BJP’s all out support for Gorkhaland and Kamtapur

By Kumar Sarkar from merinews.com
THE BENGAL unit of the BJP seems to have overcome its initial inhibition about supporting the demands for separate states of Gorkhaland and Kamtapur carved out of the state. It has fallen in line with the central party high command after Jaswant Singh was nominated from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat on the Gorkha Mukti Morcha’s persistence.

In fact the state leadership of the BJP has volubly gone one step further seemingly not caring for the larger sentiments of significant sections of the people in the state who do not want to see a division of Bengal.

Despite Singh’s nomination, the Bengal unit of the BJP had reservations about supporting the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, which even the party’s central leadership took note. The state unit was apprehensive of alienating a large section of the electorate. But in a volte face and going one step further, the state BJP vice president Sabyaachi Bagchi said on Tuesday that the party was not averse to but supported the demand for creating separate states of Gorkhaland and Kamtapur in North Bengal. The allegations of Gorkhas and Rajbangshis that the region was neglected all these years were justified, he said.

Shoring up his contention, the state BJP leader said the BJP led NDA government at the Centre had earlier created smaller states like Chhatisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. To press home his point he added that the BJP had also supported the demand for a separate Telengana.

Seemingly buoyed by the idea that Jaswant Singh is likely to bag the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat with all out support from the Gorkha Mukti Morcha, the state unit, toeing the central party leadership’s line, felt that for administrative reasons “ smaller states may have to be created”. To justify his argument Bagchi said even the Left Front government had divided the district of Midnapore in the state.
Critical of the views of the Left Front, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, which had variously described the movement for Gorkhaland and Kamtapur states in North Bengal as separatist and a second partition of Bengal, the state BJP leader said that if separate states were carved out Bengal to meet the aspirations of different communities in the region it could not be termed so. The party also favoured the creation of more autonomous councils.

For over a century the adivasis in North Bengal and the hill people are “facing oppression”. There needs to be a permanent solution for them, he added. As an instance Bagchi pointed out that sick tea gardens in North Bengal were a major cause of concern.

While support for the Kamtapuri movement aided by the armed Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) by the BJP was muted in the run up to the polls and after Singh was nominated, the state BJP gauging the mood in the hills and among adivasis, a significant section of whom boycotted the polls in the first phase on April 30, seems to be stepping on the gas. Bagchi felt the living standards of the Rajbangshis need to be improved and his party was in favour of any movement to that end. Both the Congress and the Left Front during its tenures had neglected North Bengal but the BJP would set things right because the agitationists hope to get justice from the party.

Maoists hindering govt formation in Nepal: Nepali Congress

From Kantipur.com
KATHMANDU, May 7 – The major political parties—Unified CPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML—have stepped up internal consultations, on Thursday, to discuss the formation of a new government and to end the current political crisis that emerged after the Maoists walked out of the government.

The NC parliamentary party today concluded that the Maoists have posed hurdles in the formation of a new government by obstructing the parliament.

In a meeting held at Singhadurbar today, the NC accused the Maoists of attempting to end the parliamentary and the constitutional system, and also drew the attention of all concerned sides to take initiatives to begin the House proceedings.

Saying that the Maoists could pose hindrances at any time in the writing of a democratic constitution, the party has asserted that the Maoist combatants, who are cantoned at UNMIN-supervised camps across the nations, should be managed before the completion of statue-draft process.

The meeting also lauded the move taken by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to reinstate Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rookmangud Katawal and extended the party’s support to the move.

NC chief Laxman Ghimire said that the party parliamentary squad expressed serious concern over the subject matter in recently exposed video depicting Prime Minister and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal in his address to the PLA fighters.
At the meeting that lasted for about six hours, the party rank condemned its leadership for failing to figure out the Maoist strategy at the current time

Meanwhile, the Maoists began its politburo meeting to formulate its future strategy after its disengagement from the government.
At today’s meeting that lasted for about seven hours, the Maoist politburo members asked the party leaderships to take forward the other procedures only after President Yadav rectifies his directive to reinstate CoAS Katawal, who was sacked by the cabinet on Sunday. They also suggested the party maintain its stand to obstruct the parliamentary and the house unless the president retracts his decision.

