Three-country rally ends at Changrabandha

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 12: The 12-day three-country rally organised by India-Bangladesh-Pakistan People's Forum ended at Changrabandha of Mekhliganj today and a large gathering was held there on the occasion today. The rally started from Ghojadanga in Uttar 24-parganas on 1 February.

 

Chairman of the tri-country forum, Mr Debabrata Biswas (MP), state food and supplies minister Mr Paresh Adhikary, Cooch Behar MP (Lok Sabha) Mr Hiten Barman and Md Mehboob Alam of Bangladesh spoke on the occasion.

 

At the gathering held at the Bazarer Math in Changrabandha, Mr Biswas and other speakers demanded simplification of passport and visa issuing system. They argued that as the two neighbouring countries – India and Bangladesh – have common language and bear the same cultural heritage there should not be any barbed wire fencing along the border. The people of both countries should be allowed to visit the neighbouring country without any difficulty as they used to do before partition, they speakers argued.

 

When the people of two Germanys can unite then why not the people of India and Bangladesh be able to come closer, questioned Mr Biswas. Md Alam too opined against the laying of barbed wire fencing to divide the people of neighbouring countries. []

Silent rally against police firing

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 12: Condemning the police firing that killed five Forward Bloc activists at Dinhata on 5 February, the FB supporters took out silent rallies at different areas in Cooch Behar district today. They wore black badges and tied their faces with black cloths to protest the atrocities done by the police. State secretariat member of the party and Cooch Behar (West) MLA Mr Akshoy Thakur said the programme was held throughout the state today to ventilate their hatred and grievance against the brutality of the police. []

 

Employees' state meet ends

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 12: The forty-first biennial state conference of West Bengal Group-D Government Employees' Association concluded today. More than eight hundred delegates form different districts had attended the four-day conference. The association of group-D employees is the largest organisation affiliated with the State Co-ordination Committee.

 

A 61-member working committee and 24-member central secretariat were formed from the conference. Mr Jaydeb Chakraborty and Mr Biplab Dey Sarkar were appointed president and secretary respectively.

 

During the four-day conference the delegates criticised the contractual system of appointment in government departments. It is a bid to replace the permanent appointment system, they alleged. They also condemned the government for keeping vacant posts lying vacant for a long because the existing employees have to bear the workload. This is also encouraging unnecessary expenditure of government money, they observed.

 

The delegates demanded strict measures to stop corruption in the administrative system and strict implementation of the punctual attendance policy. They also demanded introduction of Bengali as mandatory at all levels in government offices and releasing of notifications and instructions in Bengali. []

 

New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 12: The New Railway Demand Committee (NRDC) is considering a plan to launch a fresh movement for speedy implementation of the long awaited New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway project.

 

NRDC joint convenor Mr Chandi Pal said they would discuss over the issue at their meeting on 14 February. The railway authority should complete implementation of the whole project within the stipulated period. A fresh movement plan for speedy implementation of the project will be decided in the NRDC meeting, he added.

 

Yesterday, the chairman of the Railway Standing Committee Mr Basudeb Acharya (MP) announced in Cooch Behar that the New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway project is going to be a matter of reality. After a meeting with senior officials of Northeast Frontier Railway including the general manager (construction) and leaders of New Railway Demand Committee he said that trains are likely to run between New Cooch Behar and Golokganj in Assam by December 2009.

 

Mr Acharya came here yesterday to visit the progress of work of the long awaited New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway project. He started his visit from Madhupur and went upto Baxirhat adjacent to Assam-Bengal border. NRDC leaders including Cooch Behar MP (Rajya Sabha) Mr Tarini Roy, Natabari MLA Md Tamser Ali and joint convenor of NRDC Mr Chandi Pal accompanied him. Later, he held a meeting with senior NF Railway officials and NRDC leaders at Circuit House.

 

Surveying the progress of work in Cooch Behar district along the proposed 235-km railway route the RSC chairman said that the progress was not upto the expectation. Acquisition of remaining lands needed for the project may be completed by 15 April, he hoped. Though the work of the project is going slowly he hoped that by united effort trains might start plying between New Cooch Behar and Golokganj by December 2009. The entire project is likely to be completed by 2012.

