In Kanchenjunga's Serene Lap - "Toiling just for the love of simplicity" (Photo by Live Tours)
Dear Esteemed Readers of Himal News,
If you, or anyone you know, would also like to send invitations to Bengal’s Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee & his Government with Photos of Kanchanjunga – please email them to himalgroup@hotmail.com on jpg format. Your contributions will be displayed here with your captions –
Thanking you in anticipation of your contributions….
The Editor,
Himal News.
Kalimpong, March 30, 20:46:15 HRS: Ajay Dahal, UGRF Chief produced before ACJM Court, Kalimpong, and later sent to 14 days judicial custody today.
EARLIER
Kalimpong, March 29, 20:43:36 HRS: GJM held meeting with Central/State’s Secretaries in Delhi n demanded, inter-alliance, inclusion of proposed set-up in N-East council.
Kalimpong, March 29, 20:43:36 HRS: Branch of SBI opened in Pedong
BRIEFS FROM THE TELEGRAPH
Minister convoy kills one
Siliguri, March 30: A 58-year-old farmer succumbed to his injuries at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital today after he was hit, allegedly by agriculture minister Paresh Adhikary’s convoy last evening.
Naren Roy, a resident of Dhapganj, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri, was pedalling home from a market. “He was on his bicycle when the third car of the minister’s convoy hit him from behind on the Jalpaiguri-Haldibari road,” said Gopal Burman, a witness. “It was one of the police vehicles that was not part of the three-car convoy which took him to the Jalpaiguri district hospital.”
Naren was shifted to the NBMCH where he died around 6.30am. Senior police officers said efforts were on to arrange for compensation for his family. The minister, who was returning from a farmers’ meeting at Haldibari, refused comment saying: “I am in the Assembly in Calcutta.”
Life sentence
Calcutta: The high court on Tuesday commuted the death sentences passed by a fast track court in Jalpaiguri in September 2008 to life imprisonment. A division bench comprising Justices A.K. Banerjee and K.K. Prasad passed the judgment on the grounds that there was no direct evidence against Gandhidevi Jadav and Shyam Jadav, who were accused of murdering the former’s husband Bisheshar Jadav, at Baikunthapalli in Bhaktinagar on December 9, 2005.
Road mishap
Siliguri: Barkatullah Siddique, 43, and Md Said, 24, were killed when the car they were travelling in rammed into a truck parked along NH31 near Bagdogra on Monday. Police said Siddique, a resident of Purnia, and Said from Muzaffarpur, died on the spot. Another person travelling in the car suffered minor injuries.
Run over
Islampur: Basanti Das, 55, a resident of Barodia near Chakulia, was run over by a truck on Tuesday. Police said the vehicle had knocked down Das when she was crossing the road. The driver has been arrested and the vehicle seized.
Sanyasi accused of murder
Burdwan, March 30: A sanyasi today allegedly hacked to death a 15-year-old boy after being teased about his relationship with a sanyasini who runs an ashram in a Burdwan village.
When villagers alerted by 15-year-old Sukdeb Mondal’s screams for help landed at the ashram, the sanyasi was said to be standing with a blood-dripping bonti and the boy was lying at his feet.
At Bikehat village in Katwa, about 160km from Calcutta, a mob went berserk after that, beating up the sanyasi, setting ablaze parts of the ashram and stoning police.
The sanyasi, Shyamal Biswas, 28, was rescued by the police and arrested. “He has confessed to the murder. He told us that Sukdeb frequently teased him over a romantic relationship between him and the woman who ran the ashram. When Sukdeb teased him again this morning, he took a bonti from the kitchen and killed him,” said subdivisional police officer Jyotirmoy Roy.
The Class IX student’s father Shyamal Mondal, a marginal farmer, has lodged a comp- laint alleging that the sanyasi murdered his son after the boy saw the man in a compromising position with the sanyasini. “We have detained the 36-year-old sanyasini for interrogation,” said district police chief R. Rajsekharan.
A sanyasi called Sukdeb Brahmachari had founded the ashram about 50 years ago.
