INSIDE SIKKIM

ONE-MAN RULE, ONE-PARTY SYSTEM

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

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

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

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

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

‘GENUINE REPRESENTATION’ IN THE ASSEMBLY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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