Bhutan king to marry Jetsun Pema in October

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     Vol 1 No 19       Page 1                May 25, 2011

Bhutan king to marry Jetsun Pema in October

Himalayan News Network

Thimphu, May 24: It is now official. The Druk Kingdom’s 31-year-old King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk will marry Jetsun Pema (20) in October this year.

The formal announcement came from the King himself who declared in the Parliament last Friday that he intends to marry Jetsun Pema in October.

"As king, it is now time for me to marry. After much thought I have decided that the wedding shall be later this year," the young King declared.

King Jigme and Jetsun Pema

"While she is young, she is warm and kind in heart and character,” is how the British-educated King described his future wife and Queen of Bhutan.

"These qualities together with the wisdom that will come with age and experience will make her a great servant to the nation," the King said.

King Jigme, who completed his studies at Oxford and was crowned the monarch in 2008, announced his marriage plans on May 20.

The King took over after the abdication in 2006 of his father, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who began the country's democratic transition. In March 2008, Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy and the King relinquished his absolute powers.

Wangchuck, however, is widely revered in the country of some 700,000 people.

The young monarch had known Pema, who has been educated in India and Britain, for "quite some time.”

A biography released by the palace listed her interests as fine arts, painting and basketball.

Jetsun Pema, who was born in Thimphu on June 4, 1990, stands pretty at 5' 10". She had joined the Lawrence School in 2006 and cleared her plus two examination in 2008. Before joining Sanawar, she studied at the St. Joseph's Convent in Kalimpong (West Bengal) and Changangkha Lower Secondary School and Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan. She graduated from Regents College, London.

The future queen of Bhutan comes from the Bumthang Pangtey family and her father, Dhondup Gyaltshen, is the grandson of Trashigang Dzongpon Dopola. Her mother, Sonam Chuki, comes from the family of Bumthang Pangtey. Sonam Chukie, too, is an alumnus of Kalimpong’s St. Joseph’s Convent. Jetsun Pema has two brothers and two sisters.

CHAMLING ON 36-DAY ‘MEET-THE-PEOPLE’ MISSION

SIKKIM OBSERVER   Vol 20 No 14 Page 1 May 21 2011

CHAMLING ON 36-DAY ‘MEET-THE-PEOPLE’ MISSION

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 20: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s 36-day marathon tour of the State, which began from his home constituency in South Sikkim, aims to bring the administration to the doorsteps of the people with the objective of getting a first hand information about their “problems, grievances” and aspirations.

The Chief Minister began his tour on May 17 after offering prayers at the newly-built Sirdhi Sai temple at Assangthang in Namchi. The day ended at Char Dham temple at Solopphok (Namchi). During the day the Chief Minister and his entourage visited Assangthang, Raika Gaon, Salghari, Chisopani, Nandu Gaon and Denchung.

“The Chief Minister was making person to person contact, interacting with them at all the places he visited. He also informed that this is the first time ever in India that such an innovative programme of bringing the government to know about the problems and grievances of the people and general public has come to their doorsteps,” an IPR release said.

On the third day of the tour at Mikhola, the Chief Minister said, “We have come to learn from you where our weakness lies.” He added, “Inspite of the fact we have all the required facilities and infrastructure” there is still “poverty” in the State.

During the tour Chamling gave patient hearings to the problems and grievances of the general public convincing the people about the various schemes and the programmes of the Government, the release said.

During his tour Chamling, accompanied by ministers and top civil servants, interacted with the people at all places and personally enquired about the problems they faced.

The Chief Minister informed the people that such person-to-person contact programme was done for the first time in the country. During the visit, the Chief Minister made several on-the-spot announcements of development schemes for the people.

Editorial

CENTRE’S ‘NO’

Taxing Times For Sikkim

The Centre’s recent decision not to grant income tax exemption to non-Sikkimese who were settled in Sikkim before the ‘merger’ in 1975 comes at a time when the business community in the State is faced with a burden of having to pay heavy taxes to the State exchequer under numerous heads such as trade licence, hotel tax etc. The Chamling Government’s recent initiatives to cater to the growing needs and insecurities of ‘old settlers’ in Sikkim, many of whom are plainspeople, have faced stiff opposition. While the Union Finance Ministry has closed the chapter on the issue of IT extension to the ‘left out’ persons, Opposition parties’ recent opposition to the Chamling Government’s readiness to issue ‘pink cards’ to ‘Sikkim subjects’ has forced the administration to keep the issue in abeyance.

Critics of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front in Sikkim believe that in the name of issuing ‘pink cards’ to bonafide Sikkimese who possess genuine Sikkim Subject Certificate and grant of income tax exemption to those whose names were ‘left out’ from the Sikkim Subjects Registrar, a document containing a list of ‘Sikkim Subjects’ maintained during the Chogyal’s rule in Sikkim,  a host of non-Sikkimese and foreign nationals would stand to greatly benefit from these initiatives, threatening the political and economic rights and interests of bonafide Sikkimese who possess genuine Sikkim Subject Certificate and who belong to the three ethnic communities – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese of Sikkimese origin.

