STEPPING OUT TO SET THINGS RIGHT

For the true Sikkimese, May 16, 1975 heralded the end of an era and perhaps the beginning of a new struggle to preserve ‘Sikkim for Sikkimese’; but, this time, within the bounds of India, a great nation ruled by petty politicians and corrupt bureaucrats. This was an ideal that inspired me and shaped the course of my life ever since I returned to my native land at the end of 1982 after nearly twenty years.

   To aim high, think big and struggle for a worthy cause – for unity, identity and a common destiny for all people in Sikkim – was the agenda that I had set for myself both in my profession and later on in politics. Anything less than that was totally unacceptable to me and not worth the risk, toil and the endless struggle that lasted for more than two decades.

   By the end of 1999 – the last year of the 20th century – I felt a certain sense of restlessness and impatience that I hadn’t experienced before. I needed and wanted to step out of the narrow confines of my profession and free myself to openly and directly place my views to the outside world on certain issues of public interest which were close to my heart and which guided my professional and political outlook for a long, long time.

   Journalism does not allow you to mingle personal feelings and political inclinations with professional duties. The respect that I had for my profession had one disadvantage – it became a wall between me and my people. While freeing me in some ways it also enslaved me. I could not remain in the cage any longer – I needed and wanted to come out and set myself free. I could not and would not allow my precious dream to die in the hands of petty politicians without getting personally and politically involved in the struggle towards achieving my goals.

  Even if I face defeat my effort and struggle to pursue my dream would be worthwhile. I will not feel guilty of playing it safe and shying away in my neat little corner when the ideal thing to do was to come out in the open and take your stand - come what may!  Those who knew me well, respected me, and had great faith and trust in my capacity and commitment had no doubt about the honesty of my heart and the righteousness of my cause that drove me to place my case to the outside world.

   It was US President Theodore Roosevelt who once said: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena - whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...who knows the great enthusiams, the great devotions - and spends himself in a worthy cause - who at best if he wins knows the thrill of high achievement - and if he fails at least fails while daring greatly - so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”

   In the autumn of 1999 I found myself in direct confrontation with the political establishment on issues that were close to my heart for a long time. You either take a stand and live out your dream or just talk about it, write about it but actually do nothing about it and spend the rest of your days regretting for not having spoken up and making your stand clear to the whole wide world. The fact is you are what you do and not what you want to do. The road to hell is certainly paved with good intentions. Our leaders who preach and do not practise should know where we are heading.

   In mid-September 1999, I, as the Chairman of the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU), supported a call for boycotting the ensuing Assembly elections in the State, scheduled for October 3, 1999. Though I had written about it earlier we actually did not make any plan to take such a radical step on the Assembly seat reservation issue. It just happened – quite spontaneously and to my great delight! The boycott call given by the Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) – the apex body of the indigenous Bhutia-Lepchas in the State – was in reaction to the betrayal of people’s trust by the combined political leadership of the State and the Centre on the Assembly seat issue.

   The 1999 Assembly polls was the fifth Assembly elections in Sikkim since the arbitrary, undemocratic, unjust and abrupt abolition of Assembly seats reserved for the three ethnic communities in 1979. Not only were the political parties in the State fooling the people on the seat issue the Centre also refused to respond favourably and timely on the demand for restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people as per assurances given to them during the merger, which are reflected in the historic Tripartite Agreement of May 8, 1973 and Article 371F of the Constitution.

(Ref: The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, 2014.)

TIBET AND SIKKIM DID NOT ACCEPT 1890 CONVENTION

Sir Charles Bell, Britain’s Political Officer in Gangtok with additional responsibility for Tibet and Bhutan, called the Chumbi Valley, where the Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a tantalising minuet, “a dagger aimed at the heart of India.” Vincent Coelho, independent India’s much later official in the same position, claimed “that India’s frontier with China is the Chumbi Valley and the crest of the Himalayas along Sikkim’s northern border with Tibet.”

Chumbi Valley

Strictly speaking, India is not involved in today’s dispute over the Doklam plateau where the Chinese are said to claim 269 sq km of Bhutanese territory. But Jawaharlal Nehru’s warning in the Lok Sabha in 1959 “We have publicly, and rightly, undertaken certain responsibilities for the defence of Sikkim and Bhutan, if they are attacked. It is very necessary for us to understand that if anything happens on their borders, then it is the same thing as an interference with the border of India” still shapes policy. Doklam is one of the four disputed areas in Haa and Paro in western Bhutan. Haa Dzong (Castle) is the family seat of the once powerful Dorjee clan of the half-Sikkimese Ashi Kesang Wangchuck, whose grandson, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, is the current “Dragon King.” Haa is also the headquarters of the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan and, therefore, an object of Chinese suspicion. India’s southernmost military post is at Dokolam on the China-Bhutan-India tri-junction.

The kings (Chogyals) of Sikkim had their traditional seat in the Chumbi Valley. It was the subject of prolonged Anglo-Chinese negotiations in the late 19th Century when Sheng Tai, the Manchu envoy, not only had to contend with Lord Lansdowne, the viceroy, who himself argued Britain’s case, but was also under the influence of his British secretary. The crumbling and corrupt Celestial Empire was in no position to resist such high-powered pressure, and the negotiations ended in the Anglo-Chinese convention of 1890 which affirmed Britain’s protectorate over the Kingdom of Sikkim, and gave the Chumbi Valley to China.

Neither of the two principals, Sikkim and Tibet, was consulted. The protesting Tibetans announced they did not recognise the Convention, as did Sikkim which clung to her title to the Chumbi Valley. Legally, the Convention was of doubtful worth. In practical terms, it was irrelevant, for the exercise of British power mattered far more than fudged legality. With or without the benefit of Chinese acknowledgement of British pretensions, the Viceroy did as he pleased in the Himalayas.

It was an age when all Asia deferred to the white man. Stirring events, including the only major engagement the British ever fought in Sikkim, preceded the Convention. The Tibetan army was finally pushed back through Jelap-la in September 1888, and the Derbyshire regiment poured into Chumbi to ransack the “large three-storied rambling building… rich with valuable and curious China, costly arms and all sorts of quaint curiosities” that was the Chogyal’s palace.

It suited British strategy to act on the assumption that Tibet was subject to China. That way, the Tibetans could not threaten British actions in the Himalayas while an enfeebled China was no threat at all. The British again ignored Tibet’s rights in the trade regulation talks three years later, and insulted and imprisoned the Dalai Lama’s envoy, refusing to allow him any part in the negotiations. Claude White, then Political Officer, deliberately did not wait for Tibet’s representatives in 1895 when he erected boundary pillars at Jelap-la in the presence of three Chinese commissioners. These pillars along a 14,500-ft ridge gave, and give, India’s artillery an overview of the entire Chumbi Valley, including military fortifications and troop movements.

This is probably what the People’s Liberation Army is trying to correct. A road through the Doklam plateau along the eastern Bhutanese edge of the Chumbi Valley would counter the advantage the British gave themselves at Jelap-la on the Valley’s western Sikkimese border. China reportedly offered Bhutan a package deal in 1996 to exchange its claim to 495 sq km of land in the north-central sector of Bumthang in return for the 269 sq km in Doklam.

It seemed a wonder China did not ask for abrogation of the 1890 Convention as yet another “unequal treaty” forced on the dying Qing dynasty just as it repudiated or demanded renegotiation of many other treaties. One reason could be that it enshrined British recognition of the Chumbi Valley as Chinese. A no less vital reason with contemporary political relevance may be that it portrayed China as Tibet’s suzerain power. The historian John Rowland claimed, “Peking, which sees the Himalayan states as irredentist regions to be regained as soon as possible, also assigns to them an offensive role. They can be future bases for the subversion of India.” But this is to overlook modern China’s sophisticated diplomacy. Beijing already controls Tibet. It knows Sikkim is beyond its reach. Nepal is probably thought to be more trouble than it’s worth. Bhutan alone remains to be wooed.

Zhou En-lai sounded jubilant at his New Delhi press conference on 30 April 1960 when he was asked about Chinese claims to Bhutan. “I am sorry to disappoint” he retorted. “We have no claim with regard to Bhutan, nor do we have any dispute with it. You may recall that in its letters to the Indian Government, the Chinese Government twice mentioned that China has no boundary dispute with Sikkim and Bhutan, and that China respects India’s special relations with Sikkim and Bhutan.” This is India’s version. According to China’s Hsinhua News Agency, Zhou said, “proper relations” (as in his note to New Delhi) and not “special” relations. The distinction is interesting for “special” is not always “proper.” Although Zhou dismissed the McMahon Line as “illegally delineated through an exchange of secret notes by British imperialism with the Tibetan local authorities of China,” he did not, for the reasons already suggested, denounce the 1890 Convention as another fraudulent imposition.

But, presumably, China seeks to improve on its gains from the Convention. Hence, the PLA’s attempt to build a motorable road “inside Bhutanese territory” from Dokala in the Doklam area towards the Royal Bhutanese Army camp at Zornpelri. Having reportedly already built what the Bhutanese media calls “a major road till the Yadong town in the Chumbi Valley,” the Chinese are apparently trying to take it as close as they can to the Indian and Bhutanese borders. India is paranoiac about security in the region. One of the reasons why the late King Birendra of Nepal lost New Delhi’s favour was his proposal for a six-point zone of peace that would, in India’s view, bring the Chinese right down to the Nepal-India border. Neither Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck nor his ministers will make a similar mistake.

(Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, Free Press Journal, July 8, 2017, Sons of Sikkim: The Rise and Fall of theNamgyal Dynasty of Sikkim, Jigme N. Kazi, Notion Press, 2020.)

