Death of A Judge

Justice Anup Deb: Did he commit suicide or was he murdered?

Justice Anup Deb

   More than a decade after his sudden demise the mystery of Justice Anup Deb’s death refuses to fade away, at least among those who were close to him.

   He was a Judge and I a journalist but what bound us together for more than two decades was our friendship nurtured down the years through turbulent times. When I got a call from someone early morning on March 14, 2002 I rushed to Justice Debs’ official residence at Balwuakhani in Gangtok only to find out that he was no more. The official version of Justice Deb’s death was that he hung himself in his official residence in the night of March 13.     

   Justice Deb was a strong and determined person and those, like myself, who knew him from close range found it very difficult to believe that he had committed suicide.

   “Unable to bear his prolonged illness, sitting High Court Judge Justice Anup Deb committed suicide,” a national daily reported. It added “…an ailing Justice Deb (59) hanged himself in the bedroom of his official residence here shortly after midnight leaving a suicide note stating "I cannot bear my illness anymore."

   However, Deb’s personal physician Dr. K. Bhandari of Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital (STNM) said he was not suffering from any terminal or serious diseases. It is the first time in India’s history that a sitting Judge commits suicide, reported Sikkim Express.

   My own English weekly, Sikkim Observer, which many times reported on Justice Deb’s pronouncements in the court, was out of print during this period and failed to carry anything on his death. I hope this piece will to some extent do justice to the departed soul and compensate for my failure to carry anything on circumstances surrounding his tragic death which still remain shrouded in mystery.

    Deb was elevated to the rank of a Judge of the Sikkim High Court from the State Advocate General's post in 1994. He was transferred to the Agartala bench of the Gauhati High Court in February 1995 and then moved to the Orissa High Court in March 1996 before returning to Sikkim High Court in December 1997. During his tenure in the Sikkim High Court he also held the post of Acting Chief Justice for some time.

   “Don’t meditate too much. Look after your family,” were his last words to me and my wife when we went to see him and his wife at his Gangtok residence. He was in a good mood and we had a good time. That was, I think, the last time we met. Most of the time Justice Deb lived alone in his residence while his wife and children resided in neighbouring Siliguri, his home town.

    Since the Chamling Government slapped two cases on me regarding my press and residence in early 2001 and since Justice Deb was hearing these cases I made it a point not to be around him. But by early 2002 I learnt that he was not his normal self. During this period he once told me that he had information from the Union Home Ministry that his life was in danger. He used to often seek divinations for even traveling to Siliguri and Delhi. Lots of pujas were also performed for his safety and security. At times he was quite paranoid about his personal safety. “Some people think I’m running a parallel government!,” Deb used to tell me at times and then burst into laughter. Indeed, some of his observations and verdicts in the court made the administration sit up and take note.

   Realising that he was not keeping well I made it a point to see him and personally find out what was troubling him. I had some paper works to do at the High Court on March 13 which took some time. It was then I decided to go and see him in his office at the High Court premises. He was not there and I was told he was with Chief Justice R. Dayal in his office. I waited for sometime and left a word in his office that I had come to see him.

    I was expecting a call from him in the afternoon or evening of the same day.  Justice Deb usually calls me to his residence whenever I wanted to see him or the vice-versa. We normally chat over a cup of tea and snacks prepared by his cook. But this time there was no calls from him and early the next day I get a call saying he is no more.

    My first encounter with Justice Deb was way back in the winter of 1983. I was just fresh out of college and into journalism. What brought us together was a writ petition filed in the Supreme Court on seats reserved for Sikkim’s indigenous Bhutia-Lepchas (BLs) in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly by Ram Chandra Poudyal, then perhaps the most popular and articulate leader of the Nepalese community in Sikkim.

   In his writ petition, Poudyal, a former minister in the Kazi Cabinet (1974-1979), sought to do away with 12 Assembly seats reserved for the Bhutia-Lepchas and 1 for the Sangha, representing Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim. Deb, who was then the Additional Advocate General of Sikkim, sought my help to defend the case on historical ground. He said we would lose the case if we depended solely on legal and constitutional grounds. I took leave from Eastern Express, where I was working, and prepared the papers to defend the 13 reserved seats of the BLs and Sangha in the Supreme Court.

   When the case came up for hearing in early 1984 before the Supreme Court Poudyal was asked to “withdraw” his petition. The five-judge constitution bench headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice, Justice YB Chandrachud, which took note of the historical background on Assembly seat reservation for the minority indigenous communities in Sikkim, was in our favour. However, Poudyal tactfully delayed hearing of the petition for several years and when it did come up for hearing in early 1993 we won the case.

   “The inequalities in representation in the present case are an inheritance and compulsion from the past. Historical considerations have justified a differential treatment,” read the verdict of the apex court. These were the same observations made by the apex court in February 1984.  If Justice Deb had not advised us to depend on our history to defend our case we may have lost our battle in the apex court and that would have been disastrous for Sikkim.

   When we finally won the case in 1993 it was my privilege to have Justice Deb, Sonam P. Wangdi, now Judge of Sikkim High Court, then a Sikkimese lawyer who was once Deb’s junior, and my friend Chewang Tobgay, who represented Sikkim Tribal Welfare Association (STWA) in the case as an intervening party, at my residence at Deorali for lunch. It was time to celebrate for our victory. Former Home Secretary, Late Jigdal T. Densapa, who was a part of our team representing the State Government, was the only person missing from the table.

   I was the last person to place a khadaon Deb when his body was placed in the crematorium on the banks of Mahananda River in Siliguri during the funeral. I vividly recollect what came to my mind when I first passed the Mahananda bridge, located near the cremation place, after Deb’s death.  As I looked over the bridge across to where the last remains of Justice Deb’s body were turned into ashes and then immersed into the river these words from the man whom I loved and respected flashed through my head: “Don’t look back. Look forward. I did my job. Now you do yours.” Was he referring to the Assembly seat issue? I often wonder about this but have no answers. However, I know that our mission on Assembly seat issue for both the Bhutia-Lepchas and Sikkimese Nepalese is still unfinished. Whenever I pass through that bridge I look over to the same spot and whisper some prayers for the one who is now no more but who still lives in my memory.

   Did Deb really commit suicide or did someone hang him? During the tragic incident, Deb’s younger brother, Goutam Deb, now Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s troubleshooter in Darjeeling and also North Bengal Development Minister, was heard uttering these words in front of Justice Dayal and other officials: “Cold blooded murder.”    

   The Sikkim unit of the Congress party’s demand for a CBI probe into the incident went unheeded. The fact that one of Deb’s prominent friends in college was senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee – now India’s President – did not evoke much response from the authorities. Former Chief Minister NB Bhandari also doubted the suicide claim of the government.

   Years later, a highly-placed Sikkimese civil servant close to Deb who has now retired, told me that the former Acting Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court did not commit suicide but was forcefully hung in his toilet. To prove his point he said there was no probe into the incident and the policeman who was guarding Justice Deb’s residence during that period died mysteriously one month after the tragic incident. The constable’s wife also committed suicide shortly after her husband’s death. Reportedly, the couple hung themselves.

    No matter how Justice Deb may have met his end I strongly believe that it was the system that thrives on lies, deceit and corruption that put an abrupt end to his life.

(Ref: Talk Sikkim, October 2013.)   

J-K Parties Up In Arms Over Move To GiveVoting Rights To ‘Outsiders’ Before Assembly Polls

In Jammu and Kashmir, it has become a routine: The government each month issues an order. The order creates a political storm. The government ignores political protestation and issues another order and moves debate in a different direction.

In Jammu and Kashmir, it has become a routine: The government each month issues a controversial order. The order creates a political storm. The government ignores political protestation and issues another contentious order and moves debate in a different direction.

On August 17, Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir Hirsh Kumar said after the abrogation of Article 370 every citizen of the country who stayed ordinarily in J&K, for labour work, education, and business purpose, can register as a voter in J&K and cast vote in the next assembly elections. Kumar said he expects an increase of 20 Lakh to 25 lakh voters after the completion of the special summary revision of the electoral rolls whose final announcement will be made on November 25, 2022.

The announcement created a political ruckus in J&K and despite the government issuing different orders like increasing the rent of Waqaf properties and the police raiding different places, the debate around the CEO’s statement of adding 25 lakh continues.

According to the schedule, Integrated Draft Electoral Roll would be published by all Electoral Registration Officers on September 15, 2022. The time between September 15 and October 25 has been earmarked for filing claims and objections and all disposals in this regard will be completed by November 10.

Checking of health parameters and obtaining the Commission’s permission for final publication, updating the database, and printing of supplements is to be done by November 19, 2022. The final electoral roll would be published on November 25. The CEO’s announcement gave a clear indication that anyone who lives in Jammu and Kashmir ordinarily can now avail of the opportunity to get enlisted as a voter making domicile certificates redundant.

Kumar says the decision was taken in accordance with the provisions of Representation of the Peoples Act 1951 – an Act to provide for the conduct of elections to the Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State.

After the announcement, all regional political parties, including those who are seen as close to the BJP opposed the move and called it "dangerous". On August 22, Dr. Farooq Abdullah chaired the All Parties Meeting to oppose the government's move to grant voting rights to outsiders in Jammu and Kashmir. Sajad Lone-led People's Conference and Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party stayed away from the meeting.

With leaders from Congress, CPI(M), People’s Democratic Party, and Shiv Sena, sitting beside him, Dr. Abdullah after the All Parties Meeting said the new move to provide voting rights to outsiders in Jammu and Kashmir would make a lot of people vulnerable in Jammu and Kashmir.

“We have expressed concern over the recent killings whether of Kashmiri pandits, outside labourers, Kashmiri Muslims, policemen or Army personnel,” Dr Abdullah said. “We have apprehensions that they (outsiders) would be attacked. They should carefully take decisions. I called Lt Governor (Manoj Sinha) a few days ago and asked him to call the All Parties Meeting. Previously, he had called a meeting about Shri Amarnath Yatra and we all went. This time I requested him to call all political parties for a meeting. But there was no response to my request from Lt Governor,” Dr. Abdullah said.

Dr. Abdullah said they called the All Parties Meeting and a similar such meeting will be held in Jammu. “We will make people aware of what the government is planning to do. We are going to the Court also. We are thinking on all kinds of avenues,” he added. Dr Abdullah asked why only Jammu and Kashmir have been chosen for giving voting rights to outsiders.  He said there are differences of opinion within political parties but on this issue, they will fight it together.

Shiv Sena leader Manish Sawhney said their demand is in sync with other parties of J&K as they are opposing giving voting rights to outsiders. “Repeatedly people of Jammu and Kashmir are being stabbed in the back. First, the government removed the permanent resident certificate and asked everyone to get a domicile. Now that people after remaining in long queues have got domicile certificates, they are now being asked that outsiders are now eligible to vote in Jammu and Kashmir.”

On August 5, 2019, the Centre amid siege, lockdown, and arrests of nearly 8000 persons, abrogated Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution, bifurcated and downgraded J&K into two Union Territories, J&K and Ladakh.  While the government extended and adapted around 800 state and central laws to J&K, it hasn’t extended a single law to the UT of Ladakh.

Under Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir including Ladakh had a separate constitution called the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and also Article 35A was prohibiting people from outside from buying property in Jammu and Kashmir and ensuring job reservations for residents and voting rights to J&K citizens only. Article 35A would empower the Government of J&K to define a class of persons as constituting “permanent residents” of the erstwhile State. Also, it would allow the government to confer on these persons’ special rights and privileges with respect to matters of public employment and acquisition of immovable property in the State.

Later on March 31, 2020, the government discarded the permanent resident clause and replaced it with domicile law. Under the law, the domiciles have been defined as those who have resided for a period of 15 years in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10th, 12th examination in an educational institution located in J&K. The domicile law has no time bar indicating anyone appearing in class 10th or 12th in any period of time since 1947 is eligible for the domicile.

The government has made it mandatory for every citizen of the erstwhile State of J&K to secure a domicile certificate though they possess mandatory State subject certificates and thus equate them with the new domiciles.  Now in the case of voting rights domicile has been discarded with “ordinarily living in J&K.”

The BJP says those who are ordinarily living in J&K whether they are for services like in case armed forces or business or education or labour, can exercise their right provided they delete their electoral roll in their native place.  The BJP says the regional parties are playing politics over it.

The political parties fear if the 25 lakh outsiders or those ordinarily living in J&K get enrolled in the voting list, they will change the voter demography of the region forever. Though the BJP says the number of people ordinarily living in J&K is not far higher and the political parties are not realising the definition of ordinary residents, political parties fear the current BJP government is capable of adding 25 lakh voters from outside to J&K.

‘Ordinarily Living’ voters, if it would mean anyone coming to Kashmir for 15 days can register here, vote, and leave. So in a gap of five years, he will keep electing governments in different states. So are you creating a bogey of 25 lakh voters to influence elections across India,” says the PDP leader Mohit Bhan. For long regional political parties have been talking about the dangers of demographic change in J&K. Now it looks real.

Sajad Lone says: “We will not protest before the current administration. We know the current administration in Delhi or in Srinagar doesn't hold the political parties of J&K in very high esteem. In fact, they display contempt and disdain for them.”

“We think the final test is on October 1 when it (the summary revision) will be out. We don’t think the law is a threat to us but we are scared of those implementing the law. We will wait to see what they will do. If they did it (including 25 lakh outsiders as voters) we will sit on hunger strike in front of India. This war cannot be fought here. We will wait till October 1,” Lone says. 

By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar

(Ref: Outlook magazine, Sept 11, 2022)

LEST WE FORGET

NARI K. RUSTOMJI

The Common Thought We Shared

   The former Dewan of Sikkim, Nar Rustomji, a very close friend of the late Chogyal, Palden Thondup Namgyal, visited Sikkim in 1985-86. Having first me him in Shillong in the winter of 1978 I longed to see and get to know him more closely when I went to Bombayfor my three-year law studies at the end of 1979. My Bombay days brought me closer to Rustomji, the man who was instrumental in bringing many changes in the former kingdom.

   Therefore, I was his natural choice as his tour guide when he paid a visit to Sikkim in mid-’80s. Looking back, I guess it was his last and final visit to the real Sikkim– the countryside. Our short but most memorable tour took us to West Sikkim, whose rich and virgin natural beauty is flavoured with a deep sense of history and culture. In fact, Sikkim’s modern history  began in Yuksam, West Sikkim, when three lamas consecrated the first Chogyal of Sikkim in 1642. Till then I had read and heard much about the historical significance of the area but being there on the spot was a profound and unique experience altogether.

   During this trip we spent a night at the world-renowned Sikkim Distilleries in Rongpo, located at the Sikkim-West Bengal border in the east district. It was there at the guest house that I sought Rustomji’s advice on the name that I should give to my newspaper. Finally, the choice fell on “Sikkim Observer”. The SikkimObserver was born a few months after Rustomji left Sikkim.

   During his later visit to Sikkim in March 1987, uncle Rustomji presented me his new book, “Sikkim: A Himalayan Tragedy” with this note in the front page, “For my friend Jigme, who will, no doubt, critically review! In trepidation. And also for Tsering, with all good wishes for a long and happy married life.”

   When I completed my own book, “Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide”, in 1993 my deepest desire was to present a copy of it to uncle Rustomji. He would have loved it. Unfortunately, I came to know in the beginning of 1994 that uncle had passed away a few months before my book was released in New Delhi.

   This perhaps is the first time that I’m making a mention of him and his book in the Observer. I still miss him and will forever cherish the rich memories that we shared together over the years ever since I first met him in one of my classmates’ house at Whispering Pines in Shillong. Though these words were meant for the late Chogyal let me dedicate them to him in his memory:

A moment, and time will forget

Our failure and our name

But not the common thought

That linked us in a dream.

Remembering Nari Rustomji

“I feel at home with the tribals”

May 16 was Meghalaya’s first chief secretary Nari K Rustomji’s birth anniversary. Glenn C Kharkongor recalls his contribution to the Northeast

NARI K Rustomji studied classical Latin and Greek, was secretary of the Musical Society and played the piano and violin at Cambridge University. Such a background would be considered unusual for a bureaucrat today. Perhaps it was these sensibilities that made Rustomji one of the most endearing political administrators of his era and his affection for the tribals of Northeast India is legendary.

     This week is the 94th birth anniversary of the first chief secretary of Meghalaya, who died a decade ago.

     The Northeast has all but forgotten this remarkable bureaucrat, whose grasp of geopolitical matters and understanding of tribal cultures made him one of the most sympathetic and understanding administrators of the Northeast in the transition to and in the early post-Independence era. He and Verrier Elwin were often described as romantics. They were close friends and Rustomji in fact, edited a volume of Elwin’s selected writings. Their advice was relied upon greatly by Nehru and resulted in a policy for the Northeast that has been described as Nehruvian humanistic paternalism. Sadly, that benevolent policy has lapsed and has been replaced with a chaotic and befuddled mindset in Delhi, which results in cultural aggression and headlong underdevelopment, characterized by insensitivity and greed.

     Rustomji was influenced greatly by Plato and Socrates, and intended to become a school teacher, but was persuaded by his teachers to apply for the ICS. It was during World War II, and at the interview he was asked about his contribution to the war effort. At the time he was a member of the Royal Observer Corps, keeping a tally of enemy planes that flew overhead. When he mentioned that he was a plane spotter, the examiners inquired how many planes he had spotted the previous week. His reply was a solemn “I’m sorry sir, that’s top secret”. There was an amused murmur of approval among the greybeards and he felt that he had clinched the appointment.

     At the end of his ICS probationary training in Dehra Dun, Nari K Rustomji was assigned to Assam, which he accepted whole-heartedly.  One of the main reasons for this enthusiasm was Assam’s proximity to Sikkim and Bhutan. He had been introduced to these countries, India’s neighbours in the Northeast, by his friendship with the crown prince of Sikkim, Thondup Namgyal and his cousin, the prince of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji who were probationers along with him in 1942. These lifelong friendships were cemented during Rustomji’s posting as Dewan of Sikkim from 1954-59 and when he was appointed as Adviser to the Government of Bhutan in 1963.

