"In the present federal structure of our nation, statehood in the only means by which ‘right to self determination’ can be achieved. This is due to the mistake committed during 1956, when the nation was divided in linguistic basis. In a nation where more than 2000 languages and dialects were spoken, this was a blunder in a gigantic magnitude. The Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution of our Nation incorporates Right to Equality without any discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, languages spoken and so on. Then how was it that the nation was divided in the lines of languages spoken. Friends, we are living in an unreal democracy." - Barun Roy
Monday, January 18, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Bravest of the brave
Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you". - Professor Sir Ralph Turner
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
From India's freedom struggle...
Major Durga Malla was the first Gorkha soldier of the Indian National Army (INA) to sacrifice his life for the cause of the nation.
Major Malla was born in July 1913 at Doiwala near Dehra Dun. He was the eldest son of Nb Sub Ganga Malla. In 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi was leading the countrymen for Independence through Dandi March, Malla was in class nine. Though he was young, he caught everybody’s attention by making outbursts in public against the Britishers. In 1931, when he was 18 year-old, he moved to Dharamsala and got enrolled in 2/1 Gorkha Rifles. His patriotism brought him close to INA.
In 1942, Malla joined INA. His devotion to duty and valour coupled with other skills elevated him to the rank of a Major in INA and was asked to work in the intelligence wing of the INA. When he was collecting information about the enemy camps, he was caught in action at Kohima on March 27, 1944. He was given death sentence by the Court of Trial at Red Fort, New Delhi. However, before the death sentence was finally executed, the authorities tried to coerce Major Durga Malla into confessing sedition. His wife was brought at the prison cell but Malla did not succumb to the pressure. “The sacrifice I am offering shall not go in vain. India will be free. I am confident. This is only a matter of time, Sharda! Don’t worry, crores of Hindustanis are with you”, said Malla to his wife. Those were his last words to his wife.
Malla was married to Sharda Malla of Shyam Nagar, Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh in 1941. Only Three days after marriage, Malla was recalled at his headquarters and was directed to go abroad. He could meet his wife only before his hanging at Delhi District Jail. In 1944, Major Durga Malla was sent to the gallows.
To honour this great hero, a statue was unveiled at the Parliament House Complex by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh recently. Vice President Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Som Nath Chatterjee and other dignitaries were present on the occasion
Major Malla was born in July 1913 at Doiwala near Dehra Dun. He was the eldest son of Nb Sub Ganga Malla. In 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi was leading the countrymen for Independence through Dandi March, Malla was in class nine. Though he was young, he caught everybody’s attention by making outbursts in public against the Britishers. In 1931, when he was 18 year-old, he moved to Dharamsala and got enrolled in 2/1 Gorkha Rifles. His patriotism brought him close to INA.
In 1942, Malla joined INA. His devotion to duty and valour coupled with other skills elevated him to the rank of a Major in INA and was asked to work in the intelligence wing of the INA. When he was collecting information about the enemy camps, he was caught in action at Kohima on March 27, 1944. He was given death sentence by the Court of Trial at Red Fort, New Delhi. However, before the death sentence was finally executed, the authorities tried to coerce Major Durga Malla into confessing sedition. His wife was brought at the prison cell but Malla did not succumb to the pressure. “The sacrifice I am offering shall not go in vain. India will be free. I am confident. This is only a matter of time, Sharda! Don’t worry, crores of Hindustanis are with you”, said Malla to his wife. Those were his last words to his wife.
Malla was married to Sharda Malla of Shyam Nagar, Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh in 1941. Only Three days after marriage, Malla was recalled at his headquarters and was directed to go abroad. He could meet his wife only before his hanging at Delhi District Jail. In 1944, Major Durga Malla was sent to the gallows.
To honour this great hero, a statue was unveiled at the Parliament House Complex by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh recently. Vice President Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Som Nath Chatterjee and other dignitaries were present on the occasion
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The never ending wait....
1949: The FOURTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
The Deputy Foreign Minister while on a visit to Sikkim was met by a delegation of the All India Gorkha League and a demand replacing the above one was made where a state consisting of the district of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Sikkim and Cooch Behar was suggested.
Post our independence the creation of a separate homeland became virtually impossible for amongst the policy makers was the tough man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister, who held very strong and racial views against us and our likes. His letter to Pandit Nehru, dated 7th July 1950 is quite unbelievable and racially slurred:
"All along the Himalayas in the north and northeast, we have on our side of the frontier, a population ethnologically and culturally different from Tibetans or Mongoloids. The undefined state of the frontier and existence on our side of a population with its affinities to Tibetans or Chinese have all the elements of potential trouble between China and ourselves…
The Deputy Foreign Minister while on a visit to Sikkim was met by a delegation of the All India Gorkha League and a demand replacing the above one was made where a state consisting of the district of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Sikkim and Cooch Behar was suggested.
Post our independence the creation of a separate homeland became virtually impossible for amongst the policy makers was the tough man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister, who held very strong and racial views against us and our likes. His letter to Pandit Nehru, dated 7th July 1950 is quite unbelievable and racially slurred:
"All along the Himalayas in the north and northeast, we have on our side of the frontier, a population ethnologically and culturally different from Tibetans or Mongoloids. The undefined state of the frontier and existence on our side of a population with its affinities to Tibetans or Chinese have all the elements of potential trouble between China and ourselves…
Let us consider the political conditions on this potential troublesome frontier. Our northern or northeastern approaches consists of Nepal, Sikkim, Darjeeling and the Tribal areas of Assam. …The contact of these areas with us, is by no means, close and intimate. The people inhabiting these portions have no established loyalty or devotion to India. Even Darjeeling and Kalimpong areas are not free from pro-Mongoloid prejudices."