OCTOBER 2, 1999 HUNGER STRIKE ON ‘NO SEAT, NO VOTE’ ISSUE

Just days before the scheduled date of the proposed hunger strike on October 2, 1999, the OSU and SIBLAC formed the Sikkimese Nepalese Apex Committee (SNAC) in Geyzing, West Sikkim. The new body was formed at a joint meeting of the OSU and SIBLAC and was chaired by K.C. Pradhan. Buddhilal Khamdak, a young and educated Nepali from the Limbu community in West Sikkim, was made the SNAC’s Convenor. The newly-formed body supported the seat issue demand raised by the SIBLAC and OSU and urged the two organisations to support the demand on restoration of Assembly seats of the Sikkimese Nepalese.

   On October 2, while the rest of the nation celebrated the 130th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi Jayanti), the Sikkimese people – represented by SIBLAC, OSU and SNAC – sought the blessing of the ‘Father of the Nation’ and the Guardian Deities of Sikkim in their struggle on restoration of their political rights. The 12-hour hunger strike by six representatives of the three ethnic communities at the ‘BL House’ in Gangtok on October 2 symbolically ushered in a new phase in the fight for restoration of the political rights of bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities.  Four members of the SIBLAC – two convenors (Nima Lepcha and Pintso Bhutia), Vice-Convenor Tenzing Namgyal, and a woman representative (Gyamsay Bhutia), the SNAC Advisor K.C. Pradhan and myself as OSU Chairman took part in the historic one-day hunger strike on October 2, 1999.

The 12-hour hunger strike by Sikkimese representatives at the ‘BL House’, Gangtok, on October 2, 1999.

(Left to Right) Tenzing Namgyal, Jigme N Kazi, Nima Lepcha, Pintso Bhutia, KC Pradhan and Gyamsay   Bhutia.   

   We had actually chosen the premises where the ‘Statues of Unity’ are installed for the venue of the one-day hunger strike. Located in the heart of the capital at the northern end of the Mahatma Gandhi Marg – the main market area in the capital – this venue would have been the ideal place to begin a prolonged and intensive campaign on the seat issue. However, the State Government refused to allow us to use this place. In fact, it asked us to call off the hunger strike and the boycott call.

   In a letter to the SIBLAC, dated September 17, 1999, Chief Secretary Sonam Wangdi said redressal of grievances should be done through participation in the electoral process and pointed out that boycott of elections “is the last action to be taken as the final resort when all other means have failed.” The Chief Secretary simply could not see that we had resorted to this method as “all other means”, including the electoral process, in the past two decades failed to achieve the desired result. We ignored the government’s plea and went ahead with the hunger strike.

   However, it must be placed on record that if it hadn’t been for the OSU the hunger strike and boycott call may have been put off. Pradhan and I tactfully and very firmly exerted enough pressure on the SIBLAC leadership, which was dithering on the issue at the last moment when they were under extreme pressure. Even if the SIBLAC had backed off at the last moment the OSU and SNAC would have certainly continued with the mission. No amount of tactics and pressure would work on Pradhan and me and on this we were very confident.

   As planned, we held the hunger strike on October 2 to remind the world that we were determined to struggle on till our demand on restoration of our political rights were met. While others fought the elections we fought for our people. We were not concerned with who wins or loses in the polls; our main concern was that if the Assembly seats were not restored to us in the near future we would be the ultimate losers and the electoral process would then become a meaningless ritual as the Sikkimese people would have no future to look forward to.

(Ref: The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, 2014.)

OSU FAVOURS ST STATUS FOR ALL SIKKIMESE

“Distinct Identity Within The Union”

Though it has not yet taken a formal decision on the issue, the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) has taken a serious note of the demand for Scheduled Tribes status to all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities in the State who were genuine subjects of the erstwhile kingdom.

   Presently, only the minority Bhutia-Lepchas have been enlisted in the Scheduled Tribes list as per the Scheduled Tribes Order of 1978. The inclusion of all former ‘Sikkim Subjects’ belonging to the three ethnic groups of Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese in the State’s ST list will not only ensure peace, unity and harmony in the State but will also go a long way in improving the economic and educational welfare of bonafide Sikkimese.

   The division among Sikkimese Nepalese on caste lines not only affects political stability in the State but also endangers national security in this sensitive region. The need to restore peace, harmony and unity along the Sikkimese is the need of the day. The OSU believes that forces of disunity will hamper preservation of Sikkim’s ‘distinct identity within the Union.’

   Though the OSU favours ST status to all bonafide Sikkimese, irrespective of caste and community, it is firm on political rights concerning restoration of Assembly seats to the Sikkimese. While the OSU may prefer economic benefits and facilities to be enjoyed by all STs in the State it wants seats in the Assembly to be reserved solely for the Sikkimese on the basis of them belonging to the three ethnic groups and not on the basis of them being scheduled tribes.

   This is aimed at preserving the distinct identity of the Sikkimese as per the terms of the merger and Article 371F of the Constitution, which reflects provisions of the May 8 Tripartite Agreement of 1973 and Government of Sikkim Act of 1974.

   The Sikkim Newar Guthi (SNG), headed by the former Chief Secretary, Keshav Chandra Pradhan, as its President, recently urged the Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) to demand inclusion of all Sikkimese in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the State. Pradhan believes that declaration of all Sikkimese in the list of STs in the State will “reweave the fine Sikkimese fabric and bring about a trust, amity and goodwill among all sections of the community so vital in this sensitive border State.”

   In his letter, dated Sept 6 1999, to the SIBLAC Convenor, Pradhan pointed out that mutual trust and harmony in the State “was in fact the basic spirit and objective behind the Article 371F when it was initially framed.” Though SIBLAC has not yet responded to the Guthi’s initiative the OSU has taken the matter seriously and will soon take a firm decision on this issue. It must be noted that while other social organizations kept mum, choosing to take sides with political parties during the recent elections, the Guthi took a principled stand and openly supported SIBLAC’s demand for restoration of the political rights of the minority Bhutia-Lepchas in the State.

 In response to the appeal made by SIBLAC on the seat issue, OSU leaders helped to form the Sikkimese Nepalese Apex Committee (SNAC). The OSU feels that the seat issue should now be fought jointly by both the minority and majority communities.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, 30 October 1999, Sikkim For Sikkimese: Distinct Identity Within The Union,  Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, Gangtok, 2009)

  SOW THE WIND AND REAP THE WHIRLWIND

(The Press Club of Sikkim conferred the “Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar 2012” award to journalist-cum-writer Jigme N. Kazi at a function in Gangtok on July 17, 2012. The following are excerpts from Kazi’s acceptance speech)

 “If we cannot uphold certain basic and fundamental values of human existence such as freedom, democracy, justice, self-respect and the rule of law we miss the opportunity that life offers to each one of us. The first indication of a society’s degeneration is when individuals live and work only for themselves. Sikkim is on the verge of being a dead and decadent society. Our constant efforts to camouflage ourselves will not work in the long run. We will be fully exposed when the time comes.

   We locals often distance ourselves from the byaparis, the business community, for encroaching into our economic and political rights and interests. Little do we realize that while they sell potatoes, tomatoes etc. we are the real byaparis. We have sold our king, our flag, our country, our distinct identity and political rights. Not content with this we are still selling our hills and valleys, our lakes and rivers, our land and people, our religion and culture, and worse of all our self-respect and dignity. Is it really worth sweating it out for such people?

(L to R) IPR Secretary KS Tobgay, Chief Guest CK Shrestha, Sikkim ObserverEditor Jigme N Kazi, Press Club Advisor CD Rai, Press Club General Secretary Joseph Lepcha and Press Club President Bhim Rawat at the Press Club of Sikkim function in Gangtok on July 17, 2012.

   Me and my kind have lived through this bitter period in Sikkim’s history. In our efforts to fight for the common cause we have brought down five chief ministers and made four chief ministers in the past so many years.  We did this for a good cause and without any selfish motive. We are not to be blamed if our political leadership continuously fails us and lets us down the moment they come to power.

   I took leave from the Fourth Estate at the end of the year 2000 to make my personal contribution to Sikkim politics when I was convinced that those we backed were betraying us and the issues we raised for petty considerations. Unlike many others, I could not hang around and hide myself safe and secure in a small corner when I was convinced that we were being led to a dead-end street. I left active politics after three and half years in August 2004 when I was fully convinced that I was heading nowhere and those around me were still deeply involved in petty politics. There is no future for Sikkim and the Sikkimese if our political leadership – ruling and opposition – fails to rise above mundane things and continues to mislead the people while making great promises.

   It is futile to fight for the distinct identity of Sikkim within the Union if the leaders of our larger community are not sure of who they are, whom they represent, and what they really want. Nepal’s political situation, where ethnic communities are being reduced to a minority in the land of their origin, has still not opened our eyes. This is because while our head is still not clear our heart is full of greed. When will we ever live in a place where the mind is without fear and the head is held high? When will this non-stop looting stop? Corruption has reached a point of no return. Disillusionment has set in and this seems to be irreversible. These are dangerous trends in a sensitive and strategic border State like Sikkim.

   Even if our political leadership has failed us time and again,India must live up to the expectations of the Sikkimese people. If it continues to ignore the hopes and aspirations of those who sacrificed their country so that this nation may live in peace and security there may come a day when Sikkim will become a hot-bed of international politics. We may not see that day but that day is not afar if India fails to honour its commitments made to Sikkim and the Sikkimese people during the takeover.

   The gradual dilution of our distinct identity, political rights and social harmony originates from New Delhi. The erosion of our unique and distinct cultural identity, the systematic manner in which seeds of division are sown in our social fabric, and finally the destruction caused to our fragile environment and ecology cannot and must not be easily condoned. We cannot blame our leaders only; we, too, have shamelessly become agents of division, disunity and destruction. We have sown the wind; we will surely reap the whirlwind.”