     Rustomji spent most of his career in the Northeast, spanning from his first appointment as district publicity organiser in Sylhet during the Second World War, a kind of propaganda post to develop and deliver positive messages to the public in favour of the Allies, to being the first chief secretary of Meghalaya in 1972. In between he served in various administrative posts in Maulvibazar, Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh. Perhaps the most noteworthy position that he had was adviser to the Governor of Assam on tribal affairs, during which time he exerted considerable influence on the formulation of policies for the hill areas.

     He was associated with the implementation of the early seven-year plans in Sikkim and Bhutan.  Significant in these development efforts were a visionary intent to protect the environment and biodiversity of the region and to protect the region from unwanted kinds of development. He was also careful to ensure that cultural traditions and sensitivities were protected in implementing the Plans.

     Rustomji was deeply drawn to the tribals of the region. In his book Enchanted Frontiers, Rustomji says, “The people of the hills have had for me a special pull. I feel utterly and completely at home with my (tribal) hosts. I am at heart, very much a tribal myself. I share much of the bewilderment and loss of identity of the tribal of today”. He learned the local language at every posting and even wore indigenous costumes to work. Much of his scholarly writing are on the anthropology and sociology of the tribes and these articles have appeared in journals such as Himalayan Environment and Culture brought out by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

     As Dewan of the Chogyal of Sikkim and adviser to the Government of Bhutan, he immersed himself in the cultural milieu of those countries, learning the Sikkimese and Bhutanese languages and wearing the local costumes. He would wear the Sikkimese gown, the ko, even during his trips to Delhi. This led the foreign secretary to comment wryly that while the Dewan might wear Sikkimese dress in Gangtok, he failed to see the point of his wearing the gown in Delhi.

     During the governorship of Sri Prakasa, he played a pivotal role in obtaining the accession to India of the maharajas of Manipur, Cooch Behar and Manipur. Though varying amounts of duress were exerted in these efforts, Rustomji came out each time with the respect of the maharaja.  On each occasion his services were requested as the first Chief Commissioner of the accessed kingdom.

     He had a part in the negotiations with the Naga and Mizo tribals. He tried to convince the Government that “right principles, rather than force of arms” was the right policy. He spoke out against the tendency of officers to pontificate patronizingly about “uplifting our tribal brethren”.  Himself a Zoroastrian, he tried to convince the tribals that they were free to practice the religion of their choice, by arranging special broadcasts of Christian services on Sundays in English and in the various Naga languages. He describes his poignant interaction with a Naga prisoner, discussing letters that the prisoner had written about a cat who was his sole companion in jail.  He discussed with General Shrinagesh about a sympathetic approach to the hearts and minds of the tribal people. Sadly, they were not many in the political and military establishment that shared his statesmanlike approach.

     In 1951, when he was stationed in Shillong as advisor to the Governor of Assam, Rustomji got married to Hilla Master, daughter of Jal Ardeshir Master, chief conservator of forests, Madras Presidency. They had met in Bombay the previous year; he was 31 and she was 23. Their daughter Tusna was born at Welsh Mission Hospital in 1952. Sadly, Hilla died of complications soon after. He married again in 1963 to Avi Dalal, someone the family had long known.

     An unfortunate outcome of Partition was the closure of trade between the Khasi Hills and the contiguous areas of East Pakistan. Perishable oranges and betel nut from the border plantations now had no outlet market and Rustomji approved the request of the local traders for an airstrip in Shella, so that the produce could be flown to Calcutta. Regrettably, this never happened.

     As chief secretary in the new state of Meghalaya, he determined to set up an efficient administration, leading by example. Each morning he walked from his residence, Lumpyngad, followed by a clerk, who dutifully took down notes on the way to the Secretariat. He once visited a district headquarters unannounced and found the deputy commissioner absent from his office. Rustomji sent for the absentee officer, who on hearing that the chief secretary was around immediately declared himself sick. Rustomji then sat in the DC’s chair and spent the day disposing of pending files.

     If you Google his name and browse the internet, only snippets about Rustomji appear, brief lines in a scholarly article or a blog. Most of what is available are accounts in the five books he has written. In these idealistic, analytical and balanced accounts, he carefully blends the history, culture and politics of this complex region as a background for governance and administration.

     Surely the man deserves weightier evidence of his contribution to the Northeast.  Indeed such an analysis would provide clues to achieving better solutions to the continuing myriad problems of the Northeast, many of which can be traced to the post-Independence era in which misguided and heavy-handed policies were framed.  The politicians and mandarins of today seem to continue in the same vein. They should study Rustomji’s books.

(Ref: Shillong Times in 2013, and Parsi Khabar, June 1, 2016.)

Lest We Forget

LACHEN PIPON CHO LEDON

How to Light a Fire

Jhowo Ledon and wife Chum Lhanzay

   It is in the fitness of things to begin my first step in my new venture in my Facebook group – Lest We Forget – with my late grandfather, Jhowo Ledon Nima Gyatso of Lachen, North Sikkim. Though he passed away more than six decades ago in the late 1950s he is still near and dear to me.

   When he passed away (perhaps in 1956-58) he left behind his wife, Chum Lhanzay, daughter Chum Phigu, his son-in-law Yap Rinzing Namgyal Kazi, and two grandsons, my late brother Tenzing Danen and myself. I don’t think my younger brother, Gyamtso Namgyal, was born at that time. Through his two daughters, Chum Yangchen (my mother) and Chum Phigu, Jhowo Ledon and Chum Lhanzay had four grandchildren: my late brother, Gyamtso, my sister, Kesang Dolma, and myself.

   Somewhere in my writings I have mentioned about the three persons who shaped my life and had the greatest influence on me: Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, my school Principal, Graeme Armstrong Murray, and my Lachen grandfather. I still believe this to be true. They taught me the value of honour, courage, integrity and dignity.

Lachen Pipon Jhowo Ledon

   I must have been around 5-6 years when he left us but the few moments that I had with him were enough for me to realize that he was a special person. He was of medium height but his character and personality commanded dignified composure. He stood out among the rest.   To me he was integrity personified.              

   After his father, Jhowo Bompo, who once led the Sikkim delegation in the Dalai Lama’s court in Lhasa, died my grandfather naturally stepped into his shoes. As the Lachen Pipon he was immensely respected and at the same time feared by the people. He was just, fair and a disciplined person. My Azyo belonged to the influential Ngyamdako clan in Lachen. The annual village Chodrok puja traditionally began with the lamas spread among the four Ngyamdako families – Jhowo Bompo, Jhowo Phintso Tashi, Jhowo Limak and ours.

   Pipons are elected by the Dzumsa, the traditional assembly of the people. The system used to be conducted in a most dignified and democratic manner, where public participation in all spheres of life was maximum. I have personally proudly witnessed my Azyo conduct the Dzumsa meetings with discipline and dignity.

   Two highly-placed personalities visited Lachen during his tenure as Pipon: Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, perhaps the most outstanding Tibetan spiritual masters of the 20^thcentury, and Sikkim’s Dewan (Prime Minister), Nari Rustomji. While studying law in Bombay in early 1980s, Rustomji opened up his small archive room and to my great delight and surprise I found a small black and white photo of his visit to Lachen in 1956-57. My grandfather and my late maternal uncle, Azyang Kunga Rinchen, are seen in the photograph along with Rustomji and others. I still have this original photo with me and over the years I made some copies and distributed among my close relatives in Lachen.

   Azyo taught me one very important thing which I often remember – and that is how to light a fire. This took place in our kitchen, where we have a huge fireplace (chulha) made of clay. He was patiently watching me trying to light the fire at the thap(chulha) from his seat on the denthi (tradition wooden sofa). When I failed he came down from his seat and taught me how to light the fire. “Dhae-membae.”(not like that), he said and then gently took out all the firewood that I had stuffed in and then rearranged them in such a way that there was enough space for the oxygen to get in. And when everything was done he lit the fire. I was amazed.

   Life is all about lighting fire, particularly when there is darkness all around.  A few years after Azyo’s passing away I was in another world, at Darjeeling’s Mount Hermon School, where I later learnt that “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

10^thAnniversary of Sikkim ‘Press Freedom Day’

Keynote address by Jigme N. Kazi, President, Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists (SFWJ), State unit of Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ), on the occasion of the 1st Sikkim Press Freedom Day function organized by SFWJ in Gangtok on June 19, 2010.

(I want to share and place on record of what I said and what we did many years back on issues that are so vitally important to humanity)

              -----------------------------------------------------------------

   “In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the ‘Estates General’.

The First Estate consisted of three hundred nobles. The Second Estate, three hundred clergy.

The Third Estate, six hundred commoners. Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, “Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.” (Jeffrey Archer in “The Fourth Estate”

Sikkim Press Freedom Day, June 19, 2010.

   Respected Chief Guest, Secretary IPR, President, Press Club of Sikkim, distinguished guests, members of the Fourth Estate, and my colleagues in the Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists.

   It is our privilege and honour to have the former Chief Minister of Sikkim, Mr. B.B. Gooroong, who was not only the Press Advisor to the Chief Minister but was also a journalist once upon a time.

   When members of the local media held a protest rally to voice their concern for protection of Press Freedom in Gangtok  seventeen years ago on June 19, 1993, Mr. Gooroong came all the way down to the Paljor Stadium where we held the rally and congratulated us and gave us his support.

   Sir, you have honoured us once again and touched our hearts by being here amidst your very hectic schedule.

   If 17 years is a long time to remember what we did on this day on that day and honour those valiant journalists who risked everything to raise their voice against suppression of the freedom of press then I believe that even after 50 years the Fourth Estate in Sikkim will remember with pride and look back on this day and what we did here today.

   By being here today to mark the 1st Sikkim Press Freedom Day  celebrations we are not just honouring those who took part in the Press Freedom Rally on June 19, 1993, we are also, once again, making our stand clear on issues and principles that guide and govern the Fourth Estate all over the world.

   Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of America, once said: “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without a free press or a free press without a government, I would prefer the latter.”

   Who wouldn’t, particularly when that government is bent on suppression of free expression, particularly of Press Freedom? Lets face it: the Press and the government are natural adversaries. Each has its own unique role in society.

   What is freedom without a free Press? And what is the Press without freedom? To be more precise; what is democracy without freedom, particularly Press freedom? Pansy Takula, one of the advocates of Press freedom and Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information of the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights, recently said,

   “We have reached the point where I think we need constructive dialogue with the government of this country, where maybe my office, together with media practitioners and media organizations and governments, can sit around a table and try and find each other.”

    She added, “Free press, in particular, and freedom of expression, in general (are) very important not only on the African continent, but everywhere else in the world because without free press you cannot have democracy.  You cannot have good governance.  You cannot have the rule of law.  You know, the media act as a watch dog against those who are in power.”

Press Rally in Gangtok, June 19, 1993.

   In Asia, in India and in Sikkim it is time that we, the media and the authorities, sit together, sort out our differences and respect each other’s role in a free and democratic set-up. When the annual World Press Freedom Day, a date to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty, was observed in May 3 last month (2010), the Fourth Estate dedicated this year’s World Press Freedom Day to the “right to know”: the right of all people, including journalists, to have access to information held by governments and other public bodies.

   The right to know is the right to ask questions to public institutions and their obligation to reply. The right to know is essential for the media and the public to enjoy true freedom of expression, protected by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since it was adopted in 1948.

    My paper, the Sikkim Observer, still has a column called “People Want to Know, People Have a Right to Know.” We must all make our own contribution towards Press Freedom no matter what kind of adverse situations we may face.

  We must believe that in a democratic system the people are sovereign. The slogan, janta rajma jantai raja, must be put into practice if we are sincere in what we profess.  In a true democracy the role of the government is to serve the people and the people have the right to know and question what is done on their behalf.

   There was an emotional ceremony at the White House recently when President Obama welcomed slain journalist Daniel Pearl’s surviving family members to witness the signing of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was brutally murdered in Pakistan as he was following up some leads on al-Qaeda in early 2002. Four Pakistanis were convicted in Pearl’s murder in July of that year. According to the New York Times, the Freedom of the Press Act “requires the State Department to expand its scrutiny of news media restrictions and intimidation as part of its annual review of human rights in each country. Among other considerations, the department will be required to determine whether foreign governments participate in or condone violations of press freedom.”

   On this special day I would like to recall and place on record on what I said on June 19, 1993 during the Press Freedom rally held in Gangtok:

    My message was simple and direct: “Today, we are here to lodge a symbolic protest. But if our voice is not heard and if the suppression of the freedom of the Press still continues despite the stand that we have taken here today, we must not be content with mere symbolism. Me must raise a voice in every village and town in this State. We must raise our voice in Mangan, in Geyzing, and in Namchi (headquarters of the three other district of Sikkim), and if need be, in Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. We must also raise our voice in the Assembly and in the Parliament, and if need be, in other international Press forum as well. We must continue to press on until ten thousand conscious citizens in Sikkim come together and raise their voice and rally support for Freedom of the Press in Sikkim.”    

   Three days after our rally thousands of pro-democracy supporters led by Sikkim Democratic Front stormed the capital on June 22. Within less than eleven months after the rally the repressive regime in Sikkim was toppled leading to formation of a new government after the November Assembly elections in 1994.

    The local Press played a notable role in restoration of freedom, democracy, justice and rule of law in the people’s struggle for change in Sikkim.

    It is, therefore, fitting and proper that we should remember and honour those who stood their ground in times of crisis while others faltered.

    I want to thank my colleagues in the Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists and other members of the Fourth Estate for arranging this function and giving a helping hand to preserve and protect Press freedom in Sikkim.

   My final message to you comes from the words of President John F. Kennedy who said:

    “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

 MAY 8, 1973 AGREEMENT: INDIA’S ‘TROJAN HORSE’ FOR SIKKIM TAKEOVER

Secret pact

During his next “unannounced” visit to Sikkim on April 21¹ Kewal Singh brought the draft agreement to be signed by the Chogyal, the Government of India, and leaders of major political parties of Sikkim. One of Singh’s main assignments this time was to sign a “secret pact” with the Choygal. On April 23, a “confidential” document titled “Agreement between the Chogyal and the Government of India” was signed in Gangtok, which promised to preserve “the identity of Sikkim” and “the constitutional position of the Chogyal of Sikkim”. Anti-Chogyal forces viewed the move as a bid by New Delhi to “restore the durbar to power”. However, major issues raised in the agreement were also included in the draft of the proposed tripartite agreement.

Datta-Ray observed: “But the durbar was relieved because it rightly believed that Sikkim could not be absorbed while its throne survived. Kewal Singh also promised the Chogyal that the administrator would be another dewan, and would be withdrawn as soon as the political situation had stabilized. If all this was reassuring, the durbar was baffled and worried by the foreign secretary’s insistence on complete secrecy. It would have liked the tripartite agreement either to confirm the earlier one or to repeat that the monarchy and Sikkim’s status as a protectorate remained unimpaired. But Kewal Singh assured the Chogyal that the 8 May document was only for public consumption, a sop to Kazi and his colleagues, and that the 23 April agreement was the operative one. Moreover, he continued, any reference to the monarchy or to relations with India might have suggested to the 15 signatories that both matters were within their jurisdiction.² 

After making minor changes in the tripartite agreement in the Foreign Office in New Delhi, the Foreign Secretary returned to Gangtok on May 7 with the revised draft. With great reluctance the Chogyal signed the agreement the next day on May 8 at the Palace at 9 p.m.. This was only after he was assured by Kewal Singh that “the tripartite agreement was basically the same as of April 23 except for minor variations to the satisfaction of the political parties and should, as such, be treated as a “Public Relations Document”³

Before the signing of the agreement in the Palace, the Chogyal gave a dressing down to JAC leaders and accused them of “betrayal and sell-out to India”. Because of their “treachery” they were “not worthy of being called Sikkimese” and the people of Sikkim would never forgive them for their devious ways. Das recalls how the Chogyal felt during the signing of the agreement: “The famous May 8 Agreement was signed at 9 P.M. in the Palace. At first, Kazi and his group refused to go to the Palace. K.C. Pradhan and B.B. Gurung expressed a fear that the Chogyal would poison their liquor! Narbahadur Khatiwada protested on principle and wanted the Chogyal to come to the India House to sign the document. After great persuasion, they trooped into the Palace. Used to years of subservience, they bowed to the Chogyal in reverence and the latter let them have it. He was full of liquor already and surcharged with emotions; he accused the leaders of betrayal and sell-out to India. Sikkim and her people would never forgive them for their treachery. Instead of him, they would now have an Indian Chogyal to rule. They were not worthy of being called Sikkimese having sold their country. None uttered a word as if they were under a spell. The Chogyal’s performance was superb. He took out his pen and signed. The others followed including the National Party and Kewal Singh. The Foreign Secretary swallowed all the abuses showered on the political leaders that night but never forgave the Chogyal for this.”⁴

Tripartite Agreement 1973

(Left to Right) Kewal Singh (Indian Foreign Secretary), Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, K.S. Bajpai (Indian Political Officer) and Karma Topden (Deputy Secretary to the Chogyal) during the signing of the Tripartite Agreement of May 8^th, 1973, in Gangtok.

There were mixed reactions to the May 8 Agreement. The Indian Press hailed it as a “significant breakthrough”. Kazi and his colleagues viewed it as a decisive victory for their party. But the Chogyal, sensing the agreement to be an “eyewash”, remained a “silent spectator”. He was acutely aware of New Delhi’s role in the present turmoil in Sikkim and was certain that the signing of the May 8 Agreement was a prelude to “bigger things”. “His first disillusionment came when the May 8 Agreement was placed before the Indian Parliament. He called me and asked the implications. When I told him that this was going to be the basis of the new political arrangement, he blew up. Based on the assurances of the Foreign Secretary, he considered it only a public relations document, treating April 23 Agreement as the valid one. When told that subsequent agreement on the same issue supersedes the previous one, specially when it was a tripartite agreement and placed before the Indian Parliament, he accused the Foreign Secretary of duplicity and breach of faith,” writes Das. He adds: “The Chogyal lost complete confidence in Kewal Singh and his doubts that Delhi was planning the merger of Sikkim never left him thereafter.”⁵

The May 8 Agreement, signed between the Chogyal, the Government of India represented by the Foreign Secretary, and five representatives of the three major political parties of Sikkim led by L.D. Kazi (SNC), K.C. Pradhan (SJC) and Netuk Tsering Lama (SNP),  was a major achievement for New Delhi and anti-Chogyal, anti-Sikkim forces in Sikkim. The April agitation and subsequent Indian takeover of Sikkim’s administration on April 8, culminating in the tripartite agreement is significant. The signing of the Agreement marked a decisive phase in the kingdom’s political development, and was, as suspected by the Chogyal and Sikkimese nationalists, one of the major steps to make Sikkim a part and parcel of India.