Click here to Continue reading...
Bhitrinis!!
Sindhupalchowk district, barely 20 km northeast of Kathmandu Valley as the crow flies, shares with Rasuwa District, to its west, the notoriety of being the pre-eminent exporter of girls to the brothels of India. Like so much other information on girl trafficking out of Nepal, the history of this export is apocryphal, there having been little in the way of serious research by dispassionate scholars.
Some of the Sindhupalchowk locals say that the sex trade originated in the supply of Tamang and Sherpa girls of this region to the feudal Rana court of Kathmandu. Apparently, it was just a step away from serving as bhitrini (concubines) and susaaray (maid servants) to the "cages" of the Kamathipura red light district of Bombay. The antiquity of trafficking may be murky, but there is no doubt that there is profit in selling sex. That much is obvious from even a cursory look at some of the households of Sindhupalchowks villages such as Ichowk, Mahankal, and Talamarang.
There is a trafficking network which today continues to supply young women of Sindhupalchowk to Indian cities, and the fact that the locals are fully engaged in this supply is evident from the names of some of the largest brothel owners in Bombay: Lata Sherpa, Mala Tamang, Kabita Sherpa, Anita Sherpa and Maya (Tamang) Chauhan all names which indicate to a fair degree the origin of the women in Sindhupalchowk. Vinod Gupta and Sanjay Chonkar, social activists in Bombay, say that in addition to these top five, there are many other small-time Nepali gharwalis (madams) engaged in running a fair number of the hundreds of bordellos of Bombay. According to them, altogether 25,000 Nepali women work in the brothels of the three key red light areas of Kamathipura, Pilla House and Falkland Road.
Unlike other equally poor hill districts of Nepal, Sindhupalchowk has concentrated on this particular export trade. It has helped that powerful gharwalis from this region rule the roost at the Bombay end. Over time, it has also become an accepted social custom, albeit a secretive one.
"The family members of the victims equally share in the crime," explains Krishna Chhetri, a school teacher at Ichowk, which has many of what are known as "family traffickers". "Prostitutes who return home after several years in the trade encourage their neighbours to send their daughters to Bombay. With their ostentatious display of wealth, it is easy to convince the parents to part with their daughters," adds Chhetri.
Tin roofs
Ichowk is popularly known as Sano Bambai (Little Bombay). From across the Melamchi river valley, in the afternoon sun, Ichowks tin-roofs reflect a prosperity that is said to come from earnings of its women in Bombay. Until recently, when they became more common in the hills of Nepal, these tin roofs were proof of cash income (required to buy the corrugated sheets) and an indication of Ichowks source of wealth, compared to poorer villages which had to make do with thatch. There was, apparently, a direct link between a daughter in Bombay and a tin roof above ones head in Sindhupalchowk.
Starting from the roadhead at the bazaar of Melamchi Pul, it takes over five hours hard hill-walking to reach the closely-knit settlement of Ichowk. Indeed, the tin roofs are all there, with but a handful of thatch. However, the rest of the village is in bad shape: there is no electricity, running water or a health care centre. The fields are poorly irrigated, and the maize and potatoes they produce are hardly enough to last the year.
Unlike the tourist region of Helambu up-valley along the Melamchi, the locals of Ichowk are openly hostile towards strangers. This is, obviously, the result of the unwanted attention it has received over the last few years from Kathmandu-based activist groups, suddenly woken up to the scourge of trafficking. When this writer arrived at Ichowk one June afternoon this year and started chatting with an elderly Tamang woman on her veranda a middle-aged man arrived to grill me with questions, while another man came with a register book and insisted that I write down my name and purpose of visit. There was no unpleasantness, but the incident showed the deep suspicion that Ichowk villagers have of outsiders.
Later, when the Tamang womans husband arrived he explained that his two daughters had gone with his neighbour to the "Thulo Sahar" big city, the term for Bombay. Shyam Karki, school teacher in the village, said that the old man often travelled to Bombay to collect money from his daughters. "There are many parents like him involved in sending their children to work in the Bombay brothels."
"Up to 200 families in this village have sold their daughters, mostly between 12-15 years old. At least 15 girls have left the village with well-known pimps in front of my very eyes. Obviously, the whole community knows where their girls are headed," says Karki. Everyone knows what is going on and what "Bambai" signifies, from the elderly to the very young. "But they pretend as if they do not know," says Karki. "Some families feel the need to show concern, and they make noises in the village, even file a report with the police. But they wait some days before doing so, to ensure that the coast is clear."
Sashi Tamang, a 14 year-old girl rescued from Kamathipura and now living at the Kathmandu shelter home of Maiti Nepal, an NGO providing assistance to women, confirms parental involvement in trafficking. She even says that the girls leaving the village know precisely where they are going to end up. In the brothel to which she was sold by her own neighbour, Sashi remembers meeting at least 50 Nepali girls, a majority of them from Sindhupalchowk. "Most of them had come willingly. Even their own fathers had reached some of them here. But they never knew anything about all the suffering they would face in Bombay," explains Sashi.
