FW: Sikkim hunger strike against mega hydel projects enters 60 days, Chief Minister unleashes vicious campaign

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Souparna Lahiri <souparna.lahiri

Aug 16, 2007 8:19 PM

Sikkim hunger strike against mega hydel projects enters 60 days,

Chief Minister unleashes vicious campaign

(Please circulate to as many listserves as possible and to as many email

ids, mailing lists, individuals as possible)

 

Dear friends and comrades:

 

On the 15th of August when the whole country celebrated 60th anniversary of

independence, two young hunger strikers in Sikkim, Dawa Lepcha and Tshering

Lepcha completed their 57th day of protest fast in Gangtok, Sikkim.

 

The fasting duo, members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) are on

hunger strike from June 20, 2007, along with other members, protesting

against the indifferent attitude shown by the Sikkim Government towards the

issues and concerns raised by the people of north Sikkim and the inhabitants

of Dzongu, a Lepcha Reserve in particular.

 

Their current demand that the State Government constitutes a Review

Committee and all ongoign construction works on hydel projects be stopped

pending the report submitted by the Review Committee have not ben fulfilled

yet. Although, the Government promised to constitute such a Committee,

neither it has been notified nor any discussion took place on who will be

the members of the Committee and who will head it. ACT has demanded that the

Committee be headed by a well known, politically independent person and

fifty percent of the members of the Committee should be acceptable to ACT.

 

Thus the stalemate continues while the health of the protesting duo

deteriorates.

 

A total of 26 mega hydel projects randing from 150 MW to 1200 MW have been

proposed in Sikkim, ten of them on the Teesta river itelf, and eight of

these are proposed in north Sikkim within the area of Khanchenzjonga

Biosphere Reserve, home to peace loving Lepchas, a primitive community,

endangered flora and fauna, a biodiversity hotspot, falling under severe

earthquake prone zone IV and dotted by hundreds of landslides and landslips.

The area is also sacred to the Lepchas, the last of their ancestral

homeland.

 

The information on the hunger strike, views of the people of Sikkim and

those from the rest of India and abroad, and a lot of documentaion on the

proposed hydel projects, impacts and about the region have been disseminated

through a dynamic blog at weepingsikkim.blogspot.com

<http://weepingsikkim.blogspot.com/> from the day 1 of the hunger strike.

Without this blog, we would have never learnt so much on the issue and the

news of the protest.

 

Please visit weepingsikkim.blogspot.com <http://weepingsikkim.blogspot.com/>

 

 

Pawan Chamling unleashes vicious campaign agianst ACT bordering insinuation

and personal vendetta

 

While the stalemate continues in to the 60th day, during the last week prior

tot he independence day, Pawan Chamling, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, and

the leader of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has unleashed a vicious

campaign and a scathing attack on the peaceful protestors unparalled in the

political history of Sikkim.

 

Even those who sent messages of support and solidarity to ACT and appealed

to the CM for speedy resolution of the impasse have not been spared. Our

friends who have called up the CM and Governor's office have been misbehaved

with over the telephone.

 

The following paragraphs are quoted from Chamling's recent Independence Day

speech and the Press Releases issued by the SDF.

 

 

 

The press release of Sikkim Democratic Front has cautioned national

intelligence agencies against a cyber-war launched as " Weepingsikkim "

website launched from Sikkim and alleged anti-national and anti-development

work is campaigning through website. SDF further added that promoter of '

weepingsikkim' Pemzang Tenzing engaged in cyber activities that amounts to

anti-national activities.The Affected Citizens of Teesta who have not only

failed to comprehend the right spirit and values and meaning of 'SatyaGraha'

as identified and taught by Gandhiji who undertook it to free India from

clutches of foreign powers. Here in Sikkim same is misused for wrong

purposes that stands for anti-Sikkim policies.

 

Chief Minister told the massive gathering at Palzor Stadium on the

Independence Day that a cyber warfare is launched through

" WeepingSikkim " website by Pemzang Tenzing who just added lepcha to his

surname by engaging into anti-national and anti-development work through

cyber campaign.He further added that promoter of 'weepingSikkim' Pemzang

Tenzing has collected Rs.40 lakhs from state government towards land

compensation towards his land for hydel projects and now devoted to

activities that amounts to anti-national activities.Testen Lepcha who is

Chief Co-ordinator of ACT is general secretary of SPCC although he says he

resigned from the post and President of ACT Athup Lepcha became a Minister

in Sikkim Government on slogan'Return of Sikkim from India' .All these

people are political people and therefore how can ACT be non-political

organisation as they term it.