UGRF Founder Ajay Dahal briefly speaks to the press before being bundled into The Kalimpong Court Rooms (Photo from KalimNews by Samten)
From our Special News Correspondent
Kalimpong, March 30, 2010: United Gorkha Revolutionary Front (UGRF) Founder Ajay Dahal was brought to Kalimpong yesterday amidst tight security and presented at the Kalimpong Court today to face multiple charges levelled against him here.
Ajay Dahal was kept overnight at the Kalimpong Police Thana and will be kept in remand at the Kalimpong correctional facilities till his hearing lasts.
Speaking to the press at the brief interludes between the Kalimpong Thana, the Kalimpong Hospital, where he had to go for a medical check-up and before entering the court, Ajay Dahal alleged that his arrest could be a coincidence or otherwise a ‘deep conspiracy’ by the Centre.
In the local TV broadcasts, one of the three local channels expressed reservations and misgivings about Dahal’s alleged criminalities and found similarities between his arrest and that of Chattrey Subba, who is still languising in a Jail, in the plains of Siliguri, without any ‘conviction’.
The fact that The Telegraph has kept mute over the UGRF and Ajay Dahal issue with no posts in todays paper (March 31, 2010) – is strangely interesting.
EARLIER
UGRF Founder arrested in Gangtok, Sikkim
09 Feb 2010: Founder of the United Gorkha Revolutionary Front (UGRF), who was wanted by Darjeeling police in ‘murder and arms cases’, was arrested by Sikkim police at Gangtok today with arms.
Police said they had received information that a person was roaming around in the South-West districts private stand near Police Headquarters at Gangtok in a suspicious manner.
At around 1300 hrs, a police team was sent to verify the information. The team arrested the said person after a country made revolver and three cartridges were recovered from his luggage.
The person was later identified as UGRF president Ajay Dahal, said police who have registered a case under Arms Act at Gangtok Sadar police station.
Since Dahal was wanted in some cases in Kalimpong subdivisions of West Bengal, the Kalimpong police were informed. A team led by Kalimpong police station in-charge has already arrived in Gangtok.
As of now, Dahal is arrested under the Arms Act 1959 by Sikkim Police but if the West Bengal places requisition request, he is likely to be handed over to Kalimpong police for the cases pending against him, it is informed.
Interrogations were on till late in the evening today by both the West Bengal police and the Sikkim police.
Dahal, a former Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel had raised the UGRF on November 21, 2004 at Kalimpong and had received immediate attention by splashing posters in Kalimpong with his call for an armed struggle for the creation of a separate State of Gorkhaland.
He was the president of All Gorkha Students Union (AGSU) unit of Kalimpong prior to floating URGF.
In the posters, the UGRF called for an armed struggle for Gorkhaland, as peaceful movements had failed to achieve it.
The URGF shot to notoriety due to its alleged involvement in the murder of a GNLF supporter Yohan Singh Lepcha in Kalimpong on October, 2006. Ten members of UGRF had been arrested but Dahal was absconding and gone underground till now. Recently, Dahal was believed to have been in Sikkim and was issuing press statements to the local media here.
In his press statements, Dahal had of late been threatening Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung over the Gorkhaland issue.
FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS
KALIMPONG, February 10: The arrest of Ajay Dahal by Sikkim police expectedly spilled over into neighbouring Darjeeling region with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung blaming Chief Minister Pawan Chamling for the arrest of the United Gorkha Revolutionary Front (UGRF) chief.
“It is the conspiracy of Chamling to have Ajay Dahal arrested,” said the GJM president in an interview to a local news channel here. He did not elaborate further.
Commenting on the recent Supreme Court order over the NH 31A blockade petition, Gurung reiterated that his party respects the order of the apex court. “We would not block the highway but if any incident happens along the highway then we would not be responsible,” he said.
Gurung said that the highway blockade issue was a small matter which could have been resolved through dialogue between Sikkim and his party. “At least there should have been a table talk keeping in view of the blood relations that Sikkim and Darjeeling people share with each other instead of approaching New Delhi over the highway issue,” he said.
“Chamling should have supported the Gorkhaland movement keeping in view of the blood relations between Sikkim and Darjeeling people,” Gurung added.