   The Chamling Government wants tax exemption for members of old business community and farmers who were permanently settled in Sikkim before 1961. It has also demanded that government servants who were in government service before 1969 also be granted income tax exemption. However, the Centre is not ready to comply with Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s demand. “It will not be advisable now to reopen a subject which had been concluded after 18 years of negotiation with consensus,” the letter from the Union Finance Ministry  to Prem Goyal, Chief Coordinator of Nagarik Sangharsh Samiti, who has been pursuing the issue, said. It added that because of this “it would not be feasible to include non-Sikkimese” under the ambit of income tax exemptions provided to bonafide Sikkimese who were regarded as “Sikkim Subjects” during the Chogyal era before Sikkim’s absorption into the Indian Union in 1975.

PRIDE OF SIKKIM

TNA student topper at Mayo College

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 20: Deepika Agarwal, an ex-student of the State’s prestigious Tashi Namgyal Academy (TNA), has become the “school topper” in the class 12 (Indian School Certificate) board examination at Mayo College Girls School, Ajmer.

She scored 97.75% in the commerce stream and topped her class. This has brought “glory, joy and pride” to her parents, TNA and the State as a whole.

Deepika scored 100% in Accounts, 99% in Mathematics, 97% in English, 95 % in Commerce and 94% in Economics.

Deepika joined Mayo College after completing her class 10 at TNA in 2009. She hails from a family belonging to the old business community in the State. Daughter of Bramanand Agarwal and grand daughter of late Tarachand Agarwal, Deepika’s family has been residing in Sikkim for more than 100 years.

Chamling faces twin setback: pink card proposal shelved, income tax demand rejected

Jigme N Kazi

Gangtok: While the Chamling Government’s claim on economic empowerment of the people may be debatable, politically Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, who has been in power for the fourth consecutive term since 1994, has recently faced two significant setbacks.

Firstly, the Centre has turned down the State Government’s demand for income-tax exemption for pre-merger settlers in the State who do not possess the Sikkim Subject Certificate (SSC), an authentic document issued to ‘Sikkim Subjects’ by the Chogyal’s durbar as a proof of their nationality.

Secondly, the Chamling Government’s bid to issue ‘pink card’ to bonafide Sikkimese, who possess genuine Sikkim Subject Certificate, has also been shelved due to strong opposition by Opposition parties, including the Congress party, in the State.

   The Chamling Government wants tax exemption for members of old business community and farmers who were permanently settled in Sikkim before 1961. It has also demanded that government servants, who were in government service before 1969, also be granted income tax exemption. To put more pressure on the Centre on the issue the State Assembly recently passed a resolution demanding income tax exemption to ‘old settlers’ in the State at par with the Sikkimese who possess Sikkim Subject Certificate.

    However, the Centre is not ready to comply with Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s demand. “It will not be advisable now to reopen a subject which had been concluded after 18 years of negotiation with consensus,” the letter from the Union Finance Ministry  to Prem Goyal, Chief Coordinator of Nagarik Sangharsh Samiti, who has been pursuing the issue with the Centre, said. It added that because of this “it would not be feasible to include non-Sikkimese” under the ambit of income tax exemptions provided to bonafide Sikkimese who were regarded as “Sikkim Subjects” during the Chogyal era.

    Local Sikkimese fear that Chamling is wooing non-Sikkimese as he has lost the confidence of bonafide Sikkimese in the State who feel that ‘outsiders’ have largely benefited from the State’s development activities. The Chamling Government’s recent initiatives to cater to the growing needs and insecurities of ‘old settlers’ in Sikkim, many of whom are plainspeople, have faced stiff opposition.

While the Union Finance Ministry has closed the chapter on the issue of IT extension to the ‘left out’ persons, Opposition parties’ recent opposition to the Chamling Government’s readiness to issue ‘pink cards’ to ‘Sikkim subjects’ has forced the administration to keep the issue in abeyance.

Critics of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) in Sikkim believe that in the name of issuing ‘pink cards’ to bonafide Sikkimese, who possess genuine Sikkim Subject Certificate, a host of non-Sikkimese and foreign nationals would stand to greatly benefit from this initiative, threatening the political and economic rights and interests of bonafide Sikkimese who belong to the three ethnic communities – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese of Sikkimese origin.

   Opposition parties have demanded names of 31,180 ‘fake’ Sikkim Subject Certificate (SSC) holders in the State to be made public. They allege that the Chamling Government is determined to issue ‘pink cards’ to holders of fake Sikkim Subject Certificate, ostensibly in the name of bonafide Sikkimese, in order to give them income tax exemption at par with former ‘Sikkim Subjects.”

“Five years have gone but the people holding the fake papers have not been brought to justice or the false certificates revoked,” said Biraj Adhikari, President of Sikkim National People’s Party (SNPP).

Adhikari and other Opposition leaders, including State BJP President Padam Chettri and Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad Party (SHRPP) President AD Subba, are convinced of the State Government’s “hidden agenda” in the pink-card episode.

Chamling, while defending his government’s initiative on the issue, said the objective of the ‘pink card’ exercise is to safeguard the rights and identity of bonafide Sikkimese who are now said to be less than 50 per cent of the State’s six lakh population.

Guv backs CM on inclusion of ‘Sikkim’ in national anthem

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 20: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s efforts towards Sikkim’s “emotional integration” with the mainstream received a big boost with Governor BP Singh endorsing his move to replace ‘Sindh’ with ‘Sikkim’ in the national anthem.

“I support the Chief Ministers contention of Sikkim to be a part of National Anthem,” the Governor during the 36^th State Day function here on May 16.