 

Even Lepcha Priest (Bonthing) who was made to join hunger strike for a day

was paid Rs.10000/-by way of settling his loan in a Mangan Bank by ACT.

 

The Outsiders are trying to disturb the Peace in Sikkim.If the peace is

disturbed and threatned than Police would be its first casuality as it would

the force that would have to fight it out the insurgency of any kinds

therefore Sikkim Police is one of the most happiest and stress free force

should timely contend these forces and find out who are people spreading

communal hatred through pamphlets.Further, he requested business community

in state to not to give support and financial patronage to anti-sikkim and

anti-developement forces who are solely motivated to disturb peace in state.

Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling today warned that " outside

interference " in the internal affairs of the state will not be tolerated.

The chief minister was addressing a meeting organised by the ruling Sikkim

Democratic Front (SDF) at the Guards' Ground in Tathangchen here today.

 

Prior to the meeting, the SDF took out vehicle rallies from all over the

state that converged on the capital in a show of strength. The rallies were

aimed at silencing the Opposition in the wake of protests against hydel

power projects in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu and elsewhere in the state.

All senior leaders of the party, legislators and cabinet ministers attended

the meeting. Chamling's scathing critique made obvious references to the

support extended to members of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) by CPM

leader and Bengal minister Asok Bhattacharya and the Lepcha organisations of

Darjeeling. In the course of his three-hour speech Chamling also came down

heavily on ACT alleging that the organisation was just a front for such

outside forces. " There is only a handful of people from Dzongu are taking

part in the hunger strike. The rest are all outsiders, " he said.

 

Chief Minister Dr. Chamling while commenting on ACT told the massive

gathering that ACT is front of a group of political minded people who have

all come together to use platform of NGO for their political ambitions and

Lepchas associated with these organisations are not from Dzongu but from

across the border of Sikkim and are raising crores of rupees from different

sources in the name of environment, lepchas and Dzongu. The public faces of

ACT are not in the control of ACT as they are being guided by people with

mask and behind curtains with political motives. He said, " Hunger Strike is

a method chosen by ACT to collect crores of rupees from various sources " .

 

From weeping sikkim blog. Just yesterday, I received a communication from

the administrator of the blog mentioning that " Yesterday on Independence

day, nobody was spared in the aggressive speech and not even

weepingsikkim.blogspot.com!!!

You can read more on the speech on <http://www.sikkimnews.blogspot.com/>

www.sikkimnews.blogspot.com

It's reached a point where i may be handing over the blog to someone else

because i fear things here. Its sadly not a democracy here in Sikkim, its a

fascist state. "

 

What can we do? The precent situation cannot continue like this...with the

Government not willing to honour the demands, the health of the hunger

strikers deteriorating, and above all there is an apparent move to exploit

the demographic divide against the Lepchas and Bhutias.

 

Hundreds of appeals have reached the government to which it seems to be

insensitive. The appeals have also reached the Prime Minister and the

President both from India and abroad. The citizens of this country and those

who stand in favour of democracy and freedom of speech and expression have

to decide and decide fast how to end this impasse. What should be the

logical interventions?

 

For the benefit of our friends and readers, the contacts for communication

are given below.

 

1. Chief Minister's Secretariat, Phone:91 3592 202575,202536,202304, Fax:

202245, Email: cm-skm

 

2. Governor of Sikkim, Phone 91-3592-202756 , Fax 91-3592-202742, Mobile:

91-9434011174 (Dy. Secretary), Email: abhutia

 

3. Prime Minister of India, Email: manmohan

<manmohan / manmohan

<manmohan / pmosb , Email:

chavanprithviraj, Phone: +91-11-23012312 / 23018939, Fax:

+91-11-23016857 / 23015603 / 23014255

 

4.President of India, Email: <presssecy

presssecy / <presssecy/>

presssecy/ <presidentofindia

presidentofindia, Phone: +91-11-23013172 / 23015321, Fax: +91-11-

23017290 / 23014580 / 23017824

 

 

In solidarity

 

Souparna Lahiri, 143 Khirki Village, New Delhi - 110 017, Mobile: 91

9818147740, Tel ® No. 91 11 29541502