 

Mr Acharya said people and political parties of this region fought for the New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway route for a long. It is a very important railway route. Once launched it will be easier to carry local agricultural produces quickly to Guwahati by train, he opined. Surely it will boost up economic scenario of this region.

 

Before partition of the country it was possible to arrive Kolkata within six hours. "I shall request the Prime Minister to consider reviving the old railway route from Haldibari to Sealdah through Bangladesh. It turned defunct in 1952. The PM should take up the matter with the Bangladesh government", Mr Acharya said.

 

Mr Acharya informed that Agartala is going to come in railway map and train services will begin there in June of this year. Establishing a rail link with Bhutan is also on the cards. []

The chairman of Railway Standing Committee Mr Basudeb Acharya (MP) visits the progress of work of the 235-km New Cooch Behar-Jogighopa railway project of Northeast Frontier Railway near New Cooch Behar Railway Station in West Bengal on Monday, accompanied by senior railway officials.

 

The chairman of Railway Standing Committee Mr Basudeb Acharya (MP) is coming back after visiting an under-construction railway bridge over Gadadhar river at Shikarpur in Cooch Behar of West Bengal on Monday. He surveyed the progress of work of the 235-km New Cooch Behar-Jogighopa railway project of Northeast Frontier Railway on Monday.

Forward Bloc declares action plan

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 11: Forward Bloc will organise state-wide movement after 29 February if the government fails to withdraw the cases lodged against its leaders and activists by that date. Announcing the programme the general secretary of All India Forward Bloc Mr Debabrata Biswas said they would demonstrate and court arrest at all the offices of DMs and SPs in the state after 29 February.

 

Mr Biswas attended the secretariat meeting of Cooch Behar district Forward Bloc at Dinhata today. He said the Dinhata issue would come up at the council meeting of the party to be held at Nagpur on 15-17 February where resolutions will be adopted to organise countrywide movement against police atrocities.

 

Tomorrow, the party supporters will observe Black Day by wearing black badges and tying black cloth on faces throughout the state. From 15 February to 29 February condolence meetings will be held at all gram panchayat areas in Cooch Behar district to pay respect to the martyrs who were killed in 5 February police firing, Mr Biswas said.

 

On 3 March, Subhas Beer Chakra will be conferred to the family members of the five martyrs at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.

 

Mr Biswas handed over their declared assistance of Rs 3-lakh to the next kin of the five killed FB men today. He also declared Rs 2,000 for each of the injured 25 supporters. The families of the 40 arrested persons are to get Rs 1,000 each. On behalf of TUCC Rs 5,000 were disbursed to the five families.

 

Mentionworthy, Cooch Behar district unit of Forward Bloc has reviewed the situation that came up after the death of its five activists in police firing at Dinhata on 5 February during the law-violation programme. The two-day workers' convention that began on Saturday at Nripendra Narayan Memorial Hall in Dinhata to discuss the issue concluded yesterday. In the close-door meeting the leaders of the party listened the opinions of the grass-root level workers to study the pulse of the supporters about staying in the Left Front and in the ministry and the party's relation with the CPI-M.

 

Summing up the outcome of the two-day meet the district secretariat meeting of the party was held today to chalk out the next phase of movement, according to the Cooch Behar district Forward Bloc secretary Mr Udayan Guha. []

Interstate new train to run in 2009

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 11: Train services are expected to be introduced between New Cooch Behar and Golokganj in Assam by December 2009. The chairman of Railway Standing Committee Mr Basudeb Acharya (MP) announced this today at Cooch Behar Circuit House after a meeting with senior officials of Northeast Frontier Railway including the general manager (construction).

 

Mr Acharya came here to visit the progress of work of the long awaited New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway project. He started his visit from Madhupur and went upto Baxirhat adjacent to Assam-Bengal border. Leaders of New Railway Demand Committee including Cooch Behar MP (Rajya Sabha) Mr Tarini Roy, Natabari MLA Md Tamser Ali and joint convenor of NRDC Mr Chandi Pal accompanied him. Later, he had a meeting with senior NF Railway officials and NRDC leaders at Circuit House.

 

Surveying the progress of work along the proposed 235-km railway route Mr Acharya said the progress was not upto the expectation. A stretch of 1.5-km land still needs to be acquired near New Cooch Behar for the project. Acquisition of lands may be completed by 15 April, he hoped. Though the work of the project is going slowly he hoped that by united effort trains might start plying between New Cooch Behar and Golokganj by December 2009.