The Governor was referring to the suggestion put forward by the Chief Minister to substitute the word ‘Sindh’ in the national anthem with the word ‘Sikkim’. The Chief Minister had said that in the changed circumstances, Sikkim richly deserves this recognition to further promote a sense of emotional integration with India, an IPR release said.

 Sikkim was a Buddhist kingdom ruled by the Chogyals (kings) of the Namgyal Dynasty since 1642 before it became a part of India in 1975.

Article 371F of the Constitution, which provides special status to the State, was inserted into the Constitution during the merger in April-May, 1975.

Charles Bell and 13th Dalai Lama shared lasting friendship

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN  MAY 18, 2011

Charles Bell and 13^th Dalai Lama shared lasting friendship

Sir Charles Alfred Bell K.C.I.E. (1870 – 1945), born in Calcutta, was a British-Indian tibetologist. He was educated at Winchester College. After joining the Indian Civil Service, he was appointed Political Officer in Sikkim in 1908. He soon became very influential in Sikkimese and Bhutanese politics, and in 1910 he met the 13th Dalai Lama, who was forced into temporary exile by the Chinese.

He got to know the Dalai Lama quite well during this time, and he was later to write his biography (Portrait of the Dalai Lama, published in 1946). At various times he was the British Political Officer for Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet.

After travelling through Tibet and visiting Lhasa in 1920, he retired to Oxford, where he wrote his series of books on the history, culture and religion of Tibet. Some of his photographs that he took while in Tibet can be found in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Some of these can be found in a recently published book Tibet: Caught in Time (containing photographs by Charles Bell and John Claude White; Reading: Garnet, 1997).

His English-Tibetan colloquial dictionary was first published together with a grammar of colloquial Tibetan as Manual of Colloquial Tibetan in 1905. Charles Alfred Bell died in Canada in 1945.

Sir Charles Bell was a career diplomat in the service of the British Raj, the personification of the grandeur of an empire that spanned the world. The Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet was the spiritual and temporal leader of a remote and isolated theocracy in the heart of the Himalayas. Sir Charles represented the power and limitless potential of the new century. The Dalai Lama was the literal embodiment of an ancient lineage, an incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, the ruler of one of the most inaccessible and forbidding places on earth. That the two men should find so much in common and develop a bond of deep and lasting friendship is a wonder that does credit to them both. Sir Charles' biography of the Dalai Lama, Portrait of a Dalai Lama: The Life and Times of the Great Thirteenth is the story of that friendship.

Sir Charles Bell gives us a unique insight into the personality of the man behind the ritual and pageantry of his high office. He shows us a man of profound intelligence and sensitivity, a man of wit and humour, a man quick to anger, a man of compassion. This man, who ruled with absolute authority and was revered as a living god, gave Sir Charles Bell his friendship; and, through his eyes, we see a man of warmth and charm, who loved his dogs and his garden.

 

'STATE DAY' WARNING FOR NEW DELHI

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     Vol 1 No 19       Page 1                    May 18, 2011

 'STATE DAY' WARNING FOR NEW DELHI

Rethinking in Sikkim if Centre ignores rampant corruption, misrule: Sikkim Liberation Party

Himalayan News Network

Gangtok, May 17: The newly-formed Sikkim Liberation Party (SLP) has warned the Centre that if it continues to neglect rampant corruption, suppression of democratic rights, and alleged misrule in the State which has been the order of the day in the past three and half decades since the merger, the Sikkimese people would be forced to take a “different course” of action to shape their future.

In its memorandum, dated May 16, 2011, to the Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, SLP Convenor, Duk Nath Nepal, said the party’s letter to him was the “last hope” of the Sikkimese people to set things right in Sikkim before it is too late.

The message in the memorandum is well-timed as it comes on May 16, which is annually observed as a State Day in the State, commemorating the day (May 16, 1975) when the former kingdom formally became the 22^nd State of India.

Stating that Central funds are widely misused in the past three decades, when two persons ruled Sikkim, Nepal alleged that New Delhi remained a mute spectator to the three-decade-long misrule in the State. Central funds and development projects are used to “murder democracy”, suppress democratic values and destroy the “social structure” of the Sikkimese people, Nepal said in the memorandum, which was release to the local media.

If what is going on in Sikkim is supposed to be “a fruit of democracy” and “dreams of our forefathers” then, Nepal warned, “democracy is sure to die an untimely death,” the memorandum said.

It further warned: “…if the Government of India cannot keep the promise made to our forefathers” and if there is further suppression of the democratic movement in Sikkim “…it would take no time for us to take a different course.”

China rules out dialogue with new Tibet PM

“Talks only with Dalai Lama’s aides”

Himalayan News Network

Beijing, May 17: China has effectively ruled out dialogue with the Tibetan government-in-exile's new prime minister, saying it will only meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama and will limit any talks to the Tibetan spiritual leader's future.

The remarks by Zhu Weiqun, a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department -- which has led unsuccessful on-off talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys -- are Beijing's strongest reaction yet to the election of Harvard law scholar Lobsang Sangay as Tibet's new prime minister in exile, Reuters reported.

In an interview on the website of the China News Service on Thursday Zhu said the exiled government was an illegal group with no recognition.

"We have two basic points when it comes to contacts and negotiations. The first is that the capacity of the other side can only be as the Dalai Lama's private representatives," the article cited Zhu as saying.

