KHANGCHENDZONGA
Kalam Puraskar 2012
Conferred by Press Club of Sikkim
Acceptance Speech
Jigme N Kazi
July 17, 2012
Hon’ble
Chief Guest, Secretary IPR, Press Club Advisor, President Press Club of Sikkim,
distinguished guests and friends,
On Receiving the Award: I feel very privileged to be here
today to receive the Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar award from the Press Club
of Sikkim on its decadal foundation year. I am told by the Press Club that it had
“unanimously decided” to confer this award for my “outstanding contribution and
dedication” made during the last three decades (1983-2012) in the field of
journalism.
I believe that by
conferring this award to this long-time black-listed man, who is forced to live
in self-imposed exile in his own homeland, the Press in Sikkim is sending a
clear message to those who care to listen. And that message is loud and clear:
the Press in Sikkim wants to be more free and independent and those in power
and the people at large should take note of it and respect its stand.
I enjoy doing what
I do – be it eating, taking a walk or writing. I seek no reward and recognition
in doing these things even if what I do benefits those around me.
People often
criticize me of being stubborn and always swimming against the tide. Let me
remind them of what US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said: “Only dead
fish go with the flow.” Living with walking corpses all these years has been a
very painful experience. It is better to be exiled in foreign shores than
having to undergo constant suffocation at home. However, if this is the cross
that I was born to bare then I must live with it whether I like it or not.
Yes, we have more
journalists and more newspapers today than when I started in this profession 30
years back. But I’m not too sure whether we are more free, objective and
independent in our reporting. What is more important in life is quality, not
quantity, and this also applies to the Fourth Estate