SIKKIM OBSERVER        Dec 15-21, 2012

Panchayat polls, ‘black month’ are over, Mr. Golay, where is your party?

Opposition leaders want Golay to join alliance

Gangtok, Dec 14: The time has finally come for the rebel ruling party leader and legislator PS Golay to form his new political outfit. His key aides said earlier that the new party would be formed after the recent panchayat polls which were over early last month.

The reason for delay in formation of the new party was attributed to the fact that according to the lunar calendar it was a ‘black month’ in November-December. However, the ‘black month’, not an auspicious period to make new beginnings, ended yesterday.

With the start of the Sikkimese harvest festival, which began today (Dec 14 – the first day of the 11^th month of the Tibetan calendar), the ‘black month’ is finally over.

The need to form his own political party has become more urgent in the light of the new political development in the opposition camp. While Congress President Nar Bahadur Bhandari is believed to have hit the campaign trail for ‘parivartan’, former Lok Sabha MP and Convenor of Concerned Society of Sikkim (COS) has urged Golay to join the Democratic Alliance of Sikkim – a platform being floated for all opposition parties – to take on the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front.

Golay reportedly has been camping in Delhi for quite some time now.  

Sikkim with national mainstream: Chamling

Gangtok, Dec 14: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling reminded the people that during his 18-year rule in the former kingdom Sikkim has come a long way in integrating itself with the national mainstream.

“We have been able to integrate Sikkim into the mainstream in a more meaningful way,” the Chief Minister said in his carefully-worded message on the occasion of the 19th Anniversary of the SDF Government Formation Day on Wednesday (Dec 12).

“Now we are part of the North East Council. Limboo and Tamang communities are Scheduled tribes. The traditional Nathula pass is re-opened… Income Tax exemption to Sikkimese has been granted by the Government of India,” Chamling said.

Chamling added, “On December 12, 1994 the people of Sikkim installed, for the first time, a truly democratic government responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people and ever since this party and the government have continued to enjoy the confidence of the Sikkimese people winning public mandate after mandate in each subsequent elections held thereafter.”

“This, I believe, is the result of good governance based on people-centric programs and policies with both short-term and long-term goals.”

The Chief Minister also expressed his “heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the people of Sikkim for their continued support and confidence on our governance and also congratulate them for their responsible decision to strengthen democratic institutions, promote socio-economic prosperity, peace and security, communal harmony and development in the State.”

US hints at joint engagement with EU over Tibet

Dharamsala, Dec 14:  In what could be seen as a further push for establishing an international mechanism on the crisis in Tibet, US cited Tibet as an area where the EU and US can partner on “common strategic engagement.”

The remarks were made by US Under Secretary Maria Otero in her statement at the European Union's Human Rights Day Event in Washington DC on Tuesday.

Delivering the statement on behalf of Otero, Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer said the Obama Administration wants Europe to engage more in Asia along with the US, “to see the region not only as a market, but as a focus of common strategic engagement,” phyaul.com  reported.

“And as a good example, European governments, including Germany, UK, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Poland, have joined the call for Chinese authorities to address the worsening human rights conditions in Tibetan areas,” Baer said. “The United States is deeply concerned and saddened by the continuing violence in Tibetan areas of China and the increasing frequency of self-immolations by Tibetans.”

Otero, who is also the US Special Coordinator for Tibet, noted that Chinese authorities have responded to these tragic incidents with measures that tighten already strict controls on the freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and association of Tibetans.

“Official rhetoric that denigrates the Tibetan language, the Dalai Lama, and those that have self-immolated has further exacerbated tensions.”

Last month, France called for the promotion of policy coordination in the EU for “coherent actions” to support the Tibetan cause and advancing human rights and freedoms of Tibetans.

The upper house of the French Parliament, Sénat, on November 27, adopted a resolution in view of the deteriorating human rights situation inside Tibet and called on the EU to give priority to Tibet issue within the mandate of its recently appointed EU Special Representative for Human Rights.

Harvard-educated lawyer Hem Lall Bhandari to edit Pro-Sikkim

Gangtok, Dec 14: A week after he launched his Pro-Sikkim English weekly activist-editor Tenzing Bhutia was killed in a tragic car crash near Adampul in Rumtek, east Sikkim, on December 5. On the day of his funeral on Sunday (Dec 9) Bhutia’s friends and well-wishers were able to bring out the second issue of the paper, which the late editor had prepared just before his demise.