LANDMARKS OF THE DECADE (1989-1999)

Though the Rising Sun Party under R.C. Poudyal’s leadership was a cause for worry for Bhandari before the November 1989 (Assembly) polls the party soon became ineffective after the elections with Poudyal opting to stay in Delhi instead of leading the Opposition in Sikkim. In retrospect, this was Poudyal’s greatest mistake and he never fully recovered after his party’s electoral defeat.

The next person who gave much hope to the people was A.K. Subba, who was then trying his luck in lottery business. After Subba became the PCC chief he did much to organize the party in the State and even held a meeting of the North-East Congress Coordination Committee in Gangtok in 1991. But Subba dithered when he was asked to choose between his lottery business and politics. He opted for his business concerns, where he was believed to have made quite a fortune, and lost his place in State politics. Had Subba captured the imagination of the people, who were looking for a saviour to save them from Bhandari’s dictatorial tendencies, his fortune may have risen and Sikkim’s contemporary political history could have been different.

A section of the local Press indeed played a very significant role in feeding the public with a variety of news and views during this crucial period. At times some local journalists displayed tremendous courage and professionalism despite threat to their life and properties. The fight for preservation of freedom of the Press in the State culminated in the protest rally by six local journalists in Gangtok on June 19, 1993.

The man who chose to keep mum but was carefully taking stock of the situation was Pawan Chamling, who was then a member of the Bhandari Cabinet. More than the rumblings within the backward classes it was the general disillusionment with Bhandari’s regime that inspired Chamling to try his luck for the top job. While Chamling tried to wean away the OBC supporters of the ruling party to his side, others, including the minority tribals, also sided with him.

When Chamling felt that it was the right time for him to come out he made his moves. Within weeks of his utterances such as “I’m a democrat, not a sycophant” in Sikkim Observer, Chamling was dismissed (in June 1992) from the Cabinet. After consolidating his position in the OBC-dominated belt of south and west districts Chamling finally came out in the open when in March 1993 he formed his new political outfit, Sikkim Democratic Front.

By mid-1993, anti-Bhandari and pro-democracy activists under Chamling’s leadership gained the upper hand. Chamling soon emerged as the sole representative of the suppressed Sikkimese people. But political development soon took a new turn in early1994 after the income-tax issue surfaced. The crisis finally led to the abrupt ouster of Bhandari from chief ministership in May 1994. Dissidents within the SSP plotted against Bhandari for his dubious stand on the income-tax issue, where the tribals deeply felt betrayed and let down by Bhandari and his MP wife.

For six months before the November 1994 polls Sikkimwitnessed a brief spell of Congress rule under S.M. Limboo, who became the dissidents’ choice for the chief minister’s guddi. Limboo performed pretty well and paved way for a free and fair polls (November 1994) in which the SDF emerged victorious. Bhandari was finally ousted from power after he became CM in October 1979 on an anti-merger platform.

The electorate had given an anti-Bhandari verdict in favour of the SDF and Congress(I). While the SDF won 19 seats, 10 seats went to SSP, leaving Congress with two while one went to A.K. Subba, who contested as an independent candidate. When Chamling formed the government on December 12 (1994) the expectations of the people were very high. In the last five years the Chamling Government did much to live up to its expectations but, by and large, the people felt let down.

The SDF has once again been voted back to power in the October (1999) elections. With 25 MLAs in the House of 32 to its side there is no reason why Chamling cannot put the house in order and provide political stability and economic prosperity to the people this time.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, December 1999)

SIKKIM’S SAKYA CONNECTION

The last king of the celestial race, which reigned in Minyak for 25 generations, became very powerful. At this time (13th century), this king invited Sakya Panchen, the famous Hierarch of Sakya, to his kingdom. During a ceremonial rite being performed by the Hierarch, the deity, Guru Dragpa (a wrathful aspect of Guru Rinpoche), appeared to the king and gave him a ruby seal with the sign of a scorpion from a hidden store (ter, hidden spiritual treasure). After receiving this gift, the king became even more powerful, conquered large parts of China and also brought minor provinces and states of Kham under his control.

   The successor of the above king was directed by the same deity to go southwards to Sikkim. In a prophetic injunction, the deity directed the descendants of the Minyak Dynasty to go towards south of Tibet to the sacred hidden land called Beyul Demajong (The Hidden Valley of Rice).

   Accordingly, 25 generations after the founding of the Minyak Dynasty in the 9th century by one of the sons of King Trisong Deutsen, Guru Tashi, a scion of the Minyak House, went westwards on a pilgrimage in the first half of the 13th century. He was accompanied by his five sons. During their pilgrimage in Lhasa, the statue of Jowo Rinpoche Sakyamuni (in Jokhang Temple) prophesied that they should proceed south-west to a place called Dema-Jong (Denjong). Accordingly, Guru Tashi and his family travelled to Sakya, located north of Sikkim in Tibet. In an authentic old record, it is said that there were three brothers as chiefs of Kham Minyak and the middle one was prophesied to go towards Sikkim.

   On their way, they visited several important or renowned places of pilgrimage in Tibet and then, came to Sakya to pay their respects to the Hierarch. The Hierarch was engaged in the construction of a huge monastery and was busy trying to build the hall of the monastery. This monastery had seven storeys which were supported by four huge wooden pillars and 160 smaller pillars. The people struggled unsuccessfully to erect the four pillars.

   The Sakya Monastery, located in the city of Sakya in Tibet’s southern province of Tsang, was built in 1073 by Khon Khonchog Gyalpo. The name Sa-kya refers to the region’s grey (kya) earth (sa). From 1074 to 1959 the monastery served as the seat of the Sakya Trizins, the spiritual heads of the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Chogyal Phagpa, the fifth of the five founders of the Sakya Order, expanded the monastery in 1268.

   Guru Tashi’s eldest son was well known for his strength. He raised the pillars of the Sakya Trulpai Lhakhang Chenpo, located at the vicinity of the Sakya Monastery, and placed them in their proper places. This Herculean feat earned him the title “Khye-Bumsa,” meaning the one who possesses the strength of one lakh (one hundred thousand) persons. Guru Tashi’s family stayed in Sakya for some time, and Khye-Bumsa married Jomo Guruma, the daughter of the Hierarch.

Sakya Monastery in Tibet

The Sakya Monastery, the principal monastery of the Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism located at Sakya near Shigatse in Central Tibet, has two parts – the northern and southern monasteries. They are located on either side of Dhrum Chu River.

   The northern monastery, built on the hill side in 1073 by Khon Kongchog Gyalpo, the founder of Sakyapa, was destroyed by Chinese Red Army during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The southern monastery, built in 1268 by Chogyal Phagba, the fifth Sakya Trizin, survived the Cultural Revolution as it not only had a series of defence system around the monastery but also because of the changes in the policy of the Central Chinese Government of that period.

   Some of the giant wooden pillars of the southern monastery, the Sakya Trulpai Lhakhang Chenpo, were raised with the help of Khye-Bumsa, an ancestor of Sikkim’s Namgyal Dynasty, in the 13th century. These pillars still stand strong to this day.

   Giant pillars of the Sakya Monastery raised by Sikkim’s ancestor Khye-Bumsa in the 13th century are still seen in the main hall of the monastery.

(Ref: SONS OF SIKKIM: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications and Notion Press, 2020.)

HERMONS ON THE MOUNT

“It Shall Be Rebuilt”

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple..."

I’m sure Hermonites from all over the world and from all groups and ages are geared up to celebrate the occasion in their own way. The spirit and the manner in which some Hermonites, including some from abroad, joined the school to celebrate MH’s 125th birth anniversary on March 11, 2020, is proof enough of our strong bonding and camaraderie. The spirit of MH is alive and refuses to die.

However, we are well aware that Hermonites all over the world are conscious of what’s happening to their beloved MH. Some have given up on the school, others are holding on. Hopes are high but apprehensions are genuine. What can I say at such moment!? Keep going. Aim. Shoot to score!

During the celebration of the Methodist Church’s 150 years of ministry in the sub-continent many years ago in Lucknow, one of the speakers reminded the delegates of what Mahatma Gandhi said about the Church in India. Bishop Robert Solomon of Singapore in his keynote address recalled an incident between Stanley Jones, an American Methodist Christian missionary, and Mahatma Gandhi. When Jones asked Gandhi, “You are an ardent practitioner of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount; why don’t you join the church?” Gandhi replied, “I have no problem with Christ; my problem is with church.”

When I see what has been going in our beloved Mount Hermon, the temple of learning in the past several years I’m reminded of how Jesus Christ reacted when he saw what was happening in the Church of God in the city of Jerusalem:

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mathew 21)

In 1967 when Dr. Welthy Fisher spoke at our Speech Day she reminded us how we should go about our job, particularly when things don’t go our way. She, while quoting an old Chinese proverb, said: “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

Those who are concerned about MH and have displayed their love, affection and loyalty to the school need not despair “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”.

It is the law of karma. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:8-10)

When the Chapel portion of our school’s main building was restored and rededicated on August 15, seven months after the disastrous earthquake of January 15, 1934, our Principal Miss Lila Enberg in her dedicatory speech said, “We need not mourn for the greater glory of the former building that was shattered by the earthquake. Instead we all rejoice that the latter glory is greater than the former. The Assembly Hall is now more firmly constructed, more strongly bound together than before. We would now, therefore, render hearts full of thanksgiving to your Gracious God who, of His infinite mercy and goodness, has made all this possible. It was He who gave the faith and courage that enabled us to say: ‘It shall be rebuilt!’ ”

In this hour of another crisis at MH may we, too, have the faith and courage to say: "It Shall Be Rebuilt!” and mean it.

Inch by inch

Step by step

One day at a time

WE SHALL OVERCOME!

(Ref: Hail Mount Hermon! A TRIBUTE, Jigme N. Kazi, 2020, Prowess Publishing, Chennai, India.)

Dzongkar Opening

DZONGKAR: A HOME FOR FAMILY & FRIENDS

A Haven of Peace & Happiness

God bless DZongkar

What a lovely name

May it bring you happiness

Affluence, glory and fame

To all who visit

Be it a great place to rest,

By God himself

This place is blessed.