During the interview, the GJM chief said that there used to be no major problems with Sikkim during the 80’s Gorkhaland agitation by GNLF president Subash Ghisingh. The then Chief Minister of Sikkim, Nar Bahadur Bhandari had extended full support to the Gorkhaland agitation, he said.
MUCH EARLIER in 2006
UGRF claims responsibility for murder of GNLF leader
FROM THE STATESMAN
SILIGURI, Nov. 14, 2006: United Gorkha Revolutionary Front (UGRF), an extremist outfit of Darjeeling Hills, has finally claimed responsibility for the recent murder of Yonsing Lepcha, a GNLF leader.
Lepcha, it may be recalled, was killed by unidentified persons on 24 October at his residence at Lower Santuk in Kalimpong’s Algarah gram panchayat area.
The UGRF has issued a Press release, claiming responsibility for the murder. They alleged that Lepcha was against their movement and helped the police to arrest their cadres.
The Press release, signed by the UGRF’s spokesperson, Mr Rudra Acharya, stated that Lepcha used to give secret information about their camps to the police and had also been telling the locals not to support the UGRF activists.
The UGRF has threatened that anyone who opposes their movement for the creation of a separate state in the Hills would have to face similar consequences.
The release stated that Lepcha was killed at his residence on 24 October around 11.50 pm by their “Army” under the leadership of commander Sangram. The murder of the GNLF leader had triggered panic in the region.
The GNLF had also observed 24-hour bandh in Kalimpong sub-division on 25 October to protest against Lepcha’s murder. The party had demanded immediate arrest of those involved in the murder.
The GNLF had threatened that they would be compelled to take law on their own hands if the culprits were not arrested within 15 days from the date of murder. However, 20 days have passed but the police are yet to arrest the assassins.
Nearly three months before, the UGRF had announced an armed struggle in the Hills for the separate state of Gorkhaland. In September, the UGRF had claimed that its armed wing, United Gorkha Revolutionary Army, has been running nine training camps in the Kalimpong sub-division.
According to an intelligence report nearly 60 to 70 armed men are still hiding in the jungles of Kalimpong under the leadership of Ajay Dahal, former employee of Central Industrial Security Force.
FROM KALIMNEWS
Language Edited by Himal News
Kalimpong, March 30: The demand for the inclusion of the Darjeeling hill areas into the North East Council is widely praised by all in the hills, according to sources in KalimNews.
Similarly, it is even praised by the plain people as a wise thought, KalimNews reports.
Central and the State Government had divulged that the demand for the inclusion of Dooars and Terai in the proposed Regional authority is not considerable and the Union Government tried to convince the GJM delegation against it on Monday at North Block in Delhi.
The Centre further added that problems would arise on including these areas as such would not be advisable to do so, according to sources divulging information to KalimNews.
EARLIER
Is Gorkhaland very far? (CONJECTURE OR FACT ?!!)
Opinion: by AK Rai
Saturday, February 6, 2010: Why is Bimal Gurung, GJMM Chief stressing on alternative set up as interim arrangement and indicating towards change in the nomenclature of proposed state of Gorkhaland and exclusion of certain areas from the present map of Gorkhaland?
These questions are brainstorming riddles and questions for discussion among the GJMM supporters of all status as well as others interested in activities of GJMM or related to Gorkhas.
Sources and agencies state that Bimal Gurung and the GJMM top rankers were repeatedly informed by the Central Government that demand of Gorkhaland is an impossible demand, at least for the present.
There are so many hurdles, of them some are similar demands cropping up from the Adivasis and Rajbanshis in the neighbouring areas. while others are such demand will endanger the country’s defense mechanism. It is also known that they were convinced to these explanations.
On this appraisal Bimal Gurung forwarded the demand of union territory to the Central Govt which too was discarded stating that it has legal and technical difficulties like objection from State Government and for UT it has to have at least three districts and 19 police stations.
As an alternative to the demand of GJMM Central Government forwarded a proposal of granting a high power autonomous body according to them which is also proposed by the State Govt. If this arrangement as an alternative to the demand of statehood is agreed upon it has further offered to grant more powers afterwards and UT too in near future.
