Tribute To Sikkim’s Anti-Merger Heroes

          “History will look back to this era as Sikkim’s final hour”

   ‘Badmash,’ was his reaction to a newsitem in a Calcutta-based daily on himself and Sikkim. Obviously the Chogyal did not like the report. Most reports on the happenings in Sikkim in those days in national dailies were slanted and one-sided. There were only the two of us – my friend Hem Lall Bhandari and myself – when the Chogyal made the remark at the small lawn of the Palace adjacent to the office. This was in December 1979 or early 1980 – just before the two of us left for Bombay for our three-year law degree course.

   This was perhaps my first close encounter with Palden Thondup Namgyal – the 12^th Chogyal of Sikkim and the man that I deeply admire and respect.  I don’t remember saying anything to him except perhaps to wish him a Happy New Year. The last time we – Sikkimese students in Bombay – met the Chogyal was with Prince Wangchuk at a hotel in Bombay towards the end of 1981, where he had invited us for dinner. It was a quiet affair – perhaps too quiet and solemn. That was perhaps the last time that we got to meet him. He left for medical treatment in the US shortly and died in a New York hospital on January 29, 1982.

   Beginning from early 1973, when political upheaval rocked the tiny Himalayan Kingdom, the Chogyal suffered and endured great personal and political losses. He lost his crown in 1975; his first-born son Prince Tenzing in 1978 in a car accident; and finally his wife and almost his two youngest kids in 1980. Dethroned and betrayed by his close associates and friends, the Chogyal was forced to live in isolation and solitary confinement in his Palace in Gangtok for a long, long time until he passed away at the age of 59. His greatest gift to us is that he did not give his ascent to the ‘merger’ despite tremendous pressure to do so.

   Those who ditched him included teacher-turned-politician Nar Bahadur Bhandari, who with the Chogyal’s help, formed the anti-merger Sikkim Janata Parishad Government on October 18, 1979. After he came to power Bhandari’s close associate and Parishad leader and legislator Lal Bahadur Basnet, the party’s spokesman, surprisingly declared: “Merger is a fait accompli”, meaning there was nothing that could be done to undo what was done. It was a very convenient statement to stay in power; it smacked of betrayal.  And there ended the hopes of the people on Bhandari, whose party came to power on an anti-merger platform after defeating LD Kazi’s pro-merger party.

   And yet – despite the letdown – I  still stand by on what I had written about Bhandari in my Spotlight on Sikkim in early 1984: “The victory of Bhandari’s Sikkim Parishad in 1979 elections symbolized the triumph of anti-merger forces, whose main objective can best be expressed in three words – ‘Sikkim For Sikkimese’ …Though Bhandari has long abandoned the cause of the people, his final departure from the post of chief ministership (in May 1984) symbolizes the end of an era, which could best be described in the words of Tennyson” ‘To strive, to find, and not to yield.’ Perhaps history will look back to this era and recall this period as Sikkim’s “final hour.” Bhandari then will not be remembered for the wrongs he has done but for the things he hoped to do and for the dreams he set out to fulfill.”

   Lachen Rinpoche was a young man when India began mobilizing its forces to take over the Himalayan kingdom in early 1970s. He – perhaps being one of the few Sikkimese tulkus – was one of the Sikkimese nationalists who openly threw stones at central reserve police forces in Gangtok to oppose the takeover. Bhandari’s Parishad managed to win 16 of the 32 seats in the House and with Lachen Rinpoche’s help – he was the Sangha MLA  (independent) – the Parishad formed the government.

   Rinpoche passed away on September 18 last year (2012) after prolonged illness. His last wish was to build a statue of Guru Rinpoche, who visited Sikkim in the 8^th century, at the sacred Gurudongmar Lake in Lachen, North Sikkim. His Holiness the Sakya Trizin referred to Rinpoche as “one of the outstanding masters of his generation.”

   Athup Lepcha was a mere employee in the State forest department when Sikkimese nationalist leaders approached him to take on the merger architect – Kazi Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa – in the 1979 Assembly elections from the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu in North Sikkim. Kazi – a Lepcha – thought Dzongu would be the safest constituency to return to the Assembly. But the Lepchas of Dzongu voted for Athup and gave a befitting send-off to the man who ‘sold’ Sikkim to its protecting power. Kazi bit the dust, settled in neighbouring Kalimpong after the humiliating defeat and finally died a lonely death.

