sdf expels gac chairman denied central pendam ticket, gm...

02 April, 2004; NOW! 1

C M Y K

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Denied Central Pendam ticket, GM Raibreaks away to form new party

SARIKAH ATREYA

GANGTOK, 01 April: Peeved bythe fact that the Sikkim DemocraticFront [SDF] did not give him theCentral Pendam ticket, GM Rai hasdecided to fight the elections un-der a new party banner altogether.

Asked to share his reactions tothe selection of PS Tamang [Goley]as the SDF candidate for the Cen-tral-Pendam seat, Mr. Rai toldNOW! that in light of the latestdevelopment, he is forced to con-test the Central Pendam seat, butunder a new party banner.

Speaking to NOW! this after-noon, he was obviously unawareof the fact that SDF had alreadymailed him his expulsion notice

earlier in the morning. Served ashow-cause notice by the partyhigh-command on 10 Marchwarning him against indulging inanti-party activities, the partydecided to expel him today.

The show-cause, partysources reveal, was sent to him byregistered post, but Mr. Rai con-sistently denied having receivedit. The news of his expulsion wasconfirmed by BB Gooroong, po-litical advisor to the SDF presi-dent and Chief Minister, PawanChamling.

News of the expulsion notwith-standing, Mr. Rai, had apparentlymade up his mind to float a newparty the day Mr. Tamang’s candi-dature was announced for Central

Pendam, a constituency he hadbeen eyeing and cultivating forquite some time now.

“We are launching a new partyvery soon. This party will be basedon the fundamentals of the GorkhaApex Committee,” he said.

GAC cannot enter the fray di-rectly since it is registered as a socialorganisation, not a political party.

On being asked whether he hasformally left the party, Mr. Rai saidthat denying him the ticket would“definitely mean” that he is nolonger in the party.

“When I am denied a ticket, itmeans that I am no longer in theSDF party,” he said.

SDF’s decision to expel himhad, however, been taken by the

time he was speaking to NOW!Mr. Gooroong, when asked to

comment on the latest entrant in thepolitical scene, said: “What can wesay. It’s a democracy and everyonehas the right to form political parties.”

Pressed to share more details inthe new party that he was planning tofloat, Mr. Rai said that his new partywould be pursuing three basic issues.

“Our party will be based onthree main issues for delimitationon the basis of population, amend- GAC chairman, GM Rai, now a

former SDF vice-presidentturn to pg 3

SDF EXPELS GAC CHAIRMAN

ForCentralPendam

TURN TO pg 4 FOR DETAILS

KARAN SHAH

KALIMPONG, 01 April: TheTraffic problem at the motor standhere in Kalimpong seems to beworsening with every passing day.The increase in the number of ve-hicles along with the insufficientparking space available has built up

a tension over the past few dayswith Kalimpong finally beingclosed today for some hours fol-lowing the arrest of a 25 year olddriver, Binod Lama.

The driver, however, was laterreleased on bail.

At the core of the problem isthe shrinking parking space for

taxis. Only about 15 of them canbe accommodated. And with thephenomenal increase of privatevehicles, the taxi drivers’ collectivesulky mood too witnessed an up-swing as it was they who had tomake way for the latter to park.

Today, when some taxis were

Kpg taxi drivers protest arrest ofcolleague; hold up traffic

turn to pg 5

2; NOW!; 02 April, 2004

C M Y K

Artist, filmmaker, keen photographer, columnist with internationalmagazines... It’s hard to pin Twan Yang down. Born to a Chinesefather and Tibetan mother, he grew up in Kalimpong and worked inSikkim. NOW! serializes Twan Yang’s autobiography, Houseboy in India...

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

lsewheree

A Penetrating GlanceInto The Obvious

After someone has spent almost three decades in active politicsand a decade and a half at the helm of affairs, one expects muchbetter. Mr. Bhandari has been a part of politics in Sikkim ever sincethe Himalayan state has known democracy and has the advantageof experience over all others. One would have thus expected a muchbetter election manifesto from him than the one that was released acouple of days back. Even if one were to excuse the usual blusterthat politics demands and the jabs at opponents that make for ag-gressive campaigning, a manifesto is above all the party’s ideologyin black and white. It is also a party’s vision on development and itsroad-map for the next five years. To announce that the party “iskeen” to provide a clean, efficient and corruption-free governmentis stating the obvious. No one would assure otherwise. What thepeople want of a manifesto is exact details on how this clean, effi-cient and corruption-free government will be delivered. The Con-gress manifesto, sadly, gets specific on only sops and in reversingdecisions that have worked in the favour of the SDF government.

Starting with the political and social policies of the Congress inSikkim, the nine-point charter presents nothing new. A magic-formulaof seat reservation is promised, BL are assured, so are Limbus andTamangs and also the Nepalese who fall in the general category. Nospecifics on these assurances will be met, except the one where theparty has promised to “vigorously pursue” the matter of how BL andSikkimese Nepalese identity were diluted with theircompartmentalisation as tribals and general. The party, the mani-festo says, will do so in the light of assurances given in the Parlia-ment by the Union Law Minister in 1980. That debate in Parliament isnot one that will definitely go down well with all sections of theSikkimese people. Autonomous status for north Sikkim is perhapsthe only concrete promise made and could work in Congress’ favour.The rest of the manifesto follows in similar vein with assurances that“measures will be taken” to ensure that Central Direct Taxes do notget implemented in Sikkim; Nathula will not be opened till political,social, cultural and economic rights of the Sikkimese people are safe-guarded; the right kind of tourism will be promoted; educational sys-tem will be made more responsive; hydel potential will be properlyexploited; and so on and so forth. All this is fine on first glance, butponder a bit and one realises that the party has not really committeditself to anything. When for example are we to believe the Sikkimeseidentity will be safeguarded enough for trade to be allowed overNathula, or how for example does the Congress propose to keepdirect taxes out, or for example, what exactly is wrong with our edu-cational system and how it will be changed. Similar questions can beposed for most of the 147 assurances made, except the one promis-ing interest-free loans or hiked remunerations to a rather sizeablevote-base among the government servants. But as said earlier, amanifesto is more than just about sops, it has to be about concreteideological stands. At the end of the day, these are not questions thatmight trouble the electorate since a voter almost always is decidedabout where his/ her vote goes and the promise or weakness of anelection manifesto rarely causes a change of mind. Be that as it may,the Congress manifesto disappoints because it fails to rise abovebeing a penetrating glance into the obvious.

