Haven’t sold pride: Bimal Gurung on new pact

Haven’t sold pride: Bimal Gurung on new pact

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader explained in detail the need for a new pact with Trinamul and tried to flag off issues to his core constituency in tea gardens

Writes : Vivek Chhetri

Bimal Gurung’s supporters on Tuesday packed a community hall at St Mary-Tung area near Kurseong with people for him to address them from Calcutta through videoconference.

Gurung explained in detail the need for a new pact with Trinamul and tried to flag off issues to his core constituency in tea gardens.

Gurung’s party office at Patlebas, Darjeeling, also opened on Tuesday after a gap of more than three years.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader (Gurung faction) has started addressing large gatherings of party supporters through videoconferencing after three years, in an apparent bid to recover lost ground amid his prolonged absence from the hills after the Gorkhaland agitation of 2017.

“Till now we have not sold the pride, the self-respect of our community,” Gurung said, emphasising he had told in “clear-cut” terms (to Trinamul) that his party could not forget the Gorkhaland demand.

This statement acquires added significance as Gurung resurfaced on October 21 in Calcutta after three years to declare he was severing ties with the BJP-led NDA and support Trinamul in the upcoming Bengal polls, a party which has been against the separate-statehood demand.

Though Trinamul does not support the statehood demand, Gurung’s speech showed he was committed to the cause of Gorkhaland. “I explained during a news meet (in Calcutta) that during the 2024 Lok Sabha election we will support whichever party that takes forward the Gorkhaland demand,” added Gurung.

Politically, Gurung said, it was a do-or-die situation. “We were of the opinion that 2021 was most important and we had to take a swift decision keeping in the mind the (Bengal) election,” said Gurung, adding that a wrong decision would mean “the party would have died and along with it the issue (of Gorkhaland)...”

Without taking names, Gurung alluded that the political chapter of rival Binay Tamang would “close” within a few days.

Launching a multi-pronged attack on Tamang, who heads a breakaway faction of the Morcha, Gurung said that there were allegations of corruption in appointment of teachers and the interest of tea workers had not been taken care of.

“During my tenure we always ensured a 20 per cent bonus at one go (this year the tea gardens decided to pay bonus in two instalments of 15 and 5 per cent). After I return I promise tea workers that you will get a 20 per cent bonus in 2021,” said Gurung.

The 87-odd tea gardens in the hills employ around 70,000 tea workers.

Along with the welfare of tea garden workers, employment would be another core area of focus, he added.

“Difficult times” faced by his supporters on the run — Gurung said he too was on the run for the sake of the “community” despite having lived like a king (in Darjeeeling) — was another key point of his speech on Tuesday.

source : The telegraph 

The US President-elect’s message of unity - End era of demonisation in America: Biden

He promised to bring steady leadership and experience to meet the staggering crises facing the nation, most prominently the coronavirus

US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holds hands as they celebrate after winning the election. PTI

 Writes: Katie Glueck, Thomas Kaplan For TT.

Joseph R. Biden Jr addressed America for the first time as President-elect on Saturday night, delivering a message of unity and trying to soothe the extraordinary divisions that defined the last four years in American politics.

“Let this grim era of demonisation in America begin to end here and now,” he said.

In remarks before a drive-in audience in Wilmington brimming with long-time friends from Delaware, his home state, he directly appealed to the tens of millions of Americans who backed President Donald Trump’s re-election, seeking to make good on his central campaign promise of bringing the country together.

“For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight,” Biden, speaking at the conclusion of his third run for the presidency, said. “I’ve lost a couple times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again.”

He added: “This is the time to heal in America.”

Biden’s optimistic speech, flecked with references to faith and American history, came 48 years to the day after he was first elected a senator from Delaware. He spoke from a flag-bedecked stage outside the Chase Center on the Riverfront, an event centre near the Christina river, where he invoked themes that shaped his presidential campaign.

The message, as it was throughout the campaign, was rooted more in a sense of values than in an especially ideological viewpoint, an approach that helped him build a broad coalition throughout the campaign but that will be tested in partisan Washington.