Not just mortar and stones

It is a labour of love

He has smiled on your efforts

Our God in the heaven’s above

You’re turning a new page

Shed the baggage of yore

May it open splendorous avenues

Peace and happiness galore

Full of generous welcome

A home for family and friends

Overflowing with love and hospitality

And a warmth that never ends.

May God bless this white fortress

May he keep it safe and sound

Within its hallowed portals

May peace and happiness abound

(By Hermonite Vedprakash Agarwal)

SOUL OF SIKKIM: Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal (1923-1982)

END OF AN ERA

With the cremation of Palden Thondup Namgyal, the former Chogyal of Sikkim, in Gangtok, a 100-year-old dynasty finally came to an end. Though deprived of his throne since 1975, when Sikkim became a state of the Indian Union, the pomp and pageantry that accompanied the cremation ceremony was certainly befitting royalty. 

The last years of his life had been spent in bitterness and pain and even humiliation. He was a king without a kingdom, betrayed by his own people, his tiny Himalayan monarchy snatched rudely away by a mighty neighbour, his power and prestige reduced to nothingness. And then, the final denouement: deserted by his American wife, he lay stricken with cancer in an alien land.

   When Palden Thondup Namgyal, 59, the former Chogyal of Sikkim, finally passed into legend and history, there remained the ultimate irony: his voice box had been removed three months earlier so there were no last words, no epitaph he could give himself, no final benediction to his people.

   The irony, however, was not over. In death, if not in life, the Chogyal finally was king again and his tortured soul had found peace. For 20 days, his body, embalmed in New York where he died, lay in state in the royal monastery in Gangtok while thousands of mourners filed past, some sobbing uncontrollably, to pay their final farewell to the departed leader.

   At each corner of the tent-shaped coffin (the Chogyal, according to traditional custom, was placed seated in the classic Buddha pose) four members of the Sikkim Police maintained a 24-hour vigil, heads bowed and rifles reversed.

Stylised Pageantry: Only a king could have commanded, and deserved, such stylised pageantry. Instead of the sombre trappings of a funeral, the coffin room was a riot of colours.

   Two rows of wizened lamas in their red robes sat facing each other, eyes closed and lips moving silently in prayer. Huge prayer flags and tankhas with intricate designs hung solemnly from the ceiling. One hundred butter lamps flickered constantly in the centre of the room, bathing the scene in an eerie glow.

   There was also a symbolic show of defiance in the form of the red and white Sikkim national flag draped over the coffin and hiding the Chogyal's mortal remains from public view.

   Next to the coffin, neatly laid out with spotless tableware, was an incongruous sight - a full meal, freshly cooked, which was served up thrice a day. At breakfast, for instance, there were two fried eggs, bacon, orange juice, a thermos jug of coffee and fruit.

   According to Buddhist tradition, the soul of the dead does not leave the body immediately, but at a moment termed auspicious by the lamas for a period up to 49 days after death.

   For economic reasons, since the family of the dead person has to feed the mourners, the actual cremation takes place within a week. In the Chogyal's case, the lamas had picked the 21st day after his death for the cremation.

   Since the day his body had been flown in to Gangtok on January 31, a row of intricately designed tents had been erected on the grassy knoll separating the palace from the royal monastery. Under the tents, hundreds of female volunteers slaved day and night to provide meals for the hundreds who arrived daily from all parts of the rugged, mountainous state for the cremation.

   Next door, in the tiny Victorian building known as the Palace, the members of the Chogyal's family huddled in private grief, led by the bespectacled and self-assured scion of the Namgyal family, Wangchuk Namgyal, 29.

    "His last days were peaceful and spent in meditation. I think he knew he was going to die and though he couldn't speak he made this quite obvious," says Palden Namgyal the Chogyal's curly-haired son by his second wife, Hope Cooke, who studies in New York and was by his father's bedside when the end came.

Also present was Bhuvanesh Kumari, member of the erstwhile royal family of Patiala and a family friend as well as the former Chogyal's legal adviser. "He was a great man, a renowned scholar and this spontaneous show of grief is a measure of the affection the people had for him," she says.

   On the day of the cremation, the royal family gathered around the coffin at 4.30 a.m. in the pre-dawn darkness to make the traditional offerings of scarves to the Chogyal's coffin. They were joined by the royal family of Bhutan, led by the queen mother, which is related by marriage to the Chogyal's family.

   At 4.45, with dawn edging over the mountains, the coffin was brought out of the monastery and taken to a specially-erected tent and placed on a gaily-decorated palanquin. Till 9 a.m., the coffin remained there while assorted VIPs including N.R. Lasker, minister of state for home, and Homi Talyarkhan. governor of Sikkim, and commoners filed past silently to pay final homage.

   Many, overcome by emotion, knelt and touched the ground with their foreheads in the traditional obeisance to a king. At 9.05, the former Chogyal set out on his final journey to the royal cremation ground on top of a hill overlooking the capital.

   Leading the procession were a group of lamas carrying prayer flags and playing instruments. Behind them marched a brass band playing funeral marches. Behind them was a police contingent with rifles pointing backwards followed by a group of old women with prayer wheels chanting incantations. Then came the main body of the procession, led by the Head Lama. Behind him, the two princesses, Yangchen and Hope Lizum, the latter, the 14-year-old daughter of the Chogyal's second wife Hope Cooke, carrying food and drink wrapped in white gauze.

   Arduous Climb: The coffin itself was initially carried by the male members of the royal family led by Prince Wangchuk and his step-brother, Palden, and Simon Abraham, the English husband of Yangchen.

    The procession circled the royal monastery thrice before another set of pall-bearers took over the started the long seven-kilometre climb to the royal cremation ground.

   Every 200 yards, the pall-bearers would be replaced by people from various localities along the route. In fact, for the last four kilometres of the route, the procession crawled up a narrow, steep path that was, in some places, little more than a goat track.

    It took the procession over three hours to finally arrive at the cremation ground where the coffin was placed on top of a specially-constructed bell-shaped funeral pyre.

   The cremation ground itself was a mass of humanity, with the more agile having clambered up trees to obtain a better view.

    After an hour of rituals, the royal family paid their last respects by throwing scarves onto the pyre after bowing thrice with folded hands, their foreheads touching the ground.

   Finally, to the moving sound of the Last Post echoing through the hills, the pyre was lit and a huge pillar of smoke rose slowly in the hushed silence, casting its shadow over the entire area.

   It was, in the end, a symbol of many things. The end of a shadowy era and the tenuous beginnings of another. An intangible tribute to the memory of a lost kingdom and a disillusioned king.

   But to the thousands of watching mourners, for that one fiery moment, Sikkim was theirs again and not the 22nd state of the Indian Union.

(India Today, Dilip Bobb, Mary 15, 1982)

BANNER OF REVOLT

“There is one thing stronger

than all the armies of the world;

and that is an idea

whose time has come.”

                      -  Victor Hugo

“One of the strongest

characteristics of genius is

the power of lighting its own fire”

                        -  John Foster

At around 9 in the morning of April 26 this Wednesday my boys helped me to raise a black flag on the top of my building at Nam Nang, Gangtok. There are now seven flags atop my incomplete concrete structure. Five of them in different colours (blue, white, red, green and yellow), reflecting the five elements of the earth, are Buddhist prayer flags, one is the OSU (Organisation of Sikkimese Unity) flag in red and yellow, bearing the Khukuri and Khorlo symbols, which stand for unity and identity of the three ethnic communities of Sikkim. The last addition is a black flag made of Swiss cotton. Seven is a good number, and I strongly believe that the last flag is significant in its own unique way.

   Three years back, I, as the OSU Chairman, gave an ultimatum to the Centre to restore the political rights of the bonafide Sikkimese people as per Article 371F of the Constitution of India by April 26, 2000, when the former kingdom completes 25 years as an Indian State.

   Though each year the State Day is observed on May 16, it must be noted that the Indian Parliament, by inserting Article 371F in the Constitution, through the April 26, 1975 amendment, made Sikkim the 22^nd State of the India Union.

   The betrayal of the Sikkimese people through violation of the provisions of this article of faith and trust by New Delhi cannot be forgotten so easily. It must be placed on record for future sons and daughters of Sikkim to take note of and act accordingly.  Four years after the passing of the 36^th Constitution (Amendment) Bill on April 26, 1975, the Indian President, through an Ordinance in September 1979, scrapped the 32 seats reserved for the Sikkimese people in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. In 1980, when the Congress(I) returned to power in New Delhi, it passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Act. This Act abolished Assembly seats reserved for bonafide Sikkimese.

   By taking note of the 1978 Sikkim Scheduled Tribes Order the 1980 Act indirectly did away with reservation of 12 Assembly seats of the Bhutias and Lepchas. The unclear definition of “Sikkimese” proves that seats reserved for the Lepchas, Sangha and Scheduled Castes may not necessarily go to a bonafide Sikkimese belonging to these communities.

   Ever since 1978-79, the people of Sikkim, through its governments, political and social organizations, have persistently asked the Centre to honour its commitment made to the Sikkimese people during 1974-75 and restore the political rights of the Sikkimese people. Despite the overwhelming support on the seat issue in the past twenty years New Delhi still refuses to budge an inch and instead is going ahead with its divide and rule policy.

   New Delhi’s obvious silence on the issue is not just for two or three years. Twenty five  years - a quarter of century - is a long time to meet the just demands of the Sikkimese people. Keeping the Sikkimese people perpetually waiting on this issue is not in the interest of the nation, particularly when many sensitive issues are related to it.  The raising of a black flag on this historic day in this sensitive and strategic border State should not be ignored. The banner of revolt will spread if New Delhi continues to suppress the just demands of the Sikkimese people.