In Krishna Chhetris village of Palchowk (which provides the second half of the districts name) stands the 100-year-old temple of Shri Jai Bageshwari Devi, much revered by the Bombay veterans of Sindhupalchowk as well as the neighbouring Nuwakot district. Travelling from far afield, richly adorned women, escorted by their families, arrive here on Saturdays to perform the elaborate Hindu rite of Panchawoli. Lavish spending is in order, and up to NPR 10,000 (USD 150) is paid per buffalo sacrifice. Holy offerings are made to Bageshwari Devi, up to NPR 15,000, says Chhetri. All this conspicuous spending has the locals wide-eyed it is "Bambai" that makes it possible.
The Bhageshwari mandir also serves as a place where sex workers and traffickers alike come to expiate their sins. This is evident from the large sums that have been contributed for the restoration and upkeep of the temple. The names of contributors prominently displayed on the walls, unlike in other temples of Nepal, are primarily those of women.
What is strange but perhaps natural is that the very young girls of Sindhupalchowk who have suffered at the hands of their brothel managers emerge over time as mirror images of their tormentors. These prematurely aged women, clearly, think nothing of entrapping more and ever more young girls from Sindhupalchowk into the maze of Bombays sex trade. The very women who have been trafficked by their parents, or by middle-men (and -women), are more than willing, in the role of brothel managers and gharwalis, to encourage the export of more young women from Sindhupalchowk to Kamathipura and Falkland Road.
Mahendra Trivedi, an ayurvedic practitioner in Bombay and one of the first persons to begin a counselling service for Nepali prostitutes, says he has given up trying to change the attitude of the gharwalis. At one time, Trivedi helped start the Sanyukta Nepali Satya Sodhak Pidit Mahila Sangh, an organisation of prostitutes and brothel keepers promoting the welfare of Nepali sex workers and their children.
"The movement was begun to help Nepali sex workers unite against the corrupt police, local goondas and wicked clients. It was also meant to solve problems of illiteracy and disease, and to help those who wanted to leave prostitution," recalls Trivedi. According to him, however, now the organisation has become a base to expand the market for Nepali prostitutes in Bombay. "The Sangh is now doing more harm than good," says Trivedi.
The membership of the Sangh is down today to just 3000 from the 12,000 during the late 1980s. Until a decade ago, about 80 to 90 gharwalis used to attend meetings every Saturday, discussing matters of concern to the Nepali sex workers. This does not happen any more, and the main Tamang and Sherpa gharwalis in the executive committee of the organisation actually own more brothels today than ever before. "The gharwalis kept on expanding brothels on the pretext of providing more rooms to their girls," recalls Trivedi. The Bombay bazaar for Nepali girls is getting larger, and back in Sindhupalchowk, the supply is assured into the future.
N. Newar is a Kathmandu-based journalist with special interest in human rights issues.
Taken From
http://library.wustl.edu/~listmgr/tnd/0289.html
Some of the Sindhupalchowk locals say that the sex trade originated in the supply of Tamang and Sherpa girls of this region to the feudal Rana court of Kathmandu. Apparently, it was just a step away from serving as bhitrini (concubines) and susaaray (maid servants) to the "cages" of the Kamathipura red light district of Bombay. The antiquity of trafficking may be murky, but there is no doubt that there is profit in selling sex. That much is obvious from even a cursory look at some of the households of Sindhupalchowks villages such as Ichowk, Mahankal, and Talamarang.
There is a trafficking network which today continues to supply young women of Sindhupalchowk to Indian cities, and the fact that the locals are fully engaged in this supply is evident from the names of some of the largest brothel owners in Bombay: Lata Sherpa, Mala Tamang, Kabita Sherpa, Anita Sherpa and Maya (Tamang) Chauhan all names which indicate to a fair degree the origin of the women in Sindhupalchowk. Vinod Gupta and Sanjay Chonkar, social activists in Bombay, say that in addition to these top five, there are many other small-time Nepali gharwalis (madams) engaged in running a fair number of the hundreds of bordellos of Bombay. According to them, altogether 25,000 Nepali women work in the brothels of the three key red light areas of Kamathipura, Pilla House and Falkland Road.
Unlike other equally poor hill districts of Nepal, Sindhupalchowk has concentrated on this particular export trade. It has helped that powerful gharwalis from this region rule the roost at the Bombay end. Over time, it has also become an accepted social custom, albeit a secretive one.
"The family members of the victims equally share in the crime," explains Krishna Chhetri, a school teacher at Ichowk, which has many of what are known as "family traffickers". "Prostitutes who return home after several years in the trade encourage their neighbours to send their daughters to Bombay. With their ostentatious display of wealth, it is easy to convince the parents to part with their daughters," adds Chhetri.
Tin roofs
Ichowk is popularly known as Sano Bambai (Little Bombay). From across the Melamchi river valley, in the afternoon sun, Ichowks tin-roofs reflect a prosperity that is said to come from earnings of its women in Bombay. Until recently, when they became more common in the hills of Nepal, these tin roofs were proof of cash income (required to buy the corrugated sheets) and an indication of Ichowks source of wealth, compared to poorer villages which had to make do with thatch. There was, apparently, a direct link between a daughter in Bombay and a tin roof above ones head in Sindhupalchowk.