Yet Biden grew impassioned as he insisted that for all of the tensions in the country, Americans still wanted to see their leaders find common ground. He promised to bring steady leadership and experience to meet the staggering crises facing the nation, most prominently the coronavirus.

“What is our mandate?” he said. “I believe it’s this: Americans have called upon us to marshal the forces of decency, the forces of fairness, to marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.”

Senator Kamala Harris, the vice-president-elect, spoke first, telling voters that they had chosen “hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth”.

She invoked her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who came to the US from India at the age of 19, and paid tribute to the women “who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way for this moment tonight”.

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” she said. “Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”

New York Times News Service

Alipurduar identifies land for Cha Sundari homes

The Mamata Banerjee government is laying stress on a housing scheme — as part of the Cha Sundari scheme — for tea workers of the state as part of its bid to woo the tea population at a time the BJP has been highlighting how it has tried to offer a better deal to tea workers by changing labour laws.

At some 15 Assembly constituencies in north Bengal, votes of the tea population decide the results.

Surendra Kumar Meena, the district magistrate of Alipurduar, said that the administration had identified land in tea estates for the houses to come up in the first phase.

“The chief minister had announced the details of the scheme at the administrative review meeting that she held in Siliguri. The survey has been done and the state housing department soon will start construction work,” he said.

In the district, houses will be built in Mujnai, Dheklapara, Toorsa and Lankapara tea estates. Among these four, other than Toorsa, the rest are located under Birpara-Madarihat Assembly constituency, a seat the BJP won back in 2016 Assembly elections and secured a lead in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Under the housing scheme, the state intends to provide free houses to all the three lakh-odd tea workers over the next three years, and is popularising the scheme with a catch line, “Cha Sramikder Sakol Dorkare Pashe Achey Sarkar” (the government is always by the tea workers’ side).

In the tea belts of north Bengal such as Darjeeling, Terai or the Dooars, the BJP had always harped on the issue of minimum wage in the tea sector to embarrass the state government. The issue has, sources said, often affected the poll prospects of the ruling Trinamul.

Though the state government constituted a committee to recommend minimum wage rate for tea workers back in 2015, wage rate has not been fixed yet.

Added to it, the BJP is now highlighting the new labour law where it has been stated that maximum 15 per cent of the total wage can be provided to workers as non-cash component. In the tea industry, planters have time and again pointed out that they spend a considerable amount on non-cash benefits to workers.

“BJP leaders are trying to prove that if the new labour law is implemented, planters cannot provide non-cash components of more than 15 per cent of the wage and must pay the rest in cash. They are claiming this would increase the wage rate of tea workers,” said a senior trade union leader.

With the BJP emphasising on those issues, Mamata seems to be banking on the housing scheme. Home and land rights have been a longstanding demand of workers and their families.

By : Anirban Choudhury

Additional reports by Avijit Sinha in Siliguri, TT

Tiny hamlets now tourism focus Minister - -Deb bullish on Kalimpong’s potential

The Bengal tourism department has drawn up a plan to promote rural tourism in the new district of Kalimpong and promote it as a model district in rural tourism.

The decision comes in the wake of homestays, private resorts and other accommodations mushrooming across the district’s rural areas.

As a part of the plan, Gautam Deb, the state tourism minister, has started paying visits to prospective destinations and places already known but are yet to gain popularity among tourists visiting the region.

During the past few days, he visited Nokdara and Rishop, tiny hamlets of the hill district located within 35km  of the district headquarters of Kalimpong. Officials of the district administration and his department accompanied him.

“I have visited a couple of destinations in Kalimpong district where rural tourism can be developed with proper planning. We are exploring all possibilities to develop such facilities and will assess the potential of new destinations in the district. If rural tourism is promoted properly, it will also create employment for local residents,” said Deb.

Rishop’s idyllic hilly landscape is picture-postcard peaceful and also useful for short-distance nature trails. Nokdara, the other location, is a new site that can be developed into a destination for tourists.

An official who was with the minister on the trip, said that Nokdara has a lake where boating can be introduced.