-20-

At the Ghaziabad station I was directedto a big building. Here all the higherrailway-office babus lived, as well as

some guards and ticket-checker sahibs. It wastwo stories high, and the flat in which I had towork was an upper one next to that of anotheroffice babu. As it was lunchtime when I reachedthe house I met my new master at home. Hemade me sit down on the floor, asking me whatmy name was and what work I had done be-fore. I gave a complete reply, telling the storyof my life from head to foot. He was pleased tohear my tale. He told me not to be afraid of himand to do my work well. I had to work here forhis wife and to clean the rooms and play withhis son, who was his only child, ten years old,and named Lala Singh. He further promised topay me three rupees monthly, and this wouldbe increased to sixteen rupees later if I shouldwork well and faithfully.

I felt very happy that I was now to get

more wages than before. Very soon my newmaster’s wife called me. She very kindlymade me sit down by her side andasked me where I had been work-ing before and who had been mymaster. When I told her that I hadbeen working for Sirdar SoneSingh in Lahore and Peshawar,she was very pleased. Sheknew my old master and saidthat her husband knew himvery well. Then she asked mehow and why I had left him,and I told her the whole story.

I had a very comfortable ex-istence in this house and feltvery happy that I had now comeback to the same condition as

before with my old master. I now learned allthe customs of a Punjabi house, and I had no

longer such a trouble as before in the Pun-jab. My master and mistress were also

very pleased that I could understandthem and speak to them in their ownlanguage. Every month my master

gave me some new clothes, as well as shirtsand pajamas of the same kind as I had wornbefore in the house of my old master, and soonce more became a Punjabi boy.

This master was a good master and al-ways kind to me. He helped me always insickness and with any money I needed tospend and was not only kind and gentle buttreated me like his own son. I found thishouse so good and so kind that I did not mindany hard work at all, but would do it withgreat happiness whenever I was ordered.

One day when I had been with this masterfor about three months, I was in the compoundwhere there was a tree called Ber, the Indianplum. The little boy asked me to get some fruitfrom the tree, and I did as he asked. We both

In Delirium, After Upsetting The Dead

-turn to pg 3

HOW 9-11 HAPPENEDANN COULTER

We don’t need a “commission” tofind out how 9-11 happened. Thetruth is in the timeline:

President Carter, DemocratIn 1979, President Jimmy Carterallowed the Shah of Iran to be de-posed by a mob of Islamic fanat-ics. A few months later, Muslimsstormed the U.S. Embassy in Iranand took American Embassy staffhostage. Carter retaliated bycanceling Iranian visas. He even-tually ordered a disastrous and hu-miliating rescue attempt, crashinghelicopters in the desert.

President Reagan, RepublicanThe day of Reagan’s inauguration,the hostages were released.

In 1982, the U.S. Embassy inBeirut was bombed by Muslim ex-tremists. President Reagan sentU.S. Marines to Beirut.

In 1983, the U.S. Marine bar-racks in Beirut were blown up byMuslim extremists.

Reagan said the U.S. would notsurrender, but Democrats threw ahissy fit, introducing a resolutiondemanding that our troops be with-drawn. Reagan caved in to Demo-crat caterwauling in an election yearand withdrew our troops - bomb-ing Syrian-controlled areas on theway out. Democrats complainedabout that, too.

In 1985 an Italian cruise ship, theAchille Lauro, was seized and a 69-year-old American was shot and thrownoverboard by Muslim extremists.

Reagan ordered a heart-stop-ping mission to capture the hijack-ers after “the allies” promised themsafe passage. In a daring operation,American fighter pilots capturedthe hijackers and turned them overto the Italians - who then releasedthem to safe harbor in Iraq.

On April 5, 1986, a West Ber-lin discotheque frequented by U.S.servicemen was bombed by Mus-lim extremists from the LibyanEmbassy in East Berlin, killing anAmerican.

Ten days later, Reagan bombedLibya, despite our dear ally Francerefusing the use of their airspace.Americans bombed Qaddafi’s resi-dence, killing his daughter, anddropped a bomb on the FrenchEmbassy “by mistake.”

Reagan also stoked a long,bloody war between heinous re-gimes in Iran and Iraq. All this waswhile winning a final victory overSoviet totalitarianism.

President Bush [Sr.], ModerateRepublicanIn December 1988, a passenger jet,Pan Am Flight 103, was bombedover Lockerbie, Scotland, by Mus-lim extremists.

President-elect George Bushclaimed he would continueReagan’s policy of retaliatingagainst terrorism, but did not. With-out Reagan to gin her up, evenPrime Minister Margaret Thatcherwent wobbly, saying there would beno revenge for the bombing.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein in-vaded Kuwait. In early 1991, Bushwent to war with Iraq. A majorityof Democrats opposed the war, andlater complained that Bush didn’t“finish off the job” with Saddam.

President Bill Clinton, DemocratIn February 1993, the World TradeCenter was bombed by Muslim fa-natics, killing five people and in-juring hundreds. Clinton, advisedby Dick Clarke, did nothing.