Starting from the roadhead at the bazaar of Melamchi Pul, it takes over five hours hard hill-walking to reach the closely-knit settlement of Ichowk. Indeed, the tin roofs are all there, with but a handful of thatch. However, the rest of the village is in bad shape: there is no electricity, running water or a health care centre. The fields are poorly irrigated, and the maize and potatoes they produce are hardly enough to last the year.
Unlike the tourist region of Helambu up-valley along the Melamchi, the locals of Ichowk are openly hostile towards strangers. This is, obviously, the result of the unwanted attention it has received over the last few years from Kathmandu-based activist groups, suddenly woken up to the scourge of trafficking. When this writer arrived at Ichowk one June afternoon this year and started chatting with an elderly Tamang woman on her veranda a middle-aged man arrived to grill me with questions, while another man came with a register book and insisted that I write down my name and purpose of visit. There was no unpleasantness, but the incident showed the deep suspicion that Ichowk villagers have of outsiders.
Later, when the Tamang womans husband arrived he explained that his two daughters had gone with his neighbour to the "Thulo Sahar" big city, the term for Bombay. Shyam Karki, school teacher in the village, said that the old man often travelled to Bombay to collect money from his daughters. "There are many parents like him involved in sending their children to work in the Bombay brothels."
"Up to 200 families in this village have sold their daughters, mostly between 12-15 years old. At least 15 girls have left the village with well-known pimps in front of my very eyes. Obviously, the whole community knows where their girls are headed," says Karki. Everyone knows what is going on and what "Bambai" signifies, from the elderly to the very young. "But they pretend as if they do not know," says Karki. "Some families feel the need to show concern, and they make noises in the village, even file a report with the police. But they wait some days before doing so, to ensure that the coast is clear."
Sashi Tamang, a 14 year-old girl rescued from Kamathipura and now living at the Kathmandu shelter home of Maiti Nepal, an NGO providing assistance to women, confirms parental involvement in trafficking. She even says that the girls leaving the village know precisely where they are going to end up. In the brothel to which she was sold by her own neighbour, Sashi remembers meeting at least 50 Nepali girls, a majority of them from Sindhupalchowk. "Most of them had come willingly. Even their own fathers had reached some of them here. But they never knew anything about all the suffering they would face in Bombay," explains Sashi.
In Krishna Chhetris village of Palchowk (which provides the second half of the districts name) stands the 100-year-old temple of Shri Jai Bageshwari Devi, much revered by the Bombay veterans of Sindhupalchowk as well as the neighbouring Nuwakot district. Travelling from far afield, richly adorned women, escorted by their families, arrive here on Saturdays to perform the elaborate Hindu rite of Panchawoli. Lavish spending is in order, and up to NPR 10,000 (USD 150) is paid per buffalo sacrifice. Holy offerings are made to Bageshwari Devi, up to NPR 15,000, says Chhetri. All this conspicuous spending has the locals wide-eyed it is "Bambai" that makes it possible.
The Bhageshwari mandir also serves as a place where sex workers and traffickers alike come to expiate their sins. This is evident from the large sums that have been contributed for the restoration and upkeep of the temple. The names of contributors prominently displayed on the walls, unlike in other temples of Nepal, are primarily those of women.
What is strange but perhaps natural is that the very young girls of Sindhupalchowk who have suffered at the hands of their brothel managers emerge over time as mirror images of their tormentors. These prematurely aged women, clearly, think nothing of entrapping more and ever more young girls from Sindhupalchowk into the maze of Bombays sex trade. The very women who have been trafficked by their parents, or by middle-men (and -women), are more than willing, in the role of brothel managers and gharwalis, to encourage the export of more young women from Sindhupalchowk to Kamathipura and Falkland Road.
Mahendra Trivedi, an ayurvedic practitioner in Bombay and one of the first persons to begin a counselling service for Nepali prostitutes, says he has given up trying to change the attitude of the gharwalis. At one time, Trivedi helped start the Sanyukta Nepali Satya Sodhak Pidit Mahila Sangh, an organisation of prostitutes and brothel keepers promoting the welfare of Nepali sex workers and their children.
"The movement was begun to help Nepali sex workers unite against the corrupt police, local goondas and wicked clients. It was also meant to solve problems of illiteracy and disease, and to help those who wanted to leave prostitution," recalls Trivedi. According to him, however, now the organisation has become a base to expand the market for Nepali prostitutes in Bombay. "The Sangh is now doing more harm than good," says Trivedi.
The membership of the Sangh is down today to just 3000 from the 12,000 during the late 1980s. Until a decade ago, about 80 to 90 gharwalis used to attend meetings every Saturday, discussing matters of concern to the Nepali sex workers. This does not happen any more, and the main Tamang and Sherpa gharwalis in the executive committee of the organisation actually own more brothels today than ever before. "The gharwalis kept on expanding brothels on the pretext of providing more rooms to their girls," recalls Trivedi. The Bombay bazaar for Nepali girls is getting larger, and back in Sindhupalchowk, the supply is assured into the future.
