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Tibetan spiritual and titular head,the Dalai Lama has voiced hopethat a “significant breakthrough”

will be seen this year in the relationsbetween his Tibetan Government in-Exile and the Chinese Government.

In his statement issued to mark the

45th anniversary of the Tibetan Up-rising Day [observed today, 10March], the Dalai Lama admits thatthe responsibility of leading the Ti-betans in exile sits heavy on his shoul-ders and reiterates that he will leave

a NOW REPORT

“no stone unturned for seeking a mu-tually beneficial solution that willaddress both Chinese concerns as wellas achieve for the Tibetan people alife of freedom, peace and dignity.”

turn to pg 5

GANGTOK, March 9: TheBharatiya Janata Party is all set foran alliance with the ruling SikkimDemocratic Front in the upcomingpolls in the State.

All-India BJP in-charge ofSikkim, Sunil Shastri, told media-persons here today that the SDFpresident and Chief MinisterPawan Chamling had “agreed in-principle” on the proposal for anSDF-BJP alliance for both the LokSabha and Assembly polls.

“We had an extremely fruitful

SDF-BJP alliance to continue; decisionon possible seat-sharing soon

Darj Tibetansprepareto renewFree TibetstruggleAMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING, March 9, 2004:The Tibetan Community is all set tocommemorate Tibetan Uprising Day,tomorrow and pay respect to the menand women who had made the su-preme sacrifice for the motherland.

“It is time once again to reju-venate our feelings towards ourmotherland and also renew ourstruggle with gusto,” said NorbuDekeva, a Tibetan from Darjeeling.

Similar sentiments also echo inthe new generation of Tibetans.

“Though we are Indian-born Ti-betans and have not visited Tibet,we feel a strong attachment withour motherland. From what wehave heard from our elders, we sa-lute the thousands of martyrs whosacrificed their lives for our bettertomorrow and the ones who are stillcontinuing with the struggle,” saidKarma, a young entrepreneur.

turn to pg 5

Snubbed Congressleader reinstated

DARJEELING, March 9, 2004:Lawrence P.T. Lama, Assistant Sec-retary of the Darjeeling Hill Con-gress Committee, was reinstatedtoday. Incidentally, he had been sus-pended from the party on 16 Febru-

ary for his alleged remarks that evenif the top-brass leaders from Delhi,filed their candidature fromDarjeeling, it would not be acceptedas they were not sons of the soil.

Dawa Norbula, President of theDarjeeling Hill Congress Commit-tee and the Congress candidate

from OUR CORRESPONDENT

turn to pg 3

a NOW REPORT

2; NOW! ; 10 March, 2004

C M Y K

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

SEWAGE WOES

I want to bring to the notice ofthe officials concerned, through

your paper about the problem weare facing at Lower Arithang,Zero Point,Gangtok. The sew-erage and Jhora linecarrying sewage water liesincomplete at LowerArithang in front of my resi-dential complex as a small plot ofprivate land lies in between.

As a result, the dirty waterflows through the private land andinto my residential complex. Un-less proper drainage pipes are con-structed immediately my residentialbuilding is likely to get damaged.

I had approached the concernedauthorities with this case and eventaken up the matter with the localPanchayat members, but to date noany action has been taken. We arefacing this problem for the last one-year and I want it brought to thenotice of the concerned officialsand Panchayats.S. Gurung, Zero Point, LowerArithang, Gangtok

Himalayan ChildhoodIn the heart of Asia lies Tibet,guarded by snow. On the south it isbounded by India and on the eastby Szechwan, a province of China.

My father served as a sergeantmajor in the Chinese army in Tibetwhere the Chinese ruled at thattime. My father was fromSzechwan, and was a Confucian.He married my mother in Shigatse.She was very kind-hearted and wasa Khammo (a native of Eastern Ti-bet) and also a Confucian. After hermarriage she gave birth to a girl,my elder sister.

In 1911 the Tibetans roseagainst the Chinese and my fatherwas taken prisoner. He escapedexecution by the Tibetans andwas sent alive to India with manyother Chinamen. After a veryhard tramp over mountains andhills, with my mother and babysister, he came to Kalimpong,south of the Himalayas, in thenortheast of India, and there hesettled down. Some of the otherssettled in Darjeeling, some inKalimpong, and some went onto Calcutta and back to theirnative China by sea.

I was born in 1919.My sister was ten yearsolder than I. When I wasabout three years old mymother gave birth to myyounger sister, Mimila. Notlong after this my elder sister fellill and died. Very soon after thatmy beloved mother also died. Shewas buried in the Christian grave-yard. Only much later I understoodwhy. When my father had settled inKalimpong, he had great difficulties.Mother had been and he had nomoney to pay for treatment and noneof his friends helped him much. Buthe had one friend who had becomea Christian. He advised my fatherto become a Christian also becauseChristians give kind help in the trou-bles of life. So my father and motherbecame members of the Church ofScotland. When my mother was ill,the late Rev. E. Mackenzie, and Mr.Tharchin, and others, came to visither and took her to the hospital. Ithink I was baptized by Mr. Mac-kenzie but I am not sure. So mymother died in hospital and was bur-ied in the Christian cemetery. Myelder sister had been cremated in theTibetan burning ground near themonastery because she died at homeand the Tibetans and the lamaswould not allow her to be buried,for all Tibetan families loved her.

I think my father took me oftento church. But at home he wor-shipped Confucius. He believedboth in the Christian and his old re-ligion. My father had a good friend,

“In my heart I was happy and proud of the idea that thou-sands in the world would read my story if ever my book shouldbe published”.

These are the last words of the book written by Twan Yangabout his early life. At that time he was in his early twenties andhad still not come to Sikkim, where he would leave his indeliblemark as a pioneer in many fields.

