Bombed and tormented by Bengal’s curses, child does what adults won’t

Bombed and tormented by Bengal's curses, child does what adults won't

SOUMEN BHATTACHARJEE

Priyanka Goldar at the Habra State General Hospital on Monday. Picture by Soumen Bhattacharjee Habra (North 24-Parganas), Dec. 21: Priyanka Go-ldar, 9, took a bomb shrapnel in the shoulder in Habra yesterday when gunmen attacked a drawing contest-cum-blood donation camp, killing a Trinamul worker and a Congress activist. But the state's peddlers of political violence weren't the only people to have made her suffer since yesterday afternoon. The healthcare system too did — having made her wait seven hours for admission yesterday, a Habra hospital today said it had neither the equipment to pinpoint the splinter in her right shoulder, nor the surgeon to operate on her. The political parties too did — today's Trinamul-backed Congress bandh meant she could not be taken to Calcutta's RG Kar Medical College Hospital for what could be urgent surgery to save a nerve or blood vessel. No politician had the time to arrange transport for her despite requests — they were occupied with transporting the bodies of the slain activists from a Barasat hospital after post-mortem. Priyanka, though, had had the heart to think about others even in the traumatic moment when the shrapnel stung her. Hit on the right shoulder and running in panic, she had stopped to pick up a three-year-old, a fellow drawing contestant, with her left arm. Priyanka said her shoulder had suddenly gone numb as she was bent over a sheet of paper, crayons in hand, around 12.45pm. "I was planning to draw a landscape when I heard sounds like firecrackers going off. Something hit my right shoulder and I saw Negro kaku (Trinamul activist Ranjit Roy) fall. I started running towards home," Priyanka said from her bed at Habra State General Hospital, her wound covered with a gauze and sticking plasters. Even amid the confusion she noticed her tiny neighbour, Shrabani Das, crying and scampering around. "I picked her up with my left hand and ran home," Priyanka said. "I am grateful to her for saving my daughter despite her injury," Shrabani's mother Rina, a homemaker, said. When Priyanka reached the thatched hut she calls home, neither her father, a garage hand, nor her mother, who makes jewellery boxes, was in. Priyanka kept mum but brother Akshay, 13, noticed she was bleeding and called neighbours. She was taken to the hospital around 2pm. Her wound was dressed and antibiotics given at the emergency ward but she had to lie on the trolley till 9pm, overtaken by other events. First, Ranjit's body was brought to the hospital; next, Congress and Trinamul supporters invaded the compound and smashed car windscreens. As she was being wheeled into the X-ray room around noon today, Priyanka began crying in pain. "My right arm is extremely painful and is becoming numb off and on," she sobbed. "We need a clearer picture of the foreign body (shrapnel) lodged in her shoulder, which only a digital X-ray can provide. She needs immediate surgery. We don't have any surgeon today and have asked her parents to take her to RG Kar," a doctor said. But shaken by yesterday's vandalism, the driver of the hospital ambulance refused to take it out during the bandh. "We tried to contact the local Trinamul councillor and other party leaders for an ambulance, but all of them were busy bringing the bodies back," said Priyanka's mother Iti. "The girl needs immediate surgery. We'll try to shift her to RG Kar tonight, or definitely by tomorrow," said the district chief medical officer of health, Prabhas Chowdhury. Calcutta-based surgeon D.J. Bhaumik said if the shrapnel did not pose a threat to a major artery or nerve, the operation could wait for a few days. The police spoke to Priyanka at the hospital. No one has yet been arrested.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091222/jsp/frontpage/story_11895209.jsp
--