In October 1993, 18 Americantroops were killed in a savagefirefight in Somalia. The body ofone American was dragged throughthe streets of Mogadishu as theSomalian hordes cheered.

Clinton responded by callingoff the hunt for Mohammed FarrahAidid and ordering our troopshome. Osama bin Laden later toldABC News: “The youth ... realizedmore than before that the Ameri-can soldier was a paper tiger andafter a few blows ran in defeat.”

In November 1995, five Ameri-cans were killed and 30 woundedby a car bomb in Saudi Arabia setby Muslim extremists.

Clinton, advised by DickClarke, did nothing.

In June 1996, a U.S. Air Forcehousing complex in Saudi Arabiawas bombed by Muslim extremists.


Months later, Saddam attackedthe Kurdish-controlled city of Erbil.

Clinton, advised by DickClarke, lobbed some bombs intoIraq hundreds of miles fromSaddam’s forces.

In November 1997, Iraq refusedto allow U.N. weapons inspectionsto do their jobs and threatened toshoot down a U.S. U-2 spy plane.


In February 1998, Clinton threat-ened to bomb Iraq, but called it offwhen the United Nations said no.

On Aug. 7, 1998, U.S. embas-sies in Kenya and Tanzania werebombed by Muslim extremists.


On Aug. 20, Monica Lewinskyappeared for the second time to tes-tify before the grand jury.

Clinton responded by bombingAfghanistan and Sudan, severely dam-aging a camel and an aspirin factory.

On Dec. 16, the House of Rep-resentatives prepared to impeachClinton the next day.

Clinton retaliated by orderingmajor air strikes against Iraq, describedby The New York Times as “by far thelargest military action in Iraq since theend of the Gulf War in 1991.”

The only time Clinton decided togo to war with anyone in the vicinityof Muslim fanatics was in 1999 -when Clinton attacked Serbians whowere fighting Islamic fanatics.

In October 2000, our warship,the USS Cole, was attacked byMuslim extremists.


turn to pg 5

02 April, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

ACTUAL PRODUCT MAY DIFFER FROM THE PICTURE SHOWN.

ate the fruit and then played about inthis spot. After some time I felt a greatneed to pass water. I did so at the footof the tree. But immediately after-wards I began to shiver and my teethclattered, which clearly indicated thatI was falling sick. I went to my mas-ter and told him, and he took a ther-mometer and measured my fever.“This is very bad, my boy,” he said.“You lie down, I will go and call thedoctor from the railway hospital.”

The doctor, a Punjabi, examinedme carefully and said my illness wasnot a dangerous one. But later in theevening my fever rose still higheruntil I no longer recognized the peo-ple around me and began to say allkinds of silly things. I lost my headand got a sickness called delirium. Ilearned this later from the other peo-ple, at the time I did not know any-thing about this delirium.

I continued in the same condi-tion till next day, and then I becamestill worse. I said all kinds of badthings to other people, and later mycondition became so bad that I got

up from my bed and ran downstairsto others. But when I saw theseother people and looked at them,they did not seem to be human atall but wild beasts.

When I came to my senses again,someone asked me how this feverhad happened so soon after playingoutside in the garden. I said I hadbeen playing near the tree and that Iwanted to make water and had doneso on the same spot. And then gotmy fever soon afterwards. One mansaid he knew why this had hap-pened. He said that this place wasdangerous for everyone, for long agothey had buried there a churi, asweeper woman, and it was she whohad caused this sickness. ThereforeI had to perform a ceremony so thatthe churi would give me back mylife. I would have to ask her to for-give me for the evil thing I had done.Otherwise she would put me todeath for having defiled her body.But the doctor told my master thatmy sickness was malaria and I wouldhave to change my living place tosome other country. I would getworse if I stayed on in Ghaziabad.

In Delirium, After Upsetting The DeadContd from pg 2

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GANGTOK, 01 April: For thosewho were caught unaware and un-prepared last evening and had tobrave the heavy rain and hailstormthat lashed our streets, news fromthe Met Office is that such unrulyweather conditions will continue.

Frequent thunderstorms, light-

ment of the Revenue Order No. 1and the introduction of the conceptof creamy layer for the tribals, justlike that for the OBCs,” he said.

Although Mr. Rai did not dis-close the names of the rest of hisparty members, he said that “any-one with the same ideologies canjoin the party.”

He however revealed that the newparty would be about “Gorkha senti-ments and identity” much on the lines

of the Gorkha Apex Committee.“The GAC will continue as a

social organization,” he said. Thename for the new party is being fi-nalized, he added.

On being asked whether his newparty would contest from all 32seats, Mr. Rai said that no decisionhad been taken on that front as yet.

Joining Mr. Rai in expulsionis Karma Dichen Bhutia, a zillapanchayat member from Rumtek.He has also been expelled for anti-party activities.

Contd from pg 1

GM Rai to float new party

ning and gusty winds will in allprobability, happen every eveningfor the next few days [they didn’tthis evening].

The main reason for this is theexcess heat of the last few dayswhen the maximum temperature hit24 degrees Celsius.

Due to the intense heat, warmair rises upwards and mixes with

the cold air circulating above andcauses what are known as Siberianhighs. This causes violent localstorms wherein deep humid windsfrom the sea meet hot dry windsfrom the land. This storm is accom-panied by violent winds, torrentialrain and hail.

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NAMCHI, 01 April: A man fell tohis death from a four storey build-ing here in Namchi today.

The deceased, Hemant Mukhia,34, had gone to the top floor to in-

spect the construction work goingon there when, according to a wit-ness, he slipped and fell.

The incident took place ataround 3:30 PM. He was rushed tothe Namchi General Hospital wherehe succumbed to his injuries ataround 5 PM.

