Equation Har Ghar Ki! 14 April, 2004; NOW! 1 Wednesday, 14 April, 2004 Vol. 3 No. 16 Gangtok Rs. 3 Bharat Sanchar SBI Home Loans = Nigam Ltd. Easiest + a Govt. of India enterprise Office of the General Manager Telecom Fastest + Gangtok : Sikkim Cheapest! NOTICE All BSNL subscribers are hereby informed that all tel- ephone numbers in Gangtok beginning 222, 223, 224 and 225 are being changed in a STATE BANK OF INDIA phased manner to now be- PERSONAL BANKING gin 20, ie is the second ADVANCE CENTRE number of these phones will NH 31A, Cintury Bhawan Ph No: 221165 henceforth be “0.” 14 other documents can now stand in for Photo ID cards BHANDARI’S a NOW REPORT GANGTOK, 13 April: “Genuine” voters in the state who have not obtained their Electoral Photo Iden- tity Cards [EPIC] can now produce BACK IN any of the 14 listed documents to prove their identity at the polling booths and exercise their voting right in the upcoming polls. The relaxation allowing the use of ‘alternative’ documents was PENDAM was “part of greater strategies re- nominees is expected tomorrow. Central Pendam. I was told that the passed through a notification re- a NOW REPORT quired for electioneering.” The Explaining the reason for his party workers had already started leased by the Election Commission GANGTOK, 13 April: Former strategy apparently demands more return to Central Pendam, Mr. the campaign telling people that I of India in a Sikkim government Chief Minister and SPCC [I] presi- shifting as Mr. Bhandari today an- Bhandari said, “The party had taken would be their candidate. It would gazette dated 05 April and signed dent, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, will nounced that he was returning to the decision to send Mr. Tewari to now be difficult for them to shift by Secretary, Election Commission return to contest from Central Central Pendam. Central Pendam instead of me. the focus from me to another can- of India, KW Wilfred, and the Ad- Pendam. The reversion comes While Mr. Bhandari has already However, after consultation with didate in such a short time. There- ditional Chief Electoral Officer of within days of his announcement moved out of his traditional con- the people and party supporters fore, taking their convenience and Sikkim, DL Topden. at Geyzing last Friday that he stituency Soreng [from where he from the constituency, we have now aspirations into consideration, we The fourteen documents one can would be shifting to Temi-Tarku lost in 1999] and his last, Rhenock, taken the decision that I should stay have decided that I will stay back produce at the polling booths [apart and sending former Power Secre- to adopt Central Pendam and back in Central Pendam.” in Central Pendam,” he said. from EPIC] include passports, driv- tary, LP Tewari to contest from Gangtok, Mr. Tewari, eyeing the “During my recent jan-samprak Mr. Bhandari said that he had ing licences, income tax identity Central Pendam. Geyzing seat, had to shift to make campaign in Rangpo, I had discus- “lengthy discussions” on this with [PAN] cards, service identity cards Addressing a press conference space for SDF import, DB Gurung. sions with party workers and sup- Mr. Tewari as well. “We reached the turn to pg 6 yesterday, Mr. Bhandari had stated It is not yet known where he is porters who apprised me that they decision after coming to a mutual that his decision to move to Temi headed. The final list of Congress wanted only me to contest from understanding,” he added. ON SORENG TO BREATHE EASIER saree pg 4 sale SUBBA AND TSONG GIVE @ IN TO EC MEDIATION - sitting MLA from the SDF, Ram West, said that the meeting at the Mimani’s a NOW REPORT Bahadur Subba, and the Cong [I], CEO’s office yesterday was a fol- CONGCONG REPOSESREPOSES GANGTOK, 13 April: Finally, qui- Ashok Tsong. DC, West, R. Telang low-up to a similar meeting of the MG MARG “GREAT etude on the Western front. At least was also present in the meeting. two candidates with the West Dis- ST TH “GREAT this is what the State Election De- With both parties accusing each trict Administration that was held 1 APRIL-30 APRIL FAITH”FAITH” ININ TSETENTSETEN partment expects from the two rival other of trying to disrupt each oth- in Soreng on 8 April. candidates at Soreng who have con- er’s campaigning almost on a daily “With a view to induce some tributed to many reports of poll-re- basis, the need to bring some amount of normalcy in the election- lated violence in the recent past. semblence of normalcy and ensure eering process in the District, spe- Amidst incidents of sporadic that the electioneering process is cially in the Soreng constituency, HONG KONG