 

NRDC joint convenor Mr Chandi Pal said they would discuss the development in their meeting on 14 February and next plan of movement demanding speedy implementation of the project will be decided there.

 

Mr Acharya said people and political parties of this region fought for the New Maynaguri-Jogighopa railway route for a long. It is a very important railway route. Once launched it will be easier to carry local agricultural produces quickly to Guwahati by train, he opined.

 

Before partition of the country it was possible to arrive Kolkata within six hours. "I shall request the Prime Minister to consider reviving the old railway route from Haldibari to Sealdah through Bangladesh. It turned defunct in 1952. He should take up the matter with the Bangladesh government", Mr Acharya said.

 

Mr Acharya informed that Agartala is going to come in railway map and train services will begin there in June of this year. []

Confusion over two inquiries into Dinhata incident

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 11: As the state government decided to order a judicial inquiry into the police firing in which five Forward Bloc supporters were killed, the fate of the proposed administrative inquiry into the incident became uncertain. Senior officials are now in confusion whether both the probes will continue in parallel. Due to the judicial inquiry the administrative inquiry may be shunned, believe a section of officials.   

 

Earlier, after visiting Dinhata on Saturday, the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri division Mr Biharilal Meena had said that a magisterial inquiry into the Dinhata violence would commence soon and the government will decide who will be entrusted to do the job. The district magistrate of Cooch Behar Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha too had said that a senior magistrate might conduct the inquiry.

 

Today, when contacted over phone, Mr Meena said he is yet to receive any government communiqué about the inquiry. He learnt of the proposed judicial inquiry from the media. It is upto the government to decide who will conduct the probe and from when, he said.

 

Soon after airing of the decision of a judicial inquiry into the Dinhata incident a confusion being growing up among administrative officials.

 

As the government declared a judicial inquiry there is no necessity to conduct a probe with a magistrate into the same incident, a senior and well-placed administrative official of IAS cadre opined.

 

On the otherhand, another official of IAS cadre said that as per government norms a magisterial inquiry is a must after any incident of police firing. It can run independently and it has no connection with any other inquiry like a judicial one. There is no legal or technical problem in conducting both the probes concurrently, he said.

 

Meanwhile, referring his visit to Dinhata on Saturday Mr Meena said he went there not to conduct any probe. He went only to learn what actually happened there on 5 February, he said.

 

When asked about the arrest of the 57 persons named in the FIR lodged by the SDO of Dinhata, Mr Meena said, "Those who are guilty they should be brought to the book". The actual happenings of the day and who were the guilty may come out during inquiry, he opined.

 

Mr Meena however denied making any specific comment about the possibility of arrest of the seven FB leaders including the party's district secretary Mr Udayan Guha. It may be recalled here that forty persons in the fifty-seven FIR named were already arrested and sent to judicial custody.

 

Mentionworthy, the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri division, Mr Meena visited Dinhata on Saturday. He visited the premises of the court where five Forward Bloc activists were killed in police firing on 5 February during a law-violation programme.

 

During his visit Mr Meena had a meeting with the district magistrate of Cooch Behar Mr Sinha and the SDO of Dinhata Mr D Chakraborty. He inquired about the firing incident that occurred on that day. He also saw the damages done to the government offices at the vicinity on 5 February. Talking with the reporters at Dinhata Mr Meena said on Saturday that in 25 rounds that were fired on that day to control the mob 3 (three) were blank shots. []

CPI-ML (Liberation) stir plan

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 10: CPI-ML (Liberation) will organise demonstrations throughout the state on 13 February demanding stepping down of the chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

 

State unit secretary of the CPI-ML (liberation) Mr Kartik Pal said the 'trigger happy' chief minister has no right to stay on the chair after the Dinhata mayhem. He believes the political necessity of the Left Front already expired and now the people need an alternative in this state.

 

Criticising the role of the state government Mr Pal said the chief minister is trying to suppress democratic movements with police forces. They are ignoring their responsibilities and liabilities to the common people of the state. They are now busy in appeasing the capitalists instead of the poor people. "Once we termed Siddhartha Sankar Roy as the killer CM and now Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee replaced him", he said. In Dinhata five Forward Bloc activists were politically annihilated following a well-planned conspiracy, he alleged. []

 

PHOTO : Mr Sukomal Sen inaugurates the state conference of Group-D employees in Cooch Behar on Saturday.