According to the sources, considering the violent opposition from the Adivasis of Dooars on the nomenclature (according to the ABAVP it will abolish their identity by the name of Gorkhaland) Gurung consulted the matter with the think tank and study forum of GJMM.
To resolve the matter and to receive support from them he (?) has forwarded the center that if the center has any objection then GJMM is ready to consent on the proposal to change the name from Gorkhaland to similar names. So as to please the State Govt it has proposed to change the map and area of Gorkhaland demanded by GJMM.
It has consented to exclude most of the areas of Dooars and a few areas of Siliguri (now in DGHC) dominated by Non-Gorkha & Adivasi populace too.
It is understood division of Constituency Committee are being divided into zonal committees as a preliminary exercise for the formation of new constituencies of the forthcoming interim alternative setup. Similarly representative to the Subdivisional Committees are also chosen as per the choice of the Central Committees taking into consideration of similar ideas.
PURE CONJECTURE ?!!
as well as the agitation in which reluctant people too are being forced to participate.GorkhalandThere has been grumblings among the Hill people regarding the matters related to the demand of
Mistrust among the party cadres, fight amongst leaders for the chair, corruption and involvement of party leaders in contract works of DGHC, misuse of DGHC fund, harassment facing by the people during agitational programme is increasing day by day.
The sincere party workers are overburdened to reorganise the party structure and convince and clarify the public regarding rumours and charges made against the leaders including Bimal Gurung.
FORM THE TELEGRAPH
BY PRONAB MONDAL
WITH INPUTS FROM NARESH JANA
Belpahari (West Midnapore), March 30: A vital lapse by police in keeping unguarded a highway stretch between Belpahari and Banspahari may have allowed “injured” guerrilla leader Kishan an escape route to Jharkhand a few days ago.
The police suspect that Kishan, believed to have been hit in a gun battle in West Midnapore’s Lakshmanpur on Thursday, slipped into Jharkhand early on Sunday.
Maoist Kishan Lal at an earlier rally - still a potential ideological threat ?!! (Photo by Aajkaal)
Kishan was said to be undergoing treatment at Chhotopukuria village on Saturday when the police received a tip-off.
A force set out for the place immediately but Maoists engaged it in a gun battle and halted their advance.
Kishan, the police suspect, took this opportunity to escape to Jharkhand, only about 6km from where he was.
However, police sources pointed out that to sneak into Jharkhand, the Maoists had no option but to cross the highway.
This is where the police blundered. Instead of deploying policemen along the entire 18km stretch between Belpahari and Banspahari, they left it unguarded and provided Kishan an easy escape to Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district.
The police blamed the lapse on the delay in receiving information about Kishan’s suspected presence at Chhotopukuria. “When we received the information, we simply rushed a force to Chhotopukuria,” said Manoj Verma, the West Midnapore superintendent of police. “We did not have enough reinforcements at hand to immediately rush a huge force to patrol the entire stretch of the highway. The Maoists were probably aware of this.”
According to intelligence branch officers in Belpahari, Kishan’s aides ferried him through jungle routes to Jharkhand.
“Without crossing the metalled road between Belpahari and Banspahari, reaching Jharkhand is impossible,” an IB officer said. “Leaving the stretch unguarded was a major blunder.”
The intelligence officials said they got to know through intercepts of telephone conv-ersations among the Maoists that Kishan had taken bullets. “Based on the intercepts and inputs from villagers, we learnt on Saturday evening that the injured Kishan was being treated by quacks at Chhotopukuria. But the Maoists provided cover fire to Kishan and he managed to escape.”
The police said they had successfully cut off the supply line for any proper medical aid to reach Kishan, which is why he was at the mercy of quacks. Two quacks suspected to have treated Kishan at Chhotopukuria are now in custody.
The police sources said they had made a list of doctors in the region who had been treating Maoists. “They have been told that their movements are being monitored and they should stop helping the Maoists.”
That is why, the police said, the Maoists had to fall back on the quacks among the villagers. “But in case of bullet injuries, quacks can do little of significance,” an officer said. “So it was vital for Kishan to get to Jharkhand, where we believe the Maoists have their own medical treatment centres.”