“The serene location is surrounded by lush green forests. Also, visitors can enjoy a majestic view of the snow-capped Kanchenjungha, along with fabulous sunrises and sunsets. It is just 34km from Kalimpong town,” he said.

Raj Basu, a veteran in the tourism industry in the region who is assisting the department to conduct the survey, pointed out that the growth of rural tourism in Kalimpong district was encouraging more and more people to come up with accommodations in newer or less-known locations.

“The entire Kalimpong district has huge potential for village tourism,” Basu said. “In a number of places, local residents have developed facilities for visitors along with some private tour operators. What we now need is concrete planning from the state’s side to create more sites and also promote the locations,” added Basu, who is also the convener of the Association for Conservation and Tourism.

source  : The Telegraph

Chilahati-Haldibari rail link eyes Dec, March hope for Siliguri-Dhaka

IN Pic : A loco of Bangladesh Railway at the trial run from Chilahati station to the India-Bangladesh border on October 27

File picture

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The Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh intends to start train services along the Haldibari-Chilahati route from December 2020 as well as a passenger train service to connect its capital  Dhaka with Bengal’s Siliguri from March 2021.

The route between Cooch Behar’s Haldibari and Bangladesh’s Chilahati is likely to open on December 16, which both countries celebrate as Bijoy Dibosh or Vijay Diwas to mark the day in 1971 when Pakistani troops surrendered to the allied forces of India and Bangladesh, ending war of liberation for Bangladesh.

The Dhaka-Siliguri route is likely to come up on March 26, Bangladesh’s Independence Day. In 2021, Bangladesh will celebrate 50 years of independence.

Trains used to run through this route over five decades earlier — Bangladesh was East Pakistan then — but had stopped in 1965 during the India-Pakistan war.

During the past few years, governments of both India and Bangladesh had taken the initiative to lay railway tracks and put up ancillary infrastructure to run trains along the route. Work is almost over on both sides of the border.

Last week on October 21, Bangladesh railway minister Nurul Islam Sujon met Vikram Doraiswami, the new high commissioner of India at Dhaka’s Rail Bhawan.

After the meeting, an official release issued by the Bangladesh government the next day stated that the railway minister said the tracks for the Haldibari-Chilahati route would open this December.

“The railway minister said the railway line from Haldibari in India to Chilahati in Bangladesh will be launched in December,” said the release.

In an official post, the High Commission of India in Bangladesh said that at the meeting, Doraiswami and Sujon had discussed “ways to further enhance #IndiaBangladesh connectivity.”

The news release issued by Bangladesh press information department stated that its government was also mulling another plan, that is, introduction of passenger train services between Dhaka and Siliguri.

“….Besides, there are plans to run a passenger train from Dhaka to Siliguri on March 26 next year, the minister added,” reads the release.

Across north Bengal and in Bangladesh, there has been a steady demand to introduce train and air services. Thousands of Bangladeshi nationals visit Siliguri and nearby areas for education, healthcare, commerce and other reasons.

Many Bangladeshi tourists visit the hills every year, including Sikkim.

As of now, there are four rail routes that connect Bengal with Bangladesh, Petrapole-Benapole, Singhabad-Rohanpur, Gede-Darshana and Radhikapur-Birol.

Bus service is available from Siliguri to Dhaka via Changrabandha of Cooch Behar. Trial runs have been conducted to run buses along the Dhaka-Siliguri-Kathmandu route as a part of the transport agreement signed among the neighbouring countries but the service is yet to start.

“A passenger train service linking Bangladesh will give a major boost to the regional economy of north Bengal. We are eagerly waiting for the day,” said Samrat Sanyal, general secretary, Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network.

Sources associated with the Haldibari-Chilahati route rail project said that chances were high that the route opens on December 16.

A trial run by the Bangladesh Railway two days back has cheered the residents of Cooch Behar’s Haldibari. “It was nice to see the locomotive of the Bangladesh Railway approaching the border after years. On both the sides, work is on in full swing and it will be great if the track is finally commissioned in December,” said Satish Dutta, an elderly resident of Haldibari.