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

BIRAJ ADHIKARI: THE ONE WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE

   During the pro-democracy movement in Sikkim led by Pawan Chamling, President of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), in the early 1990s, which led to the ouster of the Bhandari regime in 1994, political activists such as Biraj Adhikari made tremendous contribution for Sikkim and the Sikkimese people. At times they risked their life and property for the common cause.

   After the political leadership made use of people such as Biraj Adhikari to achieve their political ambition the likes of Adhikari were sidelined and replaced by sycophants, leaving the Sikkimese people in the hands of corrupt and petty politicians. The rest is history…

   It has been my great privilege to record the tremendous contributions made by people such as Biraj Adhikari for our Sikkim in my newspapers and books. ‘The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland’, published in 2014, proudly recalls our street fighting days:

  “While more than 200 SDF supporters and other pro-democracy activists were arrested after the police crackdown in June 1993 several prominent leaders, including SDF General Secretary Biraj Adhikari (32), were arrested and detained in Sadar police station in Gangtok on June 24. Adhikari had to be moved to the local STNM hospital after he was mercilessly beaten up in the thana by police personnel.

     Adkhikari, a computer engineer-turned-politician, was ordered to be brought to the hospital by the Sikkim High Court in response to a petition filed by his wife on July 1. The court’s order not only boosted the morale of anti-Bhandari agitators but also saved the SDF leader’s life. The order said: “Keeping in mind the peculiar circumstances and the affairs in the STNM hospital (local) – we think it will be proper to safeguard the health and life of Mr. Biraj Adhikari that some second opinion be taken about his treatment.” The court also ordered that Adhikari be taken to Delhi or Chandigarh where his in-laws live for treatment. “Expenses for all this will be borne by the State Government,” the order stated.

   Adhikari was not only one of my friends but also one of the most effective and influential leaders of the SDF who had a great hand in mobilizing support for the party in Gangtok and the east district where most anti-Bhandari activities took place during this crucial period. A son of a former secretary in the State Government and an alumnus of St Paul’s School, Darjeeling, and Tashi Namgyal Academy (TNA), Gangtok, Adhikari, unlike many politicians, had no communal inclinations and because of his openness and broader views on politics he attracted many educated youths from all communities towards the SDF.

   The Amnesty International’s report, dated October 1994 and captioned “Sikkim: Torture of an opposition politician,” stated: “Biraj Adhikari, an opposition politician, was arrested on 24 June 1993 and subsequently tortured in police custody. He suffered serious wounds to his feet and may be permanently disabled. A medical examination carried outside India by an independent doctor with expertise in examining torture victims confirmed that the after-effects of trauma found during the examination exactly fitted Biraj Adhikari’s account of his torture during interrogation. Amnesty International is concerned that there has not been an independent and impartial inquiry into the torture of Biraj Adhikari, that compensation has not been granted to him and that peaceful opponents of the government remain liable to such violations of human rights in Sikkim, as long as the perpetrators have not been brought to justice.”

   The report added, “Amnesty International is concerned at persistent reports of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of opposition politicians in Sikkim, of which the illegal    detention and torture of Biraj Adhikari in June 1993 is only a detailed example. Amnesty International has received reports of two government opponents alleged to have died as a result of torture in police custody in the state in recent years, but the perpetrators have yet to be brought to justice.”

(Ref: The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, Gangtok, 2014, and Blog: jigmenkazisikkim.blogspot.com)

SIKKIM FOR SIKKIMESE

Let all Sikkimese feel safe and secure in Sikkim

The authorities in Delhi and Gangtok are widely aware or should be aware of the need to give top priority to safeguarding national security concerns in this sensitive and strategic border region.

   Genuine national unity and integration can come when people in their respective States, particularly in strategic border regions, are safe and secure. If those in power are truly and genuinely concerned over these vital issues then let all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities be included in the ST list in the State and let all of them enjoy all economic, educational and employment benefits which are meant for all STs at the national level. If this is done then special care must be taken in all respect to safeguard the rights and interests of the economically and educationally weaker sections of the people in the State who belong to all communities.

   However, while ST status may be granted to all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities, seats in the Assembly should be reserved for them on the basis of their ethnicity as per Article 371F of the Constitution, which reflect the provisions of the May 8, 1973 Agreement and Government of Sikkim Act, 1974, and not on the basis of them being given ST status. If these two demands are fulfilled it will bring genuine national integration while also preserving Sikkim’s special status within the Union.

   Let other Sikkimese, who are locally referred to as ‘purano byapari’ (old business community), be identified through a cut-off year, and given a special place in Sikkim. These people, who hail from the plains and hill regions of the country, belong to all communities and have been living in Sikkim for generations. Most of them have been born and brought up in Sikkim and regard Sikkim as their homeland. It is the moral duty of all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities to provide adequate political and economic safeguards to such category of people so that they, too, feel safe and secure in Sikkim.

   The time has finally come for all Sikkimese people to rise up to the occasion and shoulder the responsibility entrusted to them by generations of the Sikkimese people yet to come.

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

 RAHUL GANDHI’S LONG MARCH

When the defeated walk, history is made

Sriram Karri

KANYAKUMARI: They may go to bed on Tuesday night despondent, down, bruised and defeated, but they will wake up on Wednesday morning filled with hope. The energy of Congress leaders and cadre travelling from Telangana to Kanyakumari is infectious. It possibly perfectly mirrors the mood of not only the thousands of fellow Congress people who will join party leader Rahul Gandhi for the start of Bharat Jodo Yatra at the former Cape Comorin, but of millions of common Indians he will meet along the arduous journey.

   In a yatra that could go beyond seven to eight months, and cover over 3,570 kilometres, Rahul Gandhi is feeling up to a challenge when his chips are at their lowest, the odds stacked against him and his party.

  The Congress is not only losing elections, winning fewer Lok Sabha seats than it would take to have a bonafide Leader of Opposition in two elections but also in most states.

   The Congress is even losing governments it had won, like Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh, and its leaders, some loyal for decades, are deserting.

   The party of A.O. Hume, Annie Beasant, Dadabhai Naoroji, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and a foundational platform of leaders from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh, may be reaching a climax, and demise, under the watch of the final Gandhi-Nehru scion, according to most.

   Either it will die, its death starting on Wednesday if the walk flops, or be set for a rebirth, a renaissance, if the fabled Gandhi-Nehru magic works with Indians.

   And it could work. Because Rahul Gandhi is no stranger to losing. He lost his grandmother as a little child, and witnessed the most gruesome manner of losing a father. He lost his youth in a maze of political confusion, and saw power, and experienced its loss.

   Now, he is ready to walk. Showing himself in common places, on foot, bereft of paraphernalia of power, away from the luxury of the palace he was born in.

   Leaders who have converged here with anticipation and excitement greet each other, even as cadres shout slogans. They talk in different tones, with different emotions.

   Hope and doubt dance on their faces, as expressions change, analysing and proposing varied scenarios.

   A leader of over three decades from Maharashtra airs the most common of beliefs: “The Gandhis have a tryst with history, and destiny. Rahul ji could have chosen the easiest path to Prime Ministership, but he chose the hardest one.”

   There is tacit awareness, if not outright acknowledgment, that Rahul Gandhi is also on a mission to make history. A win, with an absolute majority, in 2024 will accord PM Narendra Modi an aura only his ideological arch enemy, Jawaharlal Nehru had. Modi will become an era, an icon, unmatched.

Can Rahul Gandhi match up to the best of his legacy and revive the glory of the Congress? There are more sceptics than believers. But history is tricky, and the path to making it is hardly straight.

   “Anything is possible. One of the most written-off leaders is marching. When the defeated march, history gets rewritten. It is either a ‘Baahubali’ or a ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ that we will see,” said another bystander, watching the array of leaders descend at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.

   Precedents exist; from Napoleon’s walk to Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi march. In Telugu states, three leaders have walked their way into people’s hearts, and power. Even former prime minister Chandra Shekhar’s walk led to an accidental brush with the premier job.

   If movie analogies work in politics, Indians have always loved double role flicks. Ram aur Shyam. Seeta aur Geeta.  Now, Rahul Gandhi will be seen in the un-entitled powerless role, even as his adversary is in the stratospheric orbit.

   Will the walk change the way Indians see Rahul Gandhi? They might. That could be all the hapless and clueless Congress needs right now. And that is the hope they will wake up tomorrow with. That as Rahul walks, India will see and feel the aura of all the other Gandhis before. And vote for the hand that guides a nation.

 (Ref: Deccan Chronicle Sep 7, 2022. Sriram Karri is the Resident Editor of Deccan Chronicle, based in Hyderabad. He is also the author of the MAN Asian Literary Prize long-listed novel 'Autobiography of a Mad Nation' and 'The Spiritual Supermarket'.)

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.

   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^th anniversary. 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.

   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.

      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!”

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.)

Freedom vs Security

TRIBUTE TO SURESH K. PRAMAR

 (My friend and mentor, Suresh K. Pramar, former editor of Eastern Express, passed away peacefully at his  home in Noida, UP, in the morning of February 24, 2023. This piece of writing from my book, Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide, published in 1993, is a tribute to Suresh and in memory of our turbulent times in Sikkim  in the '80s. Suresh was a brave and independent journalist and because of this we got into a lot of trouble with the powers-that-be. Eventually, he had to quit Sikkim as the establishment could not digest and tolerate what we reported. As journalists we did our job as long it was possible. People ought to realize by now that it is not only the suppression of the establishment but silence of the oppressed that paved the way for Pramar's exit from Sikkim. Pramar eventually settled in Noida with his wife Sashi and two children - Lalit and Muana.)

                                          --------------------------------------------------------------

   “The interest of property, the hours of labour, are nothing compared with the struggle for life and honour, for right and freedom, to which we have vowed ourselves.”

-          Winston Churchill

   “There is no security on this earth. There is only opportunity.”

-          General Douglas MacArthur

   June 1983 was a crucial month for me. I made two important decisions in the first fortnight of the month, which changed the course of my life. I decided to become a journalist, join the press and work for the Eastern Express, an English weekly published from Gangtok. Another important decision, which was to have a far reaching affect on my journalistic career, was to bring out my own monthly magazine – Spotlight on Sikkim.

   By the first week of June, I was quite sure that I would get into government service. The Labour Department needed a labour officer and I was qualified for the job. I was not only a local Sikkimese possessing the Sikkim Subjects Certificate – a necessary document for government jobs in Sikkim – but also belonged to a community designated as scheduled tribe and hailed from the backward tribal-dominated region of Lachen in north Sikkim. Furthermore, I had done labour law for my LL.B. (G) and was fit for the job. Moreover, I had applied for the post a year in mid-1982 while I was still in college. My job application was backed by the Lachen Pipon, who personally recommended my case to the government.

   The post of a Labour Officer in the Labour Department had been vacant for over a year now. The delay in my case seemed unnecessary. I felt the only way to put pressure on the government for speedy disposal of my case was to approach the government through public representatives. The representation to the Chief Minister in my case was made by the “people of Lachen” through its elected representative, the Lachen Pipon. In his letter to the Chief Minister, dated May 1, 1983, the Lachen Pipon, Anung Lachenpa, stated:

      “The people of Lachen have been deprived from every facilities and aids provided by the government for the all-round development of our people. Thus, our people are still far from being even called a backward class. In the realm of education, we still lag far behind our own neighbouring areas which are considered backward regions in Sikkim. So far, we have been able to produce only two graduates from our village and that also with great difficulties. Apart from getting our youngsters educated, we face the problem of job security and other employment problems.

   Mr. J.N. Kazi comes from a good and well-respected family in Lachen. In school, he was awarded the Bishop Fisher Cup for Leadership, Character and Sportsmanship. In his training college, he was the first student to receive the Principal’s Award for all-round development. Apart from his excellent and outstanding performance in games and other sporting activities, he has been a distinguished student leader and magazine editor in both the school and college. All these achievements and many others have made us feel proud of him and we do not hesitate to give him further support and help which he requires in any field.”

   I soon discovered that the main factor which delayed the process of my appointment in government service was because of our college magazine, Lukshyama. I came to know this from the authorities at the Tashiling Secretariat. I didn’t quite see why the State Government was against me on this. Was the State Government directed by the Centre not to give me employment in government service or was Bhandari not happy over certain aspects of the magazine? Perhaps my references to “fleshy cars” and “three-piece suits” in my article in the magazine may have annoyed Bhandari.

   While pursuing my case with the government, I came to know that there were two more candidates who were trying for the post I had applied for. There was also another vacancy at the High Court for law graduates. One of these candidates was qualified but the other one was not. I was told that the other applicant, a woman, though not qualified for the job had the backing of the higher-ups. My case may have been considered if the government rejected the woman candidate’s application. Realising how the government functioned, particularly regarding employment in government service, I had some doubts about my case but still remained hopeful.

UNI (United News of India) men in Sikkim: Pramar (centre), Ranjit Devraj and myself.

   “Why don’t you take a khada and meet the CM personally over your appointment,” advised the Labour Department Secretary, who was keen on having me join his department. He wanted me to get the job but the final approval was to come from the top, particularly in dealing with controversial cases. By now I was quite sure that I would get the job and meeting Bhandari was just a matter of formality. I didn’t respond to the Secretary’s suggestion, but just listened to him and kept quiet. I had already decided not to see Bhandari. If I got the job, it was well and good; if not, so be it. That was my attitude and I firmly stuck to it.

   It was only a matter of time now and a visit to Bhandari would have expedited the process of my appointment. The Establishment Department Secretary, Tashi Chopel, who was in-charge of employment in government service and with whom I was in touch, asked me to make a fresh application. I was told that my earlier application had been ‘lost’, something not very unusual in our government departments. Meanwhile, the government would issue a public notice inviting applications for vacancies in various government departments, including the post that I had applied for. The notice was to come out any day.

  While I was waiting for the notice to appear in the local papers, I came across Norden Gyalpo, former editor of The Encounter and presently the editor of Lurnyuk, on June 6. We knew each other well. In the course of our discussion, we showed keen interest in helping me out with the publication of a monthly magazine on Sikkim. By then, I had already decided to take out the paper even if I was employed in government service. Gyalpo, former chief minister L.D. Kazi’s nephew, was an intelligent and enterprising young man who not only had the knack of convincing people to his way of thinking but was also concerned about what was happening in Sikkim. We both wanted to contribute something to the people instead of letting things go by. If I had been employed in the government, he would be the editor of the paper and we would run the paper together. We decided to meet again on June 12 for further discussion. It was agreed that he would come up with his proposals and we would chalk out a plan of action for the new paper.

   The idea of starting a newspaper of my own first struck me during a trip to west Sikkim in early 1983. I felt very strongly about it and the thought never left me. Past experience convinced me that such intense feeling on a given subject should not be neglected but acted upon and carried to its logical conclusion.

   The next day, I was on my way to the office of the Eastern Express to meet its editor, Suresh Pramar, when I spotted him near his office below Tibet Road at the Enchay compound. Pramar saw me coming down and I yelled, “I was just coming down to see you.”

   “I was also looking for you. Why don’t you come down right now?”, he shouted back and went into his press office.

   I didn’t know Pramar well, much less his paper, which was quite popular. I got to know him on the playground where we played a few cricket matches together on the same side, which also had some ex-students of schools in Darjeeling, including Mount Hermon. Pramar had been in Sikkim for several years before I returned home at the end of 1982. Some of his friends in Gangtok were close friends of mine. He was around 40 and seemed to be a nice person.

 Eastern Express editor Suresh Pramar 

   Pramar was sitting in the front room near the window when I got down to his press. He seemed happy to see me. We chatted for about ten minutes and arrived at a deal. My main purpose of seeing him was to get his printing quotation for the magazine I was to publish. He had his own reasons for wanting to see me. He wanted me to work for him in the press. This was something I had not expected and it was difficult to decide anything at that point of time. My work was to help him with the paper, which basically meant reporting for the paper and also doing sub-editing and proof-reading. Except for Pramar, there was nobody permanently employed in the editorial section.

   I was not at all prepared for this and this proposal caught me off guard. However, I was quite excited over his offer. I told him frankly that I had applied for a government job and was about to get it. However, seeking a government job was mainly because of financial constraints and if I got at least Rs 1,000 per month from the press to start with I would consider working for him.

   His offer seemed quite attractive. He would pay me a monthly salary of Rs 800 and would make sure that I got the stringership of a Calcutta-based paper, which would fetch me at least a minimum of Rs. 200 per month. Moreover, he would print my paper and the cost would be around Rs. 250 for printing and binding, excluding the cost of paper. This was indeed a very tempting proposal. I told Pramar that I needed some time to think it over but I would let him know of my decision within a week. Pramar was supposed to leave for Calcutta on June 14 and he wanted my decision by then. I agreed to his suggestion and then left the office. All of a sudden things started happening. I was excited and knew that I would make the right decision by the weekend. By and large, I had decided to join the Express. However, I didn’t want to take any hasty decision and so I had asked for one week’s time.

    For the first time in my life I made up my mind not to let anyone know what was in my mind. I wanted to take the decision myself without anyone’s help and guidance. I was, once again, at the crossroads and wanted to apply my mind to the new and challenging situation. This actually meant taking it easy, looking inward into my feelings and letting situations take its natural course.