With the rival political parties exchanging their ire against each other, the ongoing political deadlock, instead of finding ways to sort it out, seems to be deepening further.

Nepal’s political crisis

From economist.com

IF NEPAL’S mainstream politicians, army and Big Brother, India did not like Maoists in government, it is hard to imagine how the scrubbed-up guerrillas will be improved out of it. The resignation of the Maoist prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, or Prachanda (“fierce”), on May 4th offers a chance to find out. Mr Dahal was protesting against a move by the president, egged on by the aforementioned critics, to reverse his sacking of the country’s army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal. Unless President Ram Baran Yadav relents, the Maoists say they will not rejoin the government. The debacle has jeopardised an already flagging peace process.

General Katawal deserved the boot. A devotee of Nepal’s deposed king, Gyanendra, whose office was abolished last year to draw the Maoists into Nepal’s first post-war election, he has never hidden his hatred for his former foes in a decade-long conflict. In December, he refused to curtail a recruitment drive, which the UN called a violation of the 2006 peace agreement. When the government then refused his request to extend the service of eight brigadier-generals, he again resisted. After he forbade the army to take part in an athletics contest last month because the Maoists’ former army, currently corralled under UN supervision, was also to take part, the government asked General Katawal to explain himself on all three issues. His haughty response prompted Mr Dahal’s action
The general’s insubordination conceals a more serious disagreement: over how to dispose of the Maoists’ former fighters. Under the terms of the peace agreement, negotiated between the Maoists and their political opponents under India’s aegis, some of the 23,000-odd corralled must be recruited into the army. The instrument of a power grab by Gyanendra in 2005, the army must meanwhile be made less elitist and more accountable. But General Katawal, with India’s blessing, has resisted these reforms. Pointing to the Maoists’ continuing revolutionary rhetoric, his backers argue that only an unreformed army can defend Nepal from its elected government. Kumar Madhav Nepal, a leader of a mainstream leftist party known as the UML, and touted as the next prime minister, says they “clearly want to capture power”.

The Maoists’ rhetoric is certainly worrying. So is the thuggery of their storm-trooping youth wing. Yet Maoist leaders also hint that their virulent rhetoric is to placate their frustrated rank-and-file. On May 6th, Mr Dahal said he would not join a national-unity government, as his opponents say they want, unless Mr Yadav reversed his decision; but the Maoists’ democratic commitment was unchanged.

No doubt, he has given reason to doubt this. Yet worries about how easily the army might be corrupted by Maoist recruitment may be overblown. And the peace process, which should also entail accounting for the war’s atrocities, is on hold. So is work on a drafting a new constitution, with which Nepal’s elected assembly is primarily entrusted. With almost half its two-year term gone, little progress has been made, and, needing a two-thirds majority, is unlikely while the Maoists, who control 38% of the house, are in opposition.

Even with more goodwill, this exercise would be contested. The Maoists, in a draft constitution released in March, demand an executive presidency and extreme devolution of powers from the centre to 13 ethnically-based provinces. The UML wants a ceremonial president, a directly elected prime minister and a similar devolution, but to less ethnically-tinged states. The Nepali Congress, the third main party, advocates a Westminster-style parliamentary system, and less devolution.

While squabbling continues in Kathmandu, organic devolution is taking place in many mutinous places. It is most extreme in the southern Terai region, where a 2006 insurrection by ethnic Madhesis has sparked agitations by their neighbours. A militant group of Tharus, who claim to be the region’s original inhabitants and 42% of its population (or double the government’s estimate), rose up this year in protest against their official classification as Madhesis, and to demand Tharu control of an autonomous Terai.