"It does not matter who is the 'kalon tripa' (prime minister) of his 'government in exile', they are a splittist political clique that has betrayed the motherland. There is nothing legal about them and they have no qualifications to 'talk' with the central government's representatives," he added.

Sangay told Reuters in an interview this week that he was willing to negotiate with Beijing "anytime, anywhere", suggesting his leadership would not be significantly different from that of the Dalai Lama.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama said in March he would relinquish the four-century old tradition of political guidance in favour of a popularly elected leader by the Tibetan diaspora.

Zhu, whose department oversees the Party's dealings with religious organisations, said the only meaningful thing the exiled government could do was dissolve itself.

"The content of negotiations can only be about the Dalai Lama's future, or at most that of a few of his personal aides," Zhu said.

New Tibet PM to pursue genuine autonomy demand

Arvind Sharma 

Dharamsala, May 17: The new Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay expressed hope that dialogue process with China and representatives of the Dalai Lama would resume. The talks had been suspended by China after protests in Tibet just before the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

    Sangay has also endorsed the middle-way approach adopted by the Dalai Lama in which he had sought meaningful autonomy under Chinese sovereignty. “The stated policy of the Tibetan government in exile is the middle-way. So, I as the Kalon Tripa elect, when I take over, which is likely to be in mid-August, will implement that policy,” he said.

On his arrival here from the US last week-end Sangay told reporters that one of his main priorities would be to ensure that the Dalai Lama returns to his “rightful place in Lhasa.”

“His Holiness Dalai Lama made the magnanimous decision to dissolve his political power to elected leaders. It is not a question of replacing him, he’s irreplaceable, he’s led us brilliantly for the last 50 years and he will be a great source of inspiration for all of us,” Sangay said. 

The new PM will be administered oath to the office on May 30. He, however, will assume office in August when the term of present Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche ends.

Sangay will also participate in the debate of Tibetan parliamentarians and other leaders over the draft proposals framed by a committee of Tibetan parliamentarians for devolution of political and administrative authority of the Dalai Lama to the elected leadership.

After the draft proposals for devolving the political and administrative authority of the Dalai Lama are discussed by the Tibetan luminaries, a special session of Tibetan parliament-in-exile will be convened at the end of May to pass resolutions.

Nepal govt for another year extension for Parliament

Himalayan News Network

Kathmandu, May 17: Nepal's government on Thursday proposed a second one-year extension in the life of the current parliament that was elected in 2008 to draft a new constitution but has singularly failed to do so.

The parliament, known as the Constituent Assembly, was originally elected with a two-year mandate -- meant to end on May 28, 2010 with the promulgation of the new constitution, AFP reported.

Political deadlock in the Maoist-dominated house resulted in a one-year extension to May 2011 and, with no constitution in sight, the cabinet has now proposed a second extension to May 2012.

"We have decided to extend the term because it became clear that we won't be able to promulgate the constitution within the deadline," Education Minister Gangalal Tuladhar told reporters.

The decision followed a multi-party meeting, notable for the absence of two opposition parties who want to stick with the original deadline, the report said.

The proposed extension will require the support of two-thirds of parliament. "The government will hold negotiations with other parties to garner their votes to secure the approval," Tuladhar said.

Nepal has struggled to build any political consensus in the wake of a decade-long civil war between Maoist rebels and the state.

The conflict ended in 2006 and led to the abolition of a centuries-old Hindu monarchy, ushering in a difficult transition period to democracy in which the drafting of a new constitution is considered a crucial step.

The lack of progress, amid splits between and inside various parties, has seen public anger mounting in recent months with civil society groups demanding that MPs deliver the constitution in time.

Editorial

TIBET TALK

China Must Listen

The newly-elected Prime Minister, Lobsang Sangay, of the exiled Tibetan Government has stated that one of his top priorities would be to continue engaging Beijing with the on-going dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government. This indeed is a step in the right direction and with the Dalai Lama formally relinquishing political power Beijing may be quite responsive to initiatives taken by the new Tibetan leadership in the dialogue process. The 43-year-old Harvard law graduate, who comes from a humble background, seems eager to address the Tibet issue through peaceful means unlike a section of the younger exiled Tibetan leadership which prefer a more radical way to tackle Beijing. The changed political leadership among the exiled Tibetans ought to evoke a more realistic and flexible attitude from the Chinese government. Both parties stand to gain if the Tibet issue is resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned when the Dalai Lama is still there to lead and guide.

While leading the exiled government Sangay must note that one of his main priorities should be to work towards more democratization of not only the system of governance but to help the Tibetans in Tibet and elsewhere to think and act democratically in society and in their daily life. The Dalai Lama has graciously given up political power to enable Tibetans to work towards a secular, democratic society while preserving Tibet’s rich and unique cultural heritage. Sangay must, therefore, build on the foundations laid by the Dalai Lama and other Tibetans to move forward.

Bimal Gurung on poll results:

“VICTORY FOR GORKHALAND”

C. Tamang

Darjeeling, May 17: With the massive mandate of the people in the just-concluded Assembly polls in West Bengal, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) is now poised to start a new chapter to its statehood demand.

The Morcha’s three candidates won all three hill constituencies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong with a massive margin, leaving the Opposition in a state of shock and desperation.

The victory margin of the three winning candidates is also the highest in the State.

