SIKKIM OBSERVER Saturday Sept 13-19, 2014

Blog: jigmenkazisikkim.blogspot.com

CBI coming to Sikkim to hang corrupt leaders: Union Minister

We have been fooled on ‘organic state’ claim: BJP

(L to R) SKM President PS Golay, BJP candidate Bikash Basnet and Union Tribal Minister Jual Oram in Rabongla, South Sikkim, on Thursday. (Pix: Prabin Khaling)

Gangtok, Sept12: The clock seems to be ticking fast on Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s stay in power. The Centre has taken a strong view on issues regarding alleged misuse of public money and corrupt practices of Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and his former and present Cabinet ministers.

While urging the people to vote for BJP candidate Bikash Basnet for the Rangang-Yangang Assembly constituency by-polls, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said the BJP and the Central Government want a “corruption-free Sikkim”.

Realising the state of affairs in Sikkim, Oram declared that CBI will soon come to Sikkim and threatened to place all corrupt leaders behind bars. He even went on to say that Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) chief PS Golay would become the next chief minister if BJP wins in the by-polls.

“It is a matter of great concern that despite release in the Central government fund, the Sikkim government has failed to start the construction of Sikkim University (in Yangang). This is very unfortunate and I will take the matter with HRD Minister,” the Union Minister said during his address at a public meeting in Rabong, South Sikkim yesterday.

Both the Union Minister and the BJP-in-charge for Northeast, Parmanand Raut, attacked the SDF government on its ‘Organic State’ claim. They stated that wrong information was given to the Prime Minister, who had been misled on the matter. "The real updated information will be reported to the Union government soon so that proper monitoring of funds to Sikkim can be done," they said, Talk Sikkim reported.

 “Vote for BJP candidate Bikash Basnet to win and see what happens to ‘chalaak, chatur’ Chief  Minister of Sikkim within six months”, the Union Minister said. He added, “In name of organic farming Chamling has not only fooled Janta but also fooled India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

“This is a harsh reality that the Prime Minister is being grossly misguided by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling who is saying that Sikkim is becoming an organic state, which is not true at all. I have come to know that chemical fertilisers are still being used here. I will inform the Prime Minister about the matter once I reach Delhi,” the Minister said, The Telegraph reported.

“Give us one seat. That will be a stepping stone for PS Golay to become the Chief Minister as we support him," Oram assured. SKM is in alliance with BJP for the by-polls.

Golay and BJP State unit President Palden Wangchuk Khangsarpa were present during the public meeting.

The by-poll was necessitated after Chamling resigned from the seat and retained Namchi-Singhithang, having contested and won from both the constituencies in the April Assembly polls. Basnet took on Chamling in the April polls on a Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) ticket but lost by over 3,000 votes.

Independent candidate Rup Narayan Chamling, who is the Chief Minister’s brother, is giving a tough fight to the ruling SDF candidate Kumari Mangar.

There are over 11,700 electors, who will cast their votes in 14 polling stations in three sectors. The votes will be counted Sep 16. Irrespective of whoever wins the political situation is likely to hot up from next week.

WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR

Jigme N. Kazi

People power must win over money power for democracy to triumph in Sikkim

Gol

 Gola

Gangtok, Sept 12: It took nearly three years to merge the NB Bhandari-led Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) with the Congress party in 2001-2003. It has taken less than  three months to forge the SKM-BJP alliance in Sikkim this year.

Golay

Had the leaders of the alliance taken up the matter more seriously the opposition would have been in a better position today. However, they are to be applauded and congratulated for their efforts and achievements. BJP Sikkim unit President Palden Wangchuk Khangsarpa and Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) President PS Golay were able to stitch an alliance and field Bikash Basnet, formerly with the SKM, as BJP candidate for the by-polls of Rangang-Yangang Assembly constituency.

Irrespective of the by-poll results the new development in itself is a big achievement for Sikkim. Aided by their able lieutenants Khangsarpa and Golay are expected to take the alliance to greater heights as this is the need of the hour.

   By choosing Golay over Chief Minister Pawan Chamling the BJP has sent the right message to the people of Sikkim and India as well. For many national parties and politicians Sikkim is a testing ground where most of them have failed miserably. The BJP has taken the right step and at the right time.