Now, the burden of bringing out the much-sought-after tabloid has fallen on the Harvard-educated lawyer Hem Lal Bhandari.

The former Congressman and professor, who has been hibernating in his home in Rawtey-Rumtek for quite some time now, seems keen and eager to carry on with his pro-Sikkim activities.

An alumni of St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling, Bhandari is not only a lawyer but also a trained journalist in Bombay, where he did his LL.M and Diploma in Journalism. He has written for a number of publications, including Indian Express and Sikkim Observer. 

SNPP to oppose Sikkim-Darjeeling merger move

Merger was forced on us: Biraj

Gangtok, Dec 14: The Sikkim National People’s Party (SNPP) has vehemently opposed the reported move to merge Darjeeling with Sikkim. It said it would oppose the move “with all the power at its disposal and appeals to all Sikkimese people to do the same.”

SNPP President Biraj Adhikari said his party had a thorough discussion on a report carried in a local daily regarding “conspiracy being hatched by the Central Government and the Sikkim CM (Pawan Chamling) to merge Darjeeling with Sikkim.”

“The party discussed the fact that this would yet be another excellent example of betrayal by the Central Government after signing the 8th May agreement with the people of Sikkim in the year 1973,” a press statement by SNPP said.

Adhikari said the Centre “forcefully enforced the 36^th Amendment without the people’s consent.” This act of the Parliament led to Sikkim’s merger with India in 1975. Since then the Centre is “hell bent” on erasing the “identity of the Sikkimese people forever.” 

While condemning “the sinister efforts” of the Centre and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling to merge Darjeeling with Sikkim, the SNPP has called for formation of Gorkhaland state without further delay.

OPINION

Sikkim-Darjeeling merger talks will lead to demerger demand

‘Sikkimese are subjects of the former Chogyal’

  By Shiva Kumar Sharma

I read the newsitem ‘Centre keen on Sikkim-Darjeeling merger’, which was published in local dailies dated December 7, 2012. After going through the newsitem, I have learnt that the present Central Government has set the agenda of Sikkim-Darjeeling merger and some senior Indian Congress leaders like Gulam Nabi Azad and Oscar Fernandes are in favour of bringing about this issue.

Despite the known facts of Sikkim’s merger with the Union of India in 1975, which was done based on 8th May 1973 Agreement, the Central Government is just adding fuel to fire by bringing the issue of annexing Darjeeling with Sikkim. Even after merging with the Union of India, Sikkim continues to hold a different history, culture, ideology and ethos maintaining a strong bonding and relation with all sections of the communities.

No one has any right to break the rhythm of sanctity and tranquility that Sikkim is bestowed by nature. Sikkim’s propriety and identity are further protected by the Article 371F of the Constitution of India. Therefore, we Sikkimese have all rights and inherited abilities to have our own distinction within India. The Centre cannot trespass into what we Sikkimese have in Sikkim.

Chief architects of Sikkim’s merger: BB Lal and Kazi Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa at the Raj Bhawan in Gangtok

The agenda of Sikkim-Darjeeling merger is a conspiracy hatched out by the Central Government to completely betray the people of Sikkim. I can smell the role of some disgruntled persons within the Congress party in Delhi to bring about the issue of Sikkim-Darjeeling merger. These disgruntled persons have addictions of doing dirty politics and cannot see the prosperity achieved by Sikkim and Sikkimese after merging with India. Secondly, for the Sikkimese, Sikkim-Darjeeling merger is a non-issue, which only creates hostility among the common language speaking communities and invites an unprecedented threat of regional disharmony and disintegration.

As a concerned and educated person of Sikkim, I would, at first, vehemently condemn the agenda of Sikkim-Darjeeling merger as it has been moved by the Central Government. This move also indicates the Centre’s secret plan of diluting the agenda of Gorkhaland. At any cost, the demand of Gorkhaland should not be amalgamated with other constitutional demands of the Sikkimese. Furthermore, the fraternity factor that Sikkimese share with the people of Darjeeling does not imply that these two separate entities need to unite into a single unit. Darjeeling was a part of Sikkim as Pakistan of India, as Bangladesh of Pakistan, etc. A threshold limit of unification does not exist here; it is now a fact of history. For example, Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot be united with India; Darjeeling, too, cannot be united with Sikkim in future.

We Sikkimese hope that the Centre is fully aware of the above facts and discards the agenda of Sikkim-Darjeeling merger.  Instead, the Central Government should develop other better models like Uttarakhand had adopted for creating a separate statehood to the people of Darjeeling if the current model of Gorkhaland statehood is not working as per the Constitution of India.