This week, in response to Mr Dahal’s resignation, the group ended its second two-week blockade of Kathmandu, which has worsened the capital’s existing fuel shortage. Asked when this agitation might resume, the group’s leader, a 34-year-old former Maoist fighter called Laxmi Tharu, replies cheerily: “As soon as the next government is formed.”

Obama holds talks with Zardari, Karzai

By Ashish Kumar Sen from The Tribune

US President Barack Obama met Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House on Wednesday and urged them to jointly tackle the threat posed by the Taliban in their countries. Neither Zardari nor Karzai are seen likely to be able to deliver on American requests, but the Obama administration is aware of its limited options in the region.

Obama and Vice-President Joseph Biden held separate bilateral meetings with Karzai and Zardari in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. Later, a trilateral meeting was planned with both visiting leaders in the White House Cabinet Room. The crucial two-day meetings were kicked off early on Wednesday when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama’s special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard C Holbrooke, met Zardari and Karzai.

At a congressional briefing on Tuesday, Holbrooke described the planned meetings as “unprecedented trilateral diplomacy.” He said the Obama administration hoped the meetings would “produce some useful agreements of cooperation”. The US wants assurances from Pakistan and Afghanistan that they would cooperate in the fight against the Taliban even as the Obama administration plans to send additional troops into Afghanistan. US officials are also concerned about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and are determined to persuade the Pakistani leadership that it is the Taliban, and not India, that poses an existential threat to their country. US officials are also expected to tell Pakistan to end continuing links between its military intelligence agency and the Taliban. The Inter-Services Intelligence Chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha is part of Zardari’s delegation.

Asked about the ISI’s “double game strategy” by New York Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman, Holbrooke said he was well aware of the allegations and has had lengthy talks with General Pasha, who insists the “ISI does not do these things anymore”. He added: “But he does not deny nor does anyone else that in the old days, ISI and the American intelligence services worked together to set up some of the organisations which have now turned against the United States. And there may be some serious legacy issues.” The meetings come in the backdrop of growing concern about Pakistan’s ability to stand up to the Taliban, which recently moved within 100 km from Islamabad. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman told Holbrooke lawmakers were “deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan” and that Pakistan appeared to be at a “tipping point”. Ackerman put it more bluntly. “Pakistan’s pants are on fire. … Pakistan’s leaders, rather than recognising and moving to address the urgent danger to their constitution and country, instead seem convinced that if left alone or attack piecemeal, the Islamist flame will simply burn itself out. That hope is, at best, folly,” he said.

Holbrooke assured lawmakers: “We do not think Pakistan is a failed state. We think it’s a state under extreme test from the enemies who are also our enemies and we have… the same common enemy, the United States and Pakistan.”

Ackerman said neither Zardari nor his arch-rival Nawaz Sharif “appear to recognise the scope and seriousness of the crisis that their country is in or of the necessity of setting their personal or party political fortunes aside in order to meet the danger”. He questioned Sharif’s commitment to fight the Taliban, saying: “And while Sharif’s long-standing ties to Islamist political parties could enable him to persuade Pakistani public of the need to confront the Taliban, his public downplaying of the Taliban threat raises serious questions about his commitment to fight the insurgents.” Asked by Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen if Pakistan was hesitant to deal with the militants “because they think that they can’t do it, or because of the problems that they have with India,” Holbrooke replied: “We have long felt that our friends in Pakistan could put more resources into the struggle in the west. They have been reluctant to do so because of their longstanding concerns and past history with India…. India is always a factor.” Marvin Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute said there was no great likelihood that Pakistan’s attention would shift from the East to the West anytime in the near future. “Indian threats following the Mumbai attack ensured that what had appeared to be some positive movement toward reconciliation would be squashed,” he said.

But Holbrooke noted that ever since he came to the job India has been in election campaign. “They have been listening, they’ve been very interested but they have not taken any clear positions at this point… They really do share the understanding that what’s happening in western Pakistan is of direct concern to them. The Indians have been public in saying they’re not happy with the cooperation they got after the Mumbai attacks. We all know that,” he said.