A village-by-village search across the Belpahari area has revealed that the Maoists have fled. “The only place he could have gone to is Jharkhand,” an officer said.
A Bangladeshi mother with baby born in India - Deep concern by Bengal ?!! (Photo by Main Uddin Chisti)
A Bangladeshi woman in labour, who lives in an enclave on Indian territory, landed up at a Cooch Behar hospital on Monday evening because that was the nearest health facility. Asma Bibi, 25, declared herself an illegal entrant before giving birth to a boy at the Dinhata Subdivisional Hospital. “Mother and child (in picture by Main Uddin Chisti above) are doing fine and we will discharge them in a couple of days,” the hospital superintendent said. However, the young mother and her husband are worried that they might be arrested after the hospital lets them go. “She was in such pain I had no other option,” said her husband Shahjahan. The law stipulates arrest, but a district official hinted an exception could be made for the couple from Masaldanga, about 15km from Dinhata town.
Cooch Behar, March 30: A woman in labour from a Bangladeshi enclave has put the district administration in a spot by getting admitted to a hospital and declaring herself as an illegal entrant before giving birth to a boy last evening.
Asma Bibi, 25, was brought to the Dinhata subdivisional hospital from the Bangladeshi enclave of Masaldanga, about 15km from Dinhata town, by her husband, Shajahan Sheikh. “Yesterday evening my wife suddenly went into labour, I didn’t know what to do. I was frantically looking for a midwife. When I contacted the leaders of the India Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee, they advised me to take her to the hospital at Dinhata. I admitted her around 6pm. Soon she gave birth to a boy,” Shajahan said.
The enclaves are Bangladeshi territory landlocked within India (which has 131 enclaves inside the neighbouring country). Although the 93 Bangladeshi enclaves in Cooch Behar district are not fenced in, their residents can be arrested under the Foreigners Act if they are caught on Indian land. So, even though the hospital took in the women writhing in pain, the authorities immediately informed police. Both the woman and her husband are now afraid that they might be arrested for illegal entry.
The superintendent of the Dinhata subdivisional hospital, N.C. Das, said the woman had been admitted on humanitarian grounds. “The mother and child are doing fine and we will discharge them after a couple of days. We have informed the administration. But we are yet to decide whether to issue a birth certificate,” Das said. The subdivisional officer of Dinhata, Chiranjib Ghosh, said it would have been inhuman had the hospital refused to admit the woman.
“What is the harm if we do not arrest them? After all, they are not criminals,” a senior officer said, hinting that the administration might turn a blind eye and allow the couple to return to the enclave.
When contacted in Calcutta, high court advocate Arunava Ghosh said under the Indian Constitution, any foreigner, criminal or otherwise, has the right to live. “In this case the hospital is bound to issue a birth certificate,” he said.
The assistant secretary of the enclave exchange committee, Diptiman Sengupta, threatened to launch a movement if the child, named Jihad Hussein Obama by the parents, was not granted a birth certificate by the Dinhata municipality, under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls.
“The health department has done its bit. Now the municipality should issue a birth certificate. If they do not, we will raise the issue. If the couple are arrested, we will launch an agitation,” Sengupta said.
A Forward Bloc councillor of the Dinhata municipality, Ranjit Saha, said the legalities of the case would have to be looked into before a decision was taken. “We had not faced this kind of crisis in the past. I cannot tell you what we should do without consulting our legal cell,” he said.
Sengupta said it was not that Asma was the first woman from a Bangladeshi enclave to enter Indian territory to give birth. “Those who enter take admission under false names. Indian citizens pose as their husbands. The women leave and do not collect the birth certificates, as they have no use for them. Shajahan did the right thing by not resorting to the world of lies.
To highlight the plight of the enclave dwellers in front of an international audience, we will distribute sweets in the hospital tomorrow and take out a procession,” Sengupta said.
Please Do Smile 'Pinki Sonkar' ?!! (Photo The Telegraph)
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY
Alipurduar, March 30: The Smile Train has finally chugged into the Dooars and the garden workers are grateful to Daisy Raj Singh for having given them a chance to board it.