N. Newar is a Kathmandu-based journalist with special interest in human rights issues.
Taken From
http://library.wustl.edu/~listmgr/tnd/0289.html
A hotbed for ISIs
The CPIM, in allowing so many refugees to enter India through its generously porous border has so easily allowed Silguri, Sikkim and a lot of the North East States to be a hotbed for ISIs. Isn't the West Bengal govt. indirectly supporting terrorism in India?
But we people are just blind sheeps, can be herded to any corner, and we will surely be merrying chewing cud.
But we people are just blind sheeps, can be herded to any corner, and we will surely be merrying chewing cud.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The plight of the gorkhas
About the thief ...Ghising..
He did nothing but tried to divert the attention of the people from the main issues of development and separate state to very hackneyed and at times very disturbing issues like No Man’s land, 1950 India-Nepal Treaty, public meeting at Toodikhel in Kathmandu, airport in Dhootriah, the International Court of Justice at Hague, Gorkha vs Nepali language issue, Mata and Pita issues, Dhunga and Murti issue, to see a Goddess in Nepal’s lady nun-singer Ani, sixth schedule, international spy ring issue and what not. Can we think of a single good project done by him ? Who gained except a few contractors and bureaucrats and councillors ? All the people cried and remained shocked by his harmful actions. Writer’s Building in Calcutta celebrated his madness and showered on him the red blessings for more stupidity and anti-people activities. Do we forget how many people were killed during his treacherous regime, how Bhanubhakta’s bust was stolen from Chowrasta ? Do we forget that he did not even pay Rs 8000 to the families of people who died in the first phase of Gorkhaland agitation ? Whereas in Nandigram they paid lakhs and even in Nithari child victims case they paid lakhs as compensation.
He did nothing but tried to divert the attention of the people from the main issues of development and separate state to very hackneyed and at times very disturbing issues like No Man’s land, 1950 India-Nepal Treaty, public meeting at Toodikhel in Kathmandu, airport in Dhootriah, the International Court of Justice at Hague, Gorkha vs Nepali language issue, Mata and Pita issues, Dhunga and Murti issue, to see a Goddess in Nepal’s lady nun-singer Ani, sixth schedule, international spy ring issue and what not. Can we think of a single good project done by him ? Who gained except a few contractors and bureaucrats and councillors ? All the people cried and remained shocked by his harmful actions. Writer’s Building in Calcutta celebrated his madness and showered on him the red blessings for more stupidity and anti-people activities. Do we forget how many people were killed during his treacherous regime, how Bhanubhakta’s bust was stolen from Chowrasta ? Do we forget that he did not even pay Rs 8000 to the families of people who died in the first phase of Gorkhaland agitation ? Whereas in Nandigram they paid lakhs and even in Nithari child victims case they paid lakhs as compensation.
The red flag
The illegal influx of millions of immigrants, the political backing of the CPIM allowed the immigrants to easily over power the original inhabitants of Siliguri. The immigrants naturally bound being refugees, captured land and spread terror among the locals of Siliguri in free India.
The red flag was their symbol, the flag of CPIM.
The red flag was their symbol, the flag of CPIM.
Impact of the cancellation/review of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950
Cancellation of the treaty would have no negative impact on the Indian Gorkhas. Rather, it would help us in establishing our Indian identity. As regards to the Mancha’s demand that those who have immigrated to India from Nepal after 1950 should be identified and deported, all we have to say is that, on signing the treaty the immigration and settling of people from Nepal and vice-versa the emigration and settling of Indians in Nepal have been legalized by the government by virtue of an International treaty. So the issue of identification and deportation of those who have settled after 1950 does not hold water. Having said so, we demand of the West Bengal government to go back to its definition of ‘Refugee from Bangladesh’ ( which states that Refugees from Bangladesh are families which were displaced from erstwhile East Pakistan (presently Bangladesh) and settled in West Bengal prior to 25th March 1971’) and identify all those illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and deport them. Further, people like Prof. Haren Ghosh, who himself is a refugee from Bangladesh (His family immigrated to India and Prof. Ghosh and his brothers spent the early part of their life in Kurseong. His brother, Sudhir Ghosh was even the Headmaster of the Krisnamaya Memorial High School, a Nepali High School in Siliguri) and spearheading the Jan Jagaran Mancha need to be hauled up by the administration for spreading canard regarding the Gorkha community and trying to create communal divide as well as, give fillip to the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Gorkhas in Siliguri and adjoining areas.
Step sons
The West Bengal Government has defined the term ‘Refugee’ in the context of immigration from Bangladesh as ‘families which were displaced from erstwhile East Pakistan (presently Bangladesh) and settled in West Bengal prior to 25th March 1971’. Those meeting the afore-mentioned criteria are eligible for rehabilitation from the government (West Bengal Government Official website). The Government of West Bengal has, even today, a department for Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation headed by the Hon’ble Minister of State, Shri Binay Krishna Biswas (Secretary: Smt. R. Venkataraman, IAS, and Officer on Special Duty: Shri A. Kanungo, WBCS).
The Department was formed in 1950 with the objective handling the enormous dimensions of the human tragedy that West Bengal had to face following the partition of India in 1947 and the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war for liberation of Bangladesh. As per government order No. 264-Rehab. Dated 1988 & 602-Rehab. Dated 20-02-90 as well as 264-Rehab. Dated 35-01-91, the certificates from elected representatives including MPs, MLAs, Municipal Councillors, and Sabhapatis of Panchayat Samities would be accepted for the purpose of regularization of displaced families or for grant of a ‘No Objection Certificate’. Free-hold Title Deeds against homestead plots in government sponsored and approved ‘Squatters’ Colonies are now issued in appropriate cases to eligible refugee families.
