनिर्णयको अधिकारलाई अस्विकार मात्र नगरेर अर्कोतिर अगनातान्त्रिक र भ्रष्टचारी शक्तिको कोपभाजनको शिकार जनतालाई बनाईरहेछ जसको हामी जमेर विरोध जनाउदछौं।
दार्जिलिङको कानुन व्यवस्था सरकारले जनताको आवाज र गणतान्त्रिक हक-अधिकारलाई दबाउन जानी-बुझी आतंकपूर्ण स्तिथि सिर्जना गरेर न्यायको आवाज दबाउने कुचेष्टामा गोजमुमोलाई सहयोग पुऱ्याइरहेको कुरा बताए। उनले भने-'जुन दार्जिलिङमा केही काल अघि रातको अन्धकारमा कसैले स्टोभ बिस्फोट गरेको आरोपीलाई केही दिनभित्र नै पक्राउ गर्न सक्यो त्यही प्रसाशनले दिनको उज्यालैमा सैयौ मान्छे र प्रहरीजवानको आँखैमा हत्या गरिएका मदन तामाङको हत्यारा भने एक वर्षमा पनि पक्राउ गर्न सकेन। वास्तवमा सरकार साँचो अपराधी पक्राउ गरेर जनतालाई निर्भय बनाउन चाहदैन बरू जनतालाई अझ असूरक्षित बनाएर आफ्नो इच्छा र स्वार्थ लाद्ने कार्यमा लिप्त छ।देशको राजनीतिमा भ्रष्टचार हटाउन सम्पूर्ण जनवादी शक्ति एक भएर लड्नु पर्ने जनाउदै। भ्रष्टचारको लडाईमा क्रमाकपा साथै ग्रकायुमो जनवादी शक्तिको साथमा रहेको छ भन्ने बताए। भने अर्कोतिर कार्यक्रममा उठेको कार्बी-आन्ग्लोङ अटोनोमस स्टेटको मागप्रति क्रमाकपा साथ रहने र उनीहरूले पनि गोर्खा जातिको दीर्घकालीक अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको मागलाई सहयोग पुऱ्याउने अपिल गरे।
कार्यक्रममा देशभरिका १२ क्रान्तिकारी भाइचारा समुहको उपस्थिति रहेको थियो। क्रान्तिकारी मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्त पार्टीले आफ्नो पार्टीको पक्षबाट पनि १२ अगस्तको दिन नया दिल्लीको जन्तर-मन्तर परिसरमै आफ्नो सांकेतिक धरना पालन गर्ने भएकोछ।आजको कार्यक्रममा दिनभरी बिभिन्न बामपन्थी समुह र राजनैतिक दलका नेतृत्वहरूले सम्भोधन गरेको कार्यक्रममा देशभरिका बिभिन्न प्रान्तबाट आएका जनवादी संस्कृतिक कलाकारहरूले क्रान्तिकारी गित गाएर जन्तर-मन्तरको धरना परिसरमा उपस्थित हजारौं छात्र-युवा समुहले रातो झन्डा नचाएर भ्रष्टचार बिरोधी सत्तासिन साथै विपक्षी राजनैतिक दलको धज्जी उडाइरहेका थिए।
१२ अगस्त क्रमाकपाको दिल्लीमा सम्पन्न गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति
कालिमन्युज, नया दिल्ली :दार्जिलिङमा सरकारले सुनियोजित ढंगमा गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक सवाललाई बिकासको सवाल बनाएर क्षय रोगको बिमारीलाई त्यसको मूल औषधि दिनुको साटो ज्वरो दवाउने पेनकिलर खुवाएर समस्यालाई सुल्झाउनको साटो अझ नराम्रो घतले उल्झाउने कोशिष गरिरहेछ। आज दिल्लीमा आयोजित क्रामाकपाको गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति दिल्लीको जन्तर-मन्तरमा आयोजित सांकेतिक अवस्थानलाई सम्बोधन गर्दै तारामणी राईले बताए। तिनलेभने अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग बिकासको निम्ति नभएर भारतबर्षभरि छरिएर बसेका गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक चिन्हारी र सुरक्षाको प्रश्न हो। त्यसैले अब उपरान्त क्रमाकपाले यसलाई नेतृत्व गरेर जानेछ। 
उनले सरकारलाई प्रश्न गर्दै भने, 'भारतमा कसैको निम्ति पनि कुनै राज्य, जाति र जनताको निम्ति पनि बिकास एक स्वाभाविक, प्राकृतिक प्रक्रिया हो। तर गोर्खा जातिले बिकासको निम्ति पनि सरकारसित सम्झौता गर्नु पर्छ र त्यसको निम्ति जी.टी.ए. जस्तो व्यवस्था थाप्नु पर्छ भने गोर्खा जातिको जीवन र बिकास जस्तो कुरामा पनि सरकारको व्यवहार दोयम दर्जाको रहेको स्पष्ट हुन्छ। के भारतमा बिकासको निम्ति सम्झौता गर्नु पर्ने नियति नै गोर्खाको नियति हो भनेर सरकार देखाउन चाहन्छ? उनले प्रश्न गरे।देश र स्वाधिनता अनि सरकारी उदासिनतामाथि बोल्दै राईले भने 'देश स्वाधीन भएको वर्षौं पछी पनि देशका उत्पीडित वर्ग र उत्पीडित जाति-गोष्ठी स्वाधीन छैनन्। अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको संघर्षमा तिनै उत्पीडित वर्ग, जातिगोष्ठीहरू तथा देशका सच्चा गणतन्त्रवादी व्यक्तिबिशेष र दलहरूबाट साथ सहयोग पाएर नै आफ्नो संघर्षलाई अघि बढाउनेछ। अब सरकारले जसरी गोर्खाजातिको राजनैतिक अपेक्षालाई अवामानना गर्ने सरकार अब दार्जिलिङको जातीक संघर्षको नया आगो थाम्न तैयार बसुन्' सांकेतिक धरनालाई सम्बोधन गर्दै सी.पी.आई.एम.एलका नेता मोहम्मद सलिमले अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग र मुद्दालाई देशभरिका जनता अघि पुऱ्याउन सी.पी.आई.(एम.एल.) सदैव क्रामाकपाको साथमा रहने बताए। उसरी नै तमिल नाडुबाट एम.डी.एम.के. नेता थान्जई था मुरुगेसनले आफ्नो पार्टीबाट अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको मागलाई समर्थन रहने जनाए।
