Sikkimese Nepalese Dilemma

 

Chamling

   Our sincere efforts to resolve the seat issue in mid-2000 faced a major setback when the ruling elite created a climate of fear, tension and mistrust on the seat issue. Added to this was the fact that the two OSU leaders – Athup Lepcha and KC Pradhan – representing the Lepchas and Nepalese respectively in our organization, either kept mum or maintained a low profile. I was left all alone to defend the issues raised by us.

   However, the movement for restoration of the political rights of bonafide Sikkimese took a new turn with the SSP chief, N.B. Bhandari, in July 2000 demanding a “special session” of the Assembly to discuss the Assembly seat issue. While denying allegations that his party had raised the seat issue to topple the Chamling Government, Bhandari warned, “The Government may be toppled if there is any delay in resolving the seat issue.”

   He pointed out, “The ruling Government had opposed the demand for restoration of seats by not supporting it in the Assembly.” Bhandari, who first came to power in October 1979, said the seat issue is the “singlemost important demand” of the Sikkimese people since 1979, when the reserved Assembly seats of the Sikkimese Nepalese were abolished and seats reserved for the BLs reduced to 12 from 15. He also pointed out that 40,000 people signed the resolution on the seat issue at a public meeting of his party (Congress-I) in Karfectar in South Sikkim in April 1982.

Bhandari

   The former chief minister not only alleged that “vested interests”, which were “hungry for money and power”, had “sabotaged” his party’s efforts to table a resolution on the seat issue in the Assembly in June 2000, but formation of an Advisory Committee by the Chamling Government on the seat issue, after its rejection of the seat resolution, was an “eyewash” to “fool the people”.

   Apart from Bhandari and Chamling, the OSU had also written to three former chief ministers of the State - L.D. Kazi, B.B. Gooroong, and S.M. Limboo - seeking their active support and participation on the seat issue. Four chief ministers, including Bhandari, ruled the State from 1974 to 1994. Except for Kazi, a Lepcha, the three (Bhandari, Gooroong and Limboo) belonged to the Nepalese community. Their views on the seat issue, when it was raised in the Assembly in June 2000, was important as there was a growing feeling in the State that Sikkimese Nepalese do not really want to preserve their distinct identity through reservation of their seats in the Assembly. Their silence, when the issue was raised by non-political organizations for a speedy and satisfactory resolution, speaks volumes and can never be forgotten or forgiven.

A section of the Nepalese in Sikkim prefer a sizable number of Assembly seats, based on population, be kept for them in the general category rather than having equal number or a reasonable number of seats reserved for them in the reserved category. In this way not only will they have more seats to contest from as they are in the majority but it would also enable non-Sikkimese Nepalese from the Nepali community, who have settled in Sikkim before, during and after the ‘merger’, to identify themselves with Sikkimese Nepalese and contest from these seats.

   Many Sikkimese Nepalese make no distinction between themselves and other Nepalese living in Darjeeling, Assam, Bhutan or Nepal. For them, reservation of Assembly seats exclusively for the Sikkimese Nepalese – irrespective of how many seats are reserved – would divide the Nepalese and cause unnecessary obstacle towards unification of Nepalese living in the region. For short-term gains this approach seems perfect but in the long run the Nepalese will be no match to plainspeople who will surely head to the hills for permanent settlement in years and decades to come. Unlike before when Sikkim was a separate country it would be extremely difficult for the authorities to stop the influx of plainspeople. But no one seems to care for the long-term perspective and what happens here in 20-30 years time.

Pradhan, Kazi and Gurung

   After the failure of the two parties to resolve the seat issue in the House and the controversy, confusion and communal tension that followed I made up my mind not to go ahead on the seat issue unless the Sikkimese Nepalese leadership and the Sikkimese Nepalese themselves gave a clear and concrete verdict on the issue. This was perhaps one of the most important decisions that I have taken in my life. It was a watershed moment in my political thinking.

   My appeal to the Sikkimese Nepalese on the seat issue came through a Press statement on October 18, 2000: “Ever since June 2000, consistent efforts have been made by vested interests to create communal disharmony between the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals and the majority Nepalese using the seat issue. Communal pamphleteering, public speeches and whisper campaign against the minority communities were part of a conspiracy to tear apart the age-old fabric of peace, unity and harmony in the State.

   While vested interests, for their political and personal gains, may be up to some mischief it must be borne in mind that the controversy and confusion on the Assembly seat issue has created doubts in the minds of the people on the views of the Sikkimese Nepalese on the seat issue. Do the Sikkimese Nepalesse really want to preserve, protect and promote their special status in Sikkim? Do they really want seats reserved for them in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly?

   The controversy created on the seat issue by a section of the people indicates that the Sikkimese Nepalese either do not want seats for themselves in the Assembly or are in two minds on the issue. Doubts have also been raised on whether the Sikkimese Nepalese want to protect their distinct identity as ‘Sikkimese Nepalese’ or merge their identity with the rest of the Nepalese residing in the sub-continent and elsewhere.”

   Referring to the failure to move a resolution on the seat issue in the Assembly in June 2000, I said: “A resolution on the seat issue in the Assembly would have been most democratic and ideal way to discuss and debate on the matter. But this did not take place and instead a climate of fear, apprehension, mistrust and disharmony was created with the sole objective of stalling the issue…

  The OSU was of the firm belief that the Sikkimese Nepalese, like the Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepchas, did want to retain their special status within the Union. But in the light of what has happened in the past five months, following withdrawal of the resolution on the seat issue, and the negative feelings generated by a section which has become very vocal on the issue, there is the need for the right-thinking people to speak out their mind loud and clear on the said issue and not remain silent spectators to what is happening.”

   My final appeal was: “The OSU is a ‘Sikkimese’ organization and believes in working for the interest of all bonafide Sikkimese hailing from the three ethnic communities and others living in the State in the past so many years.  Therefore, unless the Sikkimese Nepalese from all sections of its population send a clear-cut message on the seat issue the OSU will will not have the moral right and the authority to pursue further on behalf of the Sikkimese Nepalese on the said issues…The OSU will chalk out its future plan of action for the Sikkimese people after it has made an in-depth analysis based on the reactions of the Sikkimese Nepalese on the seat issue.”

 

(Ref: The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, Gangtok, 2014, jigmenkazisikkim.blogspot.com)

 

Jigme N. Kazi:

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 (2009), The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland (2014), Sons of Sikkim: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim and Hail Mt. Hermon! A Tribute (2020).