The wife of the manager of Rydak Tea Estate, Singh has been going around campaigning about the free treatment and surgery for cleft lip that the Smile Train project of the US offers at the Anandaloke Hospital and Neurosciences Centre in Siliguri, 150km from here.
The Smile Train is the NGO that treated Pinki Sonkar — the Uttar Pradesh-based protagonist of Megan Mylan’s Oscar-winning documentary, Smile Pinki — and changed her life.
Singh organised the first free check-up camp for people with cleft lip in September in Rydak. Around 30 people from the BPL category who had registered themselves at the camp, whose expenses were borne by her, have gone through the surgery in Siliguri. But before that, she had a trying time convincing them to attend the camp.
Cleft lip or a cleft palate is a common birth defect in the Dooars especially in the tea belt and is a result of malnutrition, said Dr Neela Bhattacharya who conducts the surgery at Anandaloke. Dr Bhattacharya has been associated with Smile Train for three years.
“Around 300 people from the Dooars have been operated on so far. Many come from the Northeast and Bihar. Cleft lip occurs in children when the mother is deprived of a nutritious diet during pregnancy. Sometimes it is genetic too. But in the Dooars it is mostly because of malnutrition,” said Dr Bhattacharya.
A cleft lip surgery costs at least Rs 20,000.
Added to this is the expense incurred on trips to the hospital. Sometimes one or two family members have to accompany the patients and stay away from home, often in hotels near the hospital.
“For most garden workers, the surgery is beyond their means. But they did not know that they could get it done for free,” said Singh.
When she heard of the Smile-Anandaloke tie-up, Singh contacted Dr Bhattacharya before she did the rounds of the labour lines of the Dooars gardens — Kalchini, Hatiabari, Kohinoor, Mainabari, to name a few. Singh, who has an army background, has been staying in Rydak for 11 years.
She started her campaign with the help of four local boys, going door to door and trying to convince parents to bring the children with cleft lips to free check-up camps as the first step.
“Initially people were reluctant to attend the camps. But then the news spread.” Jashoda Toppo, a 40-year-old worker has been operated upon, as has been Joydeep Das, who is nearly two years old and is from Samuktala. Five-year-old Payel Biswakarma from Turturi, too, has a winning smile now.
On Sunday, Singh organised another such camp at Little Angel School, Hamiltonganj in Kalchini block. Singh is happy that 23 people had registered from different tea gardens for the surgery.
“My reward is the winning smile they give me,” said Singh.
The Corrupting lure of Money ?!! (Himal News File Photo)
FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT
Siliguri, March 30: The vice-chancellor of North Bengal University today filed an FIR against the registrar and former controller of examinations of the varsity, Dilip Kumar Sarkar, for allegedly misappropriating Rs 1.5 crore.
“A case has been registered against the registrar of North Bengal University at Matigara police station,” said D.P. Singh, the superintendent of police of Darjeeling. “The circle inspector of Bagdogra has been asked to investigate and take appropriate steps.”
A member of the NBU’s executive council said: “In 2000, a confidential account had been opened with around Rs 1.5 crore to meet all expenses related to several university exams. The EC had then objected it saying public money could not be kept in confidential account. But despite the opposition, the account was created. Since then, it was run by the then controller of examinations (Sarkar).” Auditors later detected several anomalies in the account.
In 2009, the Trinamul Congress and the Congress launched agitation against the move, suspecting misappropriation of funds and demanding that the expenditure made from the account be made public. This prompted Arunabha Basumajumdar, the vice-chancellor, to constitute a one-member inquiry committee.
The EC member said the vice-chancellor also sought the opinion of state advocate general Balai Roy on the subject who observed that “it (misappropriation) is a criminal offence and appropriate steps should be taken by the varsity”.
On January 8, Basumajumdar convened an EC meeting on an agenda that said: “…in view of the various reports and legal opinion obtained by the university, it appears that a large amount of university funds has been irregularly spent during the period from January 22, 2000 to March 31, 2008…”
Sarkar was the controller of examinations during the period. The vice-chancellor placed Roy’s recommendation before the EC but steps could not be taken because of a lack of consensus. “Finally, the matter was sent to the governor, the chancellor, who seems to have endorsed the advocate-general’s suggestion,” the member said.