दिल्लीका गोर्खा समाजसेवी तथा गोर्खाल्याण्ड समर्थक उत्तम छेत्रीले भारतीय गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक पहिचानको मुद्दा बेचिएको कुरा बताउदै अब दार्जीलिङका जनताले बेचिने राजनैतिक दलको नभएर इमान्दार राजनैतिक दलको नेतृत्वमा एकबद्ध भएर फेरी अलग राज्यको माग र मुद्दा अघि बढाउने अपरिहार्यता रहेको बताए। उनले भने, 'एकतिर जी.टी.ए.-को व्यवस्था स्विकार गरेर गोजमुमोले अब गोर्खाल्याण्डको साटो ममताको 'दार्जिलिङ बङ्गालको अभिन्न हिस्सा हो' भन्ने तर्कलाई नै स्विकार गरिसकेका छन्। यसलाई गोजमुमो समर्थकहरूले ताली बजाएर एक हिसाबमा अलग राज्यको आन्दोलनको अन्तै गरिसकेपछि अब गोर्खा जातिको आन्दोलन अघि बढाउने नैतिक हक गोजमुमोसित रहेन।' उनले क्रामाकपा समर्थकहरूलाई उत्साहित रहने तथा अलग राज्यको निम्ति निर्भय, डटने सुझाउ पनि दिए।
सभालाई सी.पी.आई.(एम.एल)-का केन्द्रिय समिति सदस्य कविता कृष्णन, कार्बी स्टुडेन्ट असोसीएसनका अध्यक्ष लाइचान इन्ग्लेंग, ग्रकायुमो महासचिव अरुण घतानी, क्रामाकपाका युवा नेतृत्वहरू लगायतले पनि सम्बोधन गरे। कार्यक्रममा आल इन्डिया स्टुडेन्ट असोसीयेसन, रिबोल्युसनरी युथ फ्रन्ट,केबीए, मजदुर क्रान्ति परिषद आदिका प्रतिनिधिहरूको पनि उपस्थिति रहेकोथियो। कार्यक्रममा नाराबाजीसितै गोर्खाल्याण्ड 'देउसी' तथा जन-संगित प्रस्तुत गरेका थिए। कार्यक्रमको समापनको अवसरमा समापन सम्भासन दिँदै ग्रकायुमो महासचिव अरुण घतानीले सरकारलाई केन्द्रित गर्दै बताए-' क्रामाकपाले अब दिल्लीको बाटो बिर्सिने छैन क्रामाकपाले दिल्लीमा अघि पनि धेरैचोटी अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको धरना गरिसकेको हो र जबसम्म केन्द्र सरकारले गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक आकांक्षालाई सम्बोधन गर्ने चासो देखाउनेछैनन् तबसम्म क्रामाकले दिल्लीको दैलो ढकढकाईरहने छ।'
SLP critisizes SDF
PR, KalimNews: The Sikkim Prevention and Control of Disturbances of Public Order Bill 2011 has created huge hues and chaos in the political arena of Sikkim. The observation of activities during past several years of the ruling party hinted that it had lost all its faith in Indian Constitution and Democracy.
The introduction of the above mentioned bill in the Assembly out-rightly indicates the government led by SDF has not even an iota of faith left in the Indian system of constitutional democracy. By placing the bill, challenging the basic freedom as enshrined and guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the ruling SDF government and its leader Pawan Chamling has openly challenged the Indian Constitution.
It is not the first instance that such a nefariously audacious step initiated by the present SDF government and its leader challenging the veracity of Indian Constitution and the established system, but by introducing the Sikkim Prevention and Control of Disturbances of Public Order Bill 2011, it has crossed all the limits and heights.
In this circumstance, if there has been any secret agreement between the Chamling and the Centre, then it should be made public. And if the Chamling government has been set free to do whatever he likes to, than let it be known, we will not only support it but declare him the Maharaja of Sikkim. If the above bill is passed into an Act, then the Indian Constitution shall deem to have ceased to exist in Sikkim making Chamling more powerful than the erstwhile Chogyals of Namgyal dynasty. If the government of India has such a desire, then we have no other choice than to simply support it because we feel and think that such an audacity to challenge the Indian Constitution may not have come without a reason.