Trilok Dewan, GJM candidate from Darjeeling, secured 120532 votes defeating his nearest rival Bhim Subba of the GNLF who had secured 13977 votes, by a margin of 106555 votes.

Harka Bahadur Chettri, GJM candidate from Kalimpong, secured 109,102 votes defeating his nearest rival Prakash Dahal of the GNLF who had secured 7427 votes, by a margin of 101675 votes.

Rohit Sharma, GJM candidate from Kurseong secured 114297 votes defeating his nearest rival Pemu Chettri of the GNLF who had secured 21201 votes, by a margin of 93096 votes.

In Darjeeling the total number of votes polled was 153523; in Kurseong it was 154449 and in Kalimpong 124875.

“This is a unique victory. Our rivals have forfeited their deposits. This is a victory for Gorkhaland, the public and the able candidates,” said GJM President Bimal Gurung.

Ghising leaves hills after GNLF-GJM clash 

Darjeeling, May 17: Though he had promised not to leave Darjeeling after the Assembly polls Gorkha National Liberation Front chief Subash Ghising was forced to quit the hills late on Sunday  after clashes broke out between his supporters and rival Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters on Sunday.

GNLF activists reportedly attacked a Morcha victory celebration near Sonada on Sunday night. While one Morcha member was stabbed on the neck another three were injured in the clashes.

In retaliation, Morcha supporters vandalized five houses of GNLF supporters in Sonada, located between Darjeeling and Kurseong.

 The Morcha leadership has blamed Ghising for the unrest. Four GNLF supporters have been arrested. Ghising reportedly left the hills on Sunday night.

Morcha supporter Rabin Rai, who was injured in the incident, was taken to a Siliguri hospital for medical treatment.

The newly elected Morcha MLA from Kurseong Rohit Sharma, accused the GNLF of trying to disrupt the victory celebration. “Armed GNLF goons hurled stones at our party members. Soon after, they attacked our supporters.”

"We have deployed a contingent of police in Sonada. The situation is normal," said Darjeeling SP D P Singh. The four arrested persons were produced in the Kurseong court on Monday.

Morcha MLAs threaten to resign if Gorkhaland demand is rejected

Mamata to keep her Darjeeling promises 

Kolkata, May 17: Trinamool Congress leader and CM-designate Mamata Banerjee said she would try to sort out the Jangalmahal and Darjeeling hills problems within three months.

"I will try my level best to sort out the problems in three months," Banerjee told a Bengali news channel here, a national daily reported.

While Jangalmahal area in three districts of West Bengal are affected by the Maoist problem, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is demanding separate statehood for the Darjeeling Hills.

"I will go to Jangalmahal and Darjeeling Hills as promised and talk to the people there," she said.

Mamata is also expected to appeal to the Centre to solve the Darjeeling problem.

Meanwhile, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha is hopeful that Mamata would fulfil her promise of finding an amicable solution in the hills within 100 days of her coming to power.

The newly-elected Morcha MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri said, “We will talk to Mamata Banerjee after she assumes charge as chief minister. If she does not agree to our demands, we will resign from the Assembly and the GJM will chalk out plans for future agitation for Gorkhaland," Chhetri said.

He, however, added, “We will either be a part of the government or resign from the Assembly, particularly if it is proved beyond doubt that Trinamul and the Congress will not accept our key demand for Gorkhaland,” Chhetri said.

 “We have supported the Congress-Trinamul alliance in the Dooars and the Terai. So we have every right to want to participate in the new government if the alliance comes to power,” Chhetri said.

“In case our demand is turned down outright, then we shall resign as there is no point in sitting in the Opposition. The GNLF sat in the Opposition for all these years but achieved nothing.”

Chhetri, however, said the Morcha would not apply pressure on the new government to clear its stand on this statehood demand “from day one” but would give it “sufficient time” to make up its mind.

No IT exemption for non-Sikkimese: Centre

Goyal to pursue issue with Rajya Sabha panel

Gangtok, May 17: Despite the Centre’s decision not to give income tax exemption for non-Sikkimese social activist and Chief Coordinator of Nagarik Sangharsh Samiti Prem Goyal seems confident that he would get a favourable response from the Centre on the issue for the old business community in the State.

Briefing reporters here last Friday, Goyal said he had received a letter from the Union Finance Ministry’s Revenue Department stating that the Centre was not keen on giving income tax exemption to non-Sikkimese, who do not possess the Sikkim Subject Certificate. This certificate is issued to bonafide Sikkimese (Sikkim subjects) during the rule of the Chogyal (king) before the merger in 1975.

The letter, dated April 25, 2011, was in response to Goyal’s memorandum to the Finance Ministry urging it to consider giving IT exemption to old settlers who resided in Sikkim before 1975.

Goyal said while the Finance Ministry had closed the chapter on his demand he has also approached the Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Petition Committee on the same subject. The committee has  accepted his petition and the first hearing took place in January this year.

According to Goyal, the panel is likely take up the hearing of the issue on May 16 and a positive response is expected from the 10-member committee.

Several organisations of the business community in the State close to the ruling party and government had placed much hope on the Chamling Government to get IT exemption for pre-merger settlers in the State. The government had also passed a resolution in the State Assembly in March this year demanding tax exemption for non-Sikkimese who were settled in Sikkim before 1969.

After nearly two decades of fighting the Centre granted IT exemption to bonafide Sikkimese in 2008.