Artist, filmmaker, a keen photographer, a columnist with inter-national magazines... It is hard to pin Twan Yang with any onevocation. Old timers will recall his enthusiasm as he covered everyimportant event in the kingdom. The chief chronicler of the visual

history of Sikkim, he was instrumental insetting up the photo section of the

IPR department.Twan Yang came to

Sikkim in the 1950s andnever again crossed theborder at Rangpo. Afraidthat as a Chinese, hemay not be allowed back

in. He was born inKalimpong in 1919 to a

Chinese father and a Ti-betan mother fromShigatse, Tibet.

Twan Yang’s four-dec-ade long relationship with

Sikkim came to an end in 1995,when he died after a long illness.

But he left behind associations andmemories, which those who knewhim find hard to forget.

NOW! serializes Twan Yang’sautobiography, “Houseboy in

India”...

a l s of r o m

Szechwan,who was

married butchildless, and

my father arranged with him that heshould adopt my younger sisterMimila. At that time I was big andstrong enough to walk. I remainedat home and soon began to help alittle in the house by cleaning pots,bringing water from the tap andmaking biscuits. My father knewcarpenter’s work and could earn hisliving by making all kinds ofwooden things. He got work in theworkshop of the industrial school inKalimpong. At home in the eveningshe made biscuits to sell.

In this way my father and I livedtogether until I was six years old.We had a happy life but my fatherwas so busy that he could occupyhimself very little with me and Ibecame a regular little vagabond.When I was five my father sent meto school but I ran away from it asmuch and as often as I could.

That winter my father was verybusy making biscuits. Every Satur-

day and Wednesday we went to thebazaar to sell our sweets, biscuitsand cakes. The Saturday marketwas very big and perhaps more thana thousand people would come toit, buyers and sellers. The stallkeepers had to pay a tax accordingto the size of their stands. We hadto pay a tax of one anna, for weoccupied a space six feet long byfour. Near our stand all kinds ofvegetables were sold, potatoes andspices and fruits. The people madeso much noise that sometimes whenwe spoke to each other it was diffi-cult to hear what was said.

Most of the women in the mar-ket came from Argara, Malli andRilli or Bam or from other valleysin the neighbourhood. The Nepaliwomen looked as if they were verypoor, for their clothes were not sofine as those I have seen worn inBengal. But all the Nepali womenand small girls wore gold or silveraround the neck and in the nose andears, or on the wrists and ankles. Ifthey had no gold to wear theywould feel ashamed. Sometimesthe women came alone throughwoods and dangerous places. ButKalimpong is such an honest placethat even a small girl wearing goldis not afraid of thieves.

...to be continued

Houseboy In IndiaTWANG YANG [1919-1995)

ACTIONMAIL

TNSSS ROADS

This is to inform you that theroad, which leads to Tashi

Namgyal Senior Secondary School, isin a very bad condition and needs im-

mediate attention.The road is very slip-pery and many stu-dents have fallen on it.

Since nowadaysthe primary section

of the school has shifted below theroad, it has become very dangerousfor the young students to cross theroad during school hours. We hopethat the traffic police will immedi-ately look into this.

Last, but not the least, we wantto congratulate Bijay Subba for be-ing nominated as the Chief Prefectof TNSSS. We hope for co-operationfrom all the students of TNSSS andalso the people of development area.Students Council, TNSSS

Democracy does not only allow a person the liberty of holding an opin-ion, but also expressing it publicly. If you feel strongly about somethingthat has been reported in NOW! or have an opinion on some recentdevelopment, then share it with a wider audience. While the LETTERSsection will carry responses to articles and news carried in NOW!,

ACTION MAIL is about complaints and grievances. Wherever possi-ble, NOW! shall also search out a response to the Action Mail. If not,then at least a complaint would have been filed in the public domain.write to: NOW!, Gairi Gaong, Tadong, East Sikkim. Or email:sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

Tibetan LessonsThe Tibetans were forced out of their homeland in the fifties. Luckilyfor them, while one big neighbour forced itself into Tibetan terri-tory, another opened up to accommodate those who fled the land.The Tibetan experience, however, is about more than just losing ahomeland and finding refuge elsewhere. The Tibetan experienceis about surviving with grace and dignity. Of nurturing and ex-panding a culture which is all but lost in the place of its origin. Andof adaptability. Important lessons that everyone in the hills shouldhave learnt long back given the close quarters they share with theTibetan community. The Dalai Lama’s statement to mark the 45thanniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day is not confrontationist. Itspeaks with hope at a time when most would have abandoned itafter almost half a century in exile. He addresses Tibetan con-cerns lucidly, but without acrimony. He also puts the Sino-Tibetanhistory of attrition in perspective with the situation that led to theincursion and the subsequent uprising. There are no histrionics,no berating. Just a sermon on the present situation and what thefuture could hold. Here he is not really speaking as a high incar-nate monk, but as the leader of the Tibetan people.Contrast this with leaders back home. They remain belligerentand vacuous. While the Dalai Lama sees a change in attitude inthe Chinese who have for fifty years now suppressed and sub-sumed all Tibetan expressions of identity, we are saddled withleaders who continue to see a conspiracy in every move eventhough they live in a democracy. In times when a religious leaderis hoping to find common ground with a communist regime, wehave to live with groups which refuse to settle for even broad agree-ments on contentious issues. The Tibetan Government in Exilehas the luxury of not being subject to a parliamentary system,which, although it ensures civil liberties, also encourages graftand chicanery. What has happened here is that while “graft andfavouritism” are attendant evils of democracy, they have slowlybecome the only attributes of the system. The continuous strug-gle for power and the competition on populism that it fosters rulesout any possibilities of consensus. Darjeeling leaders, even aftermore than a decade has passed since the Andolan, continues tosell Gorkhaland to the people. Sikkim, similarly continues to as-sure a return of the lost reserved seats of the Sikkimese Nepa-lese even though nearly three decades have passed since theywere taken away. The latest addition is the promise of reservedseats for Limbus and Tamangs. These are issues that all politicalparties should find a common approach to and expend more en-ergy on developmental issues which impact the people more di-rectly. It is an irony that the world’s largest democracy should takelessons in politics from a system which is practised in exile.