The registrar, when contacted, said: “I am busy on another call and will talk later.”
From left: Deb with Datta and Malakar - what's the difference ?!! (Photo by Kundan Yolmo)
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Siliguri, March 30: The Trinamul Congress and the Congress today decided to form the Siliguri Municipal Corporation together, ending the cold war and putting up a show of unity ahead of the civic polls to be held across the state in May.
Although mayor Gangotri Datta has offered to step down from her post, no decision on the new incumbent or the composition of the mayors-in-council were announced.
Leaders of both the parties said the decision to dissolve the current board and form a new one had been taken under instructions from the respective high commands to further firm up the bonding between the two outfits.
After the alliance’s victory in the SMC polls held in September, both Trinamul and the Congress had staked claim to the mayor’s chair. Ultimately, at the insistence of Mamata’s rival and Raiganj MP Deepa Das Munshi, the Congress had formed the board with the backing of the Left that had been ousted from the civic body after 28 years. The Congress’s Datta became the mayor.
Since then, the Trinamul had been sitting in the Opposition. Even yesterday, at the budget session, Trinamul had accused the Congress-led board of having a tacit understanding with the Left.
However, today, Datta said at the joint media conference: “I will offer the mayor’s post to Trinamul if it is necessary for the sake of the alliance.”
District Congress president Shankar Malakar said: “We had a meeting with the Trinamul leadership today and reached a consensus that from now on the Trinamul Congress and Congress will run the board together. The board will no longer thrive on the outside support of the CPM.”
“The people of Siliguri have voted for us to see the alliance running the SMC. There had been some problems during the mayoral elections but we consider them to be a closed chapter,” said Trinamul district president Gautam Deb.
In Calcutta, Trinamul leader Partha Chatterjee said the development was a “very good news”.
“It will further strengthen the ties between the two parties,” Chatterjee said. “This was just the thing that we needed to send out a signal of unity between the two parties before the coming municipal polls. This has taken place because of the initiative of our party leader Mamata Banerjee who said the past bitterness should be forgotten.”
Deb said Datta would ask for Trinamul’s support to pass the budget tomorrow. The Trinamul would then assure her of its support and the budget will be passed. A decision will then be taken on dissolving the current board and setting up a new one.
Nurul Islam, the CPM leader in the SMC and the former mayor, said: “There was always an underlying understanding between the two parties and that was only made public today.”
Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury: Tough talk ?!! (Photo The Telegraph)
FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT
Malda, March 30: The Congress and the Trinamul Congress seem to be heading for a triangular fight with the Left Front in the election to the Englishbazar municipality as the alliance partners are unwilling to share seats.
Even though the PCC had agreed upon an alliance with Trinamul, district Congress leaders are not willing to concede seats to Mamata Banerjee’s outfit in its stronghold in Englishbazar.
District Trinamul president Gautam Chakrabarty has called a meeting at the Town Hall here on April 4 to finalise the names of the party candidates for the 25-ward Englishbazar and 18-seat Old Malda civic bodies, elections to which are scheduled in May.
In Englishbazar, while Trinamul has eight councillors (including four Congress members who had shifted allegiance), the Congress has four and the BJP and Independent one each. The Left has 11 seats. In Old Malda, the Left has 12 and the BJP four. There is one Independent. The Congress has no councillors.
Chakrabarty said: “The Congress here is not too enthusiastic about an alliance. I have heard that they will allow us to contest in four wards in Englishbazar and two in Old Malda.”
Making it clear that a ward from where a party had won in the last poll has to be left to it this time too, Chakrabarty said in seats where both the Congress and Trinamul had lost, the runners-up had to be allowed to contest.
“Our party had contested in four seats in Englishbazar and we want to contest in five more this time. District Congress president Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury has sent me a feeler that he wants to talk to me. I am waiting for the meeting,” Chakrabarty said.