   The OSU was primarily formed to preserve, protect and promote Sikkim’s distinct identity within the Union and within the framework of Article 371F of the Constitution. The OSU has given full support to those who have been demanding restoration of democracy and political rights to the Sikkimese people.

   However, we are now fully convinced that most of those who claim to champion the cause of the Sikkimese people are not genuine, sincere and serious about the problems and plight of the Sikkimese people. Therefore, it is with a heart full of burden and concern for the long-term interest of the Sikkimese people that we in the OSU decided to take things seriously and not depend on others to do all that we want to do for our fellow Sikkimese.

   The black flag atop my building facing Sikkim’s mighty Kanchenjunga is also a protest against those who have failed to honour the people’s mandate and thereby politically and enonomically suppressed the Sikkimese people in the past two and half decades. While my initiative is a mark of protest and revolt, it is also a symbol of hope for those who still have faith in themselves to continue with the struggle for survival in the land of their origin.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, April 29-May 5, 2000.)

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal (1923-1982)

SOUL OF SIKKIM

“During the hour of his trial, when his very throne was at stake, Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal stood like a rock and sacrificed petty considerations for the lofty ideals he had espoused. He lost, but in the very process of losing his throne and status, he rose to his full stature. For when ‘little men’ who rule the roost in Sikkim will have been consigned to dust, posterity will look back with awe and respect upon the last representative of the House of Namgyal on the throne of Sikkim and say that Palden Thondup Namgyal bowed out of the political stage of Sikkim with the grace of a ruler and with the courage of a real man. He lost his Kingdom, but gained a martyr’s halo. And his descendants will be able to walk with their heads held high whatever their circumstances in life happen to be.”

(Sons of Sikkim: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim, Jigme N. Kazi, 2020, Notion Press, and Sikkim Legislative Assembly proceedings.)

SOUL OF SIKKIM: Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal (1923-1982)

A LONELY STRUGGLE

Nearly ten years after he took over the Sikkimadministration as the Chief Executive, B.S. Das, advised the late Chogual to join the Indian mainstream. The Chogyal, who all his life fought for preservation of the kingdom’s distinct international status, reacted this way: “I am a Sikkimese and belong to this place. How can I leave my people and my country.”

   Although Das’ takeover of the administration in early 1973 paved way for the gradual absorption of the kingdom into the Indian Union two years later, he, nevertheless, was kind and realistic in his assessment of Palden Thondup Namgyal, the former Chogyal who died in I982. In his book, Sikkim Saga, published in 1983, Das in the last chapter has this to say about the Chogyal: “A lone and forgotten man who lost his kingdom, his wife and everything that he stood for, stuck to his Palace, his people, his Sikkim till he breathed his last. Unbending in his misfortune, he dreamt of someone, someday appreciating the righteousness of his cause and placing him in history as a true nationalist who fought singlehanded against all odds for what he believed in.

   His silvery grey hair and the small wrinkles on the face alone spoke of the strain of the past years but they made him look even handsomer than he was. Yet, he showed no rancour, no bitterness and held his head high. To leave his people and Sikkim was totally unacceptable to him.”

   Das then makes a personal admission, “As a person, I hold Palden Thondup Namgyal in great esteem. I have met few personalities in my long career who could stand up and fight for a cause. For him, more than his personal gains, Sikkim’s identity was a cause. That he fought using all means available to him does credit to him. His battle was one sided and against all odds. That did not deter him as it was a question of his faith in the righteousness of his cause.”

   I had a feeling that the late Nari Rustomji was preparing a book on the Chogyal while I was studying law in Bombay in the early ’80s. Upon my enquiry Rustomji told me that the book would be called…I forget the real name but it definitely had the word “Prince”. I told Rustomji that this was not right as “our King” was not a mere “Prince” but the Chogyal. He was quite sympathetic to my suggestion but said referring to the Chogyal as a Prince gave him more prominence. I wasn’t too convinced about his justification but didn’t say much on the subject.

   Of Rustomji’s four books, which dealt with Sikkim, Bhutan and the North-East, the last one was exclusively on Sikkim. It was called “Sikkim: A Himalayan Tragedy”. While he referred to the Chogyal as ‘prince’ the name of the book was different. Maybe he had some rethinking after I put forward my suggestion about the title. May be not. The book was published in 1987 and in the same year Rustomji came to Sikkim for a visit.

   Rustomji personally handed a hardbound copy of his book to me with his signature and a short note which read: “For my friend, Jigme, who will, no doubt, critically review! In trepidation.” The book was devoted:

“To the memory of Palden Thondup Namgyal: 

“A moment, and time will forget

Our failure and our name

But not the common thought

That linked us in a dream.”

   Rustomji, who had known the Chogyal ever since their days in the ICS in Dehra Dun in 1942, had this to say about his life-long friend in the book, which was actually an extract from his article in Indian Express (dated Feb 14, 1982) entitled: “The King must die”:

   “It was his misfortune that, try as he might, he could not get people to understand that small can be beautiful. Nor could he allow himself to be convinced that others did not see Sikkim as he saw her, that Sikkim’s existence was, for the rest of the world, a non-event. His principles might have been unrealistic and all wrong, but he was not prepared, to the very last, to compromise with them. He was intoxicated by his passion for his land and people.”

   One of the first things that I wanted to do after my own book, “Inside Sikkim: Against theTide”, was published in December 1993, was to fly down to Bombayand handover my book to Rustomji. But I was deprived of this privilege. I came to learn that time that Rustomji had passed away in October 1993, just two months before my book was published.

  Till this moment I have not written anything on Rustomji nor have I reviewed his book. But when I do something for him it’ll then be my turn to dedicate it to him and say:

“A moment, and time will forget

Our failure and our name

But not the common thought

That linked us in a dream.”

   Today, this dream is shared by many Sikkimese. In an article entitled, “Soul of Sikkim,Soul on Fire”, carried in the annual college magazine (of Sikkim Students Association, Bombay. I was the President of the Association and editor of the magazine),Lukshyama, in 1982 I wrote: “A king must die, but his people live on and his hopes continue…the 19^th of February 1982 will go down in the history of Sikkim. It was not a funeral day of the late Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal of Sikkim; it was the day of resurrection of the Sikkimese people whose long-suppressed spirit found utterance…The forces that work against its people cannot ignore the impact of the day. What they heard cannot be forgotten. For on that day the people spoke. Their silent speeches and their silken scarves will forever be recorded in the minds of those who witnessed the greatness of that day. The very fragrance of the day will last for eternity.”

   I was aware of the pressure exerted on me at that time for this piece and I paid the price. I particularly remember a comment made by someone in my own village who had read my piece. He said, “The Sikkimese people will understand what you have written only after twenty years.” This was in 1982.

   It has taken 18 years for the Sikkimese people to acknowledge the greatness of the Chogyal. Recently, the Chamling Government decided to install a statue of the Chogyal in the capital. The Governor, New Delhi’s highest representative in the State, while laying down the foundation stone of the Chogyal’s statue, showered praises for the Chogyal and called him “The Soul of Sikkim”.

   History is witness to the fact that true leaders of any country are much ahead of their peers and people. The Sikkimese people are now beginning to understand and appreciate the heroic deeds of the last monarch of the Namgyal Dynasty. To those who are prepared to fight for preservation of Sikkim’s distinct identity within the framework of the Constitution they must first, like the late Chogyal, be intoxicated by a passion that lasts and inspires others to fight for a cause against all odds.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, July 17-23, 1999.)

INSIDE SIKKIM

ONE-MAN RULE, ONE-PARTY SYSTEM

   Bhandari’s 14-year ‘misrule’ in Sikkim saw the tiny Himalayan State gradually degenerate into a state where people totally lost faith in democracy and democratic values. Instead of enjoying the fruits of democracy, the Sikkimese people, after the ‘merger’, had a taste of dictatorship in a democratic set-up.

   Under the Bhandari regime, all democratic institutions, including the Press, were silenced and forced to acknowledge the supremacy of ‘one-man rule and one-party’ system. This book reveals how and why all forms of dissent were suppressed and a ‘one-man rule’ perpetuated in Sikkim.

   Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide also brings into focus how the system in Sikkim functioned in the last one and half decades (1979-1993), leaving the people of the strategic Himalayan border State completely defenceless, insecure and exploited. The struggle of the people to live in a free and democratic atmosphere, where the right to live with respect and dignity and to preserve the unique and distinct identity of Sikkim, within the Union, has been well articulated in this book.

   Since 1983, Jigme N. Kazi has worked for numerous local, regional, national and international publications and news services, including Eastern Express, North East Daily, The Telegraph, The Statesman, The Times of India, United News of India (UNI), Inter Press Service (IPS) and The Independent (Nepal).

   He is the editor-cum-proprietor of Sikkim Observer and Himalayan Guardian and author of Inside Sikkim:Against the Tide (1993), Sikkim For Sikkimese: Distinct Identity Within The Union (1999) and The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland(2014).

‘GENUINE REPRESENTATION’ IN THE ASSEMBLY

   The only visible opposition parties in Sikkim – the Congress (I) and the Naya Sikkim Party (NSP) – completely disappeared from the political scene after their debacle in the Assembly elections. There was also no trace of the Congress (R), Himali Congress and the Sikkim United Council. Poudyal himself took the blame for the party’s defeat and resigned from party chief’s post after the elections and chose to keep quiet. Infighting within the Congress (I) continued over the leadership issue and party activities in the State came to a standstill. By then, it was clear to everyone that the era of ‘one-man-rule and one-party-system’ had begun.

   The defeat of prominent tribal leaders – some of them ex-ministers and office-bearers of the Congress (I) – in the March 1985 Assembly elections justified the apprehension that thought 13 seats were reserved for the BLs, genuine tribal candidates who had some standing amongst the people could not be voted as the majority of the voters in the reserved constituencies of the BLs were Nepalese.