10 March, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

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Thinley La felt very hurt when her family, beloved ones and otherTibetans started to leave Tibet after the Tibetan Uprising in 1959.She had spent 18 “free” years in Tibet with her relatives and

friends. She had been very happy. Suddenly, when people started tomove out from Tibet, it destroyed all her dreams and aspirations, shefelt very sad. But she hung on to her home for another three years withthe hope that every thing would return to normal some day. That daynever came and with the promise of the return of the good old daysdiminishing with time she was faced with a painful choice. She trav-elled facing various hardships and obstacles before arriving in Sikkimin 1962. She was 21 years of age at the time and carrying her two yearold brother. Now, happily settled in Sikkim with her family, she oftenreminisces her beautiful childhood and young age spent in Free Tibet.She is 63 now.

The history of dissension and attrition between Tibet and China isnow more than a hundred years old. It is an account of the love andfierce pride a people have for their motherland on the one hand and onthe other, the arrogant and irreverent ambitions of another. It is a tributeto the painful loyalty Tibetans have for their nation that even after thepassage of an era in political time and epochal upheavals in society andculture that they still cling on to a dream of independent Tibet.

The early 1900s witnessed the Chinese army subduing the Tibet-ans. In the subsequent years the Tibetans fought back bravely to houndthem out. Finally in the nineteen fifties the relentless persuasion of theChinese paid off and the Tibetans were forced out of their home soil. Itis another story that they found refuge in India. What is of significanceis the memory and hopes they have for themselves and their homeland.

This memory is rekindled each year on March 10. This day is theanniversary of the Lhasa Uprising of 1959 in which thousands of Tibet-ans lost their lives protesting the invasion and occupation of their coun-try by the People’s Republic of China. March 10 is today commemo-rated the world over as the National Day of Tibet and is a focal momentfor raising support and awareness for the Tibetan struggle for freedomand fundamental human rights. The day is also known as Tibetan Up-rising Day.

On this day, Tibet support groups around the world request local

councils to fly the Tibetan flag as a gesture of solidarity and support forthe Tibetan people. Tibetans are prohibited from flying the flag in theirown country. Such a gesture helps the world community to understandand appreciate the struggle of the Tibetan people. Hoisting of the flagof Tibet is also known as the Flag Flying Campaign.

Ngawang Norbu, Tibetan Welfare Officer, Department of Home/CTRC tells NOW! about March 10 – “Tibetan Uprising Day is consid-ered one of the most important days for Tibetans as on this day, March10th, Tibetans were exiled from their own country and this day was alsothe day when His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Tibet for India throughBomdila, Arunachal Pradesh. This would be the 45th year of the Upris-ing Day.”

The day’s programme for the state will be attended to by about 2000people at Bholasulsa at Chinmari, Gangtok there would be offering ofprayers and the statement of the 12 Kasag (cabinet) and His Holinessthe Dalai Lama would be read.

Sonam Pintso whose family originally hails from Lhasa, Tibet saysthat he still has the zeal and enthusiasm that his father had when hecame from Tibet. He is 26 and is proud to be part of Sikkim and India.“I still want to go back when my country will be free and start fromwhere my family had left, I will be a part of the new Tibet”, he saysproudly. He would be going to Siliguri today to take part in the massrally which the Tibetan Youth Association will be taking out. “I want afree Tibet and I will get it” he claims.

Zimba Pintso, President, Tibetan Youth Congress, Gangtok toldNOW! that although the Tibetan Government demanded genuine au-tonomy, TYC wanted complete autonomy and absolute freedom. “TheTibetan Government now has a good relation with China and thus doesnot want to provoke them. Two delegations have already gone to Chinaand talks are on”, he maintains. “But TYC doesn’t accept that, we thinkthat Tibet has never been a part of China. We want our country back”

In India processions will be held in Delhi, Chennai and Siliguri.The commemoration for the Uprising began on the evening of 9th Marchwhen over 500 Tibetans participated in a candle light rally at Salugara.Today those partaking in the mass procession of Tibetans all over theNorth-East will be clad in Yellow T-shirts with slogans and appeals toHuman Rights Organizations, and UNO.

Incidentally,the Kashag [cabinet] of the exiled government has, sincelast year, passed a notice that there shall be no rallies, protests, hungerstrikes and distribution of pamphlets on this day.

NorthpanchayatVP quitsSDFa NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, March 9: TheSikkim Democratic Front views theresignation of its Zilla Upadakshya,North, Palden Bhutia, as “not likelyto hurt the party in any major way.”

SDF vice-president and ChiefWhip, KN Rai, while talking toNOW! said that Mr. Bhutia had “hisown personal reservations aboutthe party” and had resigned on hisown terms.

Mr. Bhutia, resigned from theprimary membership of the SDFparty recently citing dissatisfactionwith the party. In his resignationletter, Mr. Bhutia had accused theSDF leadership of dividing theBhutia-Lepcha and the Nepalesecommunities in the State on com-munal lines and that the party hadfailed to fulfil its promises made tothe people in the last Assemblyelections. The growing unemploy-ment in the State and the failure ofthe party in providing every poorperson the full promised amount ofRs. 1 lakh and 50 sheets under theRural Housing Scheme were someother reasons cited by Mr. Bhutiafor leaving the party.

Refuting the allegations madeby Mr. Bhutia, the SDF Chief Whipsaid that these were the “personalopinions” of Mr. Bhutia. He alsomentioned that Mr. Bhutia has onlyresigned from his post and not yetfrom the primary membership ofthe party.

Incidentally, Mr. Bhutia’s res-ignation letter was distributed to thePress at a Congress press confer-ence held here yesterday, whichcould be indication of the disgrun-tled Panchayat leader’s plans to casthis lot with the Congress. Mr.Bhutia, however, was not presentat the press conference.