It has been made known by hisrelatives that Hemant had at onetime suffered from mental disordersbut was fit and well when the inci-dent occurred. He is survived by hiswife and one child.

Man falls to his death

4; NOW!; 02 April, 2004

C M Y K

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GANGTOK, 01 April: This wasno April’s Fool Day prank beingplayed. Former SDF vice-president,expelled from the party today wasserious about forming a new partyand contesting from CentralPendam. A constituency that was al-ready preparing for a major face-off between popular SDF leader PSTamang and former CM and SPCC[I] president, Nar BahadurBhandari, now had another playerin field, samashtiputra GM Rai.Central Pendam now promises tobe a battle that will overshadow allother contests for an Assemblyberth in Sikkim.

Central Pendam is the secondlargest constituency in Sikkim[Gangtok being the largest]. Its vot-ing pattern has not been consistentin the sense that it has never reallybelonged to any particular camp.While Dr. DP Kharel won on an SDFticket from Central Pendam in 1994,he lost to SSP’s late Sang Dorjee, in1999. The margin of Dr. Kharel’sloss - 246 votes. Not a substantialmargin given the fact that a total of9,006 valid votes were cast in 1999.

1999, however, does not com-pare to 2004. Last time, it was astraight contest between SDF andSSP with the Congress candidatebagging a mere 102 votes. The con-test this time around will be a three-way battle with no side with a vis-ibly upper hand yet.

To look at the track-record ofthe three in the fray, Mr. Bhandaristill has the ghost of Soreong 1999haunting him, Mr. Rai will be con-testing for the first time and Mr.Tamang has been uprooted from hisestablished base and replanted in aconstituency where his traditionalvote base is in a minority. So, all ofthem have their weak spots, butthere are strengths too.

Starting with Mr. Bhandari - hereturns to another constituency witha sizeable chunk of his traditionalvote-bank among the NBCs. Thisvote-bank would, however, wonderwhy he did not return to Rhenockfrom where he won the last time.The fact that Mr. Bhandari, when hisparty was voted into the Oppositiondid not visit Rhenock again, will beanother factor that could swing somevotes against him.

But then again, the ruling par-ty’s decision to bring in Mr. Tamangto Central Pendam instead of pick-

ing a candidate from the constitu-ency itself or from the dominantcommunity might swing some votesback in Mr. Bhandari’s favour.

Mr. Bhandari also has a head-start over his two contenders in thesense that his daughter has beencamped in the constituency for sometime now and laying the groundworkfor his campaign bid there. Mr.Bhandari must have obviously de-cided on Central Pendam much inadvance and wasobviously culti-vating the con-stituency beforeeither Mr. Rai orMr. Tamangcould.

But Mr. Raihas been workingon Central Pendam for quite sometime now. Based in Singtam whichis part of the constituency and ac-tively involved in constituency levelpolitics, he must have developed thecontacts and cultivated supportershimself too. The fact that he waswearing the SDF colours till today,must have made his appeal evenstronger in the constituency whichhad originally sent an MLA to theOpposition bench. [The late MLAlater joined SDF]. His being a sen-ior contractor kept him in the lime-light and visible and these two fac-tors work in his benefit.

Mr. Tamang, on the other hand,is new to the constituency, in fact,he is new to politics in the districtitself. He however, has an appealthat will be difficult for Central

A HIGH-STAKESCONTEST IS ABOUTTO BEGIN IN THESECOND-LARGESTCONSTITUENCYOF THE STATE

Pendam to ignore. The emotionalreaction from his former constitu-ency which poured into Gangtok in350 vehicles hoping to retain himat Chakung will be something thatvoters here would have noticed. Aleader so popular is obviously alsovery efficient and Central Pendamcould use one.

Of the three, Mr. Tamang is alsothe best organiser and perhaps alsothe most affable. It should not take

him long to strikea rapport with theelectorate and hewill have the sup-port of the entireSDF machinerybacking him.Party presidentand Chief Minis-

ter, Pawan Chamling, is already onrecord for having said that he willnot let Mr. Bhandari return to theAssembly. No effort, either in ex-penses or manpower will thus bespared to reach Mr. Tamang’s mes-sage to voters in Central Pendam.This organisational back-up, addedto Mr. Tamang’s rough and tumbleways should make the campaign-ing in Central Pendam interestingto watch.

Now to the more complicatedcalculations of how the votes split.A two-way contest can go eitherway, even a margin of five votes [ashappened in Loosing Pacheykhaniin 1999] is a margin big enough toseparate the MLA from a contender.When the contest goes triangular,the lobbying becomes even more

intense. Putting all candidates on anequal footing, let’s suppose each al-ready has a 30% voter share. All willthen be scrambling for the 10%swing votes which could decidetheir political futures.

Had Mr. Tamang taken on Mr.Bhandari head-on, then it wouldhave been an SDF vs. Congresscontest. Congress would be look-ing at the erstwhile SSP supportersto stand firm with the “Haath” andMr. Tamang would have soughtsupport in the SDF’s developmenthard-sell. Now, with Mr. Rai step-ping in, there is no telling whosevotes he will eat into. The dangerthat he will wean away a sizeablechunk of SDF supporters is as po-tent as his ability to steal votes fromMr. Bhandari’s traditional support-ers with his strong speak on Gorkhaidentity. The ruling party, when itserved him a show-cause notice,denied him a ticket and then ex-pelled him, must have obviouslyfactored in the loss it could sufferfrom losing the GAC chairman. Mr.Rai has never made a secret of hisplans to contest the elections, soeven Mr. Bhandari should havebeen aware of the possible threatposed by him. Mr. Rai, obviouslyknows that he is stepping into analready hot zone, so even he musthave his calculations in place.

Everyone appears confidentand we have still not hypothesisedthe spoiler that Sikkim SangramParishad could play by fielding acandidate too.