The reason why SSP-Cong merger could not take off fast as planned was because Congress leaders in the State as well as at the Centre were ‘managed’ and influenced by money-power (My book The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland gives a detailed account on this issue). This has not happened with the BJP this time and it is a good sign that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah are serious about their campaign on corruption-free India.

Khangsarpa

However, when the going gets tough the tough gets going and Pawan Chamling will do all he can to have his way. He may already be working overtime to get in touch with the BJP-SKM camp and BJP’s central leadership through the backdoor to ensure that competent and committed persons do not play a vital role in rejuvenating the BJP in Sikkim. Already things are moving too slow in making things difficult for the present dispensation. This is a warning which must be heeded at the earliest otherwise all tall claims of the BJP-SKM alliance will come to naught.

Editorial

MADAN MOHAN RASAILY

Hail to The Jewel of Sikkim

He was the first senior officer close to the former Chogyal of Sikkim to get the boot for his open defiance and firm opposition to Sikkim’s takeover in 1974-75. He is perhaps the only Sikkimese to be awarded the Denzong Thuki Norbu (The Heart Jewel of Sikkim), the highest civilian award of the Kingdom of Sikkim. Madan Mohan Rasaily, who passed away peacefully at 90 in his homeland last week, will surely rest in peace for he remained a true and loyal ‘Son of Sikkim’, when his king and country needed him the most and when others deserted them and took the easy way out and yielded to pressures and lures of life.

    And while “‘little men’ who rule the roost in Sikkim will have been consigned to dust,” posterity will look back to men like MM Rasaily who, despite life’s trials and tribulations, stood firm and remained loyal to their motherland and to the high ideals and values they uphold in life. The ‘merger’ era was a testing time for Sikkim’s leadership – political and administrative. Those who went for short-term gains or who had their own axe to grind were used by the authorities to go against the Chogyal and Sikkim. But men like the former Home Secretary-cum-Additional Chief Secretary and Auditor-General of Sikkim stood like a rock and “sacrificed petty considerations for the lofty ideal” they espoused. Such men will surely have a place in Sikkim’s long and chequered history. And because of men like MM Rasaily and his mentor Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal true and faithful sons and daughters of Sikkim “will be able to walk with their heads held high whatever their circumstances in life happen to be.”

NIT’s Buddhist festival begins on Sunday

Gangtok, Sept 12: The Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (NIT) is organising a 3-day Boudh Mahotsav Buddhist Festival in Sikkim from Sunday under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The festival is intended to showcase some of the tangible aspects of Buddhism and to promote the values of peace, non-violence, compassion and loving kindness practiced by the Buddha.

The Ministry of Culture has been promoting Buddhism in a big way, and this Boudh Mahotsav is part of its concerted efforts to promote Buddhism in the same land where the Buddha himself once preached, a NIT release said.

It is fitting that the Buddhist Festival is being held at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology that has, for over half a century, worked tirelessly to preserve, document and disseminate the knowledge of all the four Sects and Schools of Buddhism, as well as Bon. The Institute is today a centre for excellence in Buddhist studies in North East India, the release added.

    Some of the events being showcased at the Buddhist Festival are: Lama chanting, Cham dance, Sand mandala, Butter sculpture, Thangka painting, and promotion of Sowa Rigpa, the Ancient Tibetan Science of Healing. The showpiece of the Buddhist Festival will be the NIT Museum which has a substantial collection of rare Buddhist artifacts. Additionally, folk dance troupes from seven states of India will be participating.

There will be a free Medical Camp where the Sowa Rigpa team from the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Saranath, Varanasi will see up to a maximum of 60 patients in a day and provide free consultation and medicines for a month.

Lachen Rinpoche remembered during Pang Lhabsol celebrations in Lachen

Lachen, Sept 12: The Pang Lhabsol celebrations in Lachen, North Sikkim, this year was a special occasion to remember and honour Late Lachen Rinpoche who passed away in 2012.

According to Lachen Pipon Janam Lachenpa, the function was organized in Thangu in Lachen to honour Lachen Gomchen who was the real source of inspiration when the celebrations began at the newly-constructed Thangu monastery a few years back.

   The Pipon and Lachen Pang Lhabsol Committee member Rinzing Chewang were in Gangtok to invite all well-wishers of the Late Rinpoche to grace the occasion.