ANAND OBEROI

NOW! can be contacted at 953592 270949 oremailed: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

from Darjeeling parliamentary con-stituency, announced the suspen-sion repeal today.

“He came to the party officetoday and rejoined in his formerpost,” he revealed.

Reacting to the waiving of thesuspension Lama said: “I am veryhappy with the party’s stand. I havebeen in the party for the past 22years, the suspension decision hadreally hurt me. I was always dedi-cated and true to the Congress andwill remain so throughout my po-litical career.”

Lama had first joined the party22 years ago in Chattra Parishad

followed by Youth Congress andfinally moved up to the parent party- the Congress.

The Congress also held a meet-ing at the Nepali Shaitya SammelanHall, Darjeeling, today. Party mem-bers as well as members of the af-filiated trade unions joined in themeeting.

All members unanimouslythanked the party for selectingNorbula as the Congress candidatefrom Darjeeling for the forthcom-ing Parliamentary elections. It wasdecided to start election campaign-ing from the plains.

“We will have a public meet-ing at Islampur and Chopra on 12March followed by the next meet-

ing at Khoribari on 14 March,”added Norbula.

The Hill campaigning will bechalked out at an internal party meet-ing scheduled for after 20 March.

Incidentally, on 20 March, ThePeople’s Democratic Front [PDF]- a 5-party alliance is scheduled tohold a core-committee meeting tochalk out election plans includingthe candidate to support.

Though Congress is also a con-stituent party of the PDF, the PDF hasremained tight-lipped regarding sup-port and are yet to give out any assur-ances. Though Dawa Norbula is veryoptimistic of PDF’s support, they arewaiting for its vital meeting on 20March, feel political observers.

Snubbed Congress leader reinstatedContd from pg 1

4; NOW! ; 10 March, 2004

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discussion with Mr. Chamling thismorning and we have decided thatboth the parties would unitedlyfight the polls,” Mr. Shastri said.

Mr. Shastri, along with BJPnational Vice-President PyarelalKhandelwal, is here on a two dayvisit.

Asked to shed more light onthis possible SDF-BJP alliance inthe State, Mr. Shastri said that the“final decision to this effect wouldbe taken after the SDF core-com-mittee meets tomorrow.”

“We have agreed in principle onthe alliance for the polls in theState. After the SDF core-commit-tee meeting, the BJP State unitpresident HR Pradhan will holdtalks with the SDF vice-presidentand chief whip, KN Rai and willarrive on the shape of the allianceand possible seat-sharing arrange-ment through negotiations,” hesaid.

Mr. Shastri went on to say thatMr. Chamling said that the SDF had“unconditionally” supported theNDA government at the Centre forthe past five years would continueto do so.

On the prospects of BJP in theState, Mr. Shastri said that the Stateunit has been able to “make its pres-ence felt” in the State in the last sixmonths and will work towards fur-ther “strengthening” the alliancewith the SDF.

“The Prime Minister’s visit tothe State last year has boosted theties between the SDF and the NDA.Sikkim is a very important State forus and we now hope to workclosely with the SDF,” he said.

This has come barely a weekafter Mr. Chamling announced dur-ing the SDF foundation day cel-ebrations at Rangpo on 4 Marchthat the SDF would go it alone andwould not forge any alliance withany party whatsoever in the polls.When contacted, SDF chief whipKN Rai confirmed that the BJPleaders did hold talks with the SDFhigh command on the possible al-liance.

“Talks were held between Mr.Chamling and the Central BJP lead-ers on this issue today. But we areyet to take any decision in this re-gard. The final decision would bearrived at only after thorough deci-sions with the core committeemembers,” he said.

Mr. Rai said that he had beengiven the responsibility by the partyhigh-command to hold further talkswith the BJP State Unit. “The BJPState Unit has to now arrange ameeting wherein we discuss thematter further. As of now, nothinghas been finalized,” he said.

Contd from pg 1

SDF-BJPallaince tocontinue

GANGTOK, 9 March: The year2004 has been declared by the Gov-ernment of India as the “Year ofScientific Awareness.” As a part ofthe initiation of a year-long pro-gramme, Gangtok is hosting theRegional Sensitization Workshop,YSA-2004 Eastern Himalayan Re-gion. The programme flagged-offtoday at the Conference Hall of theForest Department as the EasternHimalayan Vigyan Chetna Jatha.

The programme is being jointlyorganised by the Eastern HimalayanRegional Organising Committee,Assam Science & Technology andEnvironment Council and the De-partment of Science & Technology,Govt. of Sikkim. Participants fromvarious states have converged toattend this Jatha.

The reason behind the two-dayscience meet is largely “to inculcatethe scientific awareness and tem-perament in the general populationand the student community in par-ticular,” according to Dr. DKPandey of the Department of Sci-ence and Technology. The ChiefGuest for the first day was Dr. NKSehgal, former Director, Depart-ment of Science & Technology,Govt. of India and currently Chair-man of the National OrganisingCommittee of the “Year of Scien-tific Awareness.”

In his inaugural address, Dr.Pandey said that the responsibility

for spreading the scientific spiritamong the population lay largelywith scientists and teachers, “It istheir fundamental duty,” hestressed.

During the two-day affair del-egates will deliberate on the issuesthat concern the country on the pathof scientific progress. Complexitiesat the local level will be focusedupon. Dr. Pandey reiterated theircommitment to take science to thegrassroots of society.

Incidentally, besides the currentJatha, two other Jathas had been or-ganised in the last 15-20 years. Thefirst was the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jathain 1987 and the second was theBharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha heldin 1992. In the current Jatha sixmajor areas are to be focused upon.They are: Water & Sanitation, Health

& Hygiene, Disaster Managementand Mitigation, Bio-diversity, SoilManagement and Empowerment ofInformation and Technology.

“The north-east region of In-dia”, says Dr. Pandey “is importantin many aspects. These regionsalong with the Western Ghats aredeclared ‘hotspots’ in the worldmap”. As the eco-system of thenorth-eastern region is fragile innature he believes that the regionalbio-diversity needs to be preservedand natural resources to be ex-pended in an optimal fashion asthey are limited. “The exhaustionof any one natural resource mate-rial will lead to the depletion of oth-ers”, he says.