Discussing concerns about a military coup in Islamabad, Holbrooke said the Obama administration is “strongly opposed to any such event” and had made this “unambiguous and clear to all parties publicly and privately”. He said US chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen is in constant contact with his Pakistani counterparts on this issue and a coup would be “a terrible event”.

Landmines killed 40 in Manipur since ’01

SOBHAPATI SAMOM from The Assam Tribune
IMPHAL, May 6 – A three day convention of people affected by the ongoing slow- intensity conflict and narcotic drugs has urged both the State and non-State forces to immediately cease the trend of exploding bombs and placing landmines in inhabited areas.

According to Ginkholal Touthang, Secretary of the Association of Landmine Survivors, many inhabitants of villages located under Khengjoi Block in Manipur’s Chandel district bordering Myanmar have been killed in landmine explosions while many others have been maimed for life. Since 2001, more than 40 villagers have been killed in such landmine explosions.

A landmine victim and housewife Tilhat of Molcham village said, “We don’t want luxurious houses nor trendy cars, but we yearn for peace where there is no fear of landmines”. Her children refused to go back to their village saying that bombs might blow up and gun fights might break out.

Urging that the government should act immediately to check the proliferation of small arms and ammunition in Manipur and the North East, the gathering of Peoples’ Platform Secretariat in collaboration with different organizations from nine districts also reminded the government to immediately initiate peace talks with non-State actors/insurgent groups by removing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and spur development.

The common people here are caught in the crossfire between the State and non-State forces since the last six decades. As a result, there have been frequent killings. Besides, the basic facilities of the common people such as food,water,road, electricity and healthcare are still denied.

The convention which came out with a ten point charter of demands on its concluding day on Sunday said, “There are a large number of women in the State who have been widowed after their husbands were killed by gunmen – both State and non-State as well as those widowed in bomb blasts, landmine and by HIV/AIDS.

The number of widows is rising rapidly in the face of the daily killings that are continuing unabated in Manipur. Around 61 persons were reported killed in the ongoing conflict in Manipur last month.

Eight arrested in CRPF recruitment scam

From thaindian.com
New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Wednesday arrested eight people, including an inspector general of police (IGP) and a commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for their alleged role in irregularities in recruitment to the paramilitary force.
“IGP Bihar Pushkar Singh was arrested in Patna in the wee hours while commandant Yadwinder Singh was arrested from Yamunanagar area. Rs.2.3 million and FDRs of Rs.1.5 million were recovered from Pushkar Singh while Rs.100,000 was recovered from the commandant,” said a CBI officer.

“Suspended CRPF constable Mukesh Kumar, who is believed to be the kingpin of the racket, was arrested in Jharkhand and Rs.765,000 was recovered from him. Among others who were arrested is Kumar’s third wife Swati from whom Rs.5.3 million was recovered,” he added.

“Others who were arrested include Tripurari Kumar, from whom documents of immovable property were recovered, Sindhu Nath Sharma from whom Rs.365,000 in cash was recovered, Dalip Kumar and Pargat Singh,” the official said.

“Cash and FDRs worth around Rs.11.5 million (Rs.1.15 crore) have been recovered. The documents show this has been going on since 2003 recruitment,” said a CBI statement.

The agency had Tuesday registered a case of conspiracy, bribery and abetment against some senior officers of the CRPF in Bihar sector (Bihar and Jharkhand) as well as some civilians for allegedly taking bribes from people aspiring to be recruited as CRPF constables.

According to the CBI, the racket was being run with the help of a widespread network of touts across Bihar and Jharkhand, who used to contact prospective candidates and assure them of selection in lieu of huge sums of money.

“It was further alleged that this network of touts has nefarious contacts with senior local CRPF officers occupying the posts of IG, DIG (deputy inspector general) and commandants, who were favouring candidates of these touts during the recruitment process,” the statement added.

