Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Agencies Kolkata, July 4: Notwithstanding the West Bengal Government’s warning, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, on Friday said it would not allow vehicles in Darjeeling and adjoining areas of the proposed Gorkhaland to run without ‘GL’ number plates from July seven. “Introduction of GL number plates is part of GJM’s non-cooperation and non-violent movement to press for Gorkhaland,” GJM press secretary Benoy Tamang told PTI from Darjeeling.  He said this would also be mandatory for vehicles of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. “Let the state government and the Centre take whatever action they want. We will go ahead with our vow to introduce GL number plates,” he said.  On Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty’s statement on that this was illegal, Tamang said, “We will not bow down our head before Subhas Chakraborty. “The Khalistanis in Punjab and NSCN(IM) had introduced their own currency. This was illegal because they did want to stay within the Indian Constitution. We want to ...

New Delhi: Following the ongoing Gorkhaland agitation, the Sikkim government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court for a direction to the Centre and the West Bengal government to ensure free movement of traffic on National Highway No. 31A to and from Sikkim. A vacation bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice G.S. Singhvi decided to hear the petition on Thursday on a mention made by counsel for the State A. Mariarputham about the filing of an application. The Bench, after hearing senior counsel P.H. Parekh, said it would take up another application filed by O.P. Bhandari seeking the same relief. The apex court had already issued notice on a writ petition from Mr. Bhandari for a direction to the parties concerned to take appropriate action during bandhs and strikes called by political parties and social organizations. The present applications are filed in the same writ petition. The applicants said on account of frequent bandhs called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the last few da...

BY BARUN ROY [BEACON ONLINE EXCLUSIVE] Darjeeling : Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President declared the postponement of the indefinite strike which was supposed to start tomorrow morning at 6am . Speaking at Chowrasta, Bimal Gurung said that the talks that had taken place between the GJM delegation led by Roshan Giri and the Union Home Minister were promising. However, the GJM President refused to divulge the details of the talk. http://beacononline.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/gorkha-janmukti-morcha-forced-to-postpone-indefinite-strike-until-5th-of-july/

Gangtok: A meeting was held at Mintokgang Monday morning under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Dr. Pawan Chamling, to review the stock position of essential commodities in the State and devise ways and means to replenish the depleted stock of various items resulting from the ongoing indefinite strike called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling Hills. The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary, Mr. N.D.Chingapa, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Finance Secretary, Home Secretary, Development Commissioner, Food Secretary, Managing Director, STCS, Principal Secretary, and Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister.  In the meeting, concerned officers apprised the Chief Minister about the State’s storage capacity of Motor Spirit and High-Speed Diesel which are 255 KL and 875 KL respectively, enough to last only two days, 780 KL of Kerosene Oil to last only for 3 days and 10,700 ...

DARJEELING, June 22: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) relaxed its indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills for 60 hours beginning 6 pm today. The 60-hour breather, from 6 pm today till 6 am on Wednesday (June 25), was decided at the central committee meeting at the “request from different quarters including ministers and MPs and also considering the overall situation.” Talking to reporters here today, Bimal Gurung, the president of GJMM said that the bandh has been relaxed after persistent requests from the Union Ministers as well as because of several students, who have been stranded in hostels across the Darjeeling Hills even after the start of their summer vacation. He further announced that all the schools, colleges, and tea gardens, which were running despite the strike, would now be totally closed fr...

GANGTOK/RANGPO, June 20: Sikkim remained cut off from the rest of the country for the fifth consecutive day today due to the ongoing blockade on National Highway 31-A called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) to press for its demand for a separate Gorkhaland demand. Except for ambulances, press, vehicles carrying students, and vehicles carrying LPG cylinders, no other vehicles are permitted to ply from Rangpo, West Bengal side. The State may not be affected by the shortage of LPG as more than 15 trucks carrying LPG cylinders entered in two days from Rangpo Checkpost. Yesterday, an SNT tanker was not allowed to pass as the Morcha picketers slept on the Highway. Meanwhile, a huge rally was organized today at Rangpo, West Bengal side where more than 500 youth and Nari Morcha members shouted slogans for the fulfillment ...

20 Jun 2008, 0131 hrs IST, Anand Soondas ,TNN When the first batch of Indian Nepalese, or Gorkhas as they like to be called, settled in what is now Darjeeling, there was nobody to record it for history. But Darjeeling already had a resident population when the British, after a ravaging war with the fierce warriors, brought them down with guile to annex the hill tracts in 1814. That was almost 200 years ago. A decade after that General Lloyd and J W Grant of the East India Company began the first British settlements in Darjeeling, finding it favourable both as a getaway and sanatorium. The region was formally adopted by the British in 1837 and a road from Pankhabari to Ghoom, and then up to Darjeeling, leaped up almost immediately as a hotel was established in Kurseong for European travellers. By 1866, the Darjeeling district as we know it today was complete. It's surprising, therefore, that CPM state secretariat member and West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakra...