Officials of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), the zone of Indian Railway that has been working on the rail project, said tracks have been laid till the border. “Some ancillary works at Haldibari station are in progress. We do not have any information as to when the rail route will open but we have instructions to finish the work by December,” said S. Chanda, the chief public relations officer of NFR.

Additional inputs by Anirban Choudhury in Alipurduar

source :telegraph 

नीरज जिम्बाको बयान कदापि व्यक्तिगत होइन। उसको बयानले भाजपा अनि गोरामुमोको राजनैतिक सोचलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गर्छ- सपना छेत्री, प्रवक्ता, गोर्खा जनमुक्ति नारी मोर्चा दार्जीलिङ महकुमा समिति।

नीरज जिम्बाको बयान कदापि व्यक्तिगत होइन। उसको बयानले भाजपा अनि गोरामुमोको राजनैतिक सोचलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गर्छ- सपना छेत्री, प्रवक्ता, गोर्खा जनमुक्ति नारी मोर्चा दार्जीलिङ महकुमा समिति।

गठबंधनले गोर्खाल्याण्डको मुद्दालाई किन कुरकुरे जस्तो बेच्न खोज्छ?

भाजपाको घटक दलको एक सदस्य जो भाजपाको विधायक पनि हुन अनि गोरामुमाेको प्रवक्ता पनि हुन: अधिवक्ता नीरज जिम्बा। उनले दिएको केही बक्तव्यहरु हेरौं:

१. म भित्रको (भाजपाको) मान्छे हुँ, कहाँ के हुँदैछ मलाई थाहा छ

२. विनु सुन्दासले सोसियोलोजीमा डाक्टरी गरेका हुन्। मैले पनि अध्ययन पटि ध्यान दिएको भए हावर्ड विश्वविद्यालयमा प्रोफेसर हुने थिए। त्यतिको क्षमता छ मेरोमा।

३. भारत सरकारले सोचेर नै हाम्रो निम्ति ठूलो केही न केही गर्छ। तर अहिले देश संकटमा छ। देशको सुरक्षा अनि हित नै पहिलो हुनुपर्छ। हाम्रो मुद्दा देशको सुरक्षा भन्दा ठूलो होइन।

४. सुबास घिसिङले गोर्खाल्याण्डको मुद्दा ड्रप मात्र गरेका हुन। यी मुद्दा कहिले पनि उठाउनु सकिन्छ।

५. विमल गुरुङले मुद्दा काखी च्यापेर नै जीटीएको सम्झौता गरेका हुन्। गोर्खाल्याण्डको मुद्दा उठाउँदिन भनेर सम्झौता गरेका छन्।

नीरज जिम्बा बारम्बार भन्ने गर्छन उसले बोलेको सबै कुरा विश्वास नगर्नु। एउटा विधायक जो जनताको प्रतिनिधि हुन, उसले बोलेको कुरा विश्वास नगरेर जनताले कसको कुरामा विश्वास गर्छ? आज सम्म नीरज जिम्बाले झुट मात्र बोल्दै रहेछ अनि हामी जनता चाहिँ उसको झुटलाई सत्य मान्दै छौं।

PPS पनि अब त झुट लाग्नु थाल्यो। कि PPS (गोर्खाल्याण्ड) हुन्छ भनेर छैंटौं लाई अगाडि ल्याएर जिम्बाले अर्को झुट बाेल्दैछ?

गोर्खाल्याण्ड राज्यको सपना पूरा गर्नु प्रक्रियाको पालन हुनु पर्छ। गोर्खाल्याण्ड को स्थापना कहाँ हुन्छ? छुट्टै राज्य बनिने प्रक्रिया के हो? छुट्टै राज्य वनिनुमा राज्यको भूमिका, केन्द्रको भूमिका, राज्य माग्ने नागरिकको भुमिका, राष्ट्रका अन्य राजनैतिक दलको भूमिका, राज्य माग्ने पहल गर्ने नेतृत्वको भूमिका स्पष्ट हुनु पर्यो। हृदय रोगको निम्ति कर्डियोलजीस्टकोमा डाक्टरी जाँच गराउन जानु पर्छ, ईएनटी डाक्टर कहा गएर केही फाइदा हुँदैन। हत्याराले वकील पक्रन्दा क्रिमिनल वकील पक्रनु पर्छ, जमीन मिलाउने वकील काम लाग्दैन।