N.K. Sehgal in his address de-clared that the Jathas were the larg-est scientific experiment under-

taken anywhere in the world with10% of the Indian population in-formed and influenced through it.“The first Jatha was undertaken in5,000 places while the second in30,000.” The advantage of Jathas,he revealed, was that they were thecheapest way to contact people.They also enabled the discovery ofpeople interested in the promotionof science and thus brought to-gether individuals in the samewavelength. Their other advantagewas their efficacy and efficiency.“The effects of the first Jatha canstill be felt today and those in-volved in the second truly believedthat 100% literacy was achievablein India”, he further indicated.

Other speakers of the day wereProf. AK Misra who introduced

YEAR OF SCIENTIFIC AWARENESS BEGINS

A collectif to promotescientific temper

a NOW REPORT

turn to pg 6

10 March, 2004; NOW! 5

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“Despite the decades of sepa-ration, the Tibetan people continueto place tremendous trust and hopein me. I feel a great sense of respon-sibility to act as their free spokes-man. In this regard, the fact thatPresident Hu Jintao has personalknowledge about the situation andthe problems in Tibet can be a posi-tive factor in resolving the Tibetanissue. I am therefore willing to meetwith today’s leaders of the People’sRepublic of China in the effort tosecure a mutually acceptable solu-tion to the Tibetan issue,” he states.

While admitting that “issue ofTibet” is “complex and of crucialimportance” to both sides, the DalaiLama has placed faith in talks di-rected by “careful considerationsand serious deliberation.” Whilereminding his people of the recent

talks held between his envoys andthe Chinese government, the DalaiLama has stressed that this initia-tion of dialogue should gather moremomentum and “intensify anddeepen the process.”

Only “substantive discussions”and “face-to-face meetings” can dis-pel the existing distrust and miscon-ception and build trust and confi-dence between Tibetans and China.

While the Dalai Lama’s stand onChinese occupation of Tibet has sof-tened over the years, he remains stead-fast in his belief that the “current situ-ation” there “benefits neither Tibetansnor the Chinese government.”

“The development projects thatthe Chinese government haslaunched in Tibet purportedly to ben-efit the Tibetan people are however,having negative effect on the Tibetanpeople’s distinct cultural, religiousand linguistic identity. More Chinesesettlers are coming to Tibet resultingin the economic marginalisation ofthe Tibetan people and the sinisationof their culture,” he states.

His statement, however, remainslaced with hope as he welcomes therelease of Ani Phuntsok Nyidrol,even though he maintains that herincarceration was unfair in the firstplace. The overall human rights situ-ation in Tibet, however, continuesto remain oppressive and discrimi-natory, the Dalai Lama adds.

Identifying the core reason whythe Tibetan issue remains unresolved,

the Dalai Lama opines that the prob-lem lies in the Chinese government’sinability to “deal and act” accordingto the “true and real situation.” Thesame drawback results in the short-comings and failures that plague Chi-nese governance despite the stridesit has made in various fields in re-cent times. The only solution lies inmaking information freely availableto the people, he observes.

This, he adds, is necessary if Chinaseeks stability in the future. Continu-ing in the same vein the Tibetan leaderalso expresses hope to see a “moreopen and eventually more democratic”China in the days to come.

His advise for China continueswith the opinion that a resolutionof the Tibetan problem would berepresentative of a “maturing”China and establish its credentialsas an emerging global player with“vision, and values.”

“There is now a window of op-portunity for the Chinese leadershipto act with courage and farsighted-ness in resolving the Tibetan issueonce and for all,” he says.

The Tibetan Uprising Day state-ment of the Dalai Lama carries theright blend of optimism, emotionsand fears. It is sure to move manyTibetans and remind them of thesituation back home and the roadahead as they begin the observanceof the Day with the message beingread out to them by their respec-tive community leaders today.

Contd. from pg 1

She and her friends are eager tojoin in the rally. The Tibetan Com-munity will be having a gatheringat the Mall along with prayers. Thiswill be followed by a silent proces-sion starting from the Mall and af-ter passing through all the majorthoroughfares of the town again cul-minate at the Mall. A joint actioncommittee for the commemorationhas also been formed which willstart taking out a procession inSiliguri. “The procession will befrom Darjeeling More to the CourtMore in Siliguri” stated Lobsang, amember of the committee. Tibetansfrom Darjeeling, Kurseong,Kalimpong, Sikkim, Odlabari,Salugara and the neighbouring ar-eas are expected to join this rally atSiliguri.

Incidentally, in 1949 the Com-munist Chinese had started invad-ing Tibet and by 1959 Tibet wasfully occupied. Thousands of braveTibetan men and woman from all thethree provinces of Tibet had revoltedon 12th March 1959 against Chineseinvading forces and had sacrificedtheir lives to restore the Nation’sdignity. Tibetans in exile state that areview of the Chinese policy on Ti-bet, and the campaigns launchedfrom time to time in the ultimate

analysis show evil designs to anni-hilate Tibet and the Tibetans.

After destroying all the distinc-tive characteristics of the Tibetanpeople along with its religious andcultural heritage, the Chinese intendto merge them in the sea of Chinese.The most recent development con-cerns the railway line from Gormoto Lhasa and the water dam projecton the confluence of Drichu river.

Through these programs, theChinese aim to transfer a largenumber of Chinese immigrants toTibet which will eventually make theTibetan people only secondary citi-zens in their own country. Male chau-vinism has been a part of the Chi-nese Society. The Tibetan Woman’sright to produce children has beenstrictly regimented and they have topay high monetary penalty for break-ing the Chinese rule. The Chinese au-thority has sterilized many Tibetanwomen against their will.

The middle path approach ofthe Dalai Lama finds mass supportamong the Tibetans in exile.