Such a conspiracy has been witnessed regularly by Sikkim and the Sikkimese people. As has been our stand, Sikkim Liberation Party shall neither refer it to the Governor or the Government in the Centre. Since the Governor is stationed at higher elevation than Mintogang as the representative of Delhi, it would be foolish to assume that he is not informed or is unaware of such a development. As of now Sikkim Liberation Party shall closely watch and observe the steps and action initiated by Delhi and the Governor and announce its future steps.
Plantation workers’ strike total in Terai & Dooars, many held
SNS, SILIGURI, 12 AUG: The 12-hour general strike at tea plantations in north Bengal was total in the Terai and Dooars area while it failed to evoke much response in other districts of the region.
The strike was called by more than 32 trade unions, affiliated to the Left Front, Congress and other political organisations ~ except the Trinamul Congress ~ demanding hike in wages of tea plantation workers.
Normal life was paralysed in Siliguri and the Dooars due to strike. Jalpaiguri town, however, was affected partially. Baring some stray incidents in the Terai and Dooars area, the strike passed off peacefully. More than two lakh tea garden workers observed the strike in more than 200 tea plantations in the Terai and Dooars. The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha-backed tea workers union and the breakaway groups of the ABAVP extended support to the strikers. Though the Trinamul Congress was against the strike, more than 3,000 tea workers belonging to the INTTUC extended support to the strike to maintain workers’ unity in the Jalpaiguri tea belt.
In Siliguri, government and private vehicles were off the road. Government offices, banks and other nationalised financial institutions remained closed for the day. All business establishments, market complexes in Siliguri were shut. Most of the educational institutions asked the students not to attend the schools due to lack of transportation facilities. The North Bengal University authorities postponed today's examinations.
Siliguri police arrested more than 200 strikers belonging to the Citu, Intuc and others organisations. Police have registered cases against some agitators on charge of blocking National Highway 31 at Bidhan Nagar in Siliguri.
The former state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, and other CPI-M leaders sat on the road at Hashmi Chawk in Siliguri protesting against arrest of their supporters, including three district youth and student leaders. Mr Bhattacharya alleged that police had arrested them following instructions from Trinamul Congress leaders. The former minister withdrew his agitation when police assured him that they would be released within an hour. A group of Trinamul leaders took out rally against the strike in Siliguri this evening.
In Jalpaiguri, police arrested around 100 strikers for blocking National Highways, preventing employees from entering government offices. Police were alerted when tension was mounting following altercations between the Adivasi Vikas Parishad-backed trade union workers and strikers at Moraghat, Chamurchi and some other places. The strike was total at Dabgram Industrial Growth Centre in Jalpaiguri. The Jalpaiguri SP, Mr Anand Kumar, said: “Except some stray incidents, the strike passed off peacefully in Jalpaiguri. Around 100 persons were arrested and released later.” The former RSP MP, Mr Joachim Buxla, who is also Jalpaiguri district INTTUC president, said: “The strike was total in the tea belt. Our workers supported the strike to maintain workers’ unity.”
Criticising the role of the ABAVP, Mr Buxla said: “Workers of the ABAVP, a non-governmental organisation, tried to open more than 10 tea plantations in the Dooars.” The convenor of the 22 trade unions’ coordination committee, Mr Chitta Dey, claimed the strike was total, except some stray incidents. Mr Dey criticised the role of ABAVP leaders who protested against the strike.
The small tea plantations were affected partially due to the strike. The strikers had not forced workers to support the strike. In Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and North Dinajpur many small tea plantations were open. Workers attended their duties in 10,000 small tea plantations where the strike evoked mixed response, Mr Dey said.
ABAVP strike on 17 & 18 AUG
The ABAVP today convened a tea plantation strike in the Terai-Dooars on 17 and 18 August. The outfit president, Mr Birsa Tirkey, said the bandh was convened in protest against the apathy of the planters regarding their wage-hike demand. The outfit would also convene a three-day north Bengal strike beginning from 22 August on the same issue.
Didi warns CPM on tea garden strike
Ajanta, TNN,Aug 13, 2011, KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday warned the CPM against fanning unrest in the tea gardens of Dooars and Terai. "Just because they are out of power, the CPM has started their politics of bandhs. If needed, a law will be enacted to stop it. We won't do it (strikes and bandhs) ourselves. That's our resolve. And we won't let anybody politically motivate an unrest," the chief minister said, dubbing the shutdown as a "phenomenon".
This was the second time Mamata has reacted to the tea garden strike. If her tone was mellowed on Monday when she appealed to the people of Terai-Dooars to call off the strike, she responded sternly on Friday to the continuing impasse: "We shall wait for a few more days ... There is a political reason behind the closure. Everybody seems to be calling strikes," she said.
On Thursday, state labour minister Purnendu Basu had said his government was in no mood to compromise with the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) that caused the strike. "Discussions and agitation can't happen at the same time," he said, inviting the strikers for talks, but only after they call off the agitation.
Twenty-four hours later, the chief minister reiterated the government's stand, pin-pointing her determination to take on the CPM. "Just because they are not in power, the CPM is instigating unrest in the tea gardens. For the last 34 years, they have called bandhs at the drop of a hat. When the party was in power, tea gardens would be perpetually closed," the chief minister said.
Only on Tuesday, Mamata had appealed to the strikers to call off their agitation, but refrained from referring to the CPM. On Friday, she said menacingly, "We shall do everything to stop the agitation."