 गोर्खाल्याण्ड को मुद्दा विषय अब पहाडले केही पनि गर्नु पर्दैन्। जे गर्छन भाजपाले गर्छ। जिम्बा यसरी पनि बयान दिन्छन। मुद्दा कहाँ सम्म पुग्यो त? भनेर सोध्नु होस, घुमाउरो उत्तर आउँछ। नीरज बोलेको होइन , यो गठबंधन को भाषा हो। गोर्खाल्याण्ड को मुद्दा कहाँ पुगेको छ? पहाडका कुनै पनि राजनैतिक दल यो प्रश्न मा मौन बस्छन। 

हाम्रो पहाडले गोर्खाल्याण्डलाई जन्माउने गलत डाक्टर त पक्रेको छैन्? सुरुमा म नै हृदय रोग विषेशज्ञ हुँ भन्ने डाक्टर आरएमपि त निस्केन?

नीरज जिम्बाको बयान कदापि व्यक्तिगत होइन। उसको बयानले भाजपा अनि गोरामुमोको राजनैतिक सोचलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गर्छ। जिम्बालाई राम्ररी थाहा छ कि भाजपा अहिले गोर्खाको मुद्दा विषय बोल्न त के सोच्न पनि चाहँदैन। त्यसैले स्थायी राजनैतिक समाधान के हो भनेर सोध्दा कुरा घुमाई रहन्छ। देश संकटमा छ जस्तो भाजपाको प्रोपागान्डा बोल्छ। हाम्रो मुद्दा भन्दा देश ठूलो सम्मको बयान दिएका छन् जिम्बाले। स्थायी राजनैतिक समाधानको निम्ति बनाइनु पर्ने स्टेरिङ कमिटी सम्म बनाउन असक्षम गठबंधन बाट विधान सभा चुनाव अघि केही हुन्छ भनेर आशा राख्नु मुङ्गेरी लाल कि हसिन सपने जस्तै हो। उनको बयानबाट यही झल्किन्छ कि स्थायी राजनैतिक समाधान भनेको गोर्खाल्याण्ड चाहिँ पटक्कै होइन। के हुनु सक्छ? यो जी टी ए जस्तै अलिकति बढी शक्तिवान व्यवस्था मात्र हो। कहिले हुन्छ? यदि भाजपाले बंगालमा सत्ता सम्हाल्नु सक्यो भने मात्र। नत्र स्थायी राजनैतिक समाधान रहस्यमय, बुझेर पनि बुझ्न नसकिने राजनैतिक समाधान भएर तुहिनेछ।

तर अचानक बढेको राजनैतिक हलचल के को लागि? स्थायी राजनैतिक समाधान को निम्ति पटक्कै होइन। यो हो बंगाल विधान सभा चुनाव २०२१को लागि। 

यदि स्थायी राजनैतिक समाधान छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्ड होइन भने जी टी ए ३ मात्र हो। जी टी ए ३ को लागि गोर्खाल्याण्ड को बलि दिनु पनि राजी गठबंधन, जसको अहंकार को मंत्र नै जाती अनि माटो प्रेम। 

 यदि जी टी ए ३ नै गठबंधन को लक्ष्य हो भने अढाई वर्ष देखि गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चा विनय खेमाको नेतृत्वमा जी टी ए प्रशासन राम्ररी नै चली रहेको छ। जनताले उनीहरुलाई नकारेर पनि अहिले जनता उनीहरू तर्फ नै फर्केको सबैले देखिदैछन। राज्य सरकार संग राम्रो तालमेल गरेर व्यवस्था चली रहेको छ। घिसिङ अनि गुरुङ कालमा नभएको विकाशहरु गर्दैछन यी नेतृत्वहरुले। राजनैतिक संस्कार सुधार्दै छन। जनता खुशी नै छन। पहाड शान्ति छ। पहाडका गैर राजनैतिक स्तकेहोल्डर सहयोगी छन। प्रशासन सफलतापूर्वक चली रहेको छ। विकास को मेरुदण्ड सीधा हुँदैछ। पहाडले नसुनेको भिजन को सोच जस्ता कुराहरू दैनिक बातचीत को विषय बनिन्दैछ। 