Babla Sarkar, another district Trinamul leader, however, ruled out any alliance with the Congress unless five extra wards were given to the party. “If this formula is not agreed upon, there will be no alliance in the civic polls. I am sorry to say that a section of leaders in both the parties are trying to scuttle the anti-Left alliance,” Sarkar said.
The Congress leaders, who met in Kotwali to discuss the civic elections, decided that four seats in Englishbazar and two in Old Malda would be left for Trinamul to contest.
Abu Hashem said the situation had changed since the last municipal elections. “Many Trinamul candidates had shifted to the Congress after the last poll. However, we will not go with the BJP, if Trinamul enters into an alliance with them (BJP). We will not be a part of that,” Abu Hashem said.
Two killed in Malda gang raid – Criminals take over horse carriage drivers’ tiff
Policemen posted at Syedpur where two men were killed on Tuesday. (Photo by Surajit Roy)
FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT
Malda, March 30: Two persons were killed and three injured in a Kaliachak village this morning when a gang led by a notorious criminal avenged an assault on his nephew.
While Salekh Sheikh was shot, Altab Sheikh was hacked to death allegedly by Tuhur Ali Biswas and his associates at Syedpur, 20km from here. Two of the injured were hit by bullets and were admitted to the Malda district hospital in a serious condition.
The superintendent of police of Malda, Bhuban Mondol, and senior officers, who reached the spot following the incident, were surrounded by angry residents. The people protested the attack and demanded that the police crack down on Tuhur Ali’s gang.
The police said that yesterday morning, Bachchu Sheikh, the owner of a horse-drawn carriage in Narayanpur, had beaten up Gem Sheikh, the driver of another carriage and a resident of Syedpur, for not giving him the right of way. The police said Bachchu was a nephew of Tuhur Ali.
Trouble broke out this morning when Bachchu was on his way to Kaliachak on a motorised van-rickshaw. As the vehicle was passing through Syedpur, Gem Sheikh and his associates stopped Bachchu and started thrashing him. Bachchu was rescued by his brother-in-law, Kayem Sheikh, who took him to his house in the same village.
The CPM pradhan of the local gram panchayat, Ekramul Sheikh, said Gem Sheikh, too, had been assaulted by some villagers.
“Within half-an-hour, Tuhur Ali and his sidekicks, numbering around 15-20, arrived at Syedpur on motorcycles. While returning to Narayanpur with Bachchu, the gang began firing indiscriminately. The 37-year-old Salekh Sheikh was hit by bullets and died on the spot. Another villager, Altab Sheikh, 57, was working in his field. He was hacked to death by the gang,” said the pradhan.
Ekramul said three others had also been attacked by the assailants. “While Litton Sheikh suffered deep wounds from choppers and was taken to the Kaliachak health centre, Setar Sheikh and Ezamul Haque were shot at and sent to the district hospital. The two suffered injuries from chopper attack also,” said the pradhan.
A team led by the district police chief, additional superintendent of police Kalyan Mukherjee and deputy superintendent of police Abhijit Mukherjee, arrived at the village around 11.30am. “However, the officers were surrounded by the angry local people, demanding that the gangsters be rounded up and action be taken against them. The officers were not allowed to leave till they assured the people that the village would remain safe from Tuhur Ali’s gang. The police finally left Syedpur around 1pm,” said Ekramul.
“The residents of Syedpur are peace-loving people and Tuhur Ali’s gang takes full advantage of this. Today’s incident has spread panic in the area,” said the pradhan. He alleged that the gang had become so daring that they were openly attacking people and extorting them in broad daylight.
Tuhur Ali’s name had cropped up in many other incidents in the past. On November 10, he had allegedly led a gang that had shot dead Mohammad Ishak, a 40-year-old CPM supporter, near Kaliachak. His name had figured in a gunfight between two groups of goons — one led by the CPM and the other by the Congress — over the control of a large waterbody at Kaliachak on September 4, killing one person. In both the incidents, the CPM had accused the Congress of sheltering Tuhur Ali.
The district police chief, however, said today’s incident did not have any political links. “The violence was a fallout of an altercation between two horse carriage owners yesterday. Tuhur Ali’s gang attacked the village around 9am today and killed two innocent persons. The police are looking for the gang and its leader,” said Mondol.
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