    While the annual function in hounour of Sikkim’s Guardian Deities was held  at the Tsuklakhang Monastery in Gangtok, similar function was also organized in Rabong, South Sikkim, and Pemayangtse Monastery, West Sikkim, and other monasteries in the State.

Pang Lhabsol, a festival commemorating the conservation of Mt. Kanchenjunga as the guardian deity of the State, is unique to Sikkim. It has its origin in the Lepcha people's belief that the mountain is their place of origin. It is also believed that the festival has its roots in Lhatsun Chenpo's (the propagator of Buddhism in Sikkim) vision.

The occasion also commemorates the treaty of brotherhood between the Lepchas and Bhutias, where Kye Bumsa the then Bhutia leader signed the brotherhood treaty with the Lepcha Chieftain Thekong Tek at Kabi Lunstok in North Sikkim in the 13^th century.

LEST WE FORGET Jupiter Yambem

Manipur’s North Pointer Jupiter Yambem is remembered on 9/11

Jupiter Yambem

Jupiter Yambem became part of World History 13 years ago: Laba Yambem

It was a solemn and sad day for us here at home.I still remember him taking me atop the World Trade Centre way back in 1991 and watched an aircraft flying below.10 years later I watched in horror seeing the aircrafts crashing in at the WTC. It was literally watching my brother being killed thousands of miles away on TV.At first I thought it was a new Hollywood blocbuster that had just been released. Then I saw the streamers Breaking News WTC under attack, then I said to myself my god that is where Jupiter works. It was with a sense of despair and hopelessness that I spent the next few hours as all communications with New York was down. His body was mercifully recovered and cremated there but his ashes returned home to be sprinkled over the Loktak Lake here in his homeland in faraway Manipur.

In 2002, I accompanied my late father who was well in his 80s then to pray at Ground Zero which then resembled a bombed out place.We prayed for his soul then.Then 10 years after 2001 came the news if Bin Laden' s own death.I had then said that 'now with his death my brother' s soul can now rest in peace' and also' may Allah the merciful forgive you Bin Laden'.

2014 marked the 13th anniversary of his death and we had a simple ceremony at home where I offered Tarpan according to Hindu Vedic rites and the priest read out a passage from the Shrimad Bhagwat Gita- it was on the Karma Yogi dealing with duties of a man on earth.

Laba Yambem

Two of his Manipuri friends now in the USA, L.Somi Roy from New York and Devdas Laishram from San Fransisco were present and so were Dr.Kh.Ratankumar Singh Minister Works, Irengbam Hemichandra Minister PHED, R.K.Anand MLA besides his childhood friends Pradip Phanjoubam Editor Imphal Free Press, Hawaibam Dileep IAS Director Education, Moirangthem Lakhsmi IAS Secretary Transport, Shyamcharan Singh Chief Engineer Police Housing Corporation and a host of other well wishers and friends and relatives had gathered.

I also wish to thank all my FB friends for showing solidarity with us on this day that our beloved Jupiter Yambem became part of World History 13 years ago.

North America Tribute to Jupiter Yambem

Jupiter Yambem was born and raised in the remote state of Manipur in the northeast corner of India. At the age of 21 he came to the United States and promptly took up a career in some of New York City's most famous restaurants, including the Rainbow Room and then Windows on the World, where he worked as a banquet manager. But even as he planted hardy roots here, marrying a woman from Syracuse, settling down in Beacon, N.Y., joining an environmental group dedicated to protecting the Hudson River, becoming friends with Pete Seeger, signing on as assistant coach for his son Santi's soccer team Mr. Yambem, 41, held fast to his Indian past. Retaining his Indian citizenship, he co- founded the North American Manipur Association, a small group of Manipur families that sought to promote and preserve the culture of their homeland over here. He had two purposes, said his wife, Nancy Yambem. He wanted his son to know something of his heritage, to see the dances and hear the music and taste the food. But he also wanted to construct a bridge, however modest, between two vastly different cultures.

A Sept 11 family honours a proud Manipuri

New York: Born and raised in Imphal in Manipur, Jupiter Yambem, 47 lived the immigrant’s dream in America. At the top of his class in SUNY New Paltz, he was snapped up by some of New York City's most famous restaurants, including the Rainbow Room and then Windows on the World, where he worked as a banquet manager. He thrived on the energy of New York and adored his curly auburn-haired American wife from Syracuse who he met in college in the early eighties and their son.