“In this regard, I am directed to state that the exemption package to Sikkim was granted after a well consulted and considered decision, involving the representatives from Government of Sikkim,” the letter to Goyal said. It added, “It will not be advisable now to reopen a subject which had been concluded after 18 years of negotiation with consensus. Therefore, it would not be feasible to include Non-Sikkimese under the ambit of exemptions provided by section 10(26AAA) of the Act.”

HUMAN RIGHTS Under the Shadow of Guns

SIKKIM OBSERVER   Vol 20 No 13 Page 1 May 14 2011

Editorial

HUMAN RIGHTS

Under the Shadow of Guns

The Northeast of India has always existed on the periphery of the nation’s consciousness, and in the footnotes of the narrative of growth, progress and development. In a region where lawlessness, rape, murder, army excesses, arbitrary detention, torture and repression are the order of the day, the man in uniform is a formidable and fearsome figure. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) that is in force in the Northeast is one of the most draconian laws that Parliament has enacted in its legislative history. The law has fostered a climate in which the agents of law enforcement use excessive force at their command and set a pattern of apparently unlawful killings of “suspected” civilians. The Act give security forces unlimited powers to carry out operations with impunity once an area is declared “disturbed.”

The State of Manipur has been groaning under the heels of this repressive law for far too long now, where the dreaded legislation has brought with it tales of untold sufferings. “Manipur reflects the true repressive character of the Indian State as it continues to reel under the shadow of guns with its people reduced to a day-to-day struggle for a minimum existence with dignity,” states the Independent People’s Tribunal’s latest Report on Human Rights Violations in Manipur. More than anyone Manipur’s Irom Sharmila Chanu’s ten-year fast demanding repeal of this dreaded Act symbolizes the struggle for “justice and peace” in the Northeast. As long as New Delhi remains a silent spectator to the struggles of the people in India’s vulnerable Northeast region there cannot be enduring peace and lasting development there no matter how much money is pumped to silence the hopes and aspirations of the people.

Get serious on accountability, CM tells officials

“Curb the menace of corruption in administration”

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 13: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has urged ministers and heads of departments to get serious about their work and be more accountable to the people.

Announcing that he would begin his month-long village tour in the State from May 17, the Chief Minister, while addressing the coordination meeting of ministers and heads of departments here on Tuesday, directed department heads to accompany him during the tour.

The Chief Minister urged the head of the departments to be “very serious about the outcome of the meeting as we as public representatives and government servants are answerable and responsible to the people,” an IPR release said.

The proposed tour is aimed at assessing and reviewing the works undertaken by the government, the release said.

“We will see where our weakness lies and even take decisions on the spot,” Chamling said.

While taking a review of some of the government’s schemes, the Chief Minister said work at the new township in Pakyong in east Sikkim was going on a slow pace and asked the officials to speed up the delivery system.

“When the government is giving the best facility to the government servant why not the government servants give best service to the people,” Chamling asked.

The Chief Minister also asked the Forest department to expedite the process of forest clearance for the ambitious Sky Walk Project at Bhaley Dhunga in Yangang in south Sikkim.

With regard to the list of BPL the Chief Minister directed to the officials of the DESME, RMDD and Food & Civil Supplies to coordinate with each other and take out a solution for it. “There should be no any confusion in the BPL list”, he said and added that the benefits of the government should be given to the actual BPL beneficiary.

Referring to the resentment of the recent hike on trade license fee from the public, the Chief Minister instructed the UD & HD to put up the proposal to review the hike in the interest of the people.

In order to curb corrupt practices in the administration, the Chief Minister asked the officials to be “very strict” and “leave no stone unturned to curb the menace of corruption from the entire administrative machinery of the state.”

Chamling asked the officers “to search ways and means to take strict action to those government servants who resort to unfair activities,” the release said.

Solidarity Forum for Sikkimese unity, identity, against Sikkim-Darj merger: Basnet

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 13: Sikkim Solidarity Forum for Gorkhaland has reacted strongly to former minister KN Upreti’s allegation that the Forum was supporting the demand for Sikkim-Darjeeling merger.

Briefing the media here, Forum Chief Convenor Bharat Basnet said his organization was formed in February this year to give moral support to neighbouring Darjeeling people for their demand for creation of Gorkhaland state and not for Darjeeling’s merger with Sikkim.

While condemning Upreti for having mischievously twisted the Forum’s stand on Gorkhaland, Basnet said his organization does not want Sikkim-Darjeeling merger but want  restoration of the political rights of Sikkimese Nepalese and preservation of their distinct identity of Sikkimese Nepalese through declaration of all ethnic Sikkimese Nepalese, who possess ‘Sikkim Subjects Certificate’,  as ‘Scheduled Tribes’ in the State.

“Sikkim's merger was necessary for Indian national interest”

Sudheer Sharma

     King Palden Thondup Namgyal, the Chogyal of Sikkim was in his palace on the morning of 6 April, 1975 when the roar of army trucks climbing the steep streets of Gangtok brought him running to the window. There were Indian soldiers everywhere, they had surrounded the palace, and short rapid bursts of machine gun fire could be heard. Basanta Kumar Chhetri, a 19-year-old guard at the palace's main gate, was struck by a bullet and killed-the first casualty of the takeover. The 5,000-strong Indian force didn't take more than 30 minutes to subdue the palace guards who numbered only 243. By 12.45 it was all over, Sikkim ceased to exist as an independent kingdom.