How each has planned his re-spective strategy, we shall know inthe coming days. How effective thatstrategy is will take slightly longerto unfold and could even go downto the wire, when no one will knowtill the last vote has been counted.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 31 March: The GorkhaNational Liberation Front (GNLF)Sikkim Unit has strongly condemnedthe pamphlets purportedly issued inits name in South Sikkim.

In a press statement, TPBhattarai, publicity secretary,GNLF, Sikkim-unit has said that thepamphlets issued in its name con-taining inflammatory statementsagainst the ruling Sikkim Demo-

cratic Front [SDF] party inJorethang, South Sikkim, is an at-tempt to malign the GNLF [S] byanti-social elements.

Mr. Bhattarai has also said thatthe party will continue to look forthe culprits behind these maliciouspamphlets. The party has warnedthat the culprits hiding behind falseidentities and hatching conspiraciesto create disunity and unrestamongst the people of the Stateshould come out in the open.

GNLF denies hand inSouth pamphlets

Kutse SheguThe 49th Day “Shegu” of late ManojTamang who expired on 26th February2004 falls on 14th April 2004. All rela-tives, fiends and well-wishers are re-quested to join us in offering prayersfor the departed soul at our residenceat Ranipool Bazar, East Sikkim. Wewould also like to take this opportunityto thank all those who extended theirhelp in our hour of bereavement.Smt Man Maya Tamang, Smt Suk MayaTamang (Mother), Smt SakuntalaPradhan (wife), Sisir Tamang, BasantTamang, Sunil Tamang (Brothers), CDoma (Sister in Law),

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Kutse SheguThe 49th day Kutse Shegu of late Sonam Pintso Bhutia who left forhis heavenly abode on 24th February 2004 falls on 12th April 2004.All friends, relatives and well-wishers are requested to join us inoffering prayers for the departed soul at our residence at Rongong,Phodong, North Sikkim.We also take this opportunity to thank all those who stood by usduring the time of bereavement and regret our inability to do soindividually.

Khamsum Bhutia (Father); Diki Doma (Mother); Pema Yangchen (Wife); Sonam

Tenzing (Daughter); Peden Bhutia (Sister); Sonam Thendup (Brother);

Tenzing Namgyal (Brother); Gita Pradhan-Bhutia (Sister-in-Law);

Dup Pintso Kaleon (Brother-in-Law)

ph: (Gangtok) 228419, (Mobile) 9832005509

President Bush, RepublicanBush came into office telling hisnational security adviser,Condoleezza Rice, he was “tired ofswatting flies” - he wanted to elimi-nate al-Qaida.

On Sept. 11, 2001, when Bushhad been in office for barely sevenmonths, 3,000 Americans were mur-dered in a savage terrorist attack onU.S. soil by Muslim extremists.

Since then, Bush has won twowars against countries that harbored

Muslim fanatics, captured SaddamHussein, immobilized Osama binLaden, destroyed al-Qaida’s base,and begun to create the only func-tioning democracy in the Middle Eastother than Israel. Democrats opposedit all - except their phony support forwar with Afghanistan, which theyimmediately complained about andsaid would be a Vietnam quagmire.And now they claim to be outragedthat in the months before 9-11, Bushdid not do everything Democratsopposed doing after 9-11.

What a surprise.

Contd from pg 2

How 9-11 happened

DEEPAK SHARMA

DZONGU: With the uncertaintyover the candidate from Dzongustill continuing, hectic lobbying forpublic support is going on here.Sitting MLA, Sonam GyatsoLepcha, campaigned at LingeePayong, which has a fair share ofChettri, Bahun and Lepcha votes.

SDF Party Convenor, Dzongu,Mukti Nath Adhikari, former chair-man, Loden Lepcha, vice-convener,Chermit Lepcha, North DistrictCheli Morcha Convener, HisseyLhamu Bhutia, Panchayat presi-dent, TD Adhikari, Cheli Morchamembers from Gangtok,panchayats of Lingee Sokpay andKau Payong were also present.

Addressing the gathering ofabout 500 people, Mr. Lepcha ap-preciated the unity and loyalty thepeople of Lingee Payong have for

PURAN TAMANG

NAMCHI, 01 April: An IntegratedHealth Awareness camp was held heretoday at Maniram Secondary School.

The programme was organisedby Maniram Phalidara grampanchayat unit in collaborationwith the Centre for Social Advance-ment, a local NGO. Dr. BM Rai,ex-CMO, Namchi General Hospi-tal was present as the chief guest.

The objective of the camp wasto inform those gathered on basichealth concerns of mother andchild. Those present included stu-dents of Alay Junior High School,Salchung JHS, Modern Academy,School of Divine and ManiramSecondary School.

There were also over 300 lo-cal people who were provided freetreatment. The treatment was pro-vided by Dr. CS Sharma, psychia-trist, Dr. Dependra Gurung, medi-cal officer, both from Namchi Gen-eral Hospital and Dr. BM Rai.

Free medicines were also givenfrom Maniram Phalidara grampanchayat unit fund. The camp wasalso attended by Dinesh Bhutia,DDO, South.

the SDF party. “This gives me anextra josh to do my work,” heclaimed.

Listing his achievements as anMLA, he said that during his ten-ure, Dzongu had progressed a lot.All the old bridges have been re-paired; schools constructed andupgraded and road-carpeting workis in progress.

“No other MLA before me hasundertaken so many projects for thedevelopment of Dzongu. All of youknow this, and you should decidewho the candidate from Dzongushould be,” he told the gathering.

Adding that while he does notwant to request the party for theticket, he feels that public opinionshould be made available to theparty president as to who the mosteligible candidate was.