 

PHOTO : Stilt dancers from Katowa at the rally organised on the occasion of Group-D employees' state conference in Cooch Behar.

 

PHOTO : Rally being held on the occasion of Group-D employees' state conference in Cooch Behar.

 

Dinhata inquiry soon : Divisional commissioner

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 10: The administrative inquiry into the Dinhata violence will commence soon and the government is to decide who will be entrusted for conducting the inquiry, said the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri division Mr Biharilal Meena.  

 

Earlier, the district magistrate of Cooch Behar Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha had said that a senior magistrate might conduct the inquiry from next week.

 

Mr Meena told The Statesman over phone that he visited Dinhata on Saturday but that was not to conduct any probe. He went there to learn what actually happened there on 5 February, he said.

 

When asked about the arrest of the 57 persons named in the FIR lodged by the SDO of Dinhata, the divisional commissioner Mr Meena said, "Those who are guilty they should be brought to the book". The actual happenings of the day and who were the guilty may come out during the inquiry, he opined.

 

Mr Meena however denied making any specific comment about the possibility of arrest of the seven FB leaders including the party's district secretary Mr Udayan Guha. It may be recalled here that forty persons in the fifty-seven FIR named were already arrested and sent to judicial custody.

 

Mentionworthy, the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri division, Mr Meena visited Dinhata on Saturday. He visited the premises of the court where five Forward Bloc activists were killed in police firing on 5 February during a law-violation programme.

 

During his visit Mr Meena talked with the district magistrate of Cooch Behar Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha and the SDO of Dinhata Mr D Chakraborty and inquired about the firing incident that occurred on that day. He also saw the damages done to the government offices at the vicinity on 5 February.

 

Talking with the reporters at Dinhata Mr Meena said on Saturday that in 25 rounds that were fired on that day to control the mob three were blank shots. He also Okayed the role of the SDO of Dinhata during the pandemonium. []

 

Forward Bloc

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 10: Cooch Behar district unit of Forward Bloc started reviewing the situation that came up after the death of its five activists in police firing at Dinhata on 5 February during the law-violation programme. The two-day workers' convention began on Saturday at Nripendra Narayan Memorial Hall in Dinhata to discuss the issue. In the close-door meeting the leaders of the party are listening the opinions of the grass-root level workers to study the pulse of the supporters about staying in the Left Front and in the ministry and the relation with the CPI-M.

 

Summing up the outcome of the two-day meet the district secretariat meeting of the party will be held on Monday to chalk out the next phase of movement. The party will disclose its next steps after the secretariat meeting, according to the Cooch Behar district Forward Bloc secretary Mr Udayan Guha []

 

Govt employees' state conference

 

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 10: The forty-first biennial state conference of West Bengal Group-D Government Employees' Association began at Rabindra Bhavan in Cooch Behar on Saturday.

 

A veteran trade union leader and the general secretary of All India State Government Employees' Federation, Mr Sukomal Sen inaugurated the four-day conference. General secretary of State Co-ordination Committee, Mr Ananta Bandyopadhyay was present as the chief guest. Sabhadhipati of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda delivered the welcome address. About 900 delegates from different districts came to attend the conference.

 

In his inaugural address Mr Sukomal Sen said that issues like Nandigram or Dinhata may come up but the government employees should carry on their duties ignoring all provocations. They should ensure victory of the Left Front in the ensuing panchayat elections to maintain the process of progress in this state.

 

During his lengthy speech Mr Sen said nothing about the demands of the government employees. Clarifying this he said that the delegates would discuss the demands and other problems in the conference but before that they should be prepared to face the aggressive challenges that are coming up as a result of the globalisation.

 

Mr Sen appealed the employees to read and buy more books. Armed with knowledge collected from books they can be able to make themselves ready to thwart the American aggression in all spheres of life, he opined.

 

In the draft resolution a 14-point charter of demands was tabled at the conference for discussion. Mr Jaydeb Bakshi tabled the secretarial report. The conference will continue till 12 February. []