   The only visible political activity in Sikkim after Bhandari’s comeback in 1985 was the move for formation of a strong and united tribal organisation in Sikkim. The initiative towards this goal was taken by the Sikkim Tribal Welfare Association (STWA) under the leadership of Pasang Obed Pazo, ex-secretary of the State Government and a soft-spoken Sikkimese Christian belonging to the Lepcha community. Pazo, who unsuccessfully contested the 1985 Assembly elections as an independent candidate from Gangtok constituency, was the choice of most tribals to head the STWA, which was then the only recognised and credible tribal organisation in Sikkim.

   By the end of 1985 almost all tribal organisations in Sikkim, including Denzong Tribal Yargay Chogpa, Sikkim Lhomon Youth Council, Rangjyong Mutanchi Rong Tarzum and Mayel Pronzum, decided to form a ‘joint front’ to work towards the formation of a strong and united tribal body to press for the genuine demands of the tribals and to highlight their basic issues. A Joint Action Committee (JAC), headed by Pazo, was formed to pursue this goal.

   In its six-point memorandum submitted to the Governor, Bhishma Narain Singh, on October 1985, the STWA raised the demand for restoration of reservation of 16 seats in the Assembly for the BLs, delimitation of Assembly constituencies for genuine tribal representation in the House, grant of citizenship to ‘stateless persons’ based on the provisions made under the Sikkim Subjects Regulation and extension of inner-line permit system to check influx of outsiders. These were not new demands but reflected issues raised by the Association in its many memoranda presented, from time to time, to the State and Central government authorities by the STWA ever since its formation in 1978.

   The memorandum explicitly emphasised the need to safeguard the rights and interests of the tribals enshrined in Article 371F of the Constitution, which deals with Sikkim: “With the passage of time, the original inhabitants of Sikkim, namely the Bhutia-Lepcha tribals, have been reduced to a minority in our own homeland and thus endangering our very survival in the land of our origin. The gradual disintegration and destruction of our distinct socio-cultural identity over the past few decades and especially since the merger in 1975, has been the cause of much fear, suspicion and insecurity amongst the tribal community, who have lived in peace and amity in the past so many centuries. We have every reason to believe that we are now on the brink of extinction if proper and timely steps are not taken on this vital matter.”

   Stating that seats reserved for the tribals had been reduced to 13 from 16, the memorandum pointed out that the reservation of their seats in the Assembly was being challenged by a section of the major community in the highest court of the land. In order to fully protect the minority community, the STWA demanded restoration of the earlier 16 seats reserved for them prior to the merger.

   On the controversial demand for grant of Indian citizenship to the ‘stateless persons’ in Sikkim, the memorandum was even more explicit: “Ethnic representation and reservation of seats in the State Assembly envisages that this right will only be in respect of the ethnic communities of Sikkim. We now feel that all attempts are being made by interested groups and persons, much to the misfortune of the people of Sikkim as a whole, and particularly of the Bhutia-Lepchas, to induct and give citizenship status to a huge number of outsiders for inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls, irrespective of the qualifying years of residence in Sikkim. This will undoubtedly create serious logistical problems and thus the very fabric of Sikkim’s economic, social and political structures will be completely disarrayed, and endanger the very existence of the genuine Sikkimese Indian citizens.”

   The memorandum further added: “Names of foreign nationals, which have been included in the electoral rolls, must be deleted. The identity of those with doubtful citizenship and those who are said to be ‘stateless persons’ must be finalised before granting them rights of citizenship. We propose that Sikkim Subjects Regulation of 1961 be used as a base for the purpose of determining grant of citizenship in Sikkim.  There should be no representation for such persons in the Assembly before finalising their identity.”

   But perhaps the main issue of the tribals, which is well known to everyone in the State, is the demand for ‘genuine representation’ of the tribals in the Assembly through fresh delimitation of Assembly constituencies. The STWA, particularly under Pazo’s leadership, highlighted this demand and made its main issue. The memorandum presented to the Sikkim Governor was reflective of this: “The spirit behind the reservation of seats will have no meaning unless and until fresh delimitation of the Assembly constituencies is made to ensure genuine tribal representation in the Legislative Assembly. In spite of the fact that elections have taken place in Sikkim on the democratic principle of equity and justice, the ethnic minority community has not beeen justly represented in the State Assembly.

   Those who are elected have to depend on the vote-bank dominated and controlled by the major community. As such, the Bhutia-Lepcha candidates, elected from their reserved constituencies, virtually become ineffective to safeguard the basic fundamental rights of the ethnic minority tribals of Sikkim. So far, only two constituencies (Lachen-Mangshilla and Dzongu in north Sikkim) of the 31 territorial constituencies, genuinely represent the tribals in the State. As such, we pray that the constituencies may be so demarcated as to include all pockets dominated by the ethnic tribals for all the seats reserved for them.”

   As one of the general secretaries of the STWA at that time, I was also one of the signatories to this memorandum. Much of my time in 1984-85 was spent on various activities of the Association, which was aimed at creating a general awareness of the basic issues of the Bhutia-Lepcha tribals in the State. As Bhandari was not in favour of any other organisation, particularly independent tribal organisations, coming up in the State, the STWA did not receive much patronage from the government. Almost all tribal legislators kept themselves away from the STWA. But this did not deter us. Most of those who played a leading role in the STWA worked for genuine communal harmony in the State based on mutual respect and trust.

   We did not make any new demands but wanted to safeguard and strengthen whatever was already provided for us under the Constitution of the country. Most conscious tribals were aware of the importance of seats in the Assembly being reserved for the Sikkimese as a whole as had been done in the past. This meant that they also wanted seats to be reserved for the majority Sikkimese Nepalese as well.

  In the Spotlight on Sikkim and Sikkim Observer, I constantly highlighted the need for fresh delimitation of Assembly constituencies for genuine tribal representation in the Assembly. Sikkim is a small place with a population of only 4.50 lacs of which only three and half lacs would be safely categorized into the ‘genuine Sikkimese’ group. Though the Sikkimese Nepalese were in the majority in Sikkim, due to increasing influx of outsiders, they would ultimately be reduced to a minority community just like the BLs. It is in the interest of Sikkim and the Sikkimese, and in the greater interest of the country at large that political rights should be fully restored to the Sikkimese. This would ensure genuine communal harmony and genuine peace in the region.

(Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, 1993. Full text see jigmenkazisikkim. blogspot.com)

Let us stop fighting over scraps

   Even as the next Assembly elections draw nearer there is the need to remind ourselves of the importance of maintaining the peaceful atmosphere in the State during electioneering. What should be kept in mind, particularly by those who hold responsible positions in various social and political organizations, is to keep our sanity intact and not be carried away by mere politicking that would lead to unnecessary tension and insecurity in public life.

   Let us keep reminding ourselves that what we are fighting for is not a war of independence nor are we engaged in a revolutionary movement for total change in the system of governance. We are, to be honest to ourselves, merely participating in the democratic process that allows holding of elections once in a while. Even as we prepare for the next Assembly polls, be it in April or November, we must convince ourselves first of the need to look beyond electoral politics and work for the well-being of all people.

   We have seen several governments come and go in the past two and half decades. What is the net result of all these elections? Promises are made to be broken as soon as the polls are over. By and large, the situation has remained the same since Sikkim began identifying itself with the world’s largest democracy when the former kingdom reluctantly joined the mainstream of Indian politics in 1975.

   Forces of division and disunity were actively at work ever since 1973. They gained the upper hand in 1974, leading to Sikkim’s ultimate ‘merger’ with India in April-May 1975.  Fortunately, for the people of Sikkim a man from the majority community emerged in Sikkim’s turbulent political arena in the ’70s. He was hailed by the majority and loved by the minority. His name was Nar Bahadur Bhandari. But within two years of Mr. Bhandari stepping into Mintokgang, the Chief Minister’s official residence, he lost the confidence of the people.

   From the ashes of disaster was born Sikkim Sangram Parishad. Born on May 24, 1984, the SSP leadership gradually steered itself away from the minds and hearts of the Sikkimese people. The minority lost hope in Mr. Bhandari’s leadership while the majority clung to him but perceptive observers had already anticipated Mr. Bhandari’s next move. Forgetting the plight of three lakh Sikkimese the SSP supremo was setting his sights high for the leadership of the ‘one crore Nepalese’ in the sub-continent.

   But pride has its fall. And the strong and mighty fell on May 1994. The SSP leadership’s bid to forcefully curb democratic stirrings soon led to the emergence of Mr. Pawan Chamling. The two protagonists will once again face each other in the next polls. Whatever be their agenda for Sikkimit has to be achieved through the democratic process using peaceful and legitimate means. It is perhaps with this in mind that Mr. Chamling had made a casual suggestion for holding of the polls under Governor’s rule.

   One of the main characteristics of Sikkim’s unique and distinct identity is maintenance of peace, unity and communal harmony. Clashes between ruling party and SSP supporters in Jorethang last week has the potential of enflaming communal passion. This must never happen. More than ever before there is the need to ensure that things do not get out of control as was seen in south and west districts last week.

   As we move ahead let us constantly remind ourselves of the need to maintain our balance in whatever situation we find ourselves in. If we are really pursuing higher goals for our society then we ought to cement our bonds with each other instead of destroying it. Let us face it; what we are really after is for a few bags of cement and a few pieces of rod. Let us stop fighting over such scraps. It’s not worth it.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, Hill Media Publications, November 7, 1998.)

                      The Rebel in Exile

   “When oppression wins out, as we all know here, those who nevertheless believe that their cause is just suffer from a sort of astonishment upon discovering the apparent impotence of justice. Then come the hours of exile and solitude that we have all known. Yet I should like to tell you that, in my opinion, the worst thing that can happen in the world we live in is for one of those men of freedom and courage I have described to stagger under the weight of isolation and prolonged adversity, to doubt himself and what he represents. And it seems to me that at such a moment those who are like him must come toward him (forgetting his titles and all devices of the official orator) to tell him straight from the heart that he is not alone and that his action is not futile, that there always comes a day when the palaces of oppression crumble, when exile comes to an end, when liberty catches fire.”

