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Political Notes

	March 10, 2008

Gorkhaland demand revived



Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Subash Ghi¬singh has reverted to his old demand for a separate Gorkhaland state to be carved out of the Darjeeling Hills and nearby areas of West Bengal. He had first raised the demand in the mid-1980s, but had shelved it in return for grant of Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling Hills.



Reports say the GNLF is harping on statehood since it realised how the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was making use of it to muster support. The GNLF chief returned to the same statehood call that had rocked the hills in the eighties.



In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ghisingh’s “subject” reads: “Carving out separate state of Gorkhaland within the framework of Constitution of India.” He held the Centre and the West Bengal government responsible for the delay in granting Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling hills.



The Morcha, which is against the special status, has barred Ghisingh from entering the hills. The party is riding high on its twin victories: extracting an assurance from the state government that Ghisingh would resign by March 10 and successfully stalling the bill in Parliament.





Soren acquitted of 1975 murders



A court in Jamtara on Thursday, March 6, acquitted Jhark¬hand Mukti Morcha chief and MP Shibu Soren and 13 others in the 1975 Chirrudih massacre case in which 11 persons were killed and 18 houses set ablaze. Seven others were found guilty under vari¬ous sections.



“We had never doubted his innocence. But we are very happy now that the court has acquitted him,” said Soren’s son Hemant.



Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda too welcomed the acquit¬tal saying it was expected.



Chirrudih is surrounded by a dozen villages inhabited by Santhals, the tribe to which Soren belongs. Two days before the massacre took place on January 23,1975, Soren was reportedly assaulted by some unidentified residents of the village. In retaliation, Soren, along with armed supporters, allegedly at¬tacked Chirrudih. Soren was then leading a movement under the banner of ‘Dikku Bhagao Abhiyan’ (oust outsiders campaign).





Six killed in Kerala clashes



Two more people were killed as clashes between RSS and CPI(M) activists continued at Kannur in Kerala for the third consecutive day on March 7. While a CPI(M) cadre was killed near Panoor, a BJP activist was hacked to death at Kodiyeri.



So far six people have lost their lives. On Thursday, alleged CPI(M) activists hacked to death an RSS worker while a day before, two RSS workers and a BJP activist lost their lives in separate incidents.



Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan expressed concern over the killings and appealed for peace.



The violent incidents were sparked off by an attack on RSS leader K V Sumesh by a group of alleged CPI(M) activists, at Talassery bus stand last week. Soon suspected RSS/BJP activists attacked a CPI(M) man at the same spot. Home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said, additional forces had been rushed to the area.





Arms dealer Suresh Nanda arrested



Arms dealer Suresh Nanda, charged with receiving kickbacks in defence deals, his son Sanjiv Nanda and two others have been arrested by CBI for allegedly conspiring to fudge their account books seized by the IT department during a raid last year.



They were arrested in Mumbai on the night of Saturday, March 8, by the investigating agency after registering a case against Nandas, Income Tax Deputy Director Ashutosh Verma and chartered accountant Bipin Shah, official sources said on Sunday.



Verma, an Indian Revenue Service officer of 1999 batch, is alleged to have helped the Nandas in fudging account books seized during a raid in February last year, they said.



The case has been registered against Nanda, his son Sanjeev Nanda, the key accused in the BMW hit and run case, Verma and Shah under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.



Nanda’s chartered accountant and the income tax officer were also accused of trying to manipulate IT orders in the favour of Nandas. The IT department had searched 20 premises of arms dealer Nanda, in Delhi and in Mumbai and claimed to have recovered cash worth several lakh of rupees and a large number of documents.



The tax officials had claimed to have recovered documents allegedly indicating Nanda’s unaccounted wealth to the tune of several crore of rupees.



Nanda has been accused by CBI of receiving kickbacks per¬taining to the purchase of Rs 1150 crore Barak missile systems and armoured recovery vehicles.





Jamiat head loses crown



The head of Dar-ul-Uloom’s parent organisation finds himself out of a job barely two weeks after the influential Deoband seminary issued a fatwa against terrorism and suicide bombing.



The exit of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind chief, Maulana Arshad Madni, is a setback to the Congress at a time general elections are inching closer and several Assembly polls are coming up later this year.



Unlike other apolitical religious orders, the Jamiat has been a declared Congress ally since its inception in 1919. It participated in the Khilafat movement and opposed the two-nation theory.



Arshad, a moderate, was often seen in the company of senior AICC functionaries. In his absence, his nephew Mahmood Madni has emerged an all-powerful leader.



The Jamiat has been in the throes of a power struggle since the death last year of Maulana Asad Madni, a Congress Rajya Sabha MP for decades. A section of the Jamiat leaders wanted his son Mahmood to succeed him. But organisation elders favoured Asad Madni’s brother Arshad.