India wary as China spreads Nepal reach

SUJAN DUTTA

A Maoist dances during the second day of the three-day strike in Kathmandu on Monday. (Reuters) New Delhi, Dec. 21: When Nepal army chief Chhatraman Singh Gurung was being feted with the honorary rank of general in the Indian Army here last week, his deputy was quietly signing a deal with a visiting Chinese military delegation in Kathmandu. To analysts in Kathmandu, the two developments will inevitably evoke a familiar description of Nepal -- that of "a yam stuck between two boulders". The boulders, of course, are India and China. But in New Delhi, the military establishment is concerned that India's army and government are risking losing a space they have traditionally held on to. General Torun Jung Bahadur Singh, who was acting as army chief in Kathmandu in the absence of Gurung, signed a deal with Major General Jia Jialing, deputy director in the foreign relations cell of the Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army. The Chinese pledged 20.8 million yuan (Rs 14.2 crore approximately) as aid for "non lethal" military equipment. Nepal's ammunition-starved army is looking for newer and surer sources of supply since India began turning off the tap of military aid in 2001 and then almost brought it to a halt in 2005. To the defence establishment in New Delhi, the signs are unmistakable: China is stepping-in in Nepal just as it had in Sri Lanka and before that in Myanmar because India has been chary of continuing with military aid to neighbours beset by domestic troubles. Sri Lanka has all but moved on after brutally crushing the three-decade LTTE insurgency with military might in May this year. Sri Lanka's army was using Chinese weaponry and ammunition apart from the outdated Indian equipment it had in its arsenal. In Myanmar, where India was shy of courting the military junta because of Delhi's political support to the democracy movement of Aung San Suu Kyi and the fear of international criticism, it has stepped up visits and exchanges. Three years ago, India even supplied field guns and a maritime surveillance aircraft to Myanmar. But by then the Chinese were everywhere, investing in Myanmar's ports, highways and industries and helping prop up its army militarily. For the military establishment in India, the waning of goodwill in Sri Lanka and Myanmar is a loss that it is now trying to make up. In Nepal, senior Indian Army officers say, there cannot be a waiting period. Nepal is vastly different for India from the island nation or from Myanmar. With neither of those countries does India have an open border. The unique India-Nepal relationship grants reciprocal citizenship rights (minus voting rights) to the residents of each country. Nepalese Gorkhas serve in the Indian Army in large numbers. The move to fete General Gurung and resume arms supplies to Nepal's army, sources argue, should be seen in this context — and not merely from the point of view of touching off sensitivities among the Himalayan nation's Maoists. One officer said that when Prachanda headed the government before being forced to quit over the reinstatement of the former Nepal army chief, General Rukmangad Katawal, there were moves by Kathmandu to get closer to China. Prachanda's defence minister and former chief of the Nepal Maoists' militia, Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal), visited Beijing in September 2008. The Chinese army's deputy chief, Lt Gen Ma Ziaotian, who also oversees India-China military relations and was in charge of their two joint drills, met Prachanda in December last year. Now, Prachanda's successor and Nepal's current Prime Minister, Madhav Nepal, is scheduled to visit China on December 26. The Chinese have expressed concern over the Tibetan protests in Nepal at a time Kathmandu is reported to have sought Indian military help to build an airstrip for its army's air wing in Surkhet near Nepal's border with Tibet. The Nepal Maoists have been quick to allege that India intends to use such an airstrip as a base for operations against China in the event of hostilities. After being given his honorary rank and hosting General Deepak Kapoor at a lavish reception in the Nepalese embassy in Delhi last week, General Gurung is understood to have invited the Indian Army chief to Kathmandu. Traditionally, a new Indian Army chief's first visit has been to Nepal where he, too, is given the honorary rank. Kapoor's predecessor, General J.J. Singh, now governor of Arunachal Pradesh, was twice advised against visiting Nepal for the ceremony. Kapoor has visited many countries and is now in the last leg of his tenure. Whether Kapoor will accept the invitation and visit Kathmandu before he retires early next year will be a demonstration of the Indian government's diplomatic intent in the face of the resurgent Maoists in Nepal. The resumption of arms supplies — armoured personnel carriers, Insas rifles, ammunition and possibly even tanks — to Nepal's army and a visit by Kapoor will demonstrate not only New Delhi's resolve in encouraging an "apolitical and professional" military in Nepal but also its determination to maintain its strategic and political space in the Himalayan country that China is nibbling into.