The CBI had conducted searches at nearly 20 places including Patna, Jamshedpur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Munger, Bhagalpur, Ranchi, Aligarh and Yamunanagar across the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

A large number of incriminating documents, including accounts of payments and records of various candidates and documents of immovable properties were recovered during these searches.

In February, the CBI had held and registered a case against a CRPF DIG, a head constable and a tout on allegations of bribery in recruitment to CRPF in Lucknow.

Nepal is back in a big mess

From The Asian Age
With the resignation on Monday of Maoist Prime Minister Pushp Kumar Dahal, better known as “Prachanda”, the “fierce one”, Nepal’s domestic politics has once again gone fluid. Regrettably, this has been pretty much the norm in the Himalayan state for several years. When the political system is placed in jeopardy, it is the people who suffer. Political and economic dislocations in Nepal concern India as this country has an open border with its northern neighbour. When negative impulses are unleashed, some of the fallout inevitably impacts India. In times of uncertainty in Kathmandu, New Delhi has to be watchful for possible moves by China, Nepal’s neighbour to the north. The Prime Minister’s resignation has come on the specific issue of changes in the Army. The Maoists, who fought the regime for 10 years before emerging as the largest party in Parliament, now appear keen that their revolutionary army be integrated with the regular Army, which it fought all these years. The Prime Minister ordered the sacking of Army chief Gen. R. Katawal, whom he perceived as a roadblock in the implementation of this design. But President Ram Baran Yadav, who does not belong to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), countermanded that order in his capacity as supreme military commander. This is a welcome direction as an indoctrinated cadre of about 20,000 battle-hardened Maoists entering the Army can destabilise that institution. The infusion of such a powerful Maoist influence in the fighting forces is certain to concern a country such as India, which is fighting Maoists or Naxalites domestically in regions that border Nepal. The geopolitical dimension of an armed Nepali Maoist cadre in that country’s Army cannot be overstressed.

Prachanda was clearly left with no option but to resign. In a televised speech, the Prime Minister called the President’s direction “unconstitutional and undemocratic”. But Prachanda would know that his own coalition partners in government, not to mention the Opposition, did not want the status quo in the Army to be disturbed, given its deep and unwholesome implications. That probably means more than half the Parliament. Indeed, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) has quit the government on the issue of Prachanda seeking to remove the Army chief and modify the character of the Army. The present Nepal Parliament was primarily elected as a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for the country after the jettisoning of the monarchy and the entry of Maoists through democratic elections in the political process. This was a novel experiment indeed. The question now is: will the constituent assembly address the primary task before it of writing the constitution? Indeed, is this possible unless the Maoists, the single largest block in Parliament but not possessing a majority, and the others come to a modus vivendi after the failure of the Maoists to ram through their design? There are other questions as well. Will the Maoists propose another Prime Minister, or will there be a bust-up within if they try to do so? For that matter, can all non-Maoists combine to provide a government? That task is not going to be easy. All things considered, Nepal has got itself into a jam too soon after the successful post-monarchy election of April last year.

Nepal in crisis, Army chief sacked, CPN(UML) withdraws support

By Shirish B Pradhan from PTInews.com
Kathmandu, May 3 (PTI) Nepal plunged into turmoil with the Maoist-led Government and the Military locked in a major confrontation after Prime Minister Prachanda sacked Army Chief Gen Rukmanga Katawal today for allegedly defying government orders but the General refused to step down.

CPN(UML), a key ruling coalition partner, also decided to withdraw its support to the government in an immediate political fallout of Prachanda’s action which triggered protests from most political parties in the ruling coalition.

President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav also refused to accept Prachanda’s decision instead asking him to follow constitutional provisions and seek consensus of other political parties before taking a decision on the 61-year-old Army Chief.

It was unclear, however, if the prime minister has the power to uniulaterally fire the military chief which came despite domestic and international calls against such a move, including from India who favoured a rapprochement.

