GORKHA POLITICAL REALITY: CPM slams talks interlocutor

GORKHA POLITICAL REALITY: CPM slams talks interlocutor – wonder why, anything not in ‘favour’ is unfair to Bengal ?!!

Devotees take part in a procession on Buddha Purnima at Kadamtala near Siliguri on Thursday. (Photo by Kundan Yolmo)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Siliguri, May 27: The CPM today accused the Centre-appointed interlocutor for the tripartite talks on Darjeeling of hobnobbing with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and asked the government not to allow the hill party to hold a rally on Sunday.

Jibesh Sarkar, a CPM state committee member, today said: “The support base of the Morcha has already shrunk in the hills (after Madan Tamang’s murder) as compared to what it had enjoyed earlier. But we are surprised to see that the interlocutor, Lt Gen. (retd) Vijay Madan, is meeting them and has requested the party leaders to carry on the dialogue with the state and the Centre. We think that he is not playing an impartial role.”

The CPM leader appealed to the state government to consider the present support base of the Morcha before inviting it to the next tripartite talks in Delhi.

“After Tamang’s murder, we noticed that thousands of people came out on the roads and openly vented their anger on the party. We have informed the state government that considering the present situation in the hills, it must reconsider the decision to invite the Morcha to the next tripartite meeting,” Sarkar said.

Ashok Bhattacharya to visit Darjeeling - why so late, no political agenda ?!!

Tomorrow urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya and Saman Pathak, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, will go to Darjeeling to pay respects to the late ABGL leader, Sarkar said.

In the evening, the district CPM will organise a rally in Siliguri demanding restoration of democracy and measures to maintain the law and order in the hills.

“We have come to know that the Morcha will organise a huge rally in Darjeeling on Sunday and has already started threatening the common people, which we condemn. We have asked the administration not to allow such meeting before ensuring safety and security for the residents and maintaining peaceful atmosphere in the hills,” Sarkar said.

Gurung to cadres: blame murder on govt – Morcha goes for damage control – headline twisted yet again, but naturally ?!!

Bimal Gurung (file photo) - in Kalimpong on the 21st of May 2010, attending a Buddhist Ceremony - a religious man, ready to face any 'paap' ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Darjeeling, May 27: Jolted by the hills’ show of defiance on the day of Madan Tamang’s funeral, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today directed the party leaders to go to the people with the message that the outfit had nothing to do with the killing of the ABGL chief. He asked them to explain the murder as a “conspiracy of the state government to weaken the Gorkhaland demand”.

Sources said Gurung had undertaken the exercise to “dispel” the widely held belief that Morcha supporters had hacked Tamang to death because he (Gurung or Bengal ?!!) had not anticipated such a severe backlash against the party — even if it was for a day. On Monday, while the funeral procession snaked its way through Darjeeling town, people ripped off Morcha posters and festoons and shouted slogans asking Gurung to quit Darjeeling.

Gurung’s instructions to his cadres today are part of a “damage control measure” to ensure that the movement he is heading in the hills does not get derailed.

At the central committee meeting today, Gurung asked the leaders representing various units, blocks and zonal committees to “reach out to the people” with the message that the Morcha was not involved in Tamang’s murder.

Harka Bahadur Chhetri, media and publicity secretary of the Morcha, who had resigned from the party for a day, said after the meeting: “We have asked the leaders to go to the people and explain the conspiracy of the state government to weaken the Gorkhaland demand.” (Whose responsibility to respond ‘immediately’ – citizens’ or the ruling powers ?!!)

The central committee has also decided to write to the Prime Minister, Union home minister and the Bengal chief minister to demand a CBI inquiry.

CRPF personnel patrol Darjeeling town. (Photo by Suman Tamang) - so, lets be honest, who restored the Peace, "CRPF or GLP" ?!!

“The state has created an atmosphere of terror while the murder was largely because of lapses on the part of the administration,” Chhetri said. “By initiating a CID probe, the state is trying to cover up the entire issue and are unwilling to initiate a CBI inquiry which we believe will uncover the truth.”  (True or not ?!!)

The Morcha said it would not accept the CID probe. “We know what conclusions the CID will come to as it is controlled by the state. If the miscreants (killers of Tamang) have any links with the Morcha, we will disown them and not interfere with the law taking its own course. But first the CBI has to come up with evidence linking the killers with the Morcha,” added Chhetri.

The party offered condolences to the bereaved family by observing a minute’s silence before the meeting started.

Despite the state government not giving permission to hold Sunday’s rally, (wonder why, law & order situation or political annihilation ?!!)  the Morcha said it was determined to make it a success. “We will put up screens right from the Motor Stand to the Darjeeling railway station so that all of Darjeeling can watch the rally. We will not allow any one to attend the meeting with lathis,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha.

The Morcha has also appealed to shopkeepers to keep their establishments shut during the meeting. “No vehicles, other than those ferrying party workers, will be allowed to move into the motor stand where the meeting will be held. The entire area will be manned by 5,000 volunteers of the Gorkhaland Personnel and the Morcha’s youth wing,” added Giri.

“The meeting is for peace and if we are not granted permission, it has to be understood that the state is against peace in the hills. But whether or not permission is granted, the Morcha will go ahead with the meeting,” he said.

(NO MORE POSTS TILL BSNL IS RESTORED … DOWN AS USUAL, OR DELIBERATELY PUT DOWN ?!!)