अब प्रश्न उठ्छ, के चुनाव जित्नु गोर्खाल्याण्ड नै मुद्दा हुनु पर्छ? जातीय अनि राजनैतिक एकता विहिन कसरी गोर्खाल्याण्ड सम्भव छ? यो राजनैतिक विभिन्नता अनि खिचातानी त चुनावको राजनैतिक युद्दको संकेत हो। गोर्खाल्याण्डको युद्दको निम्ति तयारीको संकेत पटक्कै होइन।

 गोर्खाल्याण्डलाई गठबन्धनले किन बजारीकरण गर्दैछ? किन कुरकुरे जस्तो बेच्न खोज्दैछ? घरी यो स्वादको कुरकुरे घरी त्यो स्वादको कुरकुरे। बरु कुरकुरे बनाउने फ्याक्ट्रीलाई नै किन मुद्दा नबनाउने? कुरकुरे बनाउने फ्याक्ट्रीमा चाहिँ विनय अनितले काम गर्दैछ, फ्याक्ट्री राम्रो हुँदैछ, मसिन पनि राम्रो हाल्दैछ भन्ने गठबंधन लाई डर? कि कुरकुरे को सेल्स एजेन्ट्स सांसद अनि विधायकले कुरकुरे मात्र बेच्न सक्छ, फ्याक्ट्री को मसिन ल्याउनु सक्दैन भनेर कुरकुरे नै बेच्न खोजेको?

फ्याक्ट्री ठूलो, गुणस्तरको बनाऔं। फ्याक्ट्रीमा काम गर्ने कर्मचारीहरु गुणस्तरको ल्याऊ। कुरकुरे बेच्नु एजेन्ट्स चाहिन्दैन।

Lockdown extended till May 31 with relaxations

Barber shops, salons and spas can function, and e-commerce firms can deliver nonessential items in non-containment zones

The Centre has extended the lockdown till May 31 with several relaxations in non-containment zones and allowed states to decide the colour code that reflects the intensity of the Covid-19 spread in a particular area.

Some of the key changes in Lockdown 4, compared with the previous phase that ended on Sunday:

⦾ Shops of all categories, except those in malls and in containment zones, can open with staggered timings. Barber shops, salons and spas can function and e-commerce firms can deliver nonessential items in non-containment zones, PTI added. The states will have the final say on the shops that can open.

Representatives of malls have requested the government to allow them to reopen, describing the continuing bar as unfortunate and pointing out that such centres are equipped to follow social distancing and public hygiene norms under professional supervision.

⦾ Intra- and inter-state movement (with mutual consent of the states) of passenger vehicles and buses.

⦾ Hotels and restaurants cannot reopen but can operate kitchens for home delivery and takeaway services.

⦾ Sports complexes and stadiums will be permitted to open for sporting events but without spectators. (Asked whether the IPL would be allowed, the Union home ministry spokesperson refused comment).

Night curfew will remain in force between 7pm and 7am on the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities.

The states can decide on the delineation of red, orange and green zones in line with the Union health ministry’s guidelines. District administrations and local urban bodies will identify the containment and buffer zones within the red and orange zones with the help of local technical inputs and the Union ministry’s guidelines.

All domestic and international flights and Metro train services will remain prohibited. Air ambulance and flights for security purposes will be allowed.

Schools, colleges, educational training institutions, hotels, gyms, swimming pools and cinemas will remain closed. No social, political or religious functions will be allowed, and places of worship will remain shut till May 31, the home ministry said.

The practice of working from home should be followed to the extent possible and staggering of work hours should be adopted by all offices and establishments. There should be thermal scanning and use of hand sanitisers at all entry and exit points and common areas, the guidelines said.

Via : Telegraph