There are different interpretations of the definition of Gorkha and Nepali. Actually, it is the two sides of the same coin. It is only because the Indians used to see us like the people living across the river Mechi, that this problem emerged. As far as I believe, there should not be any geographical boundary in respect of language and literature. It is not that the English language is meant for the English people in England only and the Nepali language for the Nepali of Nepal only. Language and literature are two such things that become more rich and prosperous as it extends their sphere. If calling Nepali reflects the citizen of Nepal then in order to distinguish us from them we have formulated the concept of calling us Gorkha. ABGL was working in this field for a long time on its own level. To segregate and safeguard our identity in India, it is better to call us Gorkha to have distinct bifurcation.  That is why Mr. Subash Ghisingh might have called Gorkha. But regard...

Gangtok: A key highway NH 31-A, which is a lifeline to Sikkim, was blocked and normal life in the Darjeeling Hills was paralyzed on Tuesday, day two of the indefinite shutdown called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) fighting for a separate state of Gorkhaland. There were no reports of any untoward incident, but private and public vehicles did not ply and offices remained closed in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong, as the latest phase of the GJM’s indefinite shutdown stretched into Tuesday. The streets were deserted, with only police and army vehicles moving around as GJM activists assembled at various points. Kalimpong Additional Superintendent of Police K.V. Dorji said GJM activists put up a blockade on National Highway 31A, connecting Sikkim with the outside world, at the Bengal-Sikkim border of Rongpo. “We are sending reinforcements to remove the blo...

KARMA SAMTEN YANGZOM GANGTOK, June 17: The tiny, landlocked Himalayan State of Sikkim has become a victim of neighbourhood politics it has little to do with. The unrest in the neighbouring Darjeeling Hills, punctuated with frequent and unpredictable bandh calls have left Sikkim not only completely cut off from the rest of the country but with a huge dent in its exchequer. Sikkim is losing a staggering Rs 6 crore a day whenever the Darjeeling hills shut down and the National Highway 31A, the vital road link connecting Sikkim with West Bengal, is subjected to closure by the agitators. About 60 per cent of the National Highway 31A connecting Sikkim runs through the Darjeeling District in West Bengal. This figure is based on a survey conducted by the State Department of Economics, Sta...

People rushed to stock up on supplies and trucks snaked up the hills to carry essentials Monday in readiness for the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for separate statehood. People rushed to stock up on supplies and trucks snaked up the hills to carry essentials Monday in readiness for the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for separate statehood. As long queues formed outside shops in the area, the GJM, which Sunday renewed the call for an indefinite shutdown beginning 6 p.m. Monday in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling district - Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong - also stepped up calls for the resignation of state Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya. The GJM, which has kept the plain land areas of Darjeeling districts outside the purview of the shutdown but announced a relay hunger strike at various spots in Siliguri, Terai, and the D...

GANGTOK/SILIGURI, June 10: The indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) today in the Darjeeling Hills has severely affected normal life in Sikkim. Panic-stricken tourists, who were unable to leave the State yesterday, thronged the motor stands in the Capital today hoping for some respite. The fact that the GJMM has not left the National Highway 31A connecting Sikkim with the rest of the country out of the purview of the bandh, has made matters worse for the tourists. Hundreds of passengers heading towards Sikkim were stranded at the SNT bus stand in Siliguri as well. More than 300 hapless passengers had no choice but to wait for hours with the hope of getting some alternative way to head towards Sikkim. Among the stranded passengers, the majority of th...

   source: you tube son3775 A shame on you INDIA...im apalled by this behaviour of the bengal force on the ex servicemen...ambo this is ridiculous,cudnt stop tears comin out of my eyes, how i have started hating these so called bongs...yes i accept i have become a racist but its for a reason....I hope tht bimal da and party will keep their movement consistent nd non violent and acheive the dreams of the highlanders...our own Gorkhaland... Samadrusti what else do u expect from those who raised their sticks on old women and aimed their guns at little children in singur & nandigram? it is not only wb police but the police of india... just imagine what they would be doing in rural areas and situations where there is no media...