   I spent the week quietly and let things happen naturally instead of making any effort to come to the right decision. I depended more on feelings and inner promptings rather than on logic and reasoning. I wanted situations and circumstances to lead and guide me and show me the way. This has always been my way of making decisions. However, there was a vast difference in my decision-making process this time and I was deeply aware of it. Earlier, I had faith in God but now it was only me. I had faith in myself and made a point to apply it in action. Practice, to me, seemed to be the only way of verifying truth, and I wanted to put into test my new approach to life, which was then gradually becoming a part of me. I was aware of the fact that I was witnessing a revolutionary change in me and was determined to make it a real and genuine experience.

   There were, however, some guidelines which I wanted to follow in the situation. I was aware of the fact that the choice that I was making was between being a government servant (even though a temporary one) and a journalist. It was just plain common sense to realise this. The government job offered security and status but less freedom and personal independence. An enterprising person would easily make more money than a government servant if one was prepared to take risks and work hard, particularly at the initial stage. Being in the press meant that I was free to engage myself in literary and other ventures, besides being involved in publication of newspapers and periodicals.

   For me, business and service went hand-in-hand. You could make money and get financial security while contributing something to society. This would indeed be a rewarding and an enriching experience. The press seemed to be the ideal place where business and service merged together harmoniously. My own little experience in the field of writing has been a very rewarding experience. Furthermore, I had done a course in journalism and had also worked for a paper briefly while in Bombay. I also had tremendous faith in the role of the media in a democracy. However, until Pramar offered me the job I never seriously contemplated on being a journalist and making journalism my profession.

   Finally, the issue boiled down to choosing between security and status, and life and liberty. And I chose the latter. It was to me more challenging and would be more rewarding in the long run.

   On June 13, I went to meet Pramar in his office in the morning and told him that his offer was acceptable and I would be willing to join him straightaway. I could have waited a little longer to see if the government had issued the notice for the job. But my decision was final and there was no point waiting for anything. Pramar said I could join him the very next day when he was to leave for Calcutta. Thereafter, I got in touch with Gyalpo and told him of my decision to join the Express. I also told him about the arrangement I had made with Pramar for printing my magazine. We planned to look for a separate place for our office in the town.

   My first day at the Express was the very next day – June 14. I went to the press at 7.15 a.m., came back for lunch at around 10.30 a.m., and went back at 11.30 a.m. My residence was located just above the press at Kazi Road and it wasn’t much of a problem going out for lunch. I took charge of the press after Pramar left for Calcutta at 1 p.m. on June 14. I did some reporting and editing during the day and by the end of the day I was quite exhausted. I felt a quiet sense of satisfaction throughout the day – a sure indication that I had chosen the right line. I was very happy with myself.

   I saw the government notice concerning the vacancies in government departments in the Sikkim Herald, the official organ of the government, on June 15. The issue was dated June 14. Of the seven posts vacant in various departments of the government, two were meant for law graduates. I did not respond to the notice. I did not need the government job anymore. I had given my word to Pramar and wanted to keep it what way. I had found my place in Sikkim. The time for waiting in the winds was over. I was on the move again.

   By the first week of July, I got my own room and furniture at the press. I was convinced that I had come to the right place and felt a sense of belonging. I worked the whole day at the press, starting from 7 a.m. to 5 in the evening. At times, I came back to the press after dinner to spend more time reading and writing. During those days, the Express establishment was divided into four rooms and was located on the ground floor of a building belonging to a Tibetan. The paper had its own letter printing press which belonged to Pramar. The biggest room was kept for the compositors, which also housed the demi-size printing machine. The room adjacent to this was divided into three rooms of which the middle one was kept for the cutting machine. Pramar kept the front room while I got settled in the back room, which later turned out to be the better one.

   Within three weeks of my stay in the Express, we decided to go daily as soon as possible and also to have a special issue of the paper on Sundays. We also planned to bring out a Nepali edition of the paper to serve the large rural populace. Although this took some time, we eventually went daily and was also able to bring out Lokmat, the Nepali edition of the Express.

   On July 6, 1983, a month after I met Pramar, I wrote in my diary: “I don’t know how long I’ll be in this line. Considering the changes that I have made in the past, I won’t be surprised if I find something other than working in the press. But this I can say to myself at this very moment – I want to stay here for eternity. I feel that I have chosen to be a journalist. I may have been a teacher or worked elsewhere in different capacities. But they were merely all preparations for this line. Even if I do shift on to some other profession, I can genuinely say that the first profession that I have especially chosen is to be a journalist. Therefore, I am happy and feel good that I have at least found myself.”

   Pramar came back from Calcutta within a few days. While he was there he made sure that I was made the correspondent of TheTelegraph. The paper was only about a year old but was very informative and attractive. I sent my first despatch to TheTelegraphon June 22. It was a political story concerning the new-formed Sikkim Himali Congress (SHC) party and was meant for the weekly ‘Regional Round-up’ column of the paper, which came out every Thursday.

   Pramar was excited as I was about my first report carried in The Telegraph. “Jigs! Jigs!”, he yelled from my friend’s shop in the town when he saw me from a distance. He had just got a copy of The Telegraph carrying my article. It was prominently placed in the op-ed page under the ‘Regional Round-up’ column. The caption was “Sikkim: No unity, no opposition” and my by-line – Jigme N. Kazi – appeared  below the article. I was naturally thrilled to see my article and name in the paper and felt good and proud of myself.

(Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, Gangtok, 1993.)

                            A Thousand Years Struggle

To Preserve “Sikkim For Sikkimese”

   The time has come for the Sikkimese people, irrespective of caste, creed and community, to stand up for their rights, assert themselves, and be heard. We have for long placed much hope on the political leadership in the State to come to their senses and build a strong, stable, peaceful, prosperous and united Sikkim, which is not only in the interest of Sikkimese people but also those who have been living in the State in the past so many decades and for the country’s security interest in the region.

   It has now become more than clear that the combined political leadership in the State has failed to live up to the expectations of the people. The corrupt, communal, immoral and dictatorial forces in the State in the past so many years and months have virtually turned Sikkim into a den of thieves, a place where the Sikkimese people and others living here have been forced to live in great humiliation and indignity.  The Sikkimese people, comprising of the three ethnic groups – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese – instead of being masters of their own destiny, have virtually become foreigners in their own homeland.

   The democratic movement of the people for restoration of freedom, democracy and justice in the State of Sikkim has now turned sour. Instead of forging ahead with clear vision and determination to set things rights the political leadership from almost all political parties are giving undue importance to petty matters. This is a clear indication that the hopes and aspirations of the Sikkimese people have been sacrificed to fulfill the greed, ambition and self-interest of a few individuals at the top.

   Corrupt and communal forces, aided by an evil nexus of bureaucrats, businessmen and politicians, who have in the past so many years trampled over the rights and interests of the Sikkimese people, are once again flexing their muscle and making their ugly presence felt in State politics. They are determined to stay in power at whatever the cost. It is at such times as these that we ought to remind ourselves of the need to place our long-term interest before short-term gains and make a determined effort to “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty,” democracy and justice.

   Let us remind ourselves at this point of time that the real issue in our State is a fight between those who wish to wipe us out and remain perpetually in power at whatever the cost and those who have for long suffered and endured the system that thrives on lies, deceit, and corruption. The people in general today may be fooled into believing something else but we believe and are convinced that the real issue and the real fight in Sikkim today is not between this or that party or between this or that community. The real issue and the real fight is between the rich and the poor, between the haves and have-nots. A microscopic section of the elite, who have usurped power and perfected the intricate art of corruption and communal politics, are a class of their own, and do not belong to any particular community. They want to remain at the top forever.

   This is not possible. We cannot take this nonsense any longer. It is time that the Sikkimese people from all communities and from all walks of life and age assert themselves and take a firm and united stand and say in a loud and unequivocal voice that “Enough is enough.’  The need of the hour is unity and solidarity amongst the Sikkimese people to preserve “Sikkim for Sikkimese.

   By forming the Organisation of Sikkimse Unity (OSU) we have declared a thousand years war against those who wish to destroy the unity, identity and communal harmony of the Sikkimese people and the nation’s security interest in the region. Other organizations and individuals may involve themselves in petty matters and contest elections. We who belong to the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) will fight for the basic rights and interests of the Sikkimese people no matter how long and hard the battle is. We shall fight in the Assembly. We shall fight in the Parliament. We shall fight in the Court and in the Press. If need be, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we shall fight. We shall never surrender. Never.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, Jigme N. Kazi, October 24, 1994, The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland, Hill Media Publications, 2014.)

APPENDIX – II

Source: Sikkim Observer

Date: August 18, 1999

Title: Respect Merger Terms, Restore Seats

Column: Document

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   On the occasion of the Pang Lhabsol celebrations in Sikkim on August 26, 1999, Jigme N. Kazi, Chairman of Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) issued Press statement, demanding restoration of political rights of the Sikkimese. The following is the full text of the statement:

                              -------------------------------------------

   Two decades and six years back the Sikkimese people signed a historic pact on May 8, 1973. Leaders of three major political parties representing the three ethnic communities of Sikkim– Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese – signed the Tripartite Agreement on May 8, 1973. The signing of this historic Agreement, which reflected the will of the Sikkimese people, was witnessed by the Chogyal of Sikkim and the representative of the Government of India, who were also signatories of this accord.

   The 1973 Agreement fully protected the political rights of bonafide Sikkimese people. The Government of Sikkim Act, 1974 and Article 371F of the Constitution, which provides special status to Sikkim, reflect the spirit of the May 8 Agreement and the Kabi Longstok pact.

   On this historic day of Pang Lhabsol (August 26, 1999), being observed as Sikkimese Unity Day, let us renew our pledge to foster peace, unity and harmony. Seven centuries back in the latter half of the 13^thcentury, our ancestors swore eternal blood-brotherhood pact on this day. The Guardian Deities of Sikkim and the Sikkimese people belonging to the three ethnic communities were witnesses to this historic oath-taking ceremony.

   This treaty of peace, unity and harmony among the Sikkimese people remained intact over the centuries till two and half decades back when the kingdom of Sikkim became a part of the Indian Union in 1975. As we enter the next millennium let us not only look back to where we have come from but let us look forward and renew our pledge for a common destiny.

   There can be no better way to preserve our unity and identity without the fulfillment of our demand on restoration of our political rights which were taken away prior to the first elections after the merger. The Sikkimese people have the right to preserve their distinct identity within the framework of the Constitution as enshrined in Article 371F.

   Restoration (demand) of the Assembly seat reservation for the three ethnic communities in the State have been raised by the combined political leadership in the State in the past two decades. In the four consecutive Assembly elections the Assembly seat issue has been a major political issue of all major political parties in Sikkim. In this election, too, the seat reservation issue continues to be a major political issue. But despite having given top priority on the seat issue by successive State governments the Centre has failed to concede to this long-pending demand of the Sikkimese people. Inspite of the Centre’s delay in meeting the just demand of the people there is the need for us to work unitedly to achieve our common objective for restoration of our political rights.

   Pending the disposal of the seat reservation demand it is the political leadership in Sikkim which must respect the sentiments of the people on the issue. Those who genuinely believe in the fight for restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people ought to field bonafide Sikkimese candidates in the 32 Assembly constituencies and the lone Lok Sabha seat.

   It is still not too late to take a principled stand on the basic political rights of the people. Let us not trample upon the sacred rights of the people in our blind pursuit for power. There is no better way to convince the Centre and the people of Sikkimof our genuineness on the seat issue than rigidly implementing what we have in mind on this vital issue in the coming elections. The time has come for each one of to make our stand loud and clear on the issue.

   The allotment of seats to various candidates by the political leadership in the State will be taken as an outward indication of their inner conviction. In the process each individual politician and their parties stand to gain or lose from the stand they have taken.

There is no question of the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) taking part in the electoral process. As long as seats in the Assembly and the Parliament are not guaranteed to the Sikkimese people, belonging to the three ethnic communities we shall not participate in the elections.

   No matter what the future holds for us the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity on this historic and sacred day reiterates its pledge and commitment to the Sikkimese people to preserve Sikkim’s distinct identity within then Union. We shall fight in the Assembly. We shall fight in the Parliament. We shall fight in the Court and in then Press. If need be, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we shall fight. We shall never surrender. Never.

APPENDIX - III

Source: Sikkim Observer

Date: July 29, 2000

Title: Nil

Column: People want to know, people have a right to know.

With a view to informing the people the stand taken by the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) on the Assembly seat issue, which has generated a lot controversy and confusion, Sikkim Observer makes public the memorandum sent to several chief ministers of the country by the OSU on the seat issue this week:

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   Political uncertainty in the former kingdom of Sikkim, ruled by the erstwhile Chogyals of the Namgyal Dynasty since 1642, led to the signing of the Tripartite Agreement of May 8, 1973, between the Chogyal (King), Government of India and leaders of three major political parties representing the three ethnic communities (Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese) of Sikkim. The 1973 accord fully protected the political rights of the bonafide Sikkimese, who possessed the Sikkim Subjects Certifcate issued by the Durbar.

   Assembly elections in Sikkim were held under the 1973 Agreement in April 1974. Only the ‘Sikkim Subjects’ were allowed to participate in the April 1974 Assembly elections. In July 1974, the Chogyal gave his consent to the Government of Sikkim Bill passed by the Sikkim Assembly. The 1974 Act, while bringing Sikkim closer to India, made Sikkim an ‘AssociateState’ of India. Political developments in Sikkim finally led to Sikkim becoming the 22^ndState of the Indian Union in April 1975.

   Sikkim formally became a part of the Indian Union with the passing of the 36^th Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 1975 by the Indian Parliament on April 26, 1975.  Article 371F was inserted in the Constitution through the amendment, providing special status to Sikkim and the Sikkimese people. Reservation of all the 32 seats in the Sikkim Assembly for bonafide Sikkimese, belonging to the three ethnic communities, reflected the special status enjoyed by the State.

   Seat arrangement in the Sikkim Assembly reflected the age-old sharing of power between the Bhutias and Lepchas on one hand and the Nepalese on the other. It also to a large extent preserved Sikkim’s distinct identity within the Union, fostered peace and communal harmony and ensured political stability in the strategic and sensitive border State.

   Unfortunately, the Assembly seat reservation of the Sikkiemse were abolished four years after the merger in 1979. In 1978, the Bhutias and Lepchas of the State were made Scheduled Tribes under the Scheduled Tribes Order of 1978. It is pertinent to note that though the People’s Representation (Amendment) Act, 1980 provides reservation of 12 seats for the Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas in the Assembly, other communities, which were included in the ST list through the 1978 Scheduled Tribes Order, are also entitled to contest the Assembly elections from the reserved seats traditionally kept for the original Bhutia-Lepchas of Sikkim only.

   The Act has not only diluted the political rights of the minority Bhutia-Lepcha communities but has also violated the assurances given to the Sikkimese people by the Centre during 1973-75. It has also led to the gradual erosion of the distinct identity of the indigenous Bhutia-Lepcha community.

   Unfortunately for the Sikkimese Nepalese, except for the two seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes, all the earlier seats reserved for their community were abolished through the People’s Representation (Amendment) Act, 1980. Even the two seats kept for the Scheduled Castes in the Assembly are not technically reserved for Sikkimese Scheduled Castes. Today, the Sikkimese Nepalese, though still in the majority, feel utterly insecure and apprehensive about their future in the land of their origin. Not only were the terms that led to the merger blatantly violated, the political rights of the Sikkimese people were forcefully, illegally and undemocratically taken away from the people.

   Restoration of the Assembly seat reservation of the Sikkimese have been raised by the combined political leadership of Sikkim in the past two decades. In the five consecutive Assembly elections in Sikkim since 1979, the seat issue has been a major issue of all major political parties, including national parties, in the State. Even in the October 1999 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the State all major parties in the State, including the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) led by Chief Minister and party President, Pawan Chamling, promised restoration of Assembly seats if voted to power in its election manifesto.

   But despite having given top priority on the seat issue by successive State governments the Centre has failed to concede to the long-pending demands of the Sikkimese people. Continued violation of the terms that led to Sikkim’s merger and deprivation of the political rights of the Sikkimese people cannot be tolerated any longer.

   Sensing that political parties in the State were not too concerned about the seat issue, the Organsiation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU), an organization of the Sikkimese people established in 1994, decided to start a mass-based movement for restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people and preservation of Sikkim’s distinct identity within the Union and within the framework of the Indian Constitution.

   All political parties and social organizations in Sikkim and all sections of the population in the Sate will be taken into confidence in the just and democratic struggle for restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people. Both the Central and State Governments will also be taken into confidence in our sincere and genuine efforts to preserve Sikkim’s distinct identity within the Union for the future generations of the Sikkimese people.

   Maintenance of peace, unity and communal harmony among the various sections of the population in this sensitive and strategic border State is one of the prime objectives of the OSU as it forges ahead to fight for a just cause. The OSU is committed to observing peaceful, non-violent and democratic means to achieve its objectives.
   The people of Sikkim, from time to time in the past twenty years, have made several representations to the authorities in Delhi and Gangtok of the need to restore the political rights of the Sikkimese people but so far the plight and problems of the Sikkimese people have been ignored. If the situation is not handled carefully and timely Sikkim will head towards political uncertainty. This is neither in the interest of the Sikkimese people nor in the interest of the nation’s security concerns in the region.

   As we seek your advice, guidance and suggestions we would also like to take this opportunity to earnestly appeal to you to help the people of Sikkim fight for restoration of their political rights and preservation of Sikkim’s distinct identity within the Union as per Article 371F of the Constitution. Elected members of the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, political and social organizations in Sikkim and in the country and prominent citizens are requested to extend full support to the issues raised by the Sikkimese people.

   For your information we are enclosing a copy of our memorandum on the seat issue submitted to the Union Home Minister, Governor and Chief Minister of Sikkim.