“We have full faith in His Holi-ness the Dalai Lama. As we believein nonviolence, this is the best stepthat could have been taken” saidNorbu Dekeva. He also believes thatif the present Chinese Governmenttoppled in Tibet, things could gopositive for the Tibetans.

Dalai Lama expects significant breakthrough

Contd. from pg 1

Darj Tibetans prepare torenew Free Tibet struggle

The demand for fresh delimi-tation resurfaced in theDarjeeling Hills and this

time at an internal meeting of theBharatiya Gorkha Jan-Shakti[BGJS] in Darjeeling. The meetingresolved that a memorandumwould be submitted after the for-mation of the 14th Lok Sabha re-garding delimitation.

“We will appeal to all politicalparties to jointly submit a memoran-dum to the Delimitation Commis-sion for the inclusion of Mal Mateliand Nagarkatta and the exclusion ofIslampur and Chopra for DarjeelingParliamentary Constituency and thecreation of a minimum of 15 Assem-bly Constituencies from Darjeelingand Dooars Nepali speaking areas,”revealed CR Rai, President BGJS.

The meeting also authorized thePresident to prepare the formalmemorandum duly supported byfigures, statistics and maps uptoblock level to be shared or dis-cussed with other political parties.

Incidentally this has been an offand on demand of various politicalparties of the hills and numerousmemorandums have already beensubmitted to the Commission re-garding this. Prior to this, a three-party alliance comprising of theCommunist Party of RevolutionaryMarxist [CPRM], Congress andAkhil Bharatiya Gorkha Leaguehad made similar demands in amemorandum to the Commission.

The major cause of resentmentis a single seat in the Lok Sabha forthe whole of the Darjeeling district.The problem most have with thisarrangement is that the 4-DarjeelingParliamentary Constituency thethree separate areas of seven assem-bly segments having different politi-cal, administrative, ethnic, linguis-

tic and historical identities pasted to-gether resulting in an odd combina-tion and thus creating multiple in-conveniences, feel the demanders.

The Hill areas of the DarjeelingDistrict constituting of Darjeeling[3,47,912 population] Kalimpong[1,90,266] and Kurseong [1,46,640],having the lingua-franca as Nepaliwas formed into the DarjeelingGorkha Hill Council.The Siliguri andPhasideva assembly segments form-ing the Siliguri sub-division ofDarjeeling District having 6,15,101a population dominantly inhabitatedby Bengali-speaking population ad-ministered by a separate political-ad-ministrative unit called the SiliguriMahakuma Parishad for the two as-sembly segments.

The two other assembly seg-ments, Islampure and Chopra ofNorth Dinajpur district with Urdu-speaking population also haveGram Panchayat, Panchayat Samitiand Zilla Parishad.

“Hence, in the light of separateexistence and independent admin-istrative development activities ofthe areas mentioned above, we fer-vently request and pray to the Chair-man and all the members of the De-limitation Committee for allotting aseparate Lok Sabha seat for the hillareas of Darjeeling District exclu-sively covering the entire geographi-cal and administrative areas ofDarjeeling Gorkha Hill Council,”read the earlier memorandum of the3-party alliance.

“If 3,68,000 voters can have one

MP in the twelfth Lok Sabha fromChandni Lok Sabha Constituency ofDelhi, then the Darjeeling DGHCarea has a total population of6,84,818,” a leader of the CPRM,DS Bomzan had earlier argued.

During the end of October 2002there had been reports of The Na-tional Delimitation Commission’sefforts to restructure Assembly seg-ments with Darjeeling gaining anew seat. The existing 5 seats ofDarjeeling would become 6 in thenext Assembly elections.

Though the ground work for de-limitation has been chalked out, it willtake some time before the commis-sion officially announces its decisionafter it has taken into considerationthe views of the State Governmentand other political parties. A copy ofthe memorandum had been sent tothe State Election Commission, WestBengal and the Darjeeling DM.

The latest BGJS meeting alsodecided to appeal to SubashGhising, President, GNLF to fieldits candidate in the ensuing Parlia-mentary election instead of boycott-ing or by-passing elections consid-ering the sentiments of the voters.

“We will decide our own elec-tion stand in future meetings”added Rai, the president.

DARJEELING

MAILby AMITAVA BANERJEE

Darjeeling’s DelimitationConundrum

6; NOW! ; 10 March, 2004

C M Y K

SIKKIMMATTERS �

SHEGUThe 49th Day Shegu of late Naksuk Lepcha, who passed onJanuary 23rd 2004, falls on March 11th 2004. All well wishers,friends and relatives are requested to join us in offering prayersfor the departed soul at our residence at Zimchung, Pentok,Mangan, North Sikkim. We, the family members also takethis opportunity to thank all those who stood by us during thetime of bereavement and regret our inability to thank themindividually.

All Family Members

Pentok, Mangan

ANTYESTI KRIYAOur beloved mother, Late Sarda Chettri, wife of DP Chettri

of Daragaon, Tadong left for heavenly abode on February

29, 2004. We are grateful to all those who stood by us at

our time of bereavement and accompanied us during

these hours of profound grief and sorrow.. The Antyesthi

Kriya will take place at our residence at Daragaon, Tadong

on March 11, Thursday.

Bhupendra Chettri (son), Durga Upreti (daughter in law), Neetu Chettri

(Daughter) and Yash Kishore Shrestha (son in law)

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GANGTOK: A two day VendorDevelopment Programme-cum-ex-hibition is being held from 22-23March at Sikkim Government Col-lege Auditorium, Tadong. The pro-gramme is to be organized by SmallIndustries Service Institute in col-laboration with the Directorate ofIndustries, Government of Sikkimin association with SIDBI Gangtok,NSIC Guwahati and CIS Gangtok.

The main objective of the pro-gramme will be to create exposure tolarge-scale industries, marketing op-portunities, diversification of productsand better capacity utilization.