Lease deeds for 99 years granted to refugee families prior to 1988 are being converted to Free-hold Deeds vide government orders dated 17-01-89 and 08-12-88 (West Bengal Government Official website). No doubt, the influx of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan during partition in 1947, the riots that followed in 1950 and the Indo-Pakistan war for liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 was very unfortunate and the government had to rehabilitate the immigrants.
Having said this, it also needs to be stated that this influx changed the demography of Siliguri. However, what is unacceptable is the accommodation of the illegal immigrants after 1971 by the Left front led government, mainly for political reasons i.e. vote banks for electoral gains.
Indian Gorkhas, who were the dominant community in the Ashrampara, Hakimpara, Gurung busty and Pradhannagar areas of Siliguri town, have been reduced to a minority. Though it has been more than 60 years since the partition of Bengal and more than 37 years since the Indo-Bangladesh war, the Department of Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation continues to exist. Does it not indirectly suggest that the illegal immigration from Bangladesh still continues and they even have a department to welcome them? If there was no illegal immigration from Bangladesh continuing, why is it necessary to continue having a separate refugees from Bangladesh? This influx of refugees and constant efforts at harassing the Indian Gorkhas from different areas of Siliguri has led to the gradual but pre-meditated ouster of the Indian Gorkhas by the scheming CPI-M goons from Siliguri town. This activity, akin to ‘ethnic cleansing’ has been on since a long time and now, again has gained momentum following the renewed demand for Gorkhaland.
Though it is not necessary for the Indian Gorkhas to react to the issue of cancellation/review of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 and the identification and deportation of those who have immigrated to India from Nepal after 1950, as raised by the a communal outfit like the Jan Jagaran Mancha, we are responding to their raising the issues because these are issues of the CPI-M of West Bengal which is being raised by Jan Jagaran Mancha, the Amra Bangali and Jan Chetana Mancha.
The Department was formed in 1950 with the objective handling the enormous dimensions of the human tragedy that West Bengal had to face following the partition of India in 1947 and the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war for liberation of Bangladesh. As per government order No. 264-Rehab. Dated 1988 & 602-Rehab. Dated 20-02-90 as well as 264-Rehab. Dated 35-01-91, the certificates from elected representatives including MPs, MLAs, Municipal Councillors, and Sabhapatis of Panchayat Samities would be accepted for the purpose of regularization of displaced families or for grant of a ‘No Objection Certificate’. Free-hold Title Deeds against homestead plots in government sponsored and approved ‘Squatters’ Colonies are now issued in appropriate cases to eligible refugee families.
Lease deeds for 99 years granted to refugee families prior to 1988 are being converted to Free-hold Deeds vide government orders dated 17-01-89 and 08-12-88 (West Bengal Government Official website). No doubt, the influx of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan during partition in 1947, the riots that followed in 1950 and the Indo-Pakistan war for liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 was very unfortunate and the government had to rehabilitate the immigrants.
Having said this, it also needs to be stated that this influx changed the demography of Siliguri. However, what is unacceptable is the accommodation of the illegal immigrants after 1971 by the Left front led government, mainly for political reasons i.e. vote banks for electoral gains.
Indian Gorkhas, who were the dominant community in the Ashrampara, Hakimpara, Gurung busty and Pradhannagar areas of Siliguri town, have been reduced to a minority. Though it has been more than 60 years since the partition of Bengal and more than 37 years since the Indo-Bangladesh war, the Department of Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation continues to exist. Does it not indirectly suggest that the illegal immigration from Bangladesh still continues and they even have a department to welcome them? If there was no illegal immigration from Bangladesh continuing, why is it necessary to continue having a separate refugees from Bangladesh? This influx of refugees and constant efforts at harassing the Indian Gorkhas from different areas of Siliguri has led to the gradual but pre-meditated ouster of the Indian Gorkhas by the scheming CPI-M goons from Siliguri town. This activity, akin to ‘ethnic cleansing’ has been on since a long time and now, again has gained momentum following the renewed demand for Gorkhaland.
Though it is not necessary for the Indian Gorkhas to react to the issue of cancellation/review of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 and the identification and deportation of those who have immigrated to India from Nepal after 1950, as raised by the a communal outfit like the Jan Jagaran Mancha, we are responding to their raising the issues because these are issues of the CPI-M of West Bengal which is being raised by Jan Jagaran Mancha, the Amra Bangali and Jan Chetana Mancha.
From the mainstay to the fringe
The Government of West Bengal has taken lots of pains to take care of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, who have been changing the demography of Siliguri and adjoining areas, pushing the original inhabitants, the Indian Gorkhas to the fringe areas. However, when thousands of Nepali speaking Bhutanese citizens were forcefully thrown out from Bhutan in the 1990s, not only did the Government of West Bengal keep mum on the issue, on the contrary it helped in the deportation of these Nepali speaking Bhutanese citizens through its territory in Indian army vehicles at the dead of night to the other side of the river Mechi in Nepal, where these refugees are languishing in a pathetic state.