Tea gardens were shut across the Terai and Dooars for the fourth day on Friday as two apex bodies of around 30 trade unions launched a strike to seek a hike in workers' wages. The trade unions which are enforcing the shutdown have warned that any settlement reached between the planters and the ABAVP-affiliated labour wing on the wage hike would not be acceptable to them.
The chief minister said, "We cannot jeopardize the existence of one crore people just for one closed tea garden. They can't be deprived of their daily meal."
Excess stock blow to tea factories
TT, Siliguri, Aug. 12: Bought-leaf factories, which thrive on supply from small growers, today said they were finding it difficult to carry out their operations because of the tea strikes in north Bengal
Sanjoy Dhanothi, president of the North Bengal Tea Producers’ Association (NBTPA) that represent the factories, said prices of the tea in auctions had drastically come down in the past few weeks, and now, it was even lower than the cost of production. “All BLFs (bought-leaf factories) are overloaded with stocks of made teas because of lack of demand from buyers. Added to this, is the continuous fall in auction prices over the past few weeks. Our tea is selling at Rs 65-80 per kilo. This has reduced our profitability as such low rates are not even covering our cost of production, leading to losses,” Dhanothi said. “We have urged the state government and tea board to intervene and take initiative to ensure that we tide over this crisis.”
The BLF owners, while elaborating on the deterrents in the growth of the sector, said they were facing acute shortage of tealeaves. “As new production units have been set up by tea estates and new licences are being provided to more BLFs, the supply of tealeaves is not steady even during the peak season. Each of our units is facing a daily shortage of around 35 per cent, compared to their optimum production capacity. This is increasing our per unit production cost as certain expenses are fixed and do not change with the scale of production,” the NBTPA president said.
Asked about the allegation levelled by small growers that the BLFs were paying lesser prices to them, Dhanothi said it was only because of the strike in the tea gardens. “Once the strike is over and the small growers start supplying to the bigger gardens, we will again face the problem of shortage of raw material,” he said.
Small growers or planters, who own less than 25 acres and have been hit because of the ongoing impasse and strike in the Dooars and Terai tea industry, however, stuck to their allegation that they were being paid less. “This year, a kilo of tea fetched us as high as Rs 12 but right now, it has dropped to Rs 5. We cannot sustain this loss as our average production cost is Rs 10.50 per kilo,” Bijoygopal Chakraborty, associated with the United Forum of Small Tea Growers Associations, an apex body of small growers in the region, said. “Correspondences have been made with the tea board and the state government, and we have urged them to look into our problem of poor price realisation.”
According to figures available in the industry, there are around 30,000 small growers and 95 BLFs in north Bengal. In 2010, the total tea produced in north Bengal was 240 million kg. Of this, 92 million kg had been produced from leaves provided by small growers.
The crisis, which is plaguing both the growers and the BLFs, has prompted the tea board to call a meeting here on August 17. “A meeting has been called to discuss certain issues with representatives of BLF owners and growers,” said K.K Bhattacharya, the deputy director of the tea board posted in Siliguri. “Issues like price realisation and production would be discussed in detail.”
Hope for tragopan brood - satyr & temminck in darjeeling zoo
VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 12: The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling has decided to start the captive breeding of satyr and Temminck tragopans.
The zoo received two female satyr tragopans, three female and one male Temmincks about a week back from London.
Although the Paradise Wildlife Park in London had sent 10 tragopans, four birds — two male satyrs and two male Temmincks — died during transit at the Singapore airport.
“The birds were kept in the sun and died from the heat. We have, however, requested the World Pheasant Association to send at least one more male satyr tragopan from the Paradise Wildlife Park in London,” said A.K. Jha, the director of the zoo.
The transfer of the pheasants was facilitated by the association. Until and unless a male reaches the Darjeeling zoo, the breeding of the satyrs cannot be launched.
The Darjeeling zoological park is the co-ordinating zoo for the captive breeding of the red panda, Tibetan wolf, satyr tragopan, grey peacock pheasant, snow leopard and the Himalayan salamander.
The zoo has already completed the captive breeding of the red panda and the snow leopard.
A co-ordinating zoo acts as the major centre for the captive breeding and the animals born there is exchanged with other participating zoos. The participating zoos will be a back up for animals (in case of epidemics) and ensures a healthy genetic strain.
The Darjeeling facility is also a participating zoo for other animals which are part of the breeding programme.
“We will start the breeding programme for Temminck tragopans even though the Shillong zoo has also been classified as a co-ordinating zoo for the bird. The Shillong zoo is not yet ready with the pheasant. Once the male satyr tragopan arrives, we will start its breeding too,” said Jha.
Satyr tragopans are found in the Darjeeling region. But the zoo here does not have the pheasant as it is not authorised to capture animals from the wild.
Temmincks are found in the northeastern states.
A pheasantry will soon come up in the Darjeeling hills. Although work on the facility had started at Dow Hill in Kurseong, it is progressing at a very slow pace because of lack of funds. However, the pheasantry is expected to be completed by next year after which all the birds will be transferred to the Kurseong facility from the Darjeeling zoo.
The pheasantry is expected to be spread over 70 acres. Tragopans had never been bred in captivity till the 20th century. A pheasantry in Himachal Pradesh was able to breed one tragopan in 2005, nine in 2007 and four in 2010.