inter-party clashes and allegations conducted peacefully in the district, we had called a meeting in Soreng and counter-allegations from both necessitated the meeting. on 8 April between the two candi- BAZAAR the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front Speaking to NOW!, the DC, dates and the District Administra- and the Congress [I], the District Ad- tion. After thorough discussions, ministration, West, along with the NEW GUIDELINES FOR the two candidates agreed to a ba- THE FEUDING DUO: Any Item Rs. 90 to Rs. 150 FIRST office of the Chief Electoral Officer, sic guideline in which they will decided to bring the warring groups No active campaigning af- conduct their respective campaigns. Gift Items, Crockery & Other TIME IN to the negotiating table and sort out ter 6PM. In yesterday’s meeting with the Attractive Goods! SIKKIM the matter “amicably.” Both party offices at Tharpu CEO, the two candidates reaf- A meeting was convened in the to be shifted to less confron- firmed their commitments to help tationist locations. office of the CEO here yesterday, dur- in the conduct of free and fair elec- Supporters to carry voter ID ing which a truce was negotiated be- tions in their constituency,” Mr. HOTEL BAYUL, MG MARG, GANGTOK cards while canvassing. tween the two candidates from Soreng turn to pg 4 CMYK 2; NOW!; 14 April, 2004 ED-SPACE NOW! Who were FIRST WITH THE NEWS No Such Thing As Timing the Shudras? Dr. BR Ambedkar is known more for Newspapers are about reporting events. Those who point at in- giving India its Constitution, than for the vestigative journalism as examples of news content beyond the strong opinions he held on the caste realm of “events” forget that events do not have to neccessarily be system. While many outside the Dalit “current”. Any new information on events from the past deserves circles are aware that he was opposed to to be placed in the public domain unencumbered by such consid- the Varna System, few know of the erations as “timing”. The Indian media is at present in the throes amount of research and number of debating whether Asian Age was doing the ethical thing when splashing its front page with comments from a Swedish investiga- of treatises he scripted to tor who turned the needle of suspision on Sonia Gandhi in the support his arguments. It is an Bofors Kickback Scam which has entertained the nation for close attempt to present this face of to two decades now. There are suggestions that the story was Bhimji Rao Ambedkar that “planted”. Here again, one needs to bear in mind that the story- NOW! presents here an idea might have been planted, but the person, his quotes and his abridged version of the preface of his seminal work, allegations were not fabricated. Then there are those crying hoarse abilities so as to prevent him from Aryan society, who have ceased to that the timing was suspect since the story broke so close to elec- “Who Were the Shudras?” rising above the condition fixed for exist as a distinct, separate, identi- tions and after the Courts had cleared Rajiv Gandhi’s name. While published in 1946... him by law. Indeed until the fifth fiable community. But strange as it their reservations might be legitimate, fact remains that newspa- n the present stage of the lit Varna of the Untouchables came may seem the Code intended to deal per content is not governed by how it impacts the political futures of leaders or parties, content is driven by what the editor feels the erature on the subject, a book into being, the Shudras were in the with them has remained in opera- readers deserve to know. The Court clearance apart, the Bofors Ion the Shudras cannot be re- eyes of the Hindus the lowest of the tion and is now applied to all low- case remains one that is still shrouded in too much subterfuge for garded as a superfluity. Nor can it low. This shows the nature of what class Hindus, who have no lock it to be yanked away from the public domain. be said to deal with a trivial prob- might be called the problem of the stock with the original Shudras. And, since it is the ethics of the media that is being dragged lem. The general proposition that Shudras. If people have no idea of How this happened must be a around at present, the time is also perhaps right to discuss this the social organization of the Indo- the magnitude of the problem it is matter of curiosity to all. My expla- tricky point. Ethics for the media is not codified, it runs on the per- Aryans was based on the theory of because they have not cared to nation is that the Shudras of the Indo- sonal interpretations and beliefs of the publishers and the editors.