     Captured palace guards, hands raised high were packed into trucks and taken away, singing: "Dela sil, li gi, gang changka chibso" (may my country keep blooming like a flower). But by the, the Indian tri-colour had replaced the Sikkimese flag at the palace where the 12th king of the Namgyal dynasty was held prisoner. "The Chogyal was a great believer in India. He had huge respect for Mahatma Gnadhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Not in his wildest dreams did he think India would ever swallow up his kingdom," recalls Captain Sonam Yongda, the Chogyal's aide-de-camp. Nehru himself had told journalist Kuldip Nayar in 1960: "Taking a small country like Sikkim by force would be like shooting a fly with a rifle." Ironically it was Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi who cited "national interest" to make Sikkim the 22nd state in the Indian union.

Pro-India

     In the years leading up to the 1975 annexation, there was enough evidence that all was not well in relations between New Delhi and Gangtok. The seeds were sown as far back as 1947 after India gained independence, when the Sikkim State Congress started an anti-monarchist movement to introduce democracy, end feudalism and merge with India. "We went to Delhi to talk to Nehru about these demands," recalls CD Rai, a rebel leader. "He told us, we'll help you with democracy and getting rid of feudalism, but don't talk about merger now." Relenting to pressure from pro-democracy supporters, the 11th Chogyal was forced to include Rai in a five-member council of ministers, to sign a one-sided treaty with India which would effectively turn Sikkim into an Indian "protectorate", and allow the stationing of an Indian "political officer" in Gangtok.

    As a leader of international stature with an anti-imperialist role on the world stage, Nehru did not want to be seen to be bullying small neighbours in his own backyard. But by 1964 Nehru had died and so had the 11th Chogyal, Sir Tashi Namgyal. There was a new breed of young and impatient political people emerging in Sikkim and things were in ferment. The plot thickened when Kaji Lendup Dorji (also known as LD Kaji) of the Sikkim National Congress, who had an ancestral feud with the Chogyal's family, entered the fray. By 1973, New Delhi was openly supporting the Kaji's Sikkim National Congress.

Tripartite agreement

    Pushed into a corner, the new Chogyal signed a tripatrite agreement with political parties and India under which there was further erosion of his powers. LD Kaji's Sikkim National Congress won an overwhelming majority in the 1974 elections, and within a year the cabinet passed a bill asking for the Chogyal's removal. The house sought a referendum, during which the decision was endorsed. "That was a charade," says KC Pradhan, who was then minister of agriculture. "The voting was directed by the Indian military."

India's "Chief Executive" in Gangtok wrote: "Sikkim's merger was necessary for Indian national interest. And we worked to that end. Maybe if the Chogyal had been smarter, and played his cards better, it wouldn't have turned out the way it did."

    It is also said that the real battle was not between the Chogyal and Kaji Lendup Dorji, but between their wives. On one side was Queen Hope Cook, the American wife of the Chogyal and on the other was the Belgian wife of the Kaji, Elisa-Maria Standford. "This was a proxy war between the American and the Belgian," says former chief minister, BB Gurung. But there was a third woman involved: Indira Gandhi in New Delhi.

     Chogyal Palden met the 24-year-old New Yorker, Hope Cook, in Darjeeling in 1963 and married her. For Cook, this was a dream come true: to become the queen of an independent kingdom in Shangrila. She started taking the message of Sikkimese independence to the youth, and the allegations started flying thick and fast that she was a CIA agent. These were the coldest years of the Cold War, and there was a tendency in India to see a "foreign hand" behind everything so it was not unusual for the American queen to be labelled a CIA agent. However, as Hope Cook's relations with Delhi deteriorated, so did her marriage with the Chogyal. In 1973, she took her two children and went back to New York. She hasn't returned to Sikkim since.

     Then there was Elisa-Maria, daughter of a Belgian father and German mother who left her Scottish husband in Burma and married LD Kaji in Delhi in 1957. The two couldn't have been more different. Elisa-Maria wanted to be Sikkim's First Lady, but Hope Cook stood in the way. "She didn't just want to be the wife of an Indian chief minister, she wanted to be the wife of the prime minister of an independent Sikkim." With that kind of an ambition, it was not surprising that with annexation, neither Hope Cook nor Elisa-Maria got what they wanted.

Indira Gandhi

     Meanwhile in New Delhi, Indira Gandhi was going from strength to strength, and India was flexing its muscles. The 1971 Bangladesh war and the atomic test in 1974 gave Delhi the confidence to take care of Sikkim once and for all. Indira Gandhi was concerned that Sikkim may show independent tendencies and become a UN member like Bhutan did in 1971, and she also didn't take kindly to the three Himalayan kingdoms, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal, getting too cosy with each other. The Chogyal attended King Birendra's coronation in Kathmandu in 1975 and hobnobbed with the Pakistanis and the Chinese, and there was a lobby in Delhi that felt Sikkim may get Chinese help to become independent.

     In his book on the Indian intelligence agency, Inside RAW, The story of India's secret service, Ashok Raina writes that New Delhi had taken the decision to annex Sikkim in 1971, and that the RAW used the next two years to create the right conditions within Sikkim to make that happen. The key here was to use the predominantly-Hindu Sikkimese of Nepali origin who complained of discrimination from the Buddhist king and elite to rise up. "What we felt then was that the Chogyal was unjust to us," says CD Rai, editor of Gangtok Times and ex-minister. "We thought it may be better to be Indian than to be oppressed by the king."