It will also study the purchaseprocedure of large-scale organiza-tions and see that there is better in-teraction between buyers and sell-ers of SSI units.

The first day of the exhibitionwill see bulk consumers displaytheir products with specificationswhich they are out sourcing atpresent, while the small units alsoexhibit the competency and qual-ity of their merchandise.

On the second day there will bedirect interaction between bulk pur-chasers and SSI units across thetable. The bulk purchasers willpresent a technical paper on annualrequirements of stores, spares, re-pairing service etc. with vendorsregistering procedure, specificationand quality standards.

The fees for displaying the ex-hibits are Rs. 500 per stall for SSIunit and Rs.2000 for others andRs.100 per participant.

YSA 2004 with special referenceto north-east, Prof ManmohanSingh on the concept, nature andimpact of Jatha, Jaideep Baruahfocused on the Eastern HimalayanRegion and Dorjee Thinley on theorganizational elements at the vari-ous levels of administration.

GANGTOK: Now that the Elec-tion Commission in New Delhi hasannounced the poll dates, the Elec-tion Department has geared up itspace to complete the electioneeringprocess. The State will go to pollsfor both the Lok Sabha and the As-sembly on May 10.

“We have already started theprocess of completing all the for-malities for the polls,” deputy ChiefElectoral Officer, CP Dhakal said,while talking to NOW!

For the first time, ElectronicVoting Machines [EVMs] will beused in the State. The ElectionCommission in New Delhi has al-ready directed the Department onthe compulsory use of EVMs. TheDepartment already had about 450EVMs with it, which was furtheraugmented by 700 more whichwere brought in from Manipur inFebruary this year.

“As of now, we have about1,200 EVMs, which should bemore than sufficient for the polls.We will be using the new modelduring the polls and have alreadylaunched a massive campaign tofamiliarise the people on the cor-rect usage of the machines,” Mr.Dhakal said.

The EVMs would totally elimi-nate bogus voting he claims. “Thereis no way that an EVM can berigged or manipulated. No one willbe able to cast more than one vote.Once you have pressed a button ofyour choice, the Control Unit, han-dled by the Presiding Officer, willautomatically lock the vote cast and

also the keys. The next ballot canonly be cast after the Presiding of-ficer activates the machine,” Mr.Dhakal said.

The Department is also in theprocess of clearing doubts and mis-conceptions regarding the EVMsamongst the people, especiallythose from the rural areas.

“We are conducting specialfamiliarisation and training pro-grammes for Panchayat membersfrom all Constituencies. We willshow them the correct way tocast the votes and also dispelsome of the myths surroundingthe EVMs, in the hope that theypass on the information to therural folk,” he said.

The Department certainly has amammoth task ahead of it in thisregard. They have barely twomonths time to educate the peopleon EVMs and the people, especiallyfrom the rural areas, have somerather interesting queries regardingthe EVMs. At a demonstration forPanchayats from few constituen-cies of the East District held atChintan Bhawan recently, the offi-cials from the Department had tofield queries - some practical andothers funny.

While most of those presentwanted to know how the machinesworked, some wanted to knowwhether one could get electrocutedby the machines.

“There are some really interest-ing misconceptions regarding theEVMs amongst the people. Somevillagers are of the notion that themachines run on electricity and willgive them electric shocks. Theymight even think that it will be use-

less to cast votes if there is a powerfailure. All the machines are bat-tery-operated and absolutely safe touse,” an official of the Departmentinformed during the demonstration.

Also, it would take some timeto convince the people that theirvotes have been cast and recordedby the mere press of a button.

“People are used to stampingthe ballot papers by their own handsand dropping them inside theboxes. Now, they have to get usedto pressing buttons,” Mr. Dhakalsaid.

As things stand, 345 pollingstations are likely to come upthroughout the State, which in mostlikelihood, will increase by aboutfive more, depending on the re-quirement.

“We may have to increase thenumber of polling stations, if thepopulation of a particular area is toomuch to be handled by one pollingstation. In that case, we will set upauxiliary polling stations,” he said.

A collectif...contd from pg 4

These auxiliary polling stationswill come up in the East District,and around Gangtok. The Depart-ment has already apprised the Elec-tion Commission on this matter andis now awaiting the green signal.

The provisions of getting photoidentity cards have been made at theDistrict Collector’s office in all thefour Districts. The process of issu-ing photo identity cards will con-tinue till March-end.

Accordingly, the issue of theofficial notification has been set for16 April. The last date for filingnominations is 23 April, while thescrutiny of the nominations wouldbe carried out on 24 April. The lastdate for the withdrawal of candi-dature has been set for 26 April.While the State will go for simul-taneous polls on 10 May, the count-ing would take place on 13 May andall the results are expected on thesame day. The entire electioneeringprocess is to be completed before25 May.

ELECTION DEPTT. IS BUSY DISBURSING INFO ON EVMs

DISPELLING MYTHS ANDWINNING CONFIDENCE

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Digital photography is be-coming increasingly popu-lar all over the world and

our hills are no exception. Mostprofessional photographers inSikkim for example have switchedfrom film-based cameras to the dig-ital ones and are more than happywith the results.

Guru Ladakhi, CEO Entel Mo-tors and a keen photographer, wasone of the first persons to buy a dig-ital camera and although he still hashis film cameras, it is obvious thatthe switch is permanent.

“Going digital means you savea lot on waste. You can review thephoto immediately, delete the onesyou don’t like and really there’s nolimit to the number of shots you cantake,” he says.

Although it’s both the imme-diacy and flexibility of digital pho-tography that has made it so popu-lar, the most important aspect is thenew freedom it gives you to explorecreative photography. In the 1870’swhen William Henry Jackson wascarrying 20 x 24 glass plate nega-tives around the West on a mule[see pic], you can bet he hesitatedbefore he took a photograph.

