SIKKIM OBSERVER July 14, 2012
We Lachenpas face a bleak future in our ancestral
homeland
Jigme N Kazi
WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR
(Pix) Yathang village, Lachen, North Sikkim. The Teesta flows
below the village and the jeepable road is built above it.
The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950 led to the occupation
of that country in 1959, which witnessed flight of Tibetans leaving Tibet and
seeking asylum in India and former kingdoms of Sikkim and Nepal as well as
Bhutan. These events finally led to Chinese aggression on India’s northern and northeastern
borders in 1962.
The opening of the traditional Indo-Tibet trade route
through Nathula in eastern Sikkim in 2006 after a gap of 44 years was motivated
more by politics than trade. New Delhi insists that the resumption of the trade
route is Beijing’s way of recognizing Sikkim as a part of the Indian Union.
Having swallowed Sikkim in the guise of ushering in ‘democracy’ in 1975 India
is still unable to digest the fact that what it did to Sikkim may be
politically correct but morally unpardonable.
Today it takes less
than seven hours by road (if it is good) to reach the northern tip of North
Sikkim, which lies in the picturesque Lachen Valley. When I was born it used to
take about seven days to reach Gangtok from Lamten, the main village in Lachen.
My early memories of my childhood in the Lachen Valley were places such as Tsaten,Thombu,
Talam, Yathang, Thangu and several grazing areas (yak and sheep) such as
Taling, Gochung, Gagyong and Gowa. You pass through these tiny settlements on
the way to the famous Gurudongmar Lake, which has now become a pilgrimage
centre for Buddhist devotees as well as a major tourist destination in the
State.
It took three days
on horseback to reach Mangan, headquarters of Sikkim’s north district, when I
first came to Gangtok from Lamten in 1960. My fond memories of Lachen Valley
were of the ’50s and ’60s. Those were unforgettable days which will be deeply
cherished in my heart as long as I live. ‘Progress and development’ gradually set in
the 1970s and by the 1980s the Lachen of my dream and childhood memories
gradually faded away. It was a painful experience to go through these changes. Since
then my visits to my native village have been few and far between. But almost
every day I pay homage to the land of my birth and remember my ancestors and
our guardian deities.
The High Court of
Sikkim recently took a careful note of how the Lachenpas are coping with life
today. Its concern was focused on the issue of land acquisition by the army for
defence purposes. Our lands are not only forcefully occupied by the army and
other agencies, in many cases the villagers are not paid compensation. The
issue involved is not only ‘land alienation’ of the indigenous minority Bhutia-Lepchas
but the very livelihood and survival of a section of the tribals in the State
who have been living in their homeland for centuries and who now have no other
means of livelihood if their ancestral land is taken away.
The division bench of the High Court of Sikkim comprising Chief
Justice Permod Kohli and Justice SP Wangdi has rightly taken a very serious
view of the matter and observed that in some cases land acquisition process has
not been followed. These are very serious matters which ought to attract the
attention of the concerned authorities, including the army and the State
Government.
When I paid a visit to Lachen in the winter of 1984 I was
told that the jeepable road between Lamten to Thangu, which goes via Yathang
village, was nearing completion. The villagers informed me that the Border
Roads Organisation (BRO), which undertakes road building work along the
highways in Sikkim, intended to build the road through Yathang village to go to
Thangu (in those days the only structure here was the Thangu monastery), where
the army is stationed. In the process
several houses in Yathang, which were along the route, would be demolished,
they said.
Realising the need to defend our ancestral homes at all cost
I met a top ranking Colonel – a sardarji – stationed at the army headquarters
at Swastik in Gangtok. Justice Wangdi, who was then a senior lawyer and central
government counsel, advised me to meet the Colonel when I apprised him on the
matter. The Colonel was most sympathetic when I met him and told him of our
opposition to demotion of our ancestral homes in Yathang for road building. He
suggested that I meet the concerned authority –BRO’s GREF (General Reserve
Engineer Force) Commandant, who was also stationed at Swastik.
The Commandant
was Mr. Nair, a south Indian who was also very sympathetic and positive. I knew
him as I was covering a story related to one of his relatives’ court case in
the High Court of Sikkim. I explained to Nair how important these clay
buildings meant to we Lachenpas. They are heritage homes and not mere
buildings, I told him. Why can’t the road be built above the village instead of
through it, I pleaded. He said the sole purpose of building the road through
the village was to cater to the needs of the villagers. He also pointed out
that if it was solely for the army’s interest the road would not cross over the
Teesta river to Samdong village – enroute to Yathang – but go directly to
Thangu from across the river and on the other side of the hill. I could see his
logic and appreciated his point of view. We left the matter at that hoping that
a compromise formula would be worked out which would mutually benefit the army
as well as the Lachenpas. I was determined to take the matter to Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi if necessary.