     So, when the Indian troops moved in there was general jubilation on the streets of Gangtok. It was in fact in faraway Kathmandu that there were reverberations. Beijing expressed grave concern. But in the absence of popular protests against the Indian move, there was only muted reaction at the United Nations in New York. It was only later that there were contrary opinions within India-Morarji Desai said in 1978 that the merger was a mistake. Even Sikkimese political leaders who fought for the merger said it was a blunder and worked to roll it back. But by then it was too late.

     Today, most Sikkimese know they lost their independence in 1975, and passengers in Gangtok still say they are "going to India". The elite have benefited from New Delhi's largesse and aren't complaining. As ex-chief minister BB Gurung says: "We can't turn the clock back now."

SIKKIM OBSERVER May 14, 2011

IT exemption for pre-merger old Indian settlers in Sikkim still open: Goyal

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 13: The Centre has decided not to grant income tax exemption to “non-Sikkimese” who have been living in Sikkim for generations.

In response to Prem Goyal, Chief Coordinator of Nagarik Sangharsh Samiti’s plea,  the Department of Revenue, Central Board of Direcst Taxes of the Ministry of Finance, said the issue of IT exemption to those other than Sikkimese (Sikkim Subjects) living in Sikkim was a closed chapter.

In its letter to Goyal, dated Apri 25, 2011, the Finance Ministry has stated that income tax exemption was given to bonafide Sikkimese,  i.e. those who were ‘Sikkim Subjects’ during the Chogyal era, after “a well consulted and considered decision”  during 18 years of “negotiation and consensus.”

“It will not be advisable now to reopen a subject which had been concluded after 18 years of negotiation with consensus,” the letter to Goyal by Vivek Anand Ojha, Under Secretary (TPL-1) of the Department said.

“Therefore, it would not be feasible to include non-Sikkimese under the ambit of exemptions provided by section 10(26AAA) of the Act,” the letter added.

Briefing reporters here today, Goyal said the “chapter for the government on the issue is closed,” as the Centre has decided against the demands made by the Chamling Government on the issue.

However, Goyal said he would continue to pursue the matter with the Central Government and urged the State Government to support him if it is still willing to seek income tax exemption for non-Sikkim Subject Indian nationals, who were settled in Sikkim before the merger on April 26, 1975.

LIBERATION FOR REAL PARIVARTAN

SIKKIM OBSERVER   Vol 20 No 13 Page 1 May 14 2011

They won, we lost: Duk Nath Nepal

LIBERATION

FOR REAL

PARIVARTAN

Jigme N Kazi

Gangtok, May 13: Journalist, writer and political activist Duk Nath Nepal has done the right thing finally. He has stopped joining other parties and following other leaders. He has finally come to his senses and formed his own political outfit – Sikkim Liberation Party (SLP) – and has set his own agenda with like-minded Sikkimese.

Though he is presently holding the post of Convenor of the party, Nepal, often referred to as “DN”, will surely become its president when the party gets going.

Nepal’s perception is clear: in the last 35 years of ‘democracy’ after the Indian takeover of the former kingdom, Sikkim and the Sikkimese people have lost; they have become refugees in their own homeland; they have been promised a lot and constantly been betrayed by their leaders; it is now time for real parivartan, change which would bring real democracy, freedom, rule of law, justice and bread.

“Real parivartan” will come when the people’s mindset is changed, says Nepal. How true. It does not come by changing the person who occupies Mintokgang, chief minister’s official residence, adds Nepal.

Referring to who ruled Sikkim in the past three and half decades after the ‘merger’, Nepal says while  parties led by LD Kazi (first CM – 1974-1979) and NB Bhandari (CM – 1979-1994) got 31 out of 32 and 32 out of 32 seats in the House respectively, Sikkim and Sikkimese people were the losers.

Nepal says while Sikkim lost its “independence and sovereignty” under Kazi, Sikkimese people “lost their communal harmony” and Assembly seats of the Sikkimese Nepalese under the Bhandari regime. Nepal does not spare the present ruling Sikkim Democratic Front led by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, which has all 32 seats in the House. He says under Chamling’s rule Sikkimese people have lost their dignity and self-respect.

He says the Chamling Government has sold Sikkim’s hills, rivers, brooks and lakes to big business houses.

“In the last 35 years while those in power plundered the land, Sikkimese people have become unprotected and helpless,” Nepal said, while adding, “There is a large section in Sikkim which has not enjoyed democracy in the past 35 years. Democracy has been kidnapped, leaving the people always craving after democracy.”

With 13 convenors and the party’s red and blue flag with a flaming torch, Nepal and his Sikkimese liberators have set upon an audacious task to change the present political system in Sikkim which is built on lies, deceit and corruption.

“DN” rightly says that his new party believes in “deeds and not words”. In the days and months to come SLP’s well-wishers, sympathizers and supporters will surely hope that the new party will live out its creed and liberate the Sikkimese people from their apathy and lead them towards a future that they can cherish.

If “DN” and his comrades fail to liberate the Sikkimese people within the system then the hills of Sikkim will surely be ripe for a revolution that gives people the freedom to shift gears without asking for permission from anyone.