Pranab in Siliguri today
TT, Siliguri, Aug. 12: Union finance minister and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee will arrive here tomorrow.
According to party and administrative sources, Pranab will reach Bagdogra in the morning and then reach Himanchal Bihar in Matigara to inaugurate Ayakar Abasan, a residential complex for income tax department officials. He will take rest at the circuit house in Siliguri and meet district Congress leaders. Later, he will inaugurate a community building at Deshbandhupara.
Young Writers' Meet of 24 modern Indian languages concludes- Kalimpong youth represents Nepali literature
KalimNews, Shantiniketan & Kolkata: A two days' long literary meet of young Indian writers concluded at Kolkata yesterday with recitation of respective creative writings by the 24 literary figures poured in here from across the country. The session was chaired by the prominent writer Sunil Gangopadhyaya who is also the president of the National Sahitya Academy, Delhi while Ramkumar Mukhopadhyaya, Regional Secretary welcomed the guests. The reading session commenced with the recitation from prominent Kannada writers G.K. Govinda Rao, Kalegowda Nagavara, Bengali writers Tarun Sanyal and Utpal Kumar Basu and Telugu writer K. Suneetha Rani.
The young writers (all below 45 years) who took part in the recitation session included Dhrubajyoti Sarmah (Assamese), Sudakshina Basu (Bengali), Kaberi Roychowdhury (Bengali) and Hira Chhetri (Nepali) from Kalimpong of West Bengal, Akbar Ahmed (Bengali) from Tripura, Rupashree Hazowary (Bodo) from Kokrajhar, Sushil Begana (Dogri) from Jammu, Amandeep Sandhu (English) from New Delhi, Kumar Anupam (Hindi) from New Delhi, Chidanand Sali (Kannada) from Raichur, Basavaraj Donur (Kannada)from Dharwad, Mohammad Majid Majazy (Kashmiri) from Andipura, Nikki Priyadarshani (Maithili) from Munger, C. Anuoop (Malayalam) from Trivendrum, Y. Indrajit Singh (Manipuri) from Nambol, Chandrashekhar Malkampatte (Marathi) from Latur, , Arabindo Ray (Odia) from Bhubaneshwar, Surinder Neer (Punjabi) from Kunjwani, Modan Gopal Ladah (Rajasthani) from Bikaner, Ajay Kumar Mishra (Sanskrit) from New Delhi, Anpa Marandi (Santhali) from Bolangir, Orissa, Manoj Chawla (Sindhi) from Ahmedabad, Arunan (Tamil) from Nursery Auroville, T.Srivalli Radhika (Telugu) from Hyderabad, Mohammad Hadi (Urdu) from New Delhi.
The reading session which was chaired by the prominent Bengali author Manabendra Bandopadhyay, Convenor Bengali Advisory Board was held at Sahitya Akademi auditorium located at D.L. Khan Road, Kolkata. Most of the young writers gathered from different parts of the country read out their own creative writings like poems, ghazals and short stories. The Nepali language was represented by young creative writer Hira Chhetri from Kalimpong who read out Hindi translated version of his recently published short story Umerharu in Charitra (Indian short stories special issue).
Manabendra Bandopadhyaya during vote of thanks addressing all the young writers for being present on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary celebration of Rabindra Nath Tagore requested the Sahitya Akademi to make arrangement to publish all the creative writings read out during the session in a book form so that the modern Indian writings that represent the present trend of the literary states of respective 24 languages of this country could be reflected in the publication.
Earlier, the team of young writers were escorted by the Sahitya Akademi to the Shantiniketan on 11th August where they paid visit to the Viswa Bharati University founded by poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore. In the evening, a cultural programme was organised by the music students of the Shantiniketan at Lipika auditorium of the University. The cultural programme was chaired by Indrani Mukherjee, the prominent cultural activist.
Despite torrential rainfall that caused havoc in Kolkata, on 12th August, the team members visited Jorasanko, the birth place of Tagore.
सभालाई सी.पी.आई.(एम.एल)-का केन्द्रिय समिति सदस्य कविता कृष्णन, कार्बी स्टुडेन्ट असोसीएसनका अध्यक्ष लाइचान इन्ग्लेंग, ग्रकायुमो महासचिव अरुण घतानी, क्रामाकपाका युवा नेतृत्वहरू लगायतले पनि सम्बोधन गरे। कार्यक्रममा आल इन्डिया स्टुडेन्ट असोसीयेसन, रिबोल्युसनरी युथ फ्रन्ट,केबीए, मजदुर क्रान्ति परिषद आदिका प्रतिनिधिहरूको पनि उपस्थिति रहेकोथियो। कार्यक्रममा नाराबाजीसितै गोर्खाल्याण्ड 'देउसी' तथा जन-संगित प्रस्तुत गरेका थिए। कार्यक्रमको समापनको अवसरमा समापन सम्भासन दिँदै ग्रकायुमो महासचिव अरुण घतानीले सरकारलाई केन्द्रित गर्दै बताए-' क्रामाकपाले अब दिल्लीको बाटो बिर्सिने छैन क्रामाकपाले दिल्लीमा अघि पनि धेरैचोटी अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको धरना गरिसकेको हो र जबसम्म केन्द्र सरकारले गोर्खा जातिको राजनैतिक आकांक्षालाई सम्बोधन गर्ने चासो देखाउनेछैनन् तबसम्म क्रामाकले दिल्लीको दैलो ढकढकाईरहने छ।'SLP critisizes SDF
PR, KalimNews: The Sikkim Prevention and Control of Disturbances of Public Order Bill 2011 has created huge hues and chaos in the political arena of Sikkim. The observation of activities during past several years of the ruling party hinted that it had lost all its faith in Indian Constitution and Democracy.