Jupiter Yambem’s wife, Nancy McCardle Yambem, remembers frantically calling her husband on September 11. He never answered. Everyone in the Windows of the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center survived the impact when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 am, but died when the tower collapsed after burning for 102 minutes.

Nancy Yambem with her late husband Jupiter Yambem and son Shanti.

On the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Yambem and her son Santi whose name is pronounced Shanti, like others who lost family on September 11, 2001 carry the heavy legacy of that day.

“It has been ten years and we miss Jupiter. We will always miss him. He was amazing. We have a small Hindu shrine in our house to Jupiter,” said Yambem whose house is cluttered with photos of her college sweetheart.

Jupiter came to America at the age of 21 from India to work in a summer camp with children with visual impairment. After he got done with the camp he decided to stay on in America and went to college at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

“We met in college in 1981 and hung out with the same crowd. We started seeing each other in 1984 as a couple. We married in 1991 so I knew him — know him — for 20 years,” said Yambem still finding it painful to use the past tense.

For those kids who lost a parent on 9/11, fitting in and getting back to life as usual is an ongoing process. Jupiter was a hands-on dad and signed on as assistant coach for his five-year-old son’s soccer team.

“Santi is trying to be as normal a kid as he can. He is in the 10th Grade now. He was in kindergarten when his father died. His life has changed greatly from being a five-year-old to a teen,” said Yambem about her tall boy who plays rock guitar and trumpet in the school band.

Santi was traumatized by his father’s death and had trouble sleeping after the 9/11 tragedy. Jupiter called his son Chinglailakba or dragon tamer in Manipuri. Not someone who fights dragons, Yambem explains, but someone who tames them.

“Jupiter used to call Santi Chingalai or Paki Chingalai, kind of Papa’s dragon tamer,” said Yambem, who has kept Santi close to his Indian roots.

“We have a home in Manipur. We go every two years. Santi has been since he was a year old. He is very familiar with Manipuri culture and his family back home. It is basically our second home.”

Jupiter held fast to his Indian roots. Keeping his Indian citizenship, he co-founded the North American Manipur Association (NAMA), consisting of a small group of Manipuri families that sought to promote and preserve their culture. NAMA has since expanded into a network of 40 Manipuri families and supports causes in Manipur.

“We started NAMA with the idea of getting Manipuri families together once a year over the long Fourth of July weekend to eat Manipuri food, teach the kids Manipuri dance and have them perform. It has evolved over the years and supports Manipuri causes,” said Yambem who went to the NAMA convention this year in Edison, New Jersey with her son Santi and current husband.

Yambem has moved on in many ways. She's in a new home and has remarried but says she is seldom separated from the constant reminders of the 9/11 tragedy.

“Being a 9/11 family is kind of constant. You are brought back to it because it is always on the news, or on TV. In a normal death situation you usually get a break from the death, but in our lives you kind of see it almost every day. If you have a day where there is nothing related then all of a sudden you spot a bumper sticker on a car that says ‘Never Forget’. You see a picture of the Twin Towers and you are brought right back to it,” said Yambem.

“I try to put it aside, but it is never really put aside. It is a difficult kind of death to deal with. My new husband has been incredibly understanding of that and knew coming into the relationship that we are a 9/11 family. He has been supportive in my continual grieving process and at times missing Jupiter. He is a good guy.”

They will be attending the opening on Sunday of the September 11 Memorial in New York, designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker. The memorial will open for the first time on Sunday, for a ceremony for family members of 9/11 victims. The public will have a chance to see it beginning Monday. The memorial complex spreads out over eight acres, encompassing the pavilion of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, more than 400 oak trees and a grassy glade.

“A lot of work has gone into the memorial so it’s nice that it is finally done. It is a beautiful memorial for those who died including Jupiter,” said Yambem who is still emotional and raw as she talks about Jupiter, who was seen as the “life of the party” by his many Indian and American friends.

Jupiter was a man with feet in two worlds and his last rites reflected his love for India and America. He was cremated on September 18, at the Cedar Hill Hindu Crematorium in New York and his ashes were scattered in India, along his favourite hiking trail in Tiger Hill, in Darjeeling. Jupiter’s friend, American folk singer Pete Seeger sang “Turn, Turn, Turn” at his memorial service at Beacon Riverfront Park on the banks of the Hudson River. (The Hindustan Times - Sept 11, 2011)