Every time they make efforts to go their homeland, they are thwarted by the Bengal police at Panitanki. The interesting question that arises here is why a differential treatment is meted out to refugees from Bhutan unlike those from Bangladesh? Are not both the groups foreigners? The answer to our question is obvious. As the Bhutanese refugees speak the language of the Indian Gorkhas, have similar physiognomy and have a similar social and cultural ethos, the West Bengal government was afraid that the accommodation of the Bhutanese refugees would alter the demography of Dooars, Siliguri and the adjoining areas.
Similar episodes have happened to Indian Gorkhas residing in Assam and the North East. Had we a separate state, the Indian Gorkhas and the Nepali speaking Bhutanese refugees could have been saved from the ignominy of having to lead such miserable lives on the banks of the river Mechi on pure humanitarian grounds. In contrast, the Bangladeshis have been sheltered in West Bengal simply because of the common language and culture they share with the Bengalis residing in West Bengal and of course, the ‘vote bank’ issue. This was possible because the Bengalis have a separate state of West Bengal for themselves. If the state of West Bengal had not been in existence, the Bangladeshis would have possibly met the same fate as the Bhutanese refugees and the evicted Indian Gorkhas from Assam and the North East. A book titled, ‘Immigration from Bangladesh to India based on census data’ by Aswini Kumar Nanda has documented the population flows from Bangladesh to India over 1981 and 2001. He reports that as of 2001, there were 3.1 – 3.7 million Bangladeshis in India, 97% of who have infiltrated to the East (i.e. Bengal) and Northeast regions in 1981-2001.
It is reported that an average of 200,000 persons slip annually into West Bengal State alone’. Almost all of them stay back by procuring ration cards and entering their names in the voter’s list in collusion with the ruling Left front of West Bengal for the now well known ‘VOTE BANK’. In collusion with the highly politicized state administration, the CPI-M is reported to have forged and distributed more than 8 million ration cards,thereby jeopardizing the public distribution system.
Every time they make efforts to go their homeland, they are thwarted by the Bengal police at Panitanki. The interesting question that arises here is why a differential treatment is meted out to refugees from Bhutan unlike those from Bangladesh? Are not both the groups foreigners? The answer to our question is obvious. As the Bhutanese refugees speak the language of the Indian Gorkhas, have similar physiognomy and have a similar social and cultural ethos, the West Bengal government was afraid that the accommodation of the Bhutanese refugees would alter the demography of Dooars, Siliguri and the adjoining areas.
Similar episodes have happened to Indian Gorkhas residing in Assam and the North East. Had we a separate state, the Indian Gorkhas and the Nepali speaking Bhutanese refugees could have been saved from the ignominy of having to lead such miserable lives on the banks of the river Mechi on pure humanitarian grounds. In contrast, the Bangladeshis have been sheltered in West Bengal simply because of the common language and culture they share with the Bengalis residing in West Bengal and of course, the ‘vote bank’ issue. This was possible because the Bengalis have a separate state of West Bengal for themselves. If the state of West Bengal had not been in existence, the Bangladeshis would have possibly met the same fate as the Bhutanese refugees and the evicted Indian Gorkhas from Assam and the North East. A book titled, ‘Immigration from Bangladesh to India based on census data’ by Aswini Kumar Nanda has documented the population flows from Bangladesh to India over 1981 and 2001. He reports that as of 2001, there were 3.1 – 3.7 million Bangladeshis in India, 97% of who have infiltrated to the East (i.e. Bengal) and Northeast regions in 1981-2001.
It is reported that an average of 200,000 persons slip annually into West Bengal State alone’. Almost all of them stay back by procuring ration cards and entering their names in the voter’s list in collusion with the ruling Left front of West Bengal for the now well known ‘VOTE BANK’. In collusion with the highly politicized state administration, the CPI-M is reported to have forged and distributed more than 8 million ration cards,thereby jeopardizing the public distribution system.
The influx
Siliguri showed a population growth of 2.6%, 4.9%, 29.4% and 36.4% in 1891-1901, 1901-11, 1941-51 and 1951-61 respectively. The growth in population till 1941 was due to the rapid urbanization of Siliguri. However, from 1941 onwards the demography of Siliguri and its adjoining areas changed rapidly due the influx of refugees from present day Bangladesh. In 1941-59, the town of Siliguri recorded growth of 61.2%, which was largely due to the influx of refugees from the erstwhile East Pakistan, following the partition of the country in 1947 and the communal riots in 1950. In 1951-61, the population increased by 101.5% for Siliguri town, this again being due influx of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan. Immigrant refugees, mostly Bengali Hindus from erstwhile East Pakistan became a quantitatively important segment of population of the district, most of who settled in the plains of Siliguri sub-division (West Bengal District Gazeeter, Darjeeling 1980).
Excerpts from the West Bengal District Gazeeter, Darjeeling 1980 bring out very interesting facts. It is written that “The refugee influx has helped Siliguri town to grow in many ways. The Refugee Rehabilitation Department made donations to the Siliguri College and the Siliguri Commerce College to construct buildings. Land was also granted to Siliguri Girls’ Higher Secondary School for its building as these institutions were needed to meet the ever-increasing demand for education of the new settlers. The state government also advanced more than Rs.1, 50,000 to the Siliguri Municipality to construct roads, make sanitary arrangements and arrange water supply in the refugee concentrations within the municipal limits. In addition, the Refugee Rehabilitation Department opened a market on a 3-acre plot of land at an expense of more than Rs. 10, 00000 for the benefit of about 800 refugee traders and named it ‘Bidhan Market’. Half of the refugee colonies are within Siliguri town and the persons staying there are mostly employed in urban occupations pertaining to the tertiary sector of the economy. Two are in the semi-urban area, the inhabitants of which are also employed more or less in the same sector. The other two colonies are in rural areas and engaged in the primary sector of the economy”.