                                                                     - Albert Camus                                                             

One of the major feelings that engulfed me after I decided to live in self-imposed exile in my own homeland was the feeling that I had completed my assignment in Sikkim. As a son of Sikkim, who may have been reborn again, I have paid my debt to this soil. In fact, I was more than convinced that I had paid more than my debt to this soil.

   My ancestors founded Sikkim almost a thousand years back and maintained it despite trying situations till it was annexed by its protecting power in the garb of ushering in ‘democracy’ in 1973-75. The blood of my ancestors flow through my veins and it is my sacred duty and honour to serve my homeland and its people.

    Political and professional life in Sikkim have no real meaning for me if we cannot embrace all communities and unite them towards a common destiny where peace, unity, harmony, freedom, democracy and the rule of law reign supreme.

   The fact that nobody really made any serious approaches to me on these issues during my three-and-half-year-long (2004-2007) self-imposed exile proved beyond any shadow of doubt that there was nobody who really and truly cared for Sikkim and the Sikkimese people and for justice, freedom, democracy and the rule of law to triumph in Sikkim. Even those who flirted with me politically for a brief while when I re-emerged from my hideout in 2007-8 have proved themselves to be unfaithful allies and a liability for the Sikkimese cause.

   People make choices in life and they will either succeed or suffer from the choices they make. I chose to differ, to dissent and thereby suffered from the choices I made for over a quarter of a century. My works are reflected in the pages of my books which I have been able to complete during my exile in my own homeland. I hope that the dreamsthat I set out to fulfill will one day be reflected in the hearts and perhaps in the works of those who believe in the righteousness of our cause.

   I have lived out my dreams. I have paid my debt.  I am a free man now.

(Ref: THE LONE WARRIOR: Exiled In My Homeland, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, 2014.)

125^th Anniversary and Beyond

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” 

   A group of Sikkim Hermonites got together over dinner in Gangtok on Christmas eve, 2019 at their favourite haunt – Hotel Tashi Delek. The main menu was, of course, MH! My batchmate O.T. Bhutia reiterated that he would host the Thai party for dinner or lunch on March 7 or 8. Tsegyal Tashi, who was in MH for several years in the ’60s, has also invited the Thai party for lunch or dinner on the same dates.

Johnston, Murray and Stewart

   In December 2019 and January-February 2020, I met a number of Hermonites and the subject of our discussion was the same – MH, more particularly the celebration of the school’s 125^thanniversary. In Bangkok, 1973 batch Hermonite and Hermonites International President and my dear friend Thip (Varongthip Lulitanond)  confirmed  that he and some Thai Hermonites would come to Sikkim, Darjeeling and Siliguri to celebrate the occasion.  Navin (Khuria) Wangsejullarat, also 1973 batch and a very active Hermonite, will not be able to travel due to health reasons. We wish him good health and speedy recovery. Aphichoti (Oak) Chavengsaksongkram, younger brother of late Krisada C, will be able to come to Kolkata only to join the others for celebrations in March.  This is also due to health reasons.  We are getting old !! Oak has decided to write an article for this book. This is wonderful as he is a good writer. Incidentally, Oak’s mother is related to Sasithorn Boonlong, the pioneer of Thai students’ ‘influx’ into MH. In fact, Sasithorn, batch of 1963-64 (!!) came all the way from Bangkok to Darjeeling for Oak’s admission in mid-1960s.

Menno, Ronen and James

   In Calcutta (Kolkata), the Hermonites, under Charan and Shakti, are doing a wonderful job in reviving the Hermonite spirit there. I had earlier requested Charan Chabria to ‘make peace and move ahead’. They seem to be doing more than that! Keep going. When Sikkim Hermonites’ President Uttam Pradhan and I met Helen Sanson and her husband over dinner in Gangtok last year she promised that during their short stay in New Zealand this year (the two work in Kolkata) they would meet up with other Hermonites in New Zealand and celebrate our school’s 125^th birth anniversary.

   I’m sure Hermonites from all over the world and from all groups and ages are geared up to celebrate the occasion in their own way. The spirit and the manner in which some Hermonites, including some from abroad, joined the school to celebrate MH’s 125^th birth anniversary on March 11, 2020, is proof enough of our strong bonding and camaraderie.  The spirit of MH is alive and refuses to die.

Karl and Kenny

      However, we are well aware that Hermonites all over the world are conscious of what’s happening to their beloved MH. Some have given up on the school, others are holding on. Hopes are high but apprehensions are genuine. What can I say at such moment!? Keep going. Aim. Shoot to score!

   During the celebration of the Methodist Church’s 150 years of ministry in the sub-continent many years ago in Lucknow, one of the speakers reminded the delegates of what Mahatma Gandhi said about the Church in India. Bishop Robert Solomon of Singapore in his keynote address recalled an incident between Stanley Jones, an American Methodist Christian missionary, and Mahatma Gandhi. When Jones asked Gandhi, “You are an ardent practitioner of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount; why don't you join the church?" Gandhi replied, “I have no problem with Christ; my problem is with church."

MH 1971 Football XI

   When I see what has been going in our beloved Mount Hermon, the temple of learning, in the past several years I’m reminded of how Jesus Christ reacted when he saw what was happening in the Church of God in the city of Jerusalem:

   “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mathew 21)

   In 1967 when Dr. Welthy Fisher spoke at our Speech Day she reminded us how we should go about our job, particularly when things don’t go our way. She, while quoting an old Chinese proverb, said: “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

Batch of 1969

   Those who are concerned about MH and have displayed their love, affection and loyalty to the school need not despair “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”. It is the law of karma. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6: 8-10)

   When the Chapel portion of our school’s main building was restored and rededicated on August 15,  seven months after the disastrous earthquake of January 15, 1934, our Principal Miss Lila Enberg in her dedicatory speech said, ““We need not mourn for the greater glory of the former building that was shattered by the earthquake. Instead we all rejoice that the latter glory is greater than the former. The Assembly Hall is now more firmly constructed, more strongly bound together than before. We would now, therefore, render hearts full of thanksgiving to your Gracious God who, of His infinite mercy and goodness, has made all this possible. It was He who gave the faith and courage that enabled us to say: “It shall be rebuilt!”

   In this hour of another crisis at MH may we, too, have the faith and courage to say: “It Shall Be Rebuilt!”

Inch by inch
Step by step
One day at a time
WE SHALL OVERCOME!

   Cheers to all! Happy 125^thAnniversary to MH and all Hermonites! Hail Mt. Hermon!

(Ref: Hail Mount Hermon! A TRIBUTE, Jigme N. Kazi, Prowess Publishing, 2020.)

STAND UP AND FIGHT!

“Sikkim’s identity was a cause

   B.S. Das, former Chief Executive of Sikkim, while paying tribute to the Chogyal in his book, “The Sikkim Saga”, said: “A lone and forgotten man who lost his kingdom, his wife and everything that he stood for, stuck to his Palace, his people, his Sikkim till be breathed his last. Unbending in his misfortunes, he dreamt of someone, someday appreciating the righteousness of his cause and placing him in history as a true nationalist who fought single-handed against all odds for what he believed in. His silvery grey hair and the small wrinkles on the face alone spoke of the strain of the past years but they made him look even handsomer than he was.

   The so-called friends deserted him as is the way with the world. Yet, he showed no rancour, no bitterness and held his head high. To leave his people and Sikkim was totally unacceptable to him. He still called his abode “The Palace” and himself “Thondup of Sikkim”. Many of his old subjects paid homage to him during his lifetime and on his death. In his solitude, he reflected on his past mistakes but had no regrets. Because, the pride in himself and for Sikkim were the only reasons he lived.”

    Das concluded: “As a person, I hold Palden Thondup Namgyal in great esteem. I have met few personalities in my long career who could stand up and fight for a cause. For him, more than his personal gains, Sikkim’s identity was a cause. That he fought using all means available to him does credit to him. His battle was one sided and against all odds. That did not deter him as it was a question of his faith and in the righteousness of his cause.”

(Ref: Sons of Sikkim: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications and Notion Press, 2020.)

Mount Hermon through the ages

Mount Hermon School, Darjeeling, overlooking Kanchenjunga.

This book is a Tribute not only to our great Founders, Principals, Teachers, Students and Others, it is also a Tribute to all Hermonites of all ages who have lived, died and hoped so that MH lives on to reach greater heights.

   Bijay Palriwala, a Hermonite of the Stewart-era from UK who started the ‘MH Revival’ movement in 2011, died in November 2019. This book is a Tribute to Hermonites such as Bijay. I wrote this in Facebook when Bijay passed away: “Bijay’s efforts and hopes will not die in vain. May he rest in peace.” Bijay’s advice to us was: “Only combined, sustained effort can hope to improve the situation so I am hoping that others will join in the effort!” Hail Mt. Hermon!

Knowles

  The vision and determination of our school’s Founder, Miss Emma Knowles, and her deputy, Miss C.J. Stahl, led to the founding of Queen’s Hill School soon after the 1899 disaster in a new location just above the main road near the Darjeeling railway station in the town area. Miss Stahl deserves our gratitude. She was in Arcadia, Queen’s Hill School, and even lived at the present campus when the school was opened in 1926. She retired as Principal during the period when the school was renamed Mount Hermon School in 1930.

 Though he was never our Principal, Bishop Fisher is considered one of our Founders for he was chiefly responsible for the purchase of the present Mount Hermon Estate, where MH is located. The school was growing and needed more space for expansion. The Estate had around 100 acres in North Point facing Sikkim’s mighty Kanchenjunga (Khangchendzonga), the third highest mountain in the world, and the Rangeet valley.