We look forward to your positive response.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

(Jigme N. Kazi)

Secretary-General  

Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU)

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APPENDIX – IV

Source: Sikkim Observer

Date: October 21, 2000

Title: None:  OSU’s Appeal On Seat Issue

Column: Document

   The Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) has appealed to the Sikkimese Nepalese to freely express their views on the demand for restoration of Assembly seats for the majority community. The appeal comes at a time when vested interests have created needless confusion and controversy on the seat issue following withdrawal of the seat resolution by the Opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) from the Sikkim Legislative Assembly in June this year.

   Future course of action by OSU on the seat issue for the Nepalese will only be taken up when the majority community takes a clear cut stand on the issue. Sikkim Observer makes public the Press Statement issued by OSU this week on the seat issue.

   The Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) was formed with the sole objective of protecting the rights and interests of the three ethnic communities of Sikkim viz. Sikkimese Lepchas, Sikkimese Bhutias and Sikkimese Nepalese. It also aspires to preserve the distinct identity of Sikkimwithin the Union and within the framework of the Constitution. The organization was revived in September-October 1999 with a view to ensuring that the long-pending demand of the Sikkimese people on Assembly seat issue be settled at the earliest.

   With this objective in view, the OSU in March-April 2000 submitted memoranda to the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, and the Sikkim Governor, Chaudhary Randhir Singh, on the seat issue. In April this year, the OSU submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling, urging him to table a resolution on the seat issue in the Assembly. Former Chief Minister and Opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) chief, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, was also requested to support the resolution on the seat issue if moved by the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) in the Assembly. The OSU also requested the members of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly to support the resolution if tabled in the Assembly.

   Both the ruling party and the SSP initially responded positively to OSU’s request on the seat issue. The two parties decided to move resolutions on the seat issue in the Budget Session of the Assembly, which took place in the third week of June this year. Unfortunately, while the SDF failed to carry out its plan on the seat issue in the Assembly the SSP was forced to ‘withdraw’ the resolution in the face of stiff opposition from supporters of the ruling party.

   Ever since June 2000, consistent efforts have been made by vested interests to create communal disharmony between the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals and the majority Nepalese using the seat issue. Communal pamphleteering, public speeches and whisper campaign against the minority communities were part of conspiracy to tear apart the age-old fabric of peace, unity and harmony in the State.

   While vested interests, for their political and personal gains, may be upto some mischief it must be borne in mind that the controversy and confusion on the Assembly seat issue has created doubts in the minds of the people on the views of the Sikkimese Nepalese on the seat issue. Do the Sikkimese Nepalese really want to preserve, protect and promote their special status in Sikkim. Do they really want seats reserved for them in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly?

   The controversy created on the seat issue by a section of the people indicates that the Sikkimese Nepalese either do not want seats reserved for them in the Assembly or are in two minds on the issue. Doubts have also been raised on whether the Sikkimese Nepalese want to protect their distinct identity as ‘Sikkimese Nepalese’ or merge their identity with the rest of the Nepalese residing in the sub-continent and elsewhere.

   There are better and more democratic ways to resolve the seat issue amicably to the satisfaction of all communities. When the three communities come together to protect their distinct identity within the Union and within the framework of Article 371F of the Constitution it will be the proud privilege and honourable duty and responsibility of their representatives, particularly the elected representatives, to chalk out a reasonable and mutually-acceptable formula on the seat issue.

   Ever since 1953 right down to 1974, the people of Sikkim have come together and made full use of the democratic and constitutional processes to find an acceptable solution on the Council/Assembly seat formula. This age-old method could and should have been applied in the present situation. Unfortunately, the democratic norms were thrown to the wind and the people were threatened with dire consequences if they dared to raise the issue of restoration of political rights of the Sikkimese people.

   Creating doubts, suspicion and mistrust among the Sikkimese certainly is not the way to tackle sensitive issues such as the Assembly seat issue. For 20 years the people of Sikkimhave given their mandate through the ballot on restoration of Assembly seats. And what has the political leadership in the State done to meet this demand? The OSU took up the seat issue last year when political parties failed to take the matter seriously.     

   The organization made consistent efforts to create general awareness on the seat issue while pressurizing the concerned authorities to do something concrete on the issue. A resolution on the seat issue in the Assembly would have been the most democratic and ideal way to discuss and debate on the matter. But this did not take place and instead a climate of fear, apprehension, mistrust and disharmony was created with the sole objective of stalling the issue. Ultimately, it is the Parliament and not the Assembly which has the final say on the seat issue.

   The OSU was of the firm belief that the Sikkimese Nepalese, like the Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas, did want to retain their special status within the Union. But in the light of what has happened in the past five months, following withdrawal of the resolution on the seat issue, and the negative feelings generated by a section which has become very vocal on the issue, there is the need for the right-thinking people to speak out their mind loud and clear on the said issue and not remain silent spectators to what is happening.

   The issues involved are of paramount importance to future generations of all Sikkimese and Sikkimese Nepalese in particular. It also involves national security concerns in this strategic and highly sensitive border region. Therefore, the concerned authorities (politicians, social/political activists, writers, professionals, bureaucrats, youth and student leaders etc.), representing the majority community, must speak out their mind on the issue before it is too late. The OSU is a ‘Sikkimese’ organization and believes in working for the interest of all bonafide Sikkimese hailing from the three ethnic communities and others living in the State in the past so many years.

   Therefore, unless the Sikkimese Nepalese from all sections of its population send a clear-cut message on the seat issue the OSU will not have the moral right and the authority to pursue further on behalf of the Sikkimese Nepalese on the said issues. The concerned authorities among the Sikkimese Nepalese are, therefore, requested to respond speedily on the issues raised here through any means available to them. The OSU will chalk out its future plan of action for the Sikkimese people after it has made an in-depth analysis based on the reactions of the Sikkimese Nepalese on the seat issue.

Sd/-

(Jigme N. Kazi)

Secretary-General

Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU)

APPENDIX - V

Source: Sikkim Observer

Date: Sept 8-14, 2001

Title: ‘People Power Will Finally Triumph Over Money Power’

Column: People Want To Know, People Have A Right To Know

   Issues raised in Jigme N. Kazi’s reply to the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee’s show cause notice cannot be confined to the Congress party alone. Kazi’s lengthy reply to charges of “anti-party activities” leveled against him touches on several core issues that concern the State’s political elite and the people at large.    

   “Essentially, the fight is between a few good men or women, who represent the hopes and aspirations of the Sikkimese people, and a bunch of opportunists, sometimes masquerading as politicians or social workers, who are backed by those in power,” says Kazi. He, however, adds, “Ultimately, people power will triumph over money power.”

Shri Namkha Gyaltsen

President

SikkimPradesh Congress Committee

Gangtok (Sikkim)                                                   Dated: Sept. 2, 2001

Subject: Show Cause Notice

Sir,

   This has reference to your letter No. SPCC/012/01, dated August 19, 2001, regarding a show cause not9ice (copy enclosed – Annexure –1) issued to me by the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee for my alleged anti-party activities. In this connection my reaction to the allegations is as follows:

1. Allegation 1: Repeated refusal to attend the SPCC meetings:

(a)   As per records maintained by the SPCC I have attended most the party meetings held in Sikkim since I joined the party in November 2000. To verify this fact the register for resolutions/minutes of the SPCC may be examined. In the absence of Shri Somnath Poudyal, General Secretary (Organisation and Administration), in the past several months it is I who have been calling many of the party meetings either verbally or through writing. The party President, The General Secretary and other PCC Executive Committee members are well aware of this fact. Therefore, the allegation that I repeatedly refused to attend party meetings is false, baseless and politically-motivated.

(b)   I did not attend the party meetings held in Gangtok on July 27, 2001 and August 19, 2001. I have genuine reasons for not being able to attend these two meetings:

(i)     July 27 meeting: I had informed the party President that I would not be able to attend the meeting as I was engaged in observing an important puja at home on this day. The pujas were performed by five lamas of the Chorten Monastery of Gangtok. They, along with other members of my family, relatives and workers at my construction site, may be contacted to verify this fact.

(ii)              August 19 meeting: On August 18 night, the party President rang me up and asked me to attend a party meeting in Gangtok on August 19 (Sunday). I told him that I could not attend the meeting as I had already agreed to attend a public meeting of the Sikkim Sangram Parishad at Sangram Bhawan, Gangtok (SSP letter inviting me to attend the meeting enclosed – Annexure II). Since it was a Sunday and a holiday at my press I could not send my reporters to cover the meeting. I attended the SSP meeting and sat on the press gallery among other journalists. Local journalists, SSP leaders and workers may be contacted to verify this fact. The SSP meeting began at 11 a.m. and lasted till 3 p.m. The SPCC meeting was also called at the same time.

        Allegation 2: Attendance at meetings of other political parties:

(i)     I attended two public meetings of the SSP at the Sangrarm Bhawan, Gangtok on May 24, 2001, the 17^thbirth anniversary of the party, (SSP letter inviting me to the meeting enclosed – Annexure-III) and August 19, 2001. Invitation letter to me from the SSP to attend these two meetings as a journalist are enclosed. During the two meetings I sat on the press gallery along with other journalists. SSP workers/leaders and journalists may be contacted to verify this fact.

       (ii) I do not remember attend any other political party meetings of either the SSP or   

             any other parties as a journalist or as a Congressman after I joined the Congress

             party in November 2000. The charges leveled against me are not specific. They

             are false, baseless and politically-motivated.

       Allegation 3: Misuse of office of the General Secretary of the party by way ofpublication of newsitems deliberately distorted to lower the prestige of the Congressparty and party members:

(i)     The charges are not specific. I edit Sikkim Observer, an English weekly published from Gangtok. The AICC President, along with other party functionaries from Delhi, are on the mailing list of the paper. The Observer has carried a number of newsitems, articles etc. on the Congress party in the past ten months. So far I have not received any complaint from any Congress worker or leader. On the contrary, many people in the State have given due credit to me and the paper for the growing popularity of the party in the State.

(ii) The show cause may be referring to a newsitem in the Observer dated August 11-17, 2001 captioned: “Stalling SSP-Cong merger aiding ‘vested interests” (copy of newsitem enclosed – Annexure – IV). If the party wishes to raise any objection to the said newsitem it should take up the matter with the Editor/Publisher/Printer of the Observer and not with the SPCC General Secretary. Though the Editor/Publisher/Printer of the Observer may also be the SPCC General Secretary it is not correct to penalize the General Secretary on the basis on the newsitem. The action taken against me is an indirect method to impose indirect press censorship and suppress freedom of the Press, an issue the Indian National Congress has always been championing.

   If the Observer report is baseless appropriate action may be initiated against the paper. However, if the report is based on facts and feelings of the people appropriate action should be initiated against the concerned persons who are indulging in anti-party activities and damaging the image of the Congress in the eyes of the people.

I believe the actual reason why the SPCC, during its meeting held in Gangtok on August 19, 2001, decided to suspend me from the party for alleged anti-party activities is because I was perceived as a stumbling block for a few Congress leaders who are bent on placing their personal interests above the interest of the party and the people at large.

   Having replied to the show cause notice it is my bounded duty to place before the party leadership the developments within the Congress party in the past few months and the present political situation in the State in the right perspective.

   Independent observers, including Congress workers, and the people, by and large, are convinced that casteist and communal forces, aided by rampant corruption in the administration, have not only destroyed the age-old peace, harmony and unity of the Sikkimese people, but have also hindered real economic development in the State. If prompt and appropriate action is not taken at the right time by the concerned authorities, which include the Congress party, there is every possibility of this sensitive and strategicallylocated border State heading towards an unchartered destination, which is likely to endanger national unity and integrity.

   I believe that the need of the hour is for all secular and democratic forces to put aside their personal interests and differences and work for the larger and long-term interests of the State and the country as a whole. Despite being the major player in the State’s integration into the mainstream the Indian National Congress has never won a single Assembly elections in Sikkimever since it became the 22^nd State of the Unionin April 1975.  The Congress party managed to form the government in Sikkim through the backdoor on two occasions – in 1981 and 1994.  Had the party formed an alliance with the Opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad in the October 1999 Assembly elections it would have faired well. Unfortunately, the party did not even win a single seat in the 32-member House. The Congress party got only 4% of the votes polled while the SSP took 44% of the votes and won seven seats. This ought  to be a matter of concern for all Congress leaders and workers.

   The fact that the SSP President, Shri Nar Bahadur Bhandari, wants to merge his party (SSP) with the Congress has been brought to the knowledge of the AICC and the PCC. With the approval of the PCC and with the prior knowledge and consent of the AICC talks were initiated on SSP’s merger with the Congress since January 2001. The PCC President, Shri Namkha Gyaltsen, had written a letter to the AICC President, Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, in January 2001 on this matter (letter enclosed – Annexure-V). While the talks have progressed on the said issue it came to an abrupt end when the PCC Executive Committee at its meeting held in Gangtok on Jly 27, 2001 decided that the merger of the SSP with the Congress be suspended temporarily. The press release of the party meeting on July 27 is enclosed (Annexure – VI).

Circumstances in which the process of the proposed merger of the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) with the Indian National Congress, which began in December-January this year, and which came to an abrupt and unexpected end, albeit temporarily, on July 27, have formed me to set the records straight and also to place certain vital issues and events on record.

   I do this with utmost sincerity and honesty not only for the interest of the Congress party but also in the larger interest of the State and the country as a whole. I am persuaded and am convinced that the Congress leadership and party workers, within and outside the State, have a right to know how, why and who takes decisions on their behalf on various matters that concern them and the people at large.

   It was under the direction and guidance of the PCC President, Shri Namkha Gylatsen, and with due permission from the AICC and PCC that Shri Balchand Sarda, PCC Treasurer, former MLA and one of the most respected and seniormost Congressmen in Sikkim, and I, PCC General Secretary, became official mediators of the party for talks with the SSP President, Shri Nar Bahadur Bhandari, on the merger issue. Out main role has been to arrange meetings between the leaders of the two parties for discussion on the said issue.

   Starting from January 2001 we pursued the matter most sincerely giving it the priority that such matter deserves. After holding several meetings with Shri Bhandari – in at least three of these meetings the PCC President was present – we finally received a written document from Shri Bhandari where he put forward several conditions for the proposed merger.

   Out last and perhaps the most important meeting with Shri Bhandari was held in Gangtok on June 20. The PCC President was also present during this meeting. The outcome of this meeting was very fruitful and all of us decided to brief Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar on the merger issue with a view to taking the matter to its logical conclusion during the AICC’s political training camp in Guwahati on July 13-14.

Realising that informal talks on the merger issue had reached a final stage just before our Guwahati meet it was now the right time to take up the matter officially with the PCC as well as the AICC while observing the due process on such matters.

   However, despite these developments we were surprised to note that the matter was not presented to Shri Aiyar in the right perspective. Instead, the party leadership conveyed the impression that it wanted to contest the ensuing Panchayat polls on its own and asked for Shri Aiyar’s views on the matter and funds from the AICC to contest the polls.

   Shri Aiyar clearly told us that before forming any kind of strategy on the panchayat polls the party should first settle whether there is going to be an outright merger with the SSP or just an alliance. Only after this matter is settled the party should formulate its strategy on the ensuing panchayat polls. Shri Aiyar indicated that some of the conditions placed before the party by the SSP President may not be acceptable but he clearly and very categorically stated that matters regarding the merger and panchayat polls should be decided before August 31.

   Despite Shri Aiyar’s clear instruction on the two issues an emergent meeting of the PCC Executive Committee was fixed for July 27. The decision to hold this meeting took place in Guwahati itself. During the July 27 meeting the PCC Executive Committee decided to temporarily close the chapter on the merger issue. The reason given for this abrupt move was that the conditions placed by Shri Bhandari were too “rigid” and, therefore, not acceptable to the party.

   After the Guwahati meet and just before the July 27 PCC meeting PCC President’s comments on the merger issue was carried in a local English weekly: “As of now the merger between the Congress (I) and the Sikkim Sangram Parishad is temporarily suspended” (Weekend Review July 20-26, 2001). Judging by Shri Gyaltsen’s remarks and the development that followed it appears that the decision to put an abrupt end to the proposed SSP-Cong merger was taken even before the PCC meeting on July 27. Is this just and democratic? (copy of newsitem enclosed – Annexure – VII).

In view of the above background I would like to place on record the following points:

1.  Shri Bhandari remains an influential figure in State politics. The proposed merger of the SSP with the INC is a big issue not only for the two parties but for the State as a whole. A few leaders at the top alone cannot and must not be allowed to take decisions either in favour or against the merger. It is perfectly OK to confine the talks among a few selected Congressmen at the initial stage. However, once the preliminary discussion are over all levels of the party’s hierarchy must be taken into confidence while deciding on the said matter. The AICC ought to be the deciding factor on such important matters.