The introduction of the above mentioned bill in the Assembly out-rightly indicates the government led by SDF has not even an iota of faith left in the Indian system of constitutional democracy. By placing the bill, challenging the basic freedom as enshrined and guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the ruling SDF government and its leader Pawan Chamling has openly challenged the Indian Constitution.
It is not the first instance that such a nefariously audacious step initiated by the present SDF government and its leader challenging the veracity of Indian Constitution and the established system, but by introducing the Sikkim Prevention and Control of Disturbances of Public Order Bill 2011, it has crossed all the limits and heights.
In this circumstance, if there has been any secret agreement between the Chamling and the Centre, then it should be made public. And if the Chamling government has been set free to do whatever he likes to, than let it be known, we will not only support it but declare him the Maharaja of Sikkim. If the above bill is passed into an Act, then the Indian Constitution shall deem to have ceased to exist in Sikkim making Chamling more powerful than the erstwhile Chogyals of Namgyal dynasty. If the government of India has such a desire, then we have no other choice than to simply support it because we feel and think that such an audacity to challenge the Indian Constitution may not have come without a reason.
Such a conspiracy has been witnessed regularly by Sikkim and the Sikkimese people. As has been our stand, Sikkim Liberation Party shall neither refer it to the Governor or the Government in the Centre. Since the Governor is stationed at higher elevation than Mintogang as the representative of Delhi, it would be foolish to assume that he is not informed or is unaware of such a development. As of now Sikkim Liberation Party shall closely watch and observe the steps and action initiated by Delhi and the Governor and announce its future steps.
Plantation workers’ strike total in Terai & Dooars, many held
SNS, SILIGURI, 12 AUG: The 12-hour general strike at tea plantations in north Bengal was total in the Terai and Dooars area while it failed to evoke much response in other districts of the region.
The strike was called by more than 32 trade unions, affiliated to the Left Front, Congress and other political organisations ~ except the Trinamul Congress ~ demanding hike in wages of tea plantation workers.
Normal life was paralysed in Siliguri and the Dooars due to strike. Jalpaiguri town, however, was affected partially. Baring some stray incidents in the Terai and Dooars area, the strike passed off peacefully. More than two lakh tea garden workers observed the strike in more than 200 tea plantations in the Terai and Dooars. The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha-backed tea workers union and the breakaway groups of the ABAVP extended support to the strikers. Though the Trinamul Congress was against the strike, more than 3,000 tea workers belonging to the INTTUC extended support to the strike to maintain workers’ unity in the Jalpaiguri tea belt.
In Siliguri, government and private vehicles were off the road. Government offices, banks and other nationalised financial institutions remained closed for the day. All business establishments, market complexes in Siliguri were shut. Most of the educational institutions asked the students not to attend the schools due to lack of transportation facilities. The North Bengal University authorities postponed today's examinations.
Siliguri police arrested more than 200 strikers belonging to the Citu, Intuc and others organisations. Police have registered cases against some agitators on charge of blocking National Highway 31 at Bidhan Nagar in Siliguri.
The former state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, and other CPI-M leaders sat on the road at Hashmi Chawk in Siliguri protesting against arrest of their supporters, including three district youth and student leaders. Mr Bhattacharya alleged that police had arrested them following instructions from Trinamul Congress leaders. The former minister withdrew his agitation when police assured him that they would be released within an hour. A group of Trinamul leaders took out rally against the strike in Siliguri this evening.
In Jalpaiguri, police arrested around 100 strikers for blocking National Highways, preventing employees from entering government offices. Police were alerted when tension was mounting following altercations between the Adivasi Vikas Parishad-backed trade union workers and strikers at Moraghat, Chamurchi and some other places. The strike was total at Dabgram Industrial Growth Centre in Jalpaiguri. The Jalpaiguri SP, Mr Anand Kumar, said: “Except some stray incidents, the strike passed off peacefully in Jalpaiguri. Around 100 persons were arrested and released later.” The former RSP MP, Mr Joachim Buxla, who is also Jalpaiguri district INTTUC president, said: “The strike was total in the tea belt. Our workers supported the strike to maintain workers’ unity.”
Criticising the role of the ABAVP, Mr Buxla said: “Workers of the ABAVP, a non-governmental organisation, tried to open more than 10 tea plantations in the Dooars.” The convenor of the 22 trade unions’ coordination committee, Mr Chitta Dey, claimed the strike was total, except some stray incidents. Mr Dey criticised the role of ABAVP leaders who protested against the strike.
The small tea plantations were affected partially due to the strike. The strikers had not forced workers to support the strike. In Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and North Dinajpur many small tea plantations were open. Workers attended their duties in 10,000 small tea plantations where the strike evoked mixed response, Mr Dey said.
ABAVP strike on 17 & 18 AUG
The ABAVP today convened a tea plantation strike in the Terai-Dooars on 17 and 18 August. The outfit president, Mr Birsa Tirkey, said the bandh was convened in protest against the apathy of the planters regarding their wage-hike demand. The outfit would also convene a three-day north Bengal strike beginning from 22 August on the same issue.