   ‘Capt’ Sonam Yongda of the Sikkim Guards was – and still is – unflinchingly loyal to the Chogyal and Sikkim. He was unjustifiably jailed several times for standing up for his cause. The establishment – as in the merge era – still treats pro-Sikkim people as ‘anti-India.’ When will India realize that we mean no harm to it for being pro-Sikkim? Have we demanded independence? We have only asked for preservation of our distinct identity within the Indian Union.

   My friend Hem Lall Bhandari was just a student when he questioned the merger. He still continues to do so.  Why not? India’s own Prime Minister Morarji Desai said the manner in which Sikkim was merged was not right. Hem Lall’s decision to edit Pro-Sikkim English weekly recently reflected his love and dedication for Sikkim. It is very unfortunate and sad that those leaders who profess to be pro-Sikkim have not been able to utilize the services of Hem Lall and others like him who share the same conviction. By their action our so-called leaders have exposed themselves and shown who they really are.

   There are many, including people like Netuk Tsering, Martam Topden, DK Khati, Tholung Pipon, Kunzang Dorji, Basant Kumar Chhetri, Sherab Palden, Ugen Paljor Gyaltsen, MM Rasaily, whose contributions in opposing the ‘merger’ during and after the takeover must be appreciated and acknowledged. And there are many more – unknown and unsung heroes – who stood for Sikkim during its hour of trial and tribulation.

   The role of people like KC Pradhan and RC Poudyal during the ‘merger’ period has been misunderstood by many. They wanted democracy with greater political power for the majority Sikkimese Nepalese within the bounds of Sikkim and were against being part of the world’s largest democracy. They should not be blamed for what eventually happened to Sikkim. They were overtaken by events and became victims of circumstances and power politics.

   Long after the takeover, fake democrats who betrayed Sikkim and the Sikkimese people still continue to be rewarded and decorated just to please New Delhi. One of the unkindest cut that was inflicted on our anti-merger heroes was Sherab Palden’s felicitation on May 16, 2013 (merger day). It was a crude bid to tarnish his image; but it will not work. Our memories of the merger era are intact and agents of disunity, division and destruction will bite the dust one day.

  In this column I want to say how indebted and grateful we are to those who stood up, suffered and yet fought for preservation of Sikkim’s unique international status. I believe there are many who share my feeling on this.

   When I asked him several years back what his feelings for Sikkim was now that everything is over, noted journalist and columnist Sunanda K. Datta-Ray just said, “It is not my country” and left at that. And yet Datta-Ray’s book – Smash and Grab – Annexation of Sikkim – must go down in history as perhaps the only authoritative and authentic account of what really happened to Sikkim during the merger and why. Here is a worthy non-Sikkimese Indian who shared our burden and courageously informed the world the injustices we had to put up with. 

   When I met the author in Gangtok recently and asked him to autograph his book which I bought in 1985 he wrote: “With warm regards for a true and loyal son of Sikkim.” This was my reward for being pro-Sikkim and standing up against all odds all along – despite trying circumstances – from a person I respect.

   After his death the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, which during Kazi’s rule abolished the institution of the Chogyal, paid a tribute to the fallen hero in these words which were read out in the Assembly by its Deputy Speaker Lal Bahadur Basnet: “During the hour of his trial, when his very throne was at stake, Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal stood like a rock and sacrificed petty considerations for the lofty ideal he had espoused. He lost, but in the very process of losing his throne and status, he rose to his full stature. For when ‘little men’ who rule the roost in Sikkim will have been consigned to dust, posterity will look back with awe and respect upon the last representative of the House of Namgyal on the throne of Sikkim and say that Palden Thondup Namgyal bowed out of the political stage of Sikkim with the grace of a ruler and with the courage of a real man. He lost his Kingdom, but gained a martyr’s halo. And his descendents will be able to walk with their heads held high whatever their circumstances in life happen to be.”

  Indeed, all true sons and daughters of Sikkim will forever walk with their heads held high in the land of their origin no matter what all because of those who did not bow down when the easy thing was to give in to pressures and lures of a better life.

 

(Talk Sikkim magazine, June 22, 2013)