  Not many people are aware of the role played by one of our Principals in helping MH sail through stormy times. I’m referring to our Principal Lila Enberg who in the mid-thirties restored a major portion of our main building after the devastating earthquake of January 15, 1934. As a reward the Managing Committee of our school failed to renew her tenure after her term came to an end in 1934! They wanted to get rid of her.

Stahl

   Mt. Hermon (MH) went through a very difficult period in the early 1940s. Because of the Second World War many students and staff from Britain left the school. The future of the mission also seemed uncertain. The enrolment of the school dropped to 120 and the school nearly closed down in 1943.

  But somehow Rev. H.  Dewey, the school Principal, kept the school going. Mt. Hermon actually grew in size and substance when Rev. David G. Stewart of the New Zealand and Chinese Inland Mission (now renamed Overseas Missionary Fellowship) took over the school in 1954.

Fisher

  When Stewart took over the school, the enrolment of the school was less than 100 but over the years more students came to study in Mt. Hermon and by the time he left in 1964 the strength of the school had shot up to 365. During the Murray-era (1964-1978), Mt. Hermon became one of the most distinguished co-educational schools in the country.

Of the total of 639 students in 1978, 470 were boarders. MH distinguished itself in both academic and co-curricular activities. Mrs. Murray’s contribution added to the school’s rich musical heritage. Rev. William Jones and Rev. John A. Johnston built on the foundation laid by their predecessors.

Dewey

  As with many great institutions, MH is going through a difficult period today. The absence of dedicated teachers and the departure of many of its old staff members, particularly those from abroad, coupled with frequent changes in the leadership, have been the main reasons why the school is going through another crisis.

  But most Hermonites and well-wishers of the school, who are conscious of the school’s long history and its inherent ability to overcome difficulties, believe that this is just a passing phase and sooner or later it will pull through. The need for schools such as MH is greater now than it was a hundred and twenty five years back. Perhaps it is at times such as these that we ought to remind ourselves of the need to press on and remember Mrs. Fisher’s advice: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

Former Principals: Stewarts, Murrays, Johnstons and Gardners during Mount Hermon School's Centenary Celebrations in Darjeeling, 1995.

About the Author

Jigme N. Kazihas a special place in Mount Hermon School, Darjeeling. He not only studied in Mount Hermon School (1963-1972), but graduated from Mt. Hermon School's Teachers' Training College (TTC, 1974-1975). He taught at Mt. Hermon School for four years from 1976 to 1979. During his 16 years in the school (1963-1979) he worked under some of the finest principals and teachers of Mt. Hermon School.

   After he left Mt. Hermon School at the end of 1979, Jigme N. Kazi kept a live interest in his alma mater and the Hermonites (alumni of the school), leading to the founding of Hermonites International in 2005 with himself as its Founder-President. He is presently Chairman Emeritus of the global body, which takes an active interest in school affairs.

   A journalist by profession, Jigme N. Kazi is the proprietor-editor of Sikkim Observer and Himalayan Guardian. He is also the author of four books on Sikkim: Inside Sikkim: Against The Tide (1993), Sikkim For Sikkimese: Distinct Identity Within The Union(2009), The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland (2014), and Sons of Sikkim: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim (2020).

           LIVING IN SELF-IMPOSED EXILE IN MY OWN HOMELAND     

             “Only dead fish go with the flow”

The Press Club of Sikkim conferred the “Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar 2012” award to journalist-cum-writer Jigme N Kazi at a function in Gangtok on July 17, 2012. The following is the full text of Kazi’s acceptance speech:

(L to R) IPR Secretary KS Tobgay, Chief Guest CK Shrestha, Sikkim ObserverEditor Jigme N Kazi, Press Club Advisor CD Rai, Press Club General Secretary Joseph Lepcha and Press Club President Bhim Rawat at the Press Club of Sikkim function in Gangtok on July 17, 2012.

   Hon’ble Chief Guest, Secretary IPR, Press Club Advisor, Press Club President, distinguished guests and friends,

   On Receiving the Award: I feel very privileged to be here today to receive the Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar award from the Press Club of Sikkim on its decadal foundation year. I am told by the Press Club that it had “unanimously decided” to confer this award for my “outstanding contribution and dedication” made during the last three decades (1983-2012) in the field of journalism.

   I believe that by conferring this award to this long-time black-listed man, who is forced to live in self-imposed exile in his own homeland, the Press in Sikkim is sending a clear message to those who care to listen. And that message is loud and clear: the Press in Sikkim wants to be more free and independent and those in power and the people at large should take note of it and respect its stand.

   I enjoy doing what I do – be it eating, taking a walk or writing. I seek no reward and recognition in doing these things even if what I do benefits those around me.

   People often criticize me of being stubborn and always swimming against the tide. Let me remind them of what US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said: “Only dead fish go with the flow.” Living with walking corpses all these years has been a very painful experience. It is better to be exiled in foreign shores than having to undergo constant suffocation at home. However, if this is the cross that I was born to bare then I must live with it whether I like it or not.

   Yes, we have more journalists and more newspapers today than when I started in this profession 30 years back. But I’m not too sure whether we are more free, objective and independent in our reporting. What is more important in life is quality, not quantity, and this also applies to the Fourth Estate, particularly when so many people depend and look up to the Press to make the right decision.

   Sikkimese Society: If we cannot uphold certain basic and fundamental values of human existence such as freedom, democracy, justice, self-respect and the rule of law we miss the opportunity that life offers to each one of us. The first indication of a society’s degeneration is when individuals live and work only for themselves. Sikkim is on the verge of being a dead and decadent society. Our constant efforts to camouflage ourselves will not work in the long run. We will be fully exposed when the time comes.

   We locals often distance ourselves from the byaparis, the business community, for encroaching into our economic and political rights and interests. Little do we realize that while they sell potatoes, tomatoes etc. we are the real byaparis. We have sold our king, our flag, our country, our distinct identity and political rights. Not content with this we are still selling our hills and valleys, our lakes and rivers, our land and people, our religion and culture, and worse of all our self-respect and dignity. Is it really worth sweating it out for such people?

   Sikkim Politics: Me and my kind have lived through this bitter period in Sikkim’s history. In our efforts to fight for the common cause we have brought down five chief ministers and made four chief ministers in the past so many years.  We did this for a good cause and without any selfish motive. We are not to be blamed if our political leadership continuously fails us and lets us down the moment they come to power.

   I took leave from the Fourth Estate at the end of the year 2000 to make my personal contribution to Sikkim politics when I was convinced that those we backed were betraying us and the issues we raised for petty considerations. Unlike many others, I could not hang around and hide myself safe and secure in a small corner when I was convinced that we were being led to a dead-end street. I left active politics after three and half years in August 2004 when I was fully convinced that I was heading nowhere and those around me were still deeply involved in petty politics. There is no future for Sikkim and the Sikkimese if our political leadership – ruling and opposition – fails to rise above mundane things and continues to mislead the people while making great promises.

   It is futile to fight for the distinct identity of Sikkim within the Union if the leaders of our larger community are not sure of who they are, whom they represent, and what they really want. Nepal’s political situation, where ethnic communities are being reduced to a minority in the land of their origin, has still not opened our eyes. This is because while our head is still not clear our heart is full of greed. When will we ever live in a place where the mind is without fear and the head is held high? When will this non-stop looting stop? Corruption has reached a point of no return. Disillusionment has set in and this seems to be irreversible. These are dangerous trends in a sensitive and strategic border State like Sikkim.

   India’s Role in Sikkim: Even if our political leadership has failed us time and again,India must live up to the expectations of the Sikkimese people. If it continues to ignore the hopes and aspirations of those who sacrificed their country so that this nation may live in peace and security there may come a day when Sikkim will become a hot-bed of international politics. We may not see that day but that day is not afar if India fails to honour its commitments made to Sikkim and the Sikkimese people during the takeover.

   The gradual dilution of our distinct identity, political rights and social harmony originates from New Delhi. The erosion of our unique and distinct cultural identity, the systematic manner in which seeds of division are sown in our social fabric, and finally the destruction caused to our fragile environment and ecology cannot and must not be easily condoned. We cannot blame our leaders only; we, too, have shamelessly become agents of division, disunity and destruction. We have sown the wind; we will surely reap the whirlwind.

   Hope and Gratitude: I’m grateful to the Press Club of Sikkim for recognizing my work and honouring me on this very special day. This is the time and the moment to renew our pledge for a strong, united, free and independent Press in the State.

   On this special day I want to remember those who have helped me in my three-decade-long career. Some of them are late Chukie Tobden, Suresh Pramar, Devraj Ranjit, Tenzing Chewang and Pema Wangchuk. I also owe a deep sense of gratitude to the Chamling Government and to those who worked or in any way associated with my printing press and publications.

   Living the way I did is a risky business and I want to say how happy and grateful I am to my wife Tsering, her parents,  and my four kids – Tashi, Yangchen, Sonam and Kunga – for letting me live my life freely and dangerously for so long.

   I hope my endeavours will light up your path and help you to bear the burden of being free and independent in a hostile climate in the days and years to come. My message to you on this day comes from Rev. Jesse Jackson: “Stand up, don’t bow! Stand up, don’t bow!”

   On Myself: French Emperor Napoleon Bonarpate (1769-1821) once said: “There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.”

   I have already said “I have accepted the death of my dreams” a few years back and I stand by it.

   However, I have filed my petition in the court of Khangchendzonga, Sikkim’s Guardian Deity, to seek justice – for Sikkim, the Sikkimese people and for myself. I am still patiently waiting for the verdict. That this award should come at this time and in the name of our Presiding Deity is not only very auspicious but meaningful as well.

   Thank you all, both for this wonderful award and your determination to preserve the integrity, independence and freedom of the Press in Sikkim.

 (Full text published in Sikkim Observer, July 21, 2012)