Didi warns CPM on tea garden strike
Ajanta, TNN,Aug 13, 2011, KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday warned the CPM against fanning unrest in the tea gardens of Dooars and Terai. "Just because they are out of power, the CPM has started their politics of bandhs. If needed, a law will be enacted to stop it. We won't do it (strikes and bandhs) ourselves. That's our resolve. And we won't let anybody politically motivate an unrest," the chief minister said, dubbing the shutdown as a "phenomenon".
This was the second time Mamata has reacted to the tea garden strike. If her tone was mellowed on Monday when she appealed to the people of Terai-Dooars to call off the strike, she responded sternly on Friday to the continuing impasse: "We shall wait for a few more days ... There is a political reason behind the closure. Everybody seems to be calling strikes," she said.
On Thursday, state labour minister Purnendu Basu had said his government was in no mood to compromise with the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) that caused the strike. "Discussions and agitation can't happen at the same time," he said, inviting the strikers for talks, but only after they call off the agitation.
Twenty-four hours later, the chief minister reiterated the government's stand, pin-pointing her determination to take on the CPM. "Just because they are not in power, the CPM is instigating unrest in the tea gardens. For the last 34 years, they have called bandhs at the drop of a hat. When the party was in power, tea gardens would be perpetually closed," the chief minister said.
Only on Tuesday, Mamata had appealed to the strikers to call off their agitation, but refrained from referring to the CPM. On Friday, she said menacingly, "We shall do everything to stop the agitation."
Tea gardens were shut across the Terai and Dooars for the fourth day on Friday as two apex bodies of around 30 trade unions launched a strike to seek a hike in workers' wages. The trade unions which are enforcing the shutdown have warned that any settlement reached between the planters and the ABAVP-affiliated labour wing on the wage hike would not be acceptable to them.
The chief minister said, "We cannot jeopardize the existence of one crore people just for one closed tea garden. They can't be deprived of their daily meal."
Excess stock blow to tea factories
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| The closed NBSTC depot in Jalpaiguri and shops with downed shutters on Hill Cart Road in Siliguri. Pictures by Biplab Basak and Kundan Yol |
Sanjoy Dhanothi, president of the North Bengal Tea Producers’ Association (NBTPA) that represent the factories, said prices of the tea in auctions had drastically come down in the past few weeks, and now, it was even lower than the cost of production. “All BLFs (bought-leaf factories) are overloaded with stocks of made teas because of lack of demand from buyers. Added to this, is the continuous fall in auction prices over the past few weeks. Our tea is selling at Rs 65-80 per kilo. This has reduced our profitability as such low rates are not even covering our cost of production, leading to losses,” Dhanothi said. “We have urged the state government and tea board to intervene and take initiative to ensure that we tide over this crisis.”
The BLF owners, while elaborating on the deterrents in the growth of the sector, said they were facing acute shortage of tealeaves. “As new production units have been set up by tea estates and new licences are being provided to more BLFs, the supply of tealeaves is not steady even during the peak season. Each of our units is facing a daily shortage of around 35 per cent, compared to their optimum production capacity. This is increasing our per unit production cost as certain expenses are fixed and do not change with the scale of production,” the NBTPA president said.
Asked about the allegation levelled by small growers that the BLFs were paying lesser prices to them, Dhanothi said it was only because of the strike in the tea gardens. “Once the strike is over and the small growers start supplying to the bigger gardens, we will again face the problem of shortage of raw material,” he said.
Small growers or planters, who own less than 25 acres and have been hit because of the ongoing impasse and strike in the Dooars and Terai tea industry, however, stuck to their allegation that they were being paid less. “This year, a kilo of tea fetched us as high as Rs 12 but right now, it has dropped to Rs 5. We cannot sustain this loss as our average production cost is Rs 10.50 per kilo,” Bijoygopal Chakraborty, associated with the United Forum of Small Tea Growers Associations, an apex body of small growers in the region, said. “Correspondences have been made with the tea board and the state government, and we have urged them to look into our problem of poor price realisation.”
According to figures available in the industry, there are around 30,000 small growers and 95 BLFs in north Bengal. In 2010, the total tea produced in north Bengal was 240 million kg. Of this, 92 million kg had been produced from leaves provided by small growers.
The crisis, which is plaguing both the growers and the BLFs, has prompted the tea board to call a meeting here on August 17. “A meeting has been called to discuss certain issues with representatives of BLF owners and growers,” said K.K Bhattacharya, the deputy director of the tea board posted in Siliguri. “Issues like price realisation and production would be discussed in detail.”
Hope for tragopan brood - satyr & temminck in darjeeling zoo
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| A Temminck tragopan brought for captive breeding at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang |
The zoo received two female satyr tragopans, three female and one male Temmincks about a week back from London.
Although the Paradise Wildlife Park in London had sent 10 tragopans, four birds — two male satyrs and two male Temmincks — died during transit at the Singapore airport.
“The birds were kept in the sun and died from the heat. We have, however, requested the World Pheasant Association to send at least one more male satyr tragopan from the Paradise Wildlife Park in London,” said A.K. Jha, the director of the zoo.
The transfer of the pheasants was facilitated by the association. Until and unless a male reaches the Darjeeling zoo, the breeding of the satyrs cannot be launched.