SILIGURI, May 8: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha would soon approach the Sikkim chief minister Mr. Pawan Kumar Chamling, and the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), to seek help in the ongoing Gorkhaland agitation in the Darjeeling Hills, the GJMM president Mr. Bimal Gurung said today. “We would send a formal letter to the Sikkim chief minister and the SDF, seeking help for the Gorkhaland agitation. The letter would be dispatched in the next two days,” Mr. Gurung said. Vowing to carry forward the agitation until the statehood goal was achieved, the GJMM president also urged the Gorkhas living across the various states to join in the Gorkhaland struggle. “This is our last fight for realizing the separate statehood demand, which would eventually establish our identity in India. Hence, we urge upon all the Gorkhas ~ those serving in the police, the Army anywhere in India, to come forward and join the struggle at least for once,” he said. Mr. Gurung reiterated that the whole of Darjeeling di...

SOURCE: HIMALAYAN DARAPN

Siliguri ( West Bengal ), March 10 (IANS) Beleaguered Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Subhas Ghisingh Monday resigned from the post of caretaker administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). “Subhash Ghisingh has already submitted his resignation letter. The letter has been addressed to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. It would be sent to the state administrative headquarters in Kolkata tomorrow (Tuesday),” District Magistrate Rajesh Pande told reporters in Siliguri, a town in Darjeeling district at the foothills of the Himalayas. “It was a very small letter but I cannot disclose the text,” he said. Asked who the next DGHC chairman would be, he said the state government would take a decision. “I cannot comment on it,” Pande said. “Ghishing is not very well since last night. He has got a fever. He will stay in Siliguri for the next few days and then he will head for Darjeeling,” the official said, adding that Ghising’s security escort woul...

Siliguri (WB), Mar 10: With just a day left for Subash Ghising to resign as the caretaker administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in Darjeeling, all possible measures are being taken to maintain peace in the hills. Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey told newsmen that the administration was doing everything possible to maintain peace in the hills.  Ghising, who is staying at a WBSEB guest house here after his entry to Darjeeling was barred by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha workers for the second time this month, is supposed to return to the hill station today to submit his resignation.  GJM president Bimal Gurung said that his party workers would not block roads when Ghising proceeds to Darjeeling today, but cannot be sure what the common people's reaction would be. Gurung had earlier said that Ghising would not be allowed to enter the hills till he resigned from his post. Asked who would replace Ghising, Jalpaiguri divisional commissioner B L Meena told newsm...

Zee News Bureau  Darjeeling, March 10: Bucking under intense pressure from his political opponents Subash Ghising, chief of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, on Monday tendered his resignation to the Darjeeling District Magistrate over the Gorkhaland status row. The GNLF chief was last week ousted from the Darjeeling Hills by Bimal Gurung`s Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, and Ghising in a bid to stem the revolt against him had renewed the demand for the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state.  Changing track the GNLF leader recently reverted to his old demand for a separate Gorkhaland state to be carved out of the region and certain areas contiguous to it and sought a dialogue with the Centre on the issue.  Last week a delegation of senior GNLF leaders led by Ghising went on to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and pressed for continuing dialogues on the statehood issue between the Centre and parties. The GNLF leadership has also dropped their demand for the grant of Sixth...

Express news service Kolkata, March 8 “The asli (real) Ghisingh is yet to emerge,” announced Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Subash Ghisingh in Siliguri on Saturday. He was speaking to the media regarding his impending resignation from the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and subsequent plans. Ghisingh, who is at present the caretaker administrator of DGHC, confirmed that he will step down on Monday. Darjeeling district administration sources said the state government is trying to ensure a safe passage for Ghisingh by holding talks with the Gorkha Janamukti Morch (GJM) leaders. GJM leaders are apparently divided about allowing Ghisingh to enter Darjeeling even after he agreed to step down as DGHC chief. While one section is in favour of allowing him to return to Darjeeling after he resigned, the other section feels his return will give him the opportunity to regroup his men and foment trouble. However, a GJM leader said: “Going by the present mood in the hills, peop...

Bagdogra, March 7: Bimal Gurung today signalled he wants the turmoil in the hills to end, assuring the people that his party would not do anything that might affect tourism, Darjeeling’s biggest bread-earner. The indefinite bandh and fast launched by Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had crippled the hills.  “It was off-season then,” Gurung said when asked if the tourism industry had already taken a hit. The tourist season starts in February-end. “The hills will soon witness a steady flow of tourists. We will not resort to any activity that might affect the sector on which thousands of people depend for their livelihood,” he added. Gurung left it to the people to decide whether to let Subash Ghisingh enter the hills after he resigns as a caretaker administrator of the DGHC. One of the conditions on which the Morcha withdrew its indefinite protest was that Ghisingh would have to step down from the hill council. The Morcha has shut out Ghisingh from the hills since his return fro...