Lashing out at some ‘anti-party’activities, he said that there were

some people in the party who weretrying to create friction and vio-lence among the innocent people ofDzongu.

“We have come to know aboutsome very painful and shameful

ordered to make room for privatevehicles, the taxi drivers protestedresulting in the arrest of one ofthem, Binod Lama. This led to aspontaneous call for a bandh by thetaxi drivers. The traffic standstillreached a solution only when theKalimpong Circle Inspector prom-ised that the Kalimpong TrafficOfficer in Charge, V. Limbu, alongwith the ASP Mr. Gajmer wouldmeet the drivers within a few daysand work out a permanent solution

to the parking problem.Speaking on the issue, Tara

Sundas, President of theKalimpong Motor Drivers WorkersUnion [KMDW], said, “The issueis a delicate one with all of us hav-ing problems in one way or theother, but with the WB Board ex-ams starting today, we wouldn’tlike to go ahead with some kind ofa bandh, which would put manystudents in a difficult situation.”

A meeting was also organised byMr. Sundas of all the taxi driverswhere many came out with their prob-

lems which had mainly to do withbeing harassed by the authorities.

Dawa Pakhrin who commentedthat the DGHC had taken variousinitiatives for the solution of thetraffic problem such as the promo-tion of three new syndicates, oneat 9th mile where vehicles towardsTeesta, Siliguri, Darjeeling,Kurseong were to be parked forwhich a certain area had beenhanded over by the West BengalForest Development Corporation tothe Municipality. Land is also be-ing provided at Relli Road for theconstruction of a motor stand, herevealed. This land which is all of1.3 acres he said, was being pro-vided by the Uttar Banga KrishiVidhlaya [UBKV]. The third sitefor a motor stand he said will becoming up at 11th Mile for vehi-cles heading towards Algarah,Pedong, Lava and Gorubathan.

Contd from pg 1

Kpg taxi drivers protest...

Freemedicinesdistributedin Namchi

healthcamp

DZONGU RACE FOR TICKET TRIGGERSA VOLLEY OF ALLEGATIONS

handiworks of youth belonging toan ex-MLA. On 27 March some ofthese youth assaulted the headmas-ter of Lingee primary school andthen on 28 March, they mixedchopped meat and entrails of a piginside the water tank which sup-plies water to the whole LingeeBlock,” he alleged.

He further disclosed that an FIRhad already been filed in this regardand added that the Chief Ministerwas also being informed aboutthese activities which were hurtingthe sentiments of the people as wellas spoiling the name of the party.

He concluded by asking thepeople to come out in full supportand vote for the SDF.

Incumbent MLA, Dzongu, Sonam Gyatso Lepcha, meets the people of Lingee Payong

6; NOW!; 02 April, 2004

C M Y K

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There was a time when inschool we had somethingunder-ratedly called ‘so-

cials’. We, the boys of the hostelgot the opportunity to meet and chatup the girls of the nearby girl’s con-vent. Actually, it was more intendedby our Catholic guardians to helpus be more social with the oppo-site sex. And to be more actualabout it, I never got going ‘social’- by the time I came of age, the ex-tra-curricula had become extinct.Seems like our canny priests real-ised we boys didn’t really need that‘helpful’ lesson - like we could dosome teaching of our own wherethat was concerned. It’s anotherstory that ‘arrested development’became a humungous social prob-lem subsequent to that.

It’s been like more than a dec-ade now. And as Time, like manyhotheaded freaks, loves forgettingthe pedal in the centre, kids todayintroduce themselves as ‘divorced’or ‘single’ or ‘live-in’. The onlything constant is the dropout rate.And the primitive ‘socials’ hasgiven way to student-exchange pro-grammes, its modern vengeance.Student exchange programmes area wonderful and exotic thing. Notso much for Americans, maybe,who’ve been courting it along withother adventurous types of behav-iour.

But Americans, too, can learn,

if you didn’t know. And more soif they’re students on an exchangeprogramme to this part of theworld. But that’s why they’re here,anyway.

“We wouldn’t be here,” clari-fies Jenny, sweet and 20-some-thing.

That doesn’t mean I am wrongor anything, it’s just that“Kathmandu is having all that Mao-ist problem and killings and unrestso our destination for this pro-gramme got diverted,” she clarifies.

So the Americans are here orwere here coz they’ve left now. Ac-tually, they’re in Kalimpong, aboutten of them or maybe fifteen. Theseare boys and girls in their earlytwenties from a university in Cali-fornia, “Pitzer University”, theblond one says. “We’re all fromdifferent colleges and we came to-gether for this student exchange

programme,” he explains.The past week they’ve been

wandering about Gangtok as partof their academic project. To be fairto them they’ve also had to sitthrough some lectures here. “PDRai,” Allison remembers as one oftheir tutors here, “someone fromthe Sikkim College, And yes an edi-tor of a local paper,” exclaims theblond one, “Ya, that was a goodone, very interesting.” He gives thethumbs-up.

Then it’s time for Kate. “We arebased in Kalimpong where we’vebeen for the past two months andthat is where we’re actually imbib-ing the essence of the ‘exchange’programme.”

That actually means that theyare receiving their main course oflectures in Kalimpong and what italso means is that they’re livingwith families in Kalimpong and

what it finally means is that theyare involved in the householdchores of the families. And thatmeans quite a lot.

Avon loves momos and knowshow to cook it, Jenny likes dal-bhaat and for Kate it’s roti.

Apart from the formal learningon Indian culture, tradition andmore mundane Indian thingsthey’re actually doing mundaneIndian things as cooking, washing,cleaning and also talking Nepali.

“The shopkeepers here breakout laughing when we say ghatanuhos na,” says the blond one. Well,seems like they don’t have to learn

AN AMERICAN STUDY GROUP ANDTHEIR INDIAN EXPERIENCE

no more. Any one who bargains isa full-blooded Indian.