“The Army Chief was removed because he failed to give satisfactory explanation on why the government orders were ignored,” Information Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara told reporters shortly after the decision was taken at a special cabinet meeting chaired by Prachanda and boycotted by four key constituents of the coalition government.

Lt Gen Kul Bahadur Khadka, the number two in the army and a confidant of Prachanda, was immediately named as acting army chief to replace Gen Katawal, who was to retire after three months. Gen Katawal, however, declined to step down, according to media reports.

Katwal has called an emergency meeting of top Generals at the Army Headquarters, private radio Nepal FM reported. PTI

Cattle smuggling

From The Assam Tribune
Cattle smuggling to Bangladesh has become a cause of serious concern and though seizures of cattle heads near the international border by the personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) has increased sharply over the years, it is obvious that only a small number of cattle sought to be smuggled out could be seized. The personnel of the BSF posted along the international border in Assam-Meghalaya sector managed to seize cattle worth Rs 8.17 crore in 2007 and the figure increased to Rs 15.58 crore last year. In the first four months of the current year, the BSF seized cattle worth more than Rs 26 crore, which proved that cattle smuggling is increasing alarmingly over the years. The smugglers bring cattle mostly from the states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to be smuggled out to Bangladesh by taking advantage of the porous international border. The governments of the concerned states must put their heads together to deal with the problem as only the BSF cannot check such illegal activity. It is impossible to totally prevent smuggling by the BSF as the smugglers often use the riverine border and it is also a fact that the entire international border is yet to be fenced. The cattle seized by the BSF along the international border are auctioned by the Customs Department as soon as possible and the possibility of the smugglers buying back the same cannot be ruled out.

The Government must take measures to prevent cattle heads from being taken to the international border but due to lack of a proper mechanism, the police also cannot deal with the problem. Whenever police seizes cattle on the way, those cannot be auctioned till the cases are disposed off by the courts and there is no provision for keeping the seized cattle and no extra fund is made available to the police to feed those. Under the circumstances, no policeman is keen on seizing cattle brought to the international border for smuggling out to Bangladesh. In fact, as per information available, a number of slaughter houses are flourishing across the border and Bangladesh has started exporting processed beef to the Gulf countries. The smugglers have also started using local people living near the international border to help them in pushing cattle heads across the international border and in most cases, those are the people who get caught by the BSF and police, while, the kingpins of the racket manage to avoid the security net. The Central and concerned state Governments must formulate comprehensive policies to deal with the menace immediately.

Money, muscle power on display in Sikkim Assembly polls

From the Assam Tribune
NEW DELHI, April 28 – Muscle and money power are both on abundant display in Assembly elections in Sikkim, with major political parties fielding 23 history-sheeters and 39 multi-millionaires, even though not a single woman is in the fray in the State.

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), a nation-wide campaign comprising over 1,200 NGOs and other citizen-led organisations, in its latest report, has said this, after analysing 167 affidavits of candidates contesting in the Himalayan State.

It has been reported that 23 candidates with criminal records were in the fray taking the total percentage to 13.77 per cent. Most of the major political parties have fielded candidates with criminal records, with top parties being INC (10), SHRP (4) SGPP (3), CPI -M (1) and BJP (1).

Out of the total number of criminals, eight candidates are charged of heinous crimes, which include murder and attempt to murder.

The Election Commission has issued ‘Red Alert’ in one Assembly constituency, where three candidates are contesting with criminal background including kidnappings and extortions.

Sikkim also is the State in the North East, where 39 crorepatis are contesting Assembly elections. The SDF (18), INC (8), BJP (4), SGPP (2), and SHRP (1), taking the percentage of millionaires to 23.78 per cent, one of the highest in the region.

Among major parties, the average asset per candidate for SDF is Rs 1.70 crore, BJP is Rs 76.01 lakh and INC is Rs 62.59 lakh.

Another aspect of polls in Sikkim, at least 98.2 per cent of the total candidates have not furnished their PAN card details.