The Darjeeling zoological park is the co-ordinating zoo for the captive breeding of the red panda, Tibetan wolf, satyr tragopan, grey peacock pheasant, snow leopard and the Himalayan salamander.
The zoo has already completed the captive breeding of the red panda and the snow leopard.
A co-ordinating zoo acts as the major centre for the captive breeding and the animals born there is exchanged with other participating zoos. The participating zoos will be a back up for animals (in case of epidemics) and ensures a healthy genetic strain.
The Darjeeling facility is also a participating zoo for other animals which are part of the breeding programme.
“We will start the breeding programme for Temminck tragopans even though the Shillong zoo has also been classified as a co-ordinating zoo for the bird. The Shillong zoo is not yet ready with the pheasant. Once the male satyr tragopan arrives, we will start its breeding too,” said Jha.
Satyr tragopans are found in the Darjeeling region. But the zoo here does not have the pheasant as it is not authorised to capture animals from the wild.
Temmincks are found in the northeastern states.
A pheasantry will soon come up in the Darjeeling hills. Although work on the facility had started at Dow Hill in Kurseong, it is progressing at a very slow pace because of lack of funds. However, the pheasantry is expected to be completed by next year after which all the birds will be transferred to the Kurseong facility from the Darjeeling zoo.
The pheasantry is expected to be spread over 70 acres. Tragopans had never been bred in captivity till the 20th century. A pheasantry in Himachal Pradesh was able to breed one tragopan in 2005, nine in 2007 and four in 2010.
Pranab in Siliguri today
TT, Siliguri, Aug. 12: Union finance minister and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee will arrive here tomorrow.
According to party and administrative sources, Pranab will reach Bagdogra in the morning and then reach Himanchal Bihar in Matigara to inaugurate Ayakar Abasan, a residential complex for income tax department officials. He will take rest at the circuit house in Siliguri and meet district Congress leaders. Later, he will inaugurate a community building at Deshbandhupara.
Young Writers' Meet of 24 modern Indian languages concludes- Kalimpong youth represents Nepali literature
KalimNews, Shantiniketan & Kolkata: A two days' long literary meet of young Indian writers concluded at Kolkata yesterday with recitation of respective creative writings by the 24 literary figures poured in here from across the country. The session was chaired by the prominent writer Sunil Gangopadhyaya who is also the president of the National Sahitya Academy, Delhi while Ramkumar Mukhopadhyaya, Regional Secretary welcomed the guests. The reading session commenced with the recitation from prominent Kannada writers G.K. Govinda Rao, Kalegowda Nagavara, Bengali writers Tarun Sanyal and Utpal Kumar Basu and Telugu writer K. Suneetha Rani. The young writers (all below 45 years) who took part in the recitation session included Dhrubajyoti Sarmah (Assamese), Sudakshina Basu (Bengali), Kaberi Roychowdhury (Bengali) and Hira Chhetri (Nepali) from Kalimpong of West Bengal, Akbar Ahmed (Bengali) from Tripura, Rupashree Hazowary (Bodo) from Kokrajhar, Sushil Begana (Dogri) from Jammu, Amandeep Sandhu (English) from New Delhi, Kumar Anupam (Hindi) from New Delhi, Chidanand Sali (Kannada) from Raichur, Basavaraj Donur (Kannada)from Dharwad, Mohammad Majid Majazy (Kashmiri) from Andipura, Nikki Priyadarshani (Maithili) from Munger, C. Anuoop (Malayalam) from Trivendrum, Y. Indrajit Singh (Manipuri) from Nambol, Chandrashekhar Malkampatte (Marathi) from Latur, , Arabindo Ray (Odia) from Bhubaneshwar, Surinder Neer (Punjabi) from Kunjwani, Modan Gopal Ladah (Rajasthani) from Bikaner, Ajay Kumar Mishra (Sanskrit) from New Delhi, Anpa Marandi (Santhali) from Bolangir, Orissa, Manoj Chawla (Sindhi) from Ahmedabad, Arunan (Tamil) from Nursery Auroville, T.Srivalli Radhika (Telugu) from Hyderabad, Mohammad Hadi (Urdu) from New Delhi.
The reading session which was chaired by the prominent Bengali author Manabendra Bandopadhyay, Convenor Bengali Advisory Board was held at Sahitya Akademi auditorium located at D.L. Khan Road, Kolkata. Most of the young writers gathered from different parts of the country read out their own creative writings like poems, ghazals and short stories. The Nepali language was represented by young creative writer Hira Chhetri from Kalimpong who read out Hindi translated version of his recently published short story Umerharu in Charitra (Indian short stories special issue).
Manabendra Bandopadhyaya during vote of thanks addressing all the young writers for being present on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary celebration of Rabindra Nath Tagore requested the Sahitya Akademi to make arrangement to publish all the creative writings read out during the session in a book form so that the modern Indian writings that represent the present trend of the literary states of respective 24 languages of this country could be reflected in the publication.
Earlier, the team of young writers were escorted by the Sahitya Akademi to the Shantiniketan on 11th August where they paid visit to the Viswa Bharati University founded by poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore. In the evening, a cultural programme was organised by the music students of the Shantiniketan at Lipika auditorium of the University. The cultural programme was chaired by Indrani Mukherjee, the prominent cultural activist.
Despite torrential rainfall that caused havoc in Kolkata, on 12th August, the team members visited Jorasanko, the birth place of Tagore.
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