All Indian citizens must know one fact that Sikkim is for Sikkimese only and not for others. Sikkimese were the subjects of the Chogyal of Sikkim before the merger with the Union of India in 1975 and only the Sikkim Subject Certificate holders and their descendants are Sikkimese and shall remain the same.

At the time of merger with India, the 36th Amendment of the Constitution of India that repealed the 35th Amendment has enshrined certain privileges, including the 371F, to the subjects of Sikkim. The Centre cannot breach its own Constitution. But, if the Centre moves ahead with this merger issue, we Sikkimese strongly press for demerger of Sikkim from India. Sikkimese shall not tolerate being dominated, humiliated and looted by any one in future. If the Centre fails to protect the rights and privileges of Sikkimese the consequences would be terrifying.

EDITORIAL

OPPOSITION UNITY

Towards A Common Destiny

The reported move by opposition leaders in Sikkim to forge a united front against the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front in the ensuing Assembly elections in early 2014 is a welcome move given the fact that a disunited opposition will surely pave way for SDF’s fifth consecutive term in office. The fact that over 40 per cent of votes polled in the recent panchayat polls went to independent candidates is an ample indication that the SDF’s hold among the people is waning. Pro-opposition supporters ought to take comfort in the fact that in the 2004 and 2009 Assembly polls votes polled by the opposition is around 35 per cent although this did not tally with seats won by the opposition in the 32-member Assembly.

What is most important for the long-term interest of the State’s opposition is for the leaders to come together on basic issues that concern the people. If the opposition’s only   agenda is to unseat Chief Minister Pawan Chamling in the next Assembly polls it is only half the battle won. Ousting Chamling is not enough; there has to be a common blue print for Sikkim’s future that opposition leaders must agree and come together. Genuine unity cannot come if we have leaders who differ with each other on basic political and economic issues that plague Sikkim. The Sikkimese people, by and large, deserve good political leadership. They have been betrayed for most part of the post-merger era.

SIKKIM SCOUTS

Guarding Our Borders

If reports are to be believed at least1,000 bonafide Sikkimese will be recruited by the Army in the ‘Sikkim Scouts’ battalion in the next few years to guard Sikkim’s sensitive and strategic border in northern and eastern parts of the State. To be formed in the lines of ‘Ladakh Scouts’ and ‘Arunachal Scouts’, Sikkim’s new battalion is expected to be formed by mid-2015. New Delhi’s policy of engaging ‘sons of the soil’ to guard its northern frontier across the Himalaya is a step in the right direction. Acquisition of territory – Sikkim was annexed in 1975 - cannot alone guarantee safeguard to nation’s security interest in the region. The people must be taken into confidence to ensure that its frontiers are safe and secure.

Raising a battalion to guard high passes and mountainous regions of Sikkim alone is not enough to fully safeguard India’s territorial integrity. Ultimately, it is the common people who are the best bet for a country’s security. New Delhi ought to know by now that bonafide Sikkimese people have now only one more Assembly elections to ensure genuine change in the former kindom. Wily and corrupt politicians no matter how many political battles they may have won cannot alone guarantee genuine peace and tranquility in any part of the country. The peace that you see in Sikkim is the peace of the grave. People’s peace is secured through money or through reign of fear. The situation cannot last more than 2015-16.

PEOPLE&PLACES Sikkim

Losoong: A Sikkimese Harvest Festival

By Sonam Deki and Kunga Chukie

Though Losoong (celebration of the year) is annually celebrated as a harvest festival in Sikkim the occasion is also traditionally regarded as the Sikkimese New Year. The event  normally falls in the month of December and towards the end of the 10^th month of the Tibetan lunar calendar and is basically celebrated by Sikkimese Bhutias. However, the Sikkimese Bhutias who live in the northern regions of Lachen and Lachung, Losoong is normally celebrated in the month of January.

 At the close of the year the farmer's rejoice and celebrate their harvest. Losoong marks the end of the harvest season and is a traditional celebration to thank the gods and each other for the good harvest and to offer prayers for the next season.

The festival is marked by Chaam (masked) dances at several monasteries in Sikkim. The dances symbolize the exorcizing of the evil spirits of the year and the welcoming of the good spirit of the New Year.

They also make offerings to the gods, both in the monasteries and in their domestic shrines.  It is best to see this festival in rural areas of Sikkim, where it is celebrated more pompously with traditional archery competitions and other events.