“We may not be carrying win-dow-sized glass plates, but you and Ialso hesitate before taking a picture.We’re always doing a mental calcu-lation ‘is it worth it?’ Subconsciouslywe’re running down a checklist ofcosts, times, effort, and so on. Dur-ing that decisive moment, the imageis often lost or we fail to try newthings. We lose the opportunity forcreative growth and choose to staywith the familiar that has deliveredfor us in the past,” adds Guru.

This new era of uninhibitedshooting is being enjoyed by all.For Manoj Agarwal of Gangtok-based Metroprints, it has helped hisprofessional work immensely.

“It is cheap, it is convenient andgives good results for nearly allkind of shoots,” he informs.

Manoj, who uses a Fujifilm S2Pro Digital SLR with interchangeablelenses feels that the new format giveshim the freedom he had been miss-ing with film based cameras.

“There’s no hassle of buyingfilm, then processing and waitingfor the prints not knowing what theend result is going to be,” he says.

Kuldeep Mukhia who works atCentral Bank and has been dab-bling in photography for a longtime [with excellent results] is an-other convert to this new medium.

“I enjoy shooting landscapesand these days with my Nikon Dig-ital SLR I’m enjoying it evenmore,” he informs.

The best thing with digital cam-eras is that just about anyone cantake a photo.Hand the cam-era to the kids,take weird andunusual angles, shootwithout looking throughthe viewfinder, and ignoreall previously held conceptionsabout how to take photographs.

Once captured, digital photo-graphs are already in a format thatmakes them incredibly easy to dis-tribute and use. For example, youcan insert digital photographs intoa word processing documents, sendthem by e-mail to friends, or postthem on a Web site where anyonein the world can enjoy them. Withmany cameras you can immediatelysee your images on a small LCDscreen on the back of most cameras,or you can connect the camera to aTV and show them much like aslide show. Some cameras can evenbe connected to a microscope todisplay dramatically enlarged im-

ages on a large-screen TV. Digital photography is instant

photography without the film costs!And is it any wonder that more andmore people are treading this newpart. “It’s the era of instant coffee

and instant pho-tography,” con-cludes Guru.

And instantphotography isgetting cheaper bythe day. Accord-

ing to Manoj, a good entry level dig-ital camera can be had for less thanRs. 5,000 in Dhulabari. A brand new2.5 pixel camera is available for Rs.3,000, which is affordable for mostpeople. The only problem is thatthere is no printing facility availablein Sikkim. Although Panorama andMetroprints do take printing orders,they have to rely on their networkin Calcutta to access the printing.

“The printing machine is exor-bitantly expensive and needs a veryhigh level of investment,” informsManoj. However, Panorama plansto launch their digital printing serv-ice soon.

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Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Darpan Publications Pvt. Ltd, Siliguri. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Executive Editor: Mita ZulcaNow! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

THEFINALONE �

DARJEELING/ GANGTOK:After being shunned by all meat eaters, the humblechicken is slowly making its way back to the kitchensand dining tables. The bird flu panic seems to havefinally died down with no new casesbeing reported from anywhere in theworld. India, in any case, never hada single case of bird flu Althoughpanic reactions resulted in the cull-ing of many birds.

A case in point is that of the St.Alphonsus Social and AgriculturalCentre [SASAC] near Kurseong. The“panic culling” of 12,000 hens hadcaused a lot of hue and cry even fromthe Central Ministry of Animal Re-sources Development. A 3-memberenquiry team set up by the govern-ment has found no symptoms of anydisease on autopsy of the birds, in-formed B. Dasgupta, Sub Divisional Officer,Kurseong.

“Though we found no evidence of any disease weare keeping a close watch on all the poultries and meatvendors,” said the SDO.

The panic that resulted in the region after the cull-ing of the birds in SASAC, however, seems to have

now died down.NB Pradhan, DGHC Councillor in charge of ARD

adds that all people are eating chicken and there is nohesitation at all.

In Sikkim the slow march towards consuming chickenis now speeding up with reports from all districts show-

ing that people are now more confidentof not contracting bird flu.

In Gangtok, all meat sellers are re-porting a rise in sales and restaurants andfast food outlets are happy to get the all-popular chicken dishes back on the menu.

“Our sales had fallen drasticallywhen the panic was at its peak butthe last two weeks has seen a steadycomeback of our regular customers,”informs a sales personnel atArambagh, Gangtok.

According to Dr. PP Sharma, Di-rector, Animal Husbandry,“Arambagh brings chicken into thestate with a certificate from the West

Bengal ARD confirming it is safe to eat.”Mr. Sharma has also been verifying and giving cer-

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“We are still carrying out checks at the border, butthere is nothing to worry about now and people can eatchicken safely, “ he states.

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FIGHT FOR DARSHANa NOW REPORT

RHENOCK: Bashudeo Thapa, Head Constable in-charge of KopchayDham duty at Sudunglakha was assaulted by one Ruben Lepcha of 9thMile Kalimpong after he was stopped by Thapa from forcefully trying toget a darshan of Kopchay Guruji.

According to a complaint filed by the HO, Ruben Lepcha was tryingto force his way in and when he was stopped he retaliated violently andassaulted the duty officer and even tore off his official badge.

Eye-witness accounts, however, suggest that Thapa was not allowingaged pilgrims to seek darshan and this is what made Lepcha angry. How-ever, a case under section 353/427 IPC has been registered at RhenockPolice station and the accused has been arrested and put in lockup.

SANSKRIT COLLEGE GETSPERMANENT AFFILIATIONGEYZING: The Government Sanskrit College, a unique institute ofSikkim, has received permanent affiliation from the Sampurnananda San-skrit University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

According to a press release, the College was provisionally affiliated tothe Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi since November 2002.Being given the status of an examination centre, the College has been con-ducting Board Examinations under this University with satisfying results.

As a result of completion of all formalities and meeting the guidelinesof the University, the college has been granted permanent affiliation ac-cording to the affiliation certificate received from the Vice-Chancellor ofSampurnanda Sanskrit University, TN Tewari.

The chief minister, Pawan Chamling had inaugurated the College on28 August 1997. [IPR]

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