But as Kate explains: “We don’treally live so differently back inAmerica. We cook and clean, too.But, yes, we don’t bargain there.”

For Jenny, the most strikingthing about Indian culture is thefamily and its size. “And also thebonding among the members,” saysAllison.

“In America the young usuallybreak away after marriage and liveseparate.”

Actually they’re all quiteamazed at the Indian family systembut really none can say whether it’sa good thing or bad and I’m equallyperplexed on the matter. But asAvon says, a large family is not al-together rare in America, either.

“I know of a home where threegenerations live together.”

Kate also seems amused by theamount of Indian time spent onentertaining the TV.

“People seem to be watchingthe TV all the time,” she says.

And of course, the hospitality.“It’s amazing how we can just

about talk to anyone,” says theblond. “And people are so ready to

The Americans among us[from left]: Kate, Jenny, Allyson, Avon and the Blond one

turn to pg 7

02 April, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

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Kutse SheguThe 49th day Kutse Sheguof late Shyam Moktan (M/sSiam Brothers, Tibet Road),DOB 5 September 1959,who left for his heavenlyabode on 16th February2004 fall on 4th April 2004. All relatives, friendsand well wishers are requested to kindly joinus in offering prayers to be departed soul atour residence, Tashiling Secretariat Road,near Mani Lakhang, Gangtok.We would also like to take this opportunityto thank all those who extended their helpduring our time of grief and bereavement.

Mrs. Tshering Deki (wife), HisheyMoktan (son),

Preeti Moktan (daughter)Ph. No.202103

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Kutse SheguThe 49th day Kutse Shegu of late TsheringDoma who left for her heavenly abode on20th February 2004 falls on 7th April 2004.All friends, relatives and well wishers arerequested to join us in offering prayers forthe departed soul at our residence atManjushree Niwas, Tadong, Gangtok. Weheartily thank all those who stood by usduring the time of bereavement and regretour inability to do so individually.H. R. Sharma (Husband), Vijay Sharma, Ajay

Sharma (sons), Neelam Sharma, Dr. Yogita

Sharma (daughters)

PUBLIC NOTICEThis is to inform all Raf-fle holders that Raffle,MCC, North Sikkim thatwill be drawn on 31stApril, 2004 instead of31st March 2004.

LOST The All India Senior Sec-ondary Certificate Examination 2002,Pass Certificate of Dal Badhur Chettrison of Prem Badhur Chettri residentof Upper Chaindmari, Gangtok, RollNo 3213688 has been lost. Anyonewho finds it should kindly please con-tact phone number: 229296.

1. Your Relationship Will BeBetter When You Are Married:Dr. Phil, renowned physiologistsuggests that you take a look at yourrelationship exactly as it is beforeyou get married. If upon examina-tion you feel there is much about itthat you don’t like, don’t fool your-self into thinking that being mar-ried is going to change those things— or change him. So wise. Ofcourse, there are things that you cando to improve a relationship —counselling, working on better orincreased communication — butmarriage is actually not one of thosethings. It is not a relationship fixer,nor is it intended to be.2. You Will Be Financially Bet-ter Off: You might be. I hope youare. But it’s also quite possible thatyou won’t be. Look around you.Most women and most moms workwhether they want to or not, be-cause most households today re-quire two incomes. And even if youare financially better off when youget married, that doesn’t necessar-ily make life financially carefree.So if you see your wifely responsi-bilities as cooling out poolside andeating bonbons, think again. Takean interest in your finances andyour financial well-being now be-cause it will still matter down theroad.3. You and Your Husband WillShare Everything: It’s possible thatyour future husband will want tospend his free time exactly the wayyou do. But don’t count on it, anddon’t put your interests on hold in

the meantime. The perfect man foryou to spend the rest of your life withmay very well not share your enthu-siasm for scuba diving or antiqueshopping or whatever. And you maynot share his passion for cricket orheavy metal. Cultivate relationshipswith people who do share your inter-ests and pursue those interests withthem. You may end up pursuing thoseinterests with those people for the restof your life, and you and your mar-riage will be better for it.4. Other Things in Your Life WillBe Better: As if! Marriage does notmake your job more interesting oryour sister less selfish or yourmother more understanding. Thismay sound obvious to you, but Ican’t tell you how many peopleexpect to return to a shinier, hap-pier life after their honeymoon.Also, do not expect people in your

life who say they want you to getmarried —or who may even bepressuring you to — to behave bet-ter or differently after you do.5. You Will Never Be Attractedto Anyone Else Again: They saythat we all live in a constant stateof desire and the fidelity in mar-riage is all about making the choiceto be faithful. I don’t know about aconstant state of desire, but verylikely you will come across some-

one besides your spouse in thecourse of your married life to whomyou are attracted. You may not besure if this snazzy fellow is some-one you would have just wanted toshag or whether he could have beenthe love of your life in a paralleluniverse. You’ll never know, butit’s a touch unsettling, especially ifyou expected that in addition toactually being faithful, you’d feelyou always wanted to be.

listen to us and give us time,” addsAllison.

I don’t think they, in Americahave such a thing as an employmentexchange, which must be the foun-tainhead of the Great Indian Patience.

Anyway, the study group revealthat they have a weeklong holidayahead and intend to go on theDzongri trek. Then it will be backto Kalimpong where they will putup till June, this year. One justhopes that a bit of whatever theylearn rubs off on the locals, too.

Contd from pg 6

AN AMERICAN STUDY GROUP

Top 5 Myths about Marriage

8; NOW!; 02 April, 2004

C M Y K

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: [email protected]

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742: Charlemagne, the 1st HolyRoman emperor is born.1805: Hans Christian AndersenDenmark, author of 150 fairytales is born.1834: Frederic-AugusteBertholdi Statue of Libertysculptor is born.1947: Country singer EmmylouHarris is born in Alabama.1513: Florida is discovered andclaimed for Spain by Ponce deLe¢n.1550: Jews are expelled fromGenoa Italy1902: First motion picturetheater opens Los Angeles.1912 Titanic undergoes sea tri-als under its own power1935: Sir Watson-Watt patentsRADAR.1954: Plans to build Disneylandannounced.1970: Meghalaya becomes au-tonomous state within India’sAssam state1970: Qatar gains independ-ence from Britain1977: Fleetwood Mac ’s“Rumors,” album goes to #1 &stays #1 for 31 weeks.

ARIES: Self-discipline, training, perse-

vering through a dry or slow period, and

working quietly or in meager circum-

stances are themes in this time period.

Your patience will be tested today.

TAURUS: You're dissatisfied with the

"same old tune" you've been playing or lis-

tening to from others, and now you're apt

to do something different. You're drawn to

the unfamiliar.

GEMINI: This is a busy time; commu-

nicating and getting in touch with others is

very likely. Numerous phone calls, letters,

meetings, errands, or discussions bring

you into contact with others. This is a good

time to come to a group consensus.

CANCER: Your usual routine is likely to

be disrupted now, either by "freak" acci-

dents or by your own impatience with the

status quo. Breaking free of confining situ-

ations and relationships are very likely.

LEO: Relationships with females are

highly favorable now, and you benefit from

seeking out social and emotional connec-

tions with them. You may overdo in some

way - overspend or overeat.

VIRGO: This is a good time to sched-

ule social activities or even business meet-

ings where tact and friendliness would be

a plus. A short pleasure trip would also be

beneficial now.

LIBRA: Relationships with the opposite

sex are intensified now. You experience

strong feelings of attraction and desire. You

may be tempted to act on an infatuation.

SCORPIO: This can be a very deplet-

ing and confusing time when you do not

know exactly what you want. Your imagi-

nation can run wild now, and you want to

act out a fantasy or strange desire - some-

thing you normally would have the good

sense not to attempt.

SAGITTARIUS: Intense competition

or conflict is quite likely at this time. You

feel you must fight or stand up for your

rights in the face of some person or situa-

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seek out a battle in order to test your own

powers. Beware of acting abruptly.

CAPRICORN: Your desire for love and

affection, as well as beauty and pleasure,

is strong now and you act on feelings and

creative impulses more readily than usual.

If you are not happy with some aspect of

your personal life, these issues arise at this

time and there may be disagreements or

tension in a close relationship.

AQUARIUS: You're dissatisfied with

the "same old tune" you've been playing

or listening to from others, and now you're

apt to do something different. You're drawn

to the unfamiliar.

PISCES: You have an abundance of physi-

cal energy and self-confidence right now and

can take on new projects and challenges with

ease. You feel bolder and less dependent on

others' affirmation and approval.

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Even though the court hearings areunder a media blackout, sourcesclose to the child molestation caseagainst Michael Jackson told TheAssociated Press that Jackson’s 14-year-old accuser testified before thegrand jury Tuesday. The hearingalso included testimony from JamieMasada, the comedy club ownerwho first arranged for Jackson andthe boy to meet, according to AP’ssource, who spoke on condition ofanonymity. If prosecutors obtain agrand jury indictment they wouldnot have to present evidence at a

APRIL FOOL PENSION

JOKE FALLS FLATTOKYO: How’s this for a govern-ment pension scheme: In lieu ofpayments, give eligible recipientsfive lottery tickets a year and achance to win millions. A Japanesedaily playfully reported on Thurs-day, April Fool’s Day, that Japan’sgovernment was considering hand-ing out lottery tickets to make upfor future cuts in payments from theailing public pension system.

“The aim is to suppress the pub-lic’s discontent by giving them adream that they may win millions,”the Tokyo Shimbun said in the arti-cle, one of four joke stories itprinted for the April 1 edition.

Some readers, however, aren’tlaughing. More and more Japanesewidely believe that they are unlikelyto get much out of the pension sys-tem. By 2025, Japan is expected tohave one person over 65 for everytwo of working age, the highest ra-tio among industrial countries.

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The Universal release, also starring Seann William Scott and RosarioDawson, was the top-selling and renting title in the US for the week end-ing March 28, according to Nielsen VideoScan and Video Store magazineresearch.

“Rundown” sold more than 1.5 million combined DVD/VHS units toconsumers and video rental chains during its first 24 hours in release andis believed to have sold more than 3 million combined units during itsfirst five days, according to industry sources. “Rundown” generated morethan $11 million in gross rental revenue during the same frame, accordingto Video Store magazine.

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preliminary hearing to determine ifthe case should go to trial.

ROLE CALL: EASTWOOD,SWANK HAVE BABY

Oscar-winning director ClintEastwood and actress Hilary Swankare joining forces on Million Dol-lar Baby. According to the Reporter,the drama, based on two short sto-ries from the collection Rope Burnby F.X. Toole, is a tragic and pla-tonic love story involving a womanin her early 30s who is determinedto begin a boxing career and afighter-turned-trainer. Eastwood willdirect, produce as well as star.

HUNG JUST WANTS TO SINGNow that he’s used about 14 of his 15 minutes of fame, American Idolreject William Hung, who brought new meaning to Ricky Martin’s song“She Bangs,” is determined more than ever to make it as a singer. Hung,who proudly said on TV that he doesn’t have any professional musicaltraining, is now very serious about his career and plans to take voice trainingand dance lessons. “Oh yeah, that’s going to change, of course. I want toget better,” he told AP Radio. Hung’s new album, Inspiration, will bereleased April 6.

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