Surprisingly, and to
my great delight, the road was built just above the village when I visited
Yathang with my family in late 1980s after a gap of twenty five years. I
stopped my jeep at the rear end of the village and walked along the narrow
footpath through the middle of the village to reach my home, where I had many
childhood memories and where my mother passed away when I was just 2-3 years
old.
My personal initiative on this matter may or may not have
influenced the authorities but what is important to note is that in matters of
public interest and things which are close to your heart the people themselves
must come forward and do what is necessary. Governments and their agencies are
not expected to do everything for the people. However, if the concerned
authorities are unresponsive or going against will of the people it is the duty
of every citizen to exercise their fundamental constitutional rights. Democracy
is all about people’s participation.
Realising their
bleak future in the land of their origin the Lachenpas wrote to the President
of India a few years back urging for a serious look into how the indigenous tribal highlanders have
been living in the past so many years.
“If gyagar zhyung (Indian government) continues
to ignore us we will turn north (Tibet),” a Lachenpa confided to me a few years
back. This is a warning as well as an act of desperation.
‘KHANGCHENDZONGA’ AWARD FOR KAZI
The function for conferment of the award will be held here on July 17 and theatre artist CK Shrestha will be the chief guest for the occasion.
The most promising journalist award will go to Bishal Gurung of Hindustan Samachar. The Press Club will also felicitate Mohan Lama, Darjeeling bureau chief of Samai Dainik, a Nepali daily published from Gangtok.
Editorial
TAKING A STAND
Local Press: Regaining Lost
Ground
The editor of this paper –whether he likes it or not –
finally gets some kind of recognition. The question being asked is not ‘why’ he
is getting the award but ‘why now’. This question is relevant and needs to be
explained. When the President of the Press Club of Sikkim, Bhim Rawat, rang up Sikkim Observer editor Jigme N. Kazi last
week and told him that he was being awarded this year’s Khangchendzonga Kalam
Puraskar award by the Press Club Kazi wanted to know why he was being conferred
with this award and at this time. Was it politically-motivated or has the local
Press come of age, Kazi asked. Rawat’s two colleagues, Joseph Lepcha and Bishnu
Neopany, both senior journalists in the State, met Kazi and reiterated the
Press Club’s recent efforts to regain the local media’s independent image.
While appreciating the new development within the local media, Kazi informed
them that the Press Club and its members should be ready to face any
consequences for associating themselves with a ‘black-listed journalist’, who
has been living in self-imposed exile in his own homeland for nearly three
decades mainly because he refuses to be ‘bought over’. Kazi is among the few
public figures in the State who has kept his credibility intact – personally,
professionally and politically (he ‘flirted’ with politics for a while in early
2000s but for a good cause)
However, Kazi’s
decision to accept the award will surely evoke mixed reactions. While one
gentleman close to the editor said, “They had the guts to give you the award,” (to
which the editor replied, “You have judged well.”) one senior journalist said,
“The Press Club is not as independent as its members claim.” Another senior
journalist commented: “They have finally come to their senses and rewarded
you.” And yet one contractor from North Sikkim, who is close to Kazi, said,
“Does this mean you have Chamling’s blessings?”
The fact of the matter is that in Chamling’s Sikkim all those who do not
bow down to the powers-that-be are harassed or ignored. Anyone or any
organization that tries to identify itself with those who fail to toe the
official line are perceived to be digging their own grave.
While the image
of the local Press, by and large, is not too impressive there are those within
the Fourth Estate in the State who are not happy with the way the Press has
been projected and perceived in a State where dissenting voices find it very
difficult to be heard. And yet the people depend on the Press and expect it to
ventilate their grievances all the time and take on the high and mighty at
times. The Press, too, depend on the people to react and respond to situations.
It also expects the people to come to its aid when it is being attacked and
hounded by the authorities. The sad part of the story is that people keep mum
when the Press is under pressure. Did you even take the trouble to talk to Hamro Prajashakti journalists who were
beaten up in their own work places in Gangtok on July 4, 2008? Did you care to
call on this editor when his press was ransacked in early 1990, his Press
vehicles set on fire in October 2001 and June 2004 in front of his printing
press building in Gangtok? And which newspaper-reader even bothers to take a
casual glance at the ongoing economic suppression of many local newspapers,
including this paper, in the State? If the local Press is trying to set itself
free help and support must be given by the people at large. By accepting the
award Kazi has, once again, made his stand clear and sided with the foot
soldiers of freedom and democracy in Sikkim. The local Press, too, has spoken –
loud and clear.
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