Excerpts from the West Bengal District Gazeeter, Darjeeling 1980 bring out very interesting facts. It is written that “The refugee influx has helped Siliguri town to grow in many ways. The Refugee Rehabilitation Department made donations to the Siliguri College and the Siliguri Commerce College to construct buildings. Land was also granted to Siliguri Girls’ Higher Secondary School for its building as these institutions were needed to meet the ever-increasing demand for education of the new settlers. The state government also advanced more than Rs.1, 50,000 to the Siliguri Municipality to construct roads, make sanitary arrangements and arrange water supply in the refugee concentrations within the municipal limits. In addition, the Refugee Rehabilitation Department opened a market on a 3-acre plot of land at an expense of more than Rs. 10, 00000 for the benefit of about 800 refugee traders and named it ‘Bidhan Market’. Half of the refugee colonies are within Siliguri town and the persons staying there are mostly employed in urban occupations pertaining to the tertiary sector of the economy. Two are in the semi-urban area, the inhabitants of which are also employed more or less in the same sector. The other two colonies are in rural areas and engaged in the primary sector of the economy”.
The start
In 1839, Dr. Campbell, of the British East Indian Company devoted himself to the task of developing Darjeeling, inviting the hill tribes of neighboring region including Nepal to cultivate the mountain slopes, and stimulating trade and commerce. Every encouragement was given to the settlers, who received grants of forest land. It was mainly the hill tribes of Nepal who cleared the dense forests in the difficult mountainous terrain that helped Darjeeling grow by leaps and bounds.
It was these hill tribes who were involved in the formation of the Hill Corps for the maintenance of law and order and improvement of communications in such a difficult terrain. Apart from Nepal, the people who worked here on the invitation of the British were the hill tribes from Sikkim (and of course, Darjeeling, which was gifted to the British by the Raja of Sikkim in 1835) and Bhutan too. All these facts which are documented in LSSO’Malley’s Darjeeling Gazeeter prove beyond doubt that apart from the Gorkhas who became Indian citizens by transfer of their land to British India, the other hill tribes who came to Darjeeling from Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim were settlers who were enticed by the British to come to help the British build and develop this part of British India.
In 1898, the final report on the Darjeeling Terai Settlement published by Sri Sasi Bhusan Dutta (Bengal Secretariat Press, Calcutta), a Settlement Officer of the Government of West Bengal, the total population as well as its ethnic breakup of the Terai areas of the Darjeeling district (i.e. Siliguri and its periphery of today) has been documented. The report reveals that more than 31% of the population in the Siliguri and adjoining Terai regions consisted of the Gorkhas, the Lepchas and the Bhutias. The remaining population was principally Adivasi and Mohamadden. What is remarkable is the fact that, the report does not show the presence of any Bengali population then. It is thus clear that the majority of the population in Siliguri and the Terai at the end of the 19th century was predominantly castes belong to the Nepali/Gorkha and Adivasi community.
After the signing of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950, some people settled in India from Nepal by virtue of the treaty but their number is very less as can be verified from the Census reports. So, we see that even those who settled in India after 1950 did so legally as permitted by the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950, which is of mutual benefit to India and Nepal.
It was these hill tribes who were involved in the formation of the Hill Corps for the maintenance of law and order and improvement of communications in such a difficult terrain. Apart from Nepal, the people who worked here on the invitation of the British were the hill tribes from Sikkim (and of course, Darjeeling, which was gifted to the British by the Raja of Sikkim in 1835) and Bhutan too. All these facts which are documented in LSSO’Malley’s Darjeeling Gazeeter prove beyond doubt that apart from the Gorkhas who became Indian citizens by transfer of their land to British India, the other hill tribes who came to Darjeeling from Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim were settlers who were enticed by the British to come to help the British build and develop this part of British India.
In 1898, the final report on the Darjeeling Terai Settlement published by Sri Sasi Bhusan Dutta (Bengal Secretariat Press, Calcutta), a Settlement Officer of the Government of West Bengal, the total population as well as its ethnic breakup of the Terai areas of the Darjeeling district (i.e. Siliguri and its periphery of today) has been documented. The report reveals that more than 31% of the population in the Siliguri and adjoining Terai regions consisted of the Gorkhas, the Lepchas and the Bhutias. The remaining population was principally Adivasi and Mohamadden. What is remarkable is the fact that, the report does not show the presence of any Bengali population then. It is thus clear that the majority of the population in Siliguri and the Terai at the end of the 19th century was predominantly castes belong to the Nepali/Gorkha and Adivasi community.
After the signing of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950, some people settled in India from Nepal by virtue of the treaty but their number is very less as can be verified from the Census reports. So, we see that even those who settled in India after 1950 did so legally as permitted by the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950, which is of mutual benefit to India and Nepal.
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