2. The importance of observing the democratic process and involving party workers from the grassroots level on the said issue was emphasized by Shri Aiyar to the PCC President and myself during his visit to the State in June this year. Shri Aiyar very specifically stated that it was not enough for the PCC alone to pass a resolution welcoming Shri Bhandari in to the party. He asked us to call a general body meeting of the party and place the issue before them. This was never done. Shri Aiyar also said a tripartite meeting between the AICC, PCC and SSP should be held in Delhi to sort out contentious issues once the merger process is formally under progress.
3. When the PCC President raised the subject of the ensuing panchayat polls in Sikkim during our brief meeting with Shri Aiyar in Guwahati on July 13, Shri Aiyar very categorically said the party should first decide on the proposed merger issue before raising the subject regarding panchayat polls. He specifically instructed the party leaders to first sort out whether the party wants a complete merger, an alliance or seat adjustment with the SSP for the panchayat polls before August 31 an then come to Delhi for talks. As far as my knowledge goes this very specific direction was not carried out to its logical conclusion. Why?
4. The emergent meeting of the PCC Executive Committee was called on July 27 to discuss on the ensuing panchayat polls and “other party matters”. The panchayat polls was the ‘principal agenda’ for the said meeting as per the calling letter (letter enclosed – Annexure – VIII) for the said meeting. No specific mention was made in the letter that the meeting would discuss the merger issue and yet a very important decision was taken on this issue. Why?
5. A Press release of the party after the July 27 meeting said the conditions put forward by Shri Bhandari for the proposed merger were not acceptable to the AICC as well as the PCC. Apart from Shri Aiyar’s reaction on the conditions the PCC, in my view, has no knowledge about the AICC’s views on the conditions put forward by the SSP President. If the PCC leadership has received the AICC’s views on this it must and should let party workers know about it. Observation of the democratic process demands transparency, openness and accountability at all levels of functioning.
6. Shri Bhandari did place his conditions in writing before the Congress part. The PCC had earlier demanded that if Shri Bhandari is really keen on joining the Congress and merging his party with it he should spell out his conditions in black and white. The SSP President responded positively to this request. That some of his conditions are unacceptable to some of us is a different matter altogether. But did the SPCC (I) President reciprocate Shri Bhandari’s gesture and place before him our reactions and conditions for the proposed merger? No we did not. Instead, we temporarily closed the chapter without even having the courtesy to inform him of our decision, leave alone placing before him our conditions. We, too, have out terms and conditions on matters regarding party organization, elections, issues etc. for the proposed merger. Were we ever given an opportunity to place our views on this issue on record?
7. Democratic process and decency demands that the PCC President formally place before the PC, DCC etc. the demands and conditions put forward by the SSP President. Discussing the conditions placed by Shri Bhandari with a few Congressmen informally is not enough. When the PCC authorizes the PCC President to obtain Shri Bhandari’s conditions for the proposed merger in writing it was expected that copies of the conditions made by him be distributed to party leaders and workers to study and apply their mind and react to it before taking a final decision on the issue.

   Unfortunately, this was never done. Although I had a brief glimpse of the conditions on two occasion, I, though the General Secretary of the party, do not have a copy of it. Shri Bhandari is a controversial figure and each of us will surely react favourably, adversely or neutrally on the proposed merger. However, after a thorough discussion and debate a consensus must be arrived at on the issue in the interest of the party. The PCC’s executive body alone cannot have the final stay on the merger issue. The process that took almost 7 months cannot be put to rest, albeit temporarily, in one single meeting of the Executive Committee of the PCC when a positive note had been struck on the issue. Is the decision on the merger issue taken by the Executive Committee on July 27 in favour of the Congress party or the ruling party? Proper explanation must be given on this issue.

8. The leaders of the Indian National Congress at all levels in the States as well as the Centre are expected to work in the best interest of the party and the country at all times. The manner in which the merger issue has been handles by a section of the PCC leadership recently has created doubts in the minds of the people of the credibility and integrity of the SPCC leadership and the image of the party as a whole in the State. That the above developments have taken place at a time when there are strong allegations and reports that some Congress leaders are hobnobbing with those in power and working against the overall interest of the party are very serious and disturbing developments which calls for a thorough enquiry by the party high command at the earliest.

      It is now almost confirmed that a delegation of the Congress party met the Chief Minister, Shri Pawan Chamling, at his official residence at Mintokgang in the morning of July 18, 2001. While no one can object to Opposition leaders meeting the Chief Minister the fact that such meeting took place at a time when people, including Congress workers, have doubts and are suspicious of the dubious role being placed by certain Congress leaders in the present political situation is highly questionable. Is the Congress high command functioning from Mintokgang (CM’s official residence) or from 24 Akbar Road in New Delhi? While some of us are sincerely and seriously working for the best interest of the party despite being placed under great pressure it is not right, fair and proper if ever there are those among us who are working for casteist, communal and corrupt forces and going against the interest of the party and secular and democratic forces in the State.

   My meeting with the PCC President on August 1 confirmed that at least a dozen Congress members were present at Mintokgang on July 18. The PCC chief has also disclosed to me that they had gone to Mintokgang with his prior knowledge and consent. While the party cannot object to its members meeting the Chief Minister is it advisable to enter the Chief Minister’s residence at this juncture? It is high time that the party leadership at the top intervene and took serious view of the anti-party activities indulged in by rank opportunists and power brokers within the Congress and set the party in the right course before more damage is done to the party.

9. To enable Congress workers to revive the party from the grassroots there is the need to identify real and genuine Congress workers at all levels and allow them to play a more effective and dominant role in the better functioning of the party in the State. To achieve this objective the AICC should immediately send a competent and independent team to thoroughly probe into the activities of the Congress party and some of its leaders. Only after the team submits a report to the AICC should the party high command take necessary action. People power should be mobilized and money power of vested interests should not be allowed to influence the activities of the party in the State.

10. I strongly believe that there is a conspiracy, aided by outside forces, to ensure that the Congress party does not move ahead but remains a stagnant party. Instead of accepting the challenges and forging ahead we have yielded and submitted ourselves to the evil designs of our adversaries. Congressmen like myself have become a victim in the present circumstances. Apart from being suspended from the post of General Secretary I have also been removed from the post of Co-ordinator, Political Training Department of the AICC (enclosed SPCC press release of 19.8.2001 – Annexure – IX).

   Having seen it all I do not have faith and confidence on the present leadership of the party the State. The party high command ought to take a serious view of the situation and take immediate remedial steps to set things right. I seek speedy justice from the party high command on my own behalf, on behalf of the party workers and the Sikkimese people as a whole.

Yours faithfully,

     Sd/-

(Jigme N. Kazi)   

Copy to: (i) Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, President, AICC

               (ii) Shri Mani Shanker Aiyar, AICC Secretary Incharge of Sikkim and   

                      North-East                  

                (iii) Shri Oscar Fernandes, General Secretary, AICC

APPENDIX – VI 

Let Us Come Together and Fight

Ref: Common Cause

Topic: OSU Appeal on Seat Issue

Date: April 2003

(Chairman of the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU), Jigme N Kazi, recently made a public appeal to all sections of the people in Sikkim to join hands and fight for their political rights. The appeal is reproduced hereunder.)

Despite the pending demand on restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people through restoration of Assembly seats reserved for bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethinic communities (Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese), New Delhi has stubbornly refused to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people and instead gone and further divided the Sikkimese people into tiny fragments.

The latest amendment to the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1978, has caused much confusion, controversy and apprehension in the minds of bonafide Sikkimese, particularly the minority and indigenous Bhutia-Lepcha tribals in the State. They feel that their reserved seats in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly will be further reduced, leading to their gradual extinction in the land of their origin.

Limbus and Tamangs, who have been included in the revised ST list of Sikkim, are also feeling insecure and doubtful about seat reservation for them in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. The Limbu community, also known as Tsongs, have always been demanding restoration of their seats reserved in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. Despite their demand, the Rais, Gurungs, Mangars etc. are yet to be included in the ST list in the State. The Newars, Bahuns and Chettris, who belong to the Non-Backward Classes (NBC), are today most insecure about their future survival in Sikkim.

It is to be noted that while the Bhutia-Lepchas have been demanding preservation of their unique and distinct identity through amendment to the ST Order of 1978, which has wrongly included other communities within the definition of “Sikkimese Bhutias”, the demand for restoration of Assembly seats for bonafide Sikkimese Nepalese is still kept pending. As a matter of fact not even one seat is reserved for the Sikkimese people in the Assembly although on the surface it would seem that 15 seats are reserved for the BLs (12), Sangha (1) and Scheduled Castes (2).

It is time for all of us to understand the present situation and say enough is enough. Further violation of the provisions of the Tripartite Agreement of May, 8, 1973, Government of Sikkim Act, 1974 and Article 371F of the Constitution of India, which was inserted in the Constitution in 1975 when Sikkim joined the mainstream, cannot be tolerated any longer.

The authorities in Delhi and Gangtok are widely aware or should be aware of the need to give top priority to safeguarding national security concerns in this sensitive and strategic border region. Genuine national unity and integration can come when people in their respective States, particularly in strategic border regions, are safe and secure. If those in power are truly and genuinely concerned over these vital issues then let all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities be included in the ST list in the State and let all of them enjoy all economic, educational and employment benefits which are meant for all STs at the national level. If this is done then special care must be taken in all respect to safeguard the rights and interests of the economically and educationally weaker sections of the people in the State who belong to all communities.

However, while ST status may be granted to all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities, seats in the Assembly should be reserved for them on the basis of their ethnicity as per Article 371F of the Constitution, which reflect the provisions of the May 8, 1973 Agreement and Government of Sikkim Act, 1974, and not on the basis of them being given ST status. If these two demands are fulfilled it will bring genuine national integration while also preserving Sikkim’s special status within the Union.

Let other Sikkimese, who are locally referred to as ‘purano byapari’ (old business community), be identified through a cut-off year, and given a special place in Sikkim. These people, who hail from the plains and hill regions of the country, belong to all communities and have been living in Sikkim for generations. Most of them have been born and brought up in Sikkim and regard Sikkim as their homeland. It is the moral duty of all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities to provide adequate political and economic safeguards to such category of people so that they, too, feel safe and secure in Sikkim.

The time has finally come for all Sikkimese people to rise up to the occasion and shoulder the responsibility entrusted to them by generations of the Sikkimese people yet to come. The Centre has already initiated the process of delimitation of Assembly constituencies in Sikkim without increasing the number of seats in the Assembly. This process is likely to be completed before the Assembly elections in Sikkim scheduled for October 2004. If we fail to meet the demand on seat issue now then we may have to wait till 2025 to resolve the issue which is rather too late.

At this moment, the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU), whose main objective is to preserve the distinct identity of Sikkim and the Sikkimese people within the Union and within the framework of the Constitution, makes a fervent appeal to all sections of the Sikkimese people to come together, forge unity and march ahead to fight for their legitimate constitutional, democratic and human rights. To achieve this goal the OSU calls for formation of “Democratic Alliance” of all like-minded political and social organizations in Sikkim to lead a mass movement for restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people. It is through unity that we will be able to arrive at a seat formula in the Assembly which is reasonable, just and acceptable to all sections of the people, the State Government and the Centre.

We know and are deeply aware that the odds are great. The agents of division and disunity are working overtime and are actively at work for their vested interests. There is no better and effective way to frustrate their evil designs then for all of us to join hands and mobilize people power to fight against money power.

Let this hour of crisis and confusion herald the dawn of a new era in Sikkim politics. Let us all resolve to stand firm, resolute and maintain our self-respect and dignity, unity and fight on. Let those who make tall promises and yet relentlessly pursue their hidden agenda know that we are able and determined to pay any price and bear any burden to safeguard the unity and identity of the Sikkimese people. Let them know once and for all that............ We shall fight in the Assembly. We shall fight in the Parliament. We shall fight in the Court and in the Press. And if need be, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we shall fight. We shall never surrender. Never.

(Jigme N. Kazi)

Chairman

ORGANISATION OF SIKKIMESE UNITY                                              

APPENDIX - III

Glossary

Index

Bhandari’s 1985 Comeback

ONE-MAN RULE BEGINS

Bhandari emerged as a new politician after the March 1985 elections. He was more powerful, confident, authoritative and somewhat cocky. He demanded complete submission to his authority and he got it. He did not tolerate any criticism from both within or outside the party. Political parties and social organisations had to either join him or face being silenced forever. The press was told to behave or face the consequences. Some newsmen, however, refused to bend their knees and bow down to the highest authority in the State. They paid dearly for their stand.

    Bhandari

   The message of the new regime was clear – Bhandari was the new ruler and all others were his subjects. His supporters portrayed him as new raja and his wife the new rani. They were the Nepalese version of the Chogyal and the Gyalmo, and together they tried to live up to this image and re-enact past dramas of the Chogyal-era. Not only did the red and white SSP flags fly from every housetop, Bhandari’s portraits adorned every household and shops in the State. Sycophancy and hero-worship became the order of the day.

   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 though13 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.

Pazo

   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 be 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.

   The second issue of the SOS dated August 1983 was entirely devoted to the seat reservation issue. My in-depth analysis of the issue showed that seats were reserved for the Sikkimese Nepalese as far back as 1925 when the then Sikkim Council had three representatives from this community. This arrangement continued to stay on even after Sikkim became a part of the Indian Union. Changes in the Assembly seat arrangement were brought about only prior to the 1979 elections. These facts analytically documented in the Spotlight on Sikkim (SOS) became the basis for various organisations, including the SSP, to press for their demand for restoration of seat reservation in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly for all Sikkimese.

   In the editorial of the second issue of the SOS, I pointed out: “Underlying the demand for reservation of seats for Sikkimese Nepalese in the Assembly, is the fear that if this demand is not conceded, even the majority community of today will one day be reduced to a minority. This will eventually lead to the gradual extinction of the distinct cultural and historical identity of the people of Sikkim, which has been preserved down the centuries.

   This fear is justified when one considers the phenomenal rise in the population of Sikkim during the last ten years. This is mainly due to the sudden influx of outsiders into Sikkim after the merger of Sikkim with the Indian Union in1975. The population rose from 2.10 lacs in 1971, to 3.16 lacs in 1981, showing a record increase of about one lac in a decade. The population of Sikkim was approximately 60,000 in 1901, and rose steadily to about one lac in 1931. After thirty years, it reached 1.60 lacs in 1961.”

   In the editorial of the Sikkim Observer dated December 4-10, 1988, on seat reservation for Sikkimese Nepalese, I wrote: “There are certain misconceptions regarding the seat reservation demand and the political parties have not been able to convince the authorities about the genuineness of this demand. The demand is for restoration of seats, which were kept for the Sikkimese, irrespective of which community they come from.

   The Sikkimese Nepalese may be in a majority today but if proper safeguards are not made for them today, who will be able to stand up for them when they are reduced to a microscopic minority in the near future? To say that the Sikkimese Nepalese are immigrants from Nepal is not only a distortion of history, it is also a blatant attack on the unity of the Sikkimese people, who, despite occasional infighting, have been living peacefully in these hills for centuries. A section of those hailing from the Nepali community in the State may be recent settlers in Sikkim or are residing here on a temporary basis, but the majority of simple-minded and peace-loving Nepalese are Sikkimese and they deserve reservation in the Assembly just as the minority Bhutia-Lepchas. Sikkim is the homeland of all the three ethnic communities, who thirteen years ago, were brought into the mainstream.”

   When I sensed that the tribal Association was going on the right path and was able to stand on its own feet, I quietly opted out from the executive body and my name did not figure in the new executive committee list after the elections of the office-bearers of the Association held in November 1985. I was literally forced into the Association when some of the office-bearers of the Association were unable to perform their duties and involve themselves in organisational work due to ill health and old age. Many tribals feared being harassed by the ruling party if they associated themselves with the STWA.

   Though the STWA was not a political organisation, the issues raised by it and its influence on the State’s tribal populace, had political connotations. Bhandari realised this and took preventive measures to halt the onward march for a strong, united and genuine tribal organisation in Sikkim. In his view, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad was the only voice in Sikkim representing the hopes and aspirations of all sections of the people. Any new organisation in Sikkim, which came up with its own agenda and did not acknowledge the authority and supremacy of the SSP, was viewed as ‘anti-people’, and was to be done away with.

  Sometime in June 1986, the STWA activities came to an abrupt end with a section of the tribal leadership in the State who were under the influence of the ruling party rejected Pazo’s leadership and forcefully and undemocratically dissolved the STWA. A meeting held in Hotel Tashi Delek in Gangtok on May 16, 1986, by some pro-SSP tribals made attempts to dissolve the executive body of the STWA headed by Pazo and called for fresh elections. The meeting, unlike other meetings of the STWA held under Pazo’s leadership, was attended by ruling party ministers, MLAs, senior government officials and tribal representatives, who were close to the SSP. Also present in the meeting were some executive body members of the STWA and the former president and vice-president of the STWA, Sonam Dorji and Dorji Dahdul, respectively.

   The meeting, which I personally witnessed, was pre-planned and the main aim was to discredit the activities of the STWA led by Pazo who was dubbed as a ‘self-styled president’. Even those who were earlier with Pazo, including Dahdul, who spoke during the meeting, did not make any mention of him and his contributions for the tribals. Both Dorji and Dahdul sat on the dais along with the VIPs and maintained a conspicuous silence. It was Dahdul, ex-chief secretary of Sikkim who personally requested Pazo to take charge of the Association in 1984-85. He himself made a mention of this to me personally on several occasions. Unfortunately, Dahdul did not make any mention of this during his address in the meeting. Dorji, who had earlier resigned from the presidentship of the Association on health grounds, also kept mum and said nothing on the occasion.

    It was obvious from their silence that they sided with the ruling party’s involvement in the affairs of the STWA. Their failure to speak the truth and defend the STWA’s independent existence at such a crucial moment proved that they had stabbed Pazo and the tribals in the back. It was a sad and sorrowful experience to observe how some of our people sold their dignity and identity for their own survival and selfish interests. Perhaps, this was the way how the Sikkimese people sold their country to its protecting power.

   The rebellious instinct in me wanted to expose the rot within but as I neither had the SOS nor the Sikkim Observer and was not even a member of the STWA I could not do anything concrete to expose the farce that I was witnessing. The only thing that I could do was to send a long article to the Telegraph, which unfortunately and surprisingly, was not carried in the paper. The suspicion that there was a conspiracy to install persons favourable to the ruling party in key posts of the Association and to halt the formation of a strong and bigger tribal body was well established.

   The election of the new body of the STWA took place on May 23, 1986, just a day before the second anniversary celebrations of the ruling party. The office-bearers of the newly-formed executive body of the STWA were all ruling party members or supporters. This proved that the SSP was unable to find other tribal leaders to run the organisation apart from its own tribal legislators. It also reflected the poor hold the ruling party had among the tribals in Sikkim.

   Ram Lepcha, the Deputy Speaker, was elected the new President of the STWA, with Bhandari becoming its Chief Patron. Thukchuk Lachungpa, Forest Minister, was elected as the General Secretary, while Chamla Tshering, Finance Minister, became the Treasurer. Other members of the new-formed executive body were S.M. Limbu (SC/ST Minister), Karma Topden (MP), and Namkha Gyaltsen (Sangha MLA). Several State Government secretaries, who were close to the ruling party – Passang Namgyal, Tashi Topden and Sonam Wangdi – were also included in the executive body of the STWA.

   Till today, the STWA continues to be dominated by ruling party ministers and MLAs, and the tribal body, which once was an independent and credible organisation, is now regarded as one of the frontal wings of the SSP. The elected tribal representatives had not only failed to represent the tribals in the Assembly and elsewhere, on the contrary, they succeeded in suppressing the voice of independent and democratic tribal organisations in the State for their own petty gains.

(Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, 1993.)

“SIKKIM FOR SIKKIMESE”

NO SEAT, NO VOTE

‘Merger’ was conditional

   “It is not right and proper to marginalize the original inhabitants of Sikkim or the three ethnic communities politically and economically through inclusion of other groups within the definition of ‘Sikkimese’….

   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.”

 “Despite trying circumstances in the last years of the Namgyal Dynasty, Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal never gave up. He never surrendered. Why should we despair and yield ourselves to forces that wish to erase us from the face of the earth? The Chogyal lost everything – his kingdom, his power, his flag and finally his own family. And in the last days of his life he was betrayed by his friends, supporters and those whom he trusted and confided in. And yet he struggled on and never gave up for he believed in a cause worth fighting and dying for – a cause much greater than life itself. History is not always written by the conquerors but sometimes by its victims and followers of those whose lives are a testimony of courage, honour, patience and sacrifice.

   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.

   The boycott call on the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls was given on September 12, 1999 when the SIBLAC held an impressive rally in the State capital. Former General Secretary of Denzong Yargay Chogpa, Tashi Fonpo – a Bhutia – and former President of NEBULA (an organization for Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha unity) – Nima Lepcha – were elected ad-hoc convenors of the SIBLAC before the rally.

   The SIBLAC also called for a one-day token hunger strike on October 2, a day before the polling date which was also a public holiday in India to celebrate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, widely revered as the ‘Father of the Nation.’ The decision to hold the rally, boycott the polls and stage a one-day hunger strike was decided by both the SIBLAC and OSU although the apex committee of the Bhutia-Lepchas, by virtue of its influence and popularity among the minority community, played a leading role in the given situation.

   While demanding restoration of their political rights as per the historic May 8, 1973 Tripartite Agreement and Article 371F of the Constitution, the newly-formed body also expressed its resentment against political parties such as the ruling SDF and opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) for fielding non-Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas (BLs) from the 12 reserved seats meant for ‘Sikkimese’ BLs. The SIBLAC appealed to all BL candidates – intending to contest the ensuing polls – to boycott the polls to register their protest. It also appealed to the Sikkimese Nepalese to support its demand on restoration of their political rights.

   Apart from the OSU, prominent among the BL and tribal organizations, which participated in the rally calling for poll boycott, were Lho-Mon Chodrul, Sikkimese Unity Joint Action Committee, Sikkim Tribal Women Welfare Association, Sikkim Lepcha Association and Denzong Gyalrab Sungkyab Tsodyo.

   The ‘Newar Guthi’, the premier social organization of the Newar community in the State, was the first Nepali organization to support the SIBLAC’s demand on seat reservation in the Assembly. The Newar Guthi President and former chief secretary of Sikkim, Keshab Chandra Pradhan, while expressing his appreciation and support for the stand taken by the SIBLAC, urged the minority community to demand inclusion of Sikkimese Nepalese in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the State. In a letter dated September 16, 1999 to the SIBLAC, Pradhan said if this demand was met it would not only lead to declaration of Sikkim as a ‘Tribal State’ but seats in the Assembly would also be restored to the Sikkimese Nepalese. The former chief secretary said the Newar Guthi “is consistent of the view that the provision of Article 371F, which imparts distinct identity to three ethnic communities in the State, is being gradually diluted during the last twenty years.”

   The Newar Guthi President emphasized the need “to reweave the fine Sikkimese fabric and bring about a trust, amity and goodwill among sections of the community so vital in this sensitive border State. This was in fact the basic spirit and objective behind the Article 371F when it was initially framed.”

   Supporting the SIBLAC’s call for poll boycott, the OSU on September 15, 1999, made a public appeal demanding “withdrawal of nomination papers filed by bonafide Sikkimese and other candidates who are contesting the coming elections on October 3.” The OSU’s Press statement further added: “Politicians and political parties have been given 20 years to restore the political rights of the Sikkimese people.  They have failed miserably. They should now not be given another chance to fool the people. They should take a break and leave it to the people to decide their future course of action on the seat issue.”

   The sudden revolt amongst the minority BLs and their decision to boycott the polls was prompted by the SSP and SDF’s decision to field Sherpa candidates from Rakdong-Tintek constituency in East Sikkim, which is one of the 12 Assembly constituencies reserved for ‘Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas’. The Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Tribes Order of 1978 includes Sherpas, traditionally regarded as belonging to the Nepali community, within the definition of ‘Bhutia’ in Sikkim. The Representation of People Act 1980, while referring to the 1978 Scheduled Tribes Order, permits Sherpas and other scheduled tribes in Sikkim, listed in the ’78 Order, to contest from the 12 reserved seats meant for ‘Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas.’ This is because the new entrants to the ST list in the State fall within the definition of ‘Bhutia’ in the 1978 Order.

   The clubbing of 8 communities such as Chumbipa, Dopthapa, Dukpa, Kagaty, Sherpa, Tibetan, Tromopa and Yolmo within the definition of ‘Sikkimese Bhutia’ has been opposed by the indigenous Bhutia-Lepchas, who are against further dilution of their original identity and erosion of their political rights. It may be pointed out that the BLs are not against the eight communities being referred to as ‘Bhutia’ as elsewhere in the Himalayan region some of these communities are clubbed - and rightly so - under the broader category of ‘Bhutia’.

   The objection raised by Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas is that these communities cannot fall under the traditional definition of ‘Sikkimese Bhutia’ – the emphasis is on the word ‘Sikkimese’ and not ‘Bhutia.’ For instance, many people in the region, particularly the Nepalese, refer to Tibetans and Sikkimese Bhutias as ‘Bho-te’. Sometimes the Tibetans from Tibet are referred to as ‘Chin-Bhote’ and Bhutias from Sikkim as ‘Sikkimey Bhote’, meaning Bhutias from China (Tibet) and Bhutias from Sikkim respectively. Hence, the emphasis on the above context is on one’s nationality, territory and origin and not religion, language or community.

   The same argument may be brought forward while defending the unique and distinct identity of the ‘Sikkimese Nepalese.’ Sometimes the expression ‘Nepali of Sikkimese origin’ is used to distinguish between ‘Indian Nepalese’, ‘Sikkimese Nepalese’ and Nepalese from Nepal. It must be borne in mind that one of the basic criteria for grant of citizenship is one’s origin. Therefore, in both cases it is not right and proper to marginalize the original inhabitants of Sikkim or the three ethnic communities politically and economically through inclusion of other groups within the definition of ‘Sikkimese’.

   The Sikkimese people have been very generous, open and broadminded in dealing with non-Sikkimese residing in the State. What they expect in return is to view the present situation in a more positive way and display some amount of care and concern towards the growing feeling of insecurity and apprehension amongst bonafide Sikkimese for their very survival in the land of their origin. The Sikkimese people do not want to become refugees in their own homeland.  In every country or continent governments enact laws and frame rules to protect their own citizens. Why should the Sikkimese people be expected to always accommodate each and every individual who come to Sikkim and in the process risk losing their own rights, interests and identity.

   Open revolt broke out within the SSP when the Bhutia-Lepcha leadership in the party challenged Bhandari on the choice of BL candidates for the October Assembly elections. Bhandari’s decision to give party ticket to former Health Minister O.T. Bhutia from the Rumtek constitutency (reserved for BLs) in East Sikkim led to the resignation of three prominent BL leaders – Nima Lepcha, R.W. Tenzing and Sonam Lachungpa – from the SSP. What made matters worse was Bhandari’s renomination of the sitting SSP MLA, Mingma Sherpa, from Rakdong-Tintek constituency in East Sikkim, which was reserved for the indigenous Bhutia-Lepchas. 

   Former minister and BL heavyweight Sonam Tshering, who was expecting the SSP ticket from his home constituency of Rakdong-Tintek, was ditched at the last moment and this deeply hurt BL sentiments. The BLs expected Bhandari to seize the opportunity and honour his commitment on the Assembly seat issue but they felt let down again. Till the nomination of party candidates the SSP was doing extremely well in its poll campaign. Bhandari himself was pretty certain that he would make a comeback.

   The fact that the SSP chose only two Lepcha candidates from the 12 reserved seats of the BLs made matters worse. The Bhutias, too, felt let down as Bhandari selected only lightweights who were loyal to him. Gradually, a similar pattern also began to emerge in the choice of BL candidates in the ruling party. There, too, BL stalwarts were ignored or eliminated from contesting the polls through devious means.

   My editorial in the Observer (Sept 25-29, 1999) reflected the mood within the minority community: “Not only were the Lepchas thoroughly disgusted with the discriminatory way in which the SSP leadership distributed party tickets, even the Bhutias, who had a major share, were disillusioned. The SDF was expected to capitalize on Bhandari’s failure but when it, too, fielded a Sherpa candidate from Rakdong-Tintek, doubts and apprehension among the BLs surfaced. Furthermore, fielding of 4 Sherpa candidates from Ralong, where SDF stalwart, D.D. Bhutia, is contesting also sent conflicting signals to the people.”

   I reiterated the importance of the political leadership in the State to allot party tickets to bonafide Sikkimese from the three ethnic communities to contest from the 32 seats in the Assembly. If we genuinely and sincerely believe in our declared policy on the Assembly seat issue then it should be reflected in the choice of our candidates. Until the Assembly seat issue is resolved to our satisfaction major political parties, which demand restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people as per Article 371F of the Constitution, must field bonafide Sikkimese BLs from the 13 seats, including the lone reserved seat of the Sangha, and bonafide Sikkimese Nepalese from the 17 general seats and the 2 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the State.

   Any deviation from this stand in the name of political expediency would be harmful for preservation of Sikkimese unity, identity and communal harmony. The need to view the October 1999 Assembly polls from this perspective was emphasized in the OSU’s appeal on August 26, 1999, when the entire State observed the annual Pang Lhabsol festival, worship of Khangchendzonga, the Guardian Deity of Sikkim:

   “Two decades and six years back the Sikkimese people signed a historic pact on May 8, 1973. Leaders of three major political parties, representing the three ethnic communities of Sikkim – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese – signed the Tripartite Agreement on May 8, 1973. The signing of this historic Agreement, which reflected the will of the Sikkimese people, was witnessed by the Chogyal of Sikkim and representatives of the Government of India, who were also signatories to this accord. The 1973 Agreement fully protected the political rights of the bonafide Sikkimese people. The Government of Sikkim Act 1974 and Article 371F of the Constitution, which provide special status to Sikkim, reflect the spirit of the May 8 Agreement and the Kabi-Longtsok pact.

   On this historic day of Pang Lhabsol (August 26, 1999), being observed as Sikkimese Unity Day, let us renew our pledge to foster peace, unity and harmony. Seven centuries back in the latter half of the 13th century our ancestors swore eternal blood-brotherhood pact on this day. The Guardian Deities of Sikkim and the Sikkimese people, who belong to the three ethnic communities, were witnesses to this historic oath-taking ceremony”.

   The appeal added: “This treaty of peace, unity and harmony among the Sikkimese people remained intact over the centuries till two and half decades back when the Kingdom of Sikkim became a part of the Indian Union in 1975. As we enter the next millennium let us not only look back to where we have come from but let us look forward and renew our pledge for a common destiny.

   There can be no better way to preserve our unity and identity without the fulfillment of our demand for restoration of our political rights which were taken away prior to the first elections after the merger. The Sikkimese people have the right to preserve their distinct identity within the framework of the Constitution as enshrined in Article 371F.”

   I placed on record that since the Assembly seat issue had the support of the people it cannot be ignored so easily: “Restoration of the Assembly seat reservation of the three ethnic communities in the State have been raised by the combined political leadership in the State in the past two decades. In the four consecutive Assembly elections the Assembly seat issue has been a major political issue of all major political parties in Sikkim. In this election, too, the seat reservation issue continues to be a major political issue. But despite having given top priority on the issue by successive state governments the Centre has failed to concede to this long-pending demand of the Sikkimese people. Inspite of the Centre’s delay in meeting the just demand of the people there is the need for us to work unitedly to achieve our common objective for restoration of our political rights.”

   The need for the political leadership in the State to genuinely and sincerely respect the sentiments of the people and implement its policies on the seat issue, pending the final resolution of the demand, was also stressed: “Pending the disposal of the seat reservation demand it is the political leadership in Sikkim which must respect the sentiments of the people on the issue. Those who genuinely believe in the fight for restoration of the political rights of the Sikkimese people ought to field bonafide Sikkimese candidates in the 32 Assembly constituencies and the lone Lok Sabha seat.”

   I reiterated: “It is not too late to take a principled stand on the basic political rights of the people. Let us not trample upon the sacred rights of the people in our blind pursuit for power. There is no better way to convince the Centre and the people of Sikkim of our genuineness on the seat issue than rigidly implementing what we have in mind on this vital issue in the coming elections. The time has come for each one us to make our stand loud and clear on the issue. The allotment of seats to various candidates by the political leadership in the State will be taken as an outward indication of our inner conviction. In the process each individual politician and their parties stand to gain or lose from the stand they have taken.”

   Was it only me who was taking the seat issue so seriously? I begin to think over this and wondered without pausing for an answer. In June 1999, four months before the Assembly polls, I highlighted the need to take radical steps on the seat issue if it still remained unresolved. Captioned ‘No Seat, No Vote’, the Observer’s editorial, dated June 5-11, 1999, stated:

   “Mere reiteration of the seat issue demand on special occasions becomes only a symbolic ritual which our politicians are good at. Lack of concrete strategy to meet the demand reflects the political will of the political establishment…That the abolition of the basic political rights of the Sikkimese took place four years after the controversial ‘merger’ suggests that New Delhi blatantly violated the terms of Sikkim’s integration with India…If perceived closely none of the 32 seats in the House and the two seats in the Parliament are reserved exclusively for Sikkimese. This indeed is a blatant act of betrayal. Because of this non-Sikkimese have found a place in the House much to the detriment of bonafide Sikkimese who are largely Sikkimese Nepalese.”

   I even hinted on the need to boycott the polls if New Delhi remained adamant on preserving status quo on the seat issue: “The political leadership in the State needs to take the seat reservation issue more seriously. Mere adoption of this basic demand in their party resolution and manifesto will not do. This demand has been raised at appropriate fora for nearly 25 years now. If the Centre fails to act positively on this vital demand then the Sikkimese people need to do some rethinking.”

    I added: “Erosion of Sikkim’s distinct identity within the Union through violation of ‘merger terms’ cannot and should not be tolerated any longer. If political parties fail to get this demand met then the Sikkimese people may resort to the last option of boycotting Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the State. Democracy provides an opportunity to the people to exercise or not to exercise their franchise. If the need arises the Sikkimese people can send empty ballot boxes to New Delhi during the elections. By doing this they will not only be merely implementing the oft-repeated slogan – ‘No Seat, No Vote’ – but would have also sent the ultimate message to the Government of India.”

   The OSU leader and former minister of the L.D. Kazi Government (1974-1979), K.C. Pradhan, submitted a ‘7-Point Charter of Demand’ to the President of India in July 1999, demanding formation of a high-level committee to look into “the seat reservation issue before the situation gets out of hand.” Pradhan - perhaps the key figure and the main leader of the Nepalese during the merger era - who was also one of the main signatories to the historic May 8, 1973 Tripartite Agreement, warned: “Continued violation of the terms of merger and deprivation of the political rights of the Sikkimese people cannot be tolerated any longer.” He sent an ultimatum on the seat issue: “The basic political rights of the Sikkimese people must be restored before April 2000 when Sikkim completes 25 years as an Indian State.”

   Pradhan added: “I have from time to time made several representations to the concerned authorities in Delhi and Gangtok about the deteriorating political situation in the State but so far the plight and problems of the Sikkimese people have been ignored. Unfortunately, Delhi continues to ignore my warnings. If the situation is not handled carefully and timely Sikkim will head towards political uncertainty at the dawn of the next millennium. This is neither in the interest of the Sikkimese people nor the nation’s security interests in the region.”

   Pradhan’s stand on the seat issue is consistent with the OSU’s views on the said issue. As early as January 1998, I – as OSU Chairman – made a Press statement urging the Centre to restore the seats by April 2000, when Sikkim completes 25 years as a State of India: “Merger with the world’s largest democracy twenty-three years ago would be meaningless if the Sikkimese people are deprived of their fundamental and constitutional rights.”

   I pointed out: “Ever since the merger in 1975 political leadership in the State has been constantly harping on the need for the Centre to respect and honour the ‘terms of the merger’ but the authorities in Delhi are yet to respond positively and decisively on major issues that concern the Sikkimese people…We have waited for more than two decades for restoration of our political rights and this cannot go on forever. By the turn of the century Sikkim will complete 25 years as part of the Indian Union. The Centre must immediately initiate moves to restore Assembly seats for the Sikkimese and the legal and constitutional process on this issue should be completed by the end of 1999.”

   Pradhan’s 7-Point demand included revision of voters list on the basis of 1974 electoral rolls – which had names of only ‘Sikkim Subjects’, delimitation of Assembly constituencies, and safeguards for ‘other Sikkimese’, meaning those other than ‘original Sikkimese’ residing in the State such as members of the old business community and others.

   My last call before the October 1999 Assembly polls on the seat issue featured in the editorial of the Observer, dated September 18-21, 1999, and captioned “Total Revolution” – ‘No Reservation, No Election’: “It is significant to note that the BL Apex body has now urged the larger Sikkimese Nepalese community to back their demand and give them the much-needed support. Wounded by the failure of the political leadership among the Nepalese community to respect their political rights, pending the finalization of the Assembly seat issue, the BLs have now turned towards the Sikkimese Nepalese people themselves and others to come to their aid. In a democracy, it is the majority community which must rule but protections and safeguards must be provided to the minority community. In their lust for power the political leadership in Sikkim are (is) forgetting and ignoring the just demands of the people and are (is) deliberately trampling over their political rights and thereby hurting the sentiments of the people. No political party in the State has the mandate to further divide the people, dilute their political rights and cause social disharmony and political instability in this strategic border State.”

   The editorial added: “It is now up to the Sikkimese people to come forward and respect the sentiments of their brothers and sisters in distress. The BLs are confident that their hope placed on the larger community will get the right response. But while the BLs desire and expect support from the Sikkimese Nepalese they must also realize that the majority community, too, are in a fix and are demanding restoration of their reserved seats in the Assembly and should be prepared to fight unitedly for restoration of the political rights of all Sikkimese.

   Time is running out and the Sikkimese Nepalese cannot now afford to pin their hopes on the politicians for their long-term interest. There are no easy answers to the political uncertainty faced by the Sikkimese masses. By calling for boycott the BLs have shown that elections are no solutions to the political crisis faced by the Sikkimese people. Making representations to the concerned authorities, be it in Gangtok or New Delhi, is not enough. For the past 20 years various social and political organizations have rightly demanded restoration of the Assembly seats for the Sikkimese people.”

   The editorial concluded: “Memoranda after memoranda have been submitted on the issue but what has been the net result of all these endeavours? While political rhetoric on the issue continues the seat issue is yet to be resolved. Any further violations of the terms of the merger cannot and must not be tolerated any longer. By keeping the issue perpetually pending the political leadership, in collaboration with New Delhi, are gradually leading the Sikkimese people to political suicide…There cannot be more articulate and eloquent way of expressing the total sense of frustration and resentment over the continued violation of the merger accord and abuse of the people’s mandate than to take a firm step on the issue and boycott the coming elections in the State.”

   Though our appeal for total boycott of the polls was serious and genuine we were aware of the fact that the appeal – made at the last moment – would not be well received by political parties which were totally engrossed in the poll process. This was quite understandable although they should realize by now the importance of adopting a strong stand on the seat issue if they are at all serious about the future of Sikkim and the Sikkimese people.

   Our stand at that stage was symbolic but the message and the spirit in which we chose to adopt this stand would be welcomed by the people. And yet we were delighted when the Congress (I) candidate, Tseten Lepcha, from my own home constituency of Lachen-Mangshilla, North Sikkim, withdrew his nomination papers in response to our appeal. Lepcha may have played his cards well during the polls and killed many birds with one stone but his gesture was significant and appreciated by the people.

   He told reporters that in view of the pre-poll developments on the seat issue he felt it was his bounden duty not to take part in the polls in order “to protest, to express our deep anguish and to prove that if the need arises, the Lepchas are prepared to make the supreme sacrifice to fight for our cause.” It is also significant that these words come from the son of a former MLA from the tribal-dominated north district, Tasa Tingay Lepcha, who earlier contested and won from the Lachen-Mangshilla constituency. Majority of voters in this constituency, which had a sizable number of Limbus, were BLs.

   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.

   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, Sikkim Observer andBlog: jigmenkazisikkim.blospot.com.)

Dilution of Article 371F

I have accepted the death of my dream

By Jigme N. Kazi

“It will be too late to talk about Article 371F when battle tanks roll down Nathula pass and non-Sikkimese occupy seats of power in Mintokgang (CM’s official residence) in the near future.”

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   Having retreated to my small corner – the fourth estate – after quietly bidding adieu to my two-and-half-decade-long struggle to fight for the common cause of all Sikkimese I reluctantly accepted the offer to give a piece of my mind during a day-long seminar  organized in Gangtok on January 28, 2010 by an enthusiastic group of young people who work under the banner of All Sikkim Educated Self-Employed & Unemployed Association.

   The topic was “Article 371F” – a dead horse which still needed more flogging! – and many of those who were present and actively participated in the debate-cum-discussion were distinguished personalities in Sikkim’s social, political and intellectual circles.

   Anti-merger veteran and former Chief Minister and President of the Sikkim unit of the Congress party, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, was there. His former Lok Sabha MP, Pahalman Subba, often regarded as the grand-old-man of Sikkim politics, who has fallen out with both Bhandari and his former colleague, the ‘Mandal Messiah’, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, was there.

(L to R) Jigme N. Kazi, N. B. Bhandari, P. M. Subba and K. N. Upreti at the seminar on Art 371F in Gangtok on Jan 28, 2010. 

    Former Minister and senior Congress leader, Kharananda Upreti, the man who accompanied Ram Chandra Poudyal during the famous hunger strike at the lawns of the Palace in Gangtok in early April 1973 that led to the Indian-backed agitation, which culminated in the signing of the historic 8^th May Tripartite Agreement of 1973,  ultimately leading to the ‘merger’ in 1975,  was also present.

   Among the younger politicians present at the seminar were Padam Chettri, who only very recently took over the State unit of the BJP as its President, Biraj Adhikari, President of Sikkim National People’s Party, which still demands restoration of Sikkim’s pre-merger “Associate State” status, former Communist leader and now the Convenor of Matri Bhoomi Suraksha Sanghathan, Duk Nath Nepal, and former Minister and Convenor of Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC), Tseten Tashi Bhutia, who is regarded as one of the few vocal leaders of the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals.

   Conspicuously absent from the scene were representatives of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, which often claims that it has restored democracy and removed fear psychosis in Sikkim after Bhandari’s dictatorial rule (1979-1994). The truth is Pawan Chamling is now faced with the same charges levelled by dissidents within his ruling elite.

    Yesteryears’ ‘revolutionary’ and one of the valiant soldiers of ‘democracy’, R. C. Poudyal, suddenly turned ill and failed to come! With his absence Poudyal missed a great opportunity to stand side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder with sons and daughters of Sikkim to save what is left in order to pass it on to the generations of Sikkimese yet to come.  Others were invited but fear of what may happen to them if they come chose not to grace the occasion.

    Let them live on hope and die in despair. There is no space for spineless walking corpses, who are neither black or white and who will surely fade away into nothingness, to mingle with honourable defenders of the Sikkimese cause during the time of crisis when the need of the hour for unity and solidarity, despite personal and political differences, has never been felt so much.

   Added to this unique and historic gathering representing the multi-faceted Sikkimese society were Nagrik Sangarsha Samiti Coordinator and prominent critic and member of the old business community, Prem Goyal, Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) activists, Gyatso Lepcha and Mayalmit Lepcha, former District Collector, S. P. Subba, and former police officer, Jiwan Pradhan.

   I not only offered my heartiest congratulations to the organizers of the 10-hour-long marathon session but also salute those who spoke out their mind and warmed our hearts and hopes. Together we made history on January 28, 2010, two days before the 28^th death anniversary of the late Chogyal of Sikkim.

   I was certainly the odd man out as I did not belong to any political or non-political grouping. The organizers created the right mood for Sikkimese from all communities and from all walks of life to speak their heart out on an issue that is dear to them for a very long time. That the speakers, mindless of who they were and what positions they held,  spoke eloquently and with conviction and emotion on a wide variety of subjects on one-point theme – Article 371F – is indeed a rare treat for any viewers.

   With tears in my eyes and heart full of burden I made my stand clear. “I have no wish to dethrone anyone or help anyone to get the top job. This is mainly because I have gracefully and very reluctantly accepted the death of my dream,” I told the gathering.

   I made it plain that the casual and directionless manner in which the political leadership among the majority Sikkimese Nepalese tackled the Assembly seat issue in the past so many years led to the death of my dream of a united Sikkim, where all people live in perfect peace, harmony, freedom and prosperity and where the country’s security concerns were fully safeguarded.

   New Delhi ought to realize by now that security, particularly in Sikkim, depends on the loyalty of its people, not just territorial acquisition whether by force or consent. I took a dig as I often do when the opportunity arises on those who often make the right noises but the wrong moves: “I quit everything when some of my friends and former colleagues who are educated, have some political experience and feel for Sikkim and the Sikkimese could not look beyond Chamling and Bhandari despite the pressing need to stand firm and pursue our common objectives.”

   I warned that activities of agents of division and disunity actively serving New Delhi, which seems least concerned about what is happening in Sikkim besides pumping huge amount of funds (and perhaps taking some back on the quiet) to its former Protectorate keeping the people perpetually drugged with power and money, will not only finish Sikkim and the Sikkimese people but greatly and surely endanger the country’s territorial integrity.

   Didn’t I make it clear in my book, “Sikkim for Sikkimese – Distinct Identity Within the Union” (published in Feb 2009) why Sikkim is facing a crisis of our own making: “Phony revolutions led by fake revolutionaries and democrats have created a system that thrives on lies, deceit and corruption. We are all victims of the ‘democracy’ that we longed for in1973 and 1993.”

   We may blame the Centre for the gradual erosion of our special status and dilution of our distinct identity. But we, too, are responsible for failing to look after our long-term interests and live up to the hopes and aspirations of our people.

    My message during the seminar was sharp and incisive: “It will be too late to talk about Article 371F when battle tanks roll down Nathula pass and non-Sikkimese occupy seats of power in Mintokgang (CM’s official residence) in the near future.”

(I had sent this piece to The Statesman but I don’t think it published it. However, it was published in my Sikkim Observer.)

THE INDIAN BETRAYAL OF SIKKIM

   No one is asking for restoration of the monarchy in Sikkim. Not even the minority Buddhist Bhutia-Lepcha tribals, whose chogyals (kings) ruled Sikkim for more than 300 years, are looking for the return of their kingdom unjustly and abruptly taken over by its protecting power, India, in 1975.

   However, having seen democratic India’s misrule through its ‘agents’ in the former (himalayan) kingdom since the ‘merger’ questions are being raised on what kind of person Sikkim’s last ruler of the Namgyal Dynasty really was. The picture painted by Indian politicians and officials and pro-merger mediapersons and writers in India of the 12^th Chogyal, Palden Thondup Namgyal, being a villain and a ruthless ruler who suppressed the people for his own betterment is gradually receding even as politically-conscious political leadership among the youths are rediscovering how Sikkim was ruled during the Chogyal era and rejecting New Delhi’s version of how things were and should be.

   As in the past, Sikkim’s 36^th State Day ‘celebrations’ on May 16 (2011) was a ritual affair. People, by and large, are now well-aware of what really took place during the Indian-backed agitation that began in Sikkim in early 1973, leading to the fake Assembly  elections in early 1974, and the so-called ‘referendum’ in early 1974. These well-planned and carefully orchestrated events led to Sikkim’s ultimate absorption into the Indian Union in April-May, 1975.

   With the Chogyal under house arrest from 1975 to 1979-80, his personal Sikkim Guards forcefully disbanded by the Indian army, and pro-Sikkim, anti-merger political leaders imprisoned (emergency was declared in India soon after the ‘merger’) or under constant watch by the Indian authorities and the pro-India Kazi Government in Gangtok, the Sikkimese people had nowhere to turn to and lived in constant fear and tension.

Their ultimate victory came when the Sikkim Parishad party led by Nar Bahadur Bhandari, former chief minister and presently the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee President, trounced pro-merger Kazi Government in the first Assembly polls held in Sikkim after the takeover in October 1979. That Bhandari failed to keep his de-merger promises made to the people before the Assembly elections is a sad and unfortunate chapter in Sikkim’s contemporary political history.

   Tired of the constant betrayals by the political leadership in Sikkim, Duk Nath Nepal, a former Communist and an anti-establishment writer and critic, has lashed out against those who have betrayed the Sikkimese people. “In the last 35 years, politicians have won and the people have lost,” Nepal said here last week.

    Declaring his new political outfit, Sikkim Liberation Party (SLP), Nepal (42), Chief Convenor of the party, said despite political parties since the ‘merger’ capturing almost all seats in the 32-member Assembly (Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, which has been in power for the fourth consecutive term since 1994, has all 32 seats in its kitty) the Sikkimese people have become refugees in their own homeland. He said ‘real democracy’ is yet to come to the State.
   “In the last 35 years while those in power plundered the land, Sikkimese people have become unprotected and helpless,” Nepal said, while adding, “There is a large section in Sikkim which has not enjoyed democracy in the past 35 years. Democracy has been kidnapped, leaving the people always craving after democracy.”

   In a memorandum sent to the Union Home Minister on State Day (May 16, 2011), Nepal warned that if New Delhi continues to neglect gross violation of democratic rights, rampant corruption in the administration, and fails to keep promises made to the Sikkimese during the merger as reflected in Article 371F, which gives special status to Sikkim and safeguards the ‘distinct identity’ of the Sikkimese, the people would be forced to adopt a “different course” of action to shape their future.

   With the objective of preserving Sikkimese unity and identity, Bharat Basnet, a senior Congressman who was recently expelled from the Congress party for his alleged “anti-party” activities, recently formed the Sikkim Solidarity Forum for Gorkhaland, and has now demanded that all ‘Sikkimese Nepalese,’ who were ‘subjects’ of the Chogyal in the former kingdom and possess “Sikkim Subject Certificate”, a valid document held by bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese – be included in the State’s scheduled tribes list.

   New Delhi’s ‘divide and rule’ policy adopted by the established in Sikkim has not only fragmented the closely-nit Sikkimese society carefully nurtured down the ages, it has also posed a great danger to the future survival of Sikkimese in the land of their origin. Presently, the Sikkimese Nepalese are divided into four factions – scheduled castes, other backward classes (Rais, Gurungs etc), tribals (Limbus and Tamangs), and others (Bhahuns, Chettris and Newars).

   Briefing reporters here recently, Basnet said the objective of including all Sikkimese Nepalese in the ST category is to fight for restoration of their reserved Assembly seats in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly and preservation of the ‘distinct identity’ of Sikkimese Nepalese, who were former citizens of the kingdom of Sikkim. Incidentally, the Chamling Government has also demanded that all ‘Sikkimese Nepalese’ be included in the ST list.

    However, former minister KN Upreti has opposed Basnet’s demand for ST status for Sikkimese Nepalese. He believes that only under Article 371F of the Constitution, which reflects the provisions of the historic May 8, 1973 tripartite signed between the Chogyal, Government of India and leaders of three major political parties in Sikkim, would preserve Sikkim’s “distinct identity.”  In a press statement, Upreti said, “Inviting the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to get tribal status neither gives us protection nor preserves our distinct character.”

   Politically, Sikkim’s distinct character was reflected in the composition of seats reserved for the three ethnic communities in the House during the Chogyal era. Representative form of government began in 1953 when Sikkim held its first elections to the Sikkim Council (the Council was later replaced by Sikkim Assembly), where seats were reserved for the minority Bhutia-Lepchas as well as the majority Sikkimese Nepalese.

   The abolition of 16 seats reserved in the Assembly for Sikkimese Nepalese by the Chogyal four years after the ‘merger’ in 1979 and the gradual dilution of the political rights of the Bhutia-Lepchas through inclusion of more non-Sikkimese in the definition of “Bhutia” in 1978 is not only seen as a great betrayal of the Sikkimese people but also an unfortunate development that will ultimately lead to the death of the Sikkimese dream of a “distinct identity within the Union.

(Period: May 15, 2011)

SIKKIM CRICKET ASSOCIATION FELICITATES SIKKIM HERMONITES

Revival of Murray Cup and Kalooram Thirani tournaments proposed

Sikkim Hermonites Association President, SP Lamba, being felicitated by Sikkim Cricket Association President, Tika Subba, and ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha MLA, B. Khatiwada.

At a colourful function of the Sikkim Cricket Association (SICA) at Pakyong’s  Amba village, East Sikkim, yesterday (May 8, 2023), on the occasion of its 36^th Anniversary, SICA President Tika Gurung, while felicitating Sikkim Hermonites, said great progress and achievement in the field of cricket in Sikkim has been partly due to the firm foundation laid by Sikkim Hermonites in the ’80s and ’90s through the annual Murray Cup Cricket Tournament.

   The felicitation citation read: “The Sikkim Cricket Association would like to felicitate and honour you for your great contribution and dedication for the Sikkim Cricket.” The SICA “expresses deep gratitude for your selfless contribution to the association since its inception in 1987. Your tenacity and resilience saw us through the early and challenging years of limited funding, infrastructure and manpower.”

   While thanking SICA, Sikkim Hermonites Association (SHA) President SP Lamba, said, “By honouring us today on this special day we believe that the Sikkim Cricket Association has rightly acknowledged the role of the Sikkim Hermonites in laying a firm foundation to the cricket culture in Sikkim. We are grateful and thankful to the newly-formed Sikkim Cricket Association team led by its President, Mr. Tika Subba, for inviting us and honouring us on this special occasion.”

   Soon after the formation of the Sikkim Hermonites Association in 1984 one of our major engagements was the starting of the annual Murray Cup Cricket Tournament.

   Lamba pointed out that the Murray Cup Cricket Tournament in Sikkim was initiated by Sikkim Hermonites in early 1980s “in memory and honour” of Darjeeling’s Mount Hermon School Principal, Mr. Graeme A. Murray. He said Murray “was an outstanding personality in Darjeeling” and Mt. Hermon Principal from 1964 to 1979. “Mr. Murray was not only a great cricketer himself but also taught cricket to most of the Sikkim Hermonites who took part in the Murray Cup,” SHA President added.

   “Sikkim Cricket Association has done much for development of cricket in Sikkim in the past so many years and decades. It still has many miles to go before cricket becomes as popular as football in the State. If given the opportunity the Sikkim Hermonites Association is ready and willing to help the Sikkim Cricket Association on this matter,” Lamba said.

   He said, “In the interest of further development of cricket in Sikkim we would like to propose the revival of the Murray Cup and Kalooram Thirani Memorial Cricket Tournament in Sikkim.”

   Ruling party MLA from Rhenock, East Sikkim, B. Khatiwada was the Chief Guest on the occasion. He said he would do his best to persuade the State Government to help with infrastructure development at the recently-formed Amba Cricket Academy.

   The 36^th Foundation Day celebration was organized by SICA in collaboration with Pakyong District Cricket Committee and Amba Cricket Academy.