Hill state plea reaches table VIVEK CHHETRI Darjeeling, Dec. 21: The demand for Gorkhaland made it to the tripartite talks table today for the first time, prompting the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to claim some headway and government sources to suggest that a "logical" concession had been granted to let off steam. The next stage of bargaining will revolve around upgrading the talks — held today in Darjeeling between bureaucrats and the Morcha — to the "political level". The Morcha has set a 45-day deadline for the "political-level talks" — a euphemism for discussions with Union home minister P. Chidambaram and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The demand was raised soon after officials from both the Centre and the state told the Morcha delegation that there was "no political consensus" to form a separate state. State officials later stressed on this point to insist that no ground was yielded. But the Morcha will keep up the pressure by reviving protest programmes a day after Christmas. ( ) "There was a detailed discussion on every aspect on the formation of Gorkhaland and the issues related to it like lack of political consensus and the legalities involved," said Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, who chaired the meeting. At the earlier rounds, the specific statehood demand had been raised by Morcha representatives alone while the government focused on development and special status. On the demand for "political-level" talks, Pillai said the officials could only place this demand before the Union and state governments. Morcha president Bimal Gurung, who was not part of the delegation, later said: "The Centre took the talks lightly. We must neither be too happy nor too sad." A Morcha leader interpreted Gurung's "nor-too-sad" reference as "cautious optimism". "Gurung is satisfied but is aware that the Gorkha people have a long way to go." A few days ago, Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen had said Gorkhaland was not on the agenda and only "development-related" issues would be discussed. "But today we were firm that only Gorkhaland would be discussed and that is precisely what has happened," a Morcha leader said. "This is a victory for us." But officials at Writers' Buildings said the government knew that eventually the demand for Gorkhaland would have to be discussed and agreeing to do so was no major concession. "It is not possible to go on having round after round without discussing the Morcha's principal and only demand," an official said. "Posturing forms a very important part, which is why the home secretary had said Gorkhaland did not figure on the agenda. So, after this, even a minor concession may mean a lot to the Morcha." The official added that discussing Gorkhaland did not mean that either the state or the central government had conceded anything. Scandal snares big guns - Murder, incest cloud on satrap RASHEED KIDWAI Ashok Vir Vikram Singh and wife Asha Rani Bhopal, Dec. 21: A former legislator who is said to have used pythons to terrorise women into submitting to his will was arrested last night in connection with the murder of his sister's granddaughter amid suspicions of incest. Ashok Vir Vikram Singh, 66, alias Bhaiya Raja, was picked up from a hospital more than a week after the bullet-riddled body of Nisha, an aspiring fashion designer, was found on the outskirts of Bhopal. The unmarried 20-year-old, who stayed in a hostel in the Madhya Pradesh capital, had an abortion recently. Asked about the possible motive, Bhopal DIG Ashok Awasthi said: "It is of a personal nature. I would not like to get into details. We have 90 days to file the chargesheet. We have concrete evidence and (will) spell out everything in the chargesheet." Senior police officials handling the case said Nisha's mother and sister kept stressing on the socially unacceptable conduct of the suspect. For the next few days, it remained a blind murder till the police came to know Nisha had terminated her pregnancy at Indore recently. The police also learnt she was being sexually exploited. Bhaiya Raja, whose wife Asha Rani is a BJP MLA, was then summoned by Bhopal police from his hometown Chhattarpur, 287km from the state capital. He was questioned but kept denying his involvement. At a news conference, he even taunted the police. "Am I a fool to commit such a crime when you can get it done for Rs 25,000?" he said. Bhaiya Raja also told the media as well as the police that his driver, Halke, who he claimed was having an affair with Nisha, might have killed her. The driver was picked up and reportedly cracked during interrogation, saying the politician had conspired to get Nisha killed to eliminate evidence. Bhaiya Raja got himself admitted to a city hospital claiming chest pain and high blood pressure. But the cops produced a discharge slip from doctors saying he was well enough to be taken into custody. The arrest came two days after Bhaiya Raja managed to get an audience with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to claim his innocence. Some influential Delhi-based Congress and BJP leaders also intervened but DIG Awasthi and IG Shailendra Srivastava stood up to the political pressure. Considered a terror in Bundelkhand, Bhaiya Raja's first brush with notoriety came two decades ago when the nephew of then Union home minister Buta Singh was killed in a farmhouse of another politician. Bhaiya Raja was arrested and remained in jail for a long time before earning reprieve from a trial court. In 1992, Madhya Pradesh police demolished "Jal Mahal", a part of his Chhattarpur residence that reportedly housed pythons and alligators. Bhaiya Raja even figured in a book — The Indian Mafia (Law Research Institute, Calcutta) — in which the author, Srikanta Ghosh, had said: "Bhaiya Raja is a feudal overlord and dubbed as a terror of Bundelkhand." He is "reputed" to have used "pythons to terrorise women to submit to his will", the book said. "As many as 32 cases have been registered against him." In the 1993 Assembly polls, when Bhaiya Raja won as an Independent, old-timers recalled a slogan: "Stamp elephant (his symbol) or face bullet in the chest." In 1998, he won again but as a Samajwadi Party MLA. Nisha's friends said she was an extrovert but for the past two months had not been attending classes regularly. Nisha, whose real name is Vasundhara Bundela, may have had some inkling of what was coming. "…from my previous relations," she wrote hours before her death on a social networking site, "I have learnt not to trust anyone." http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091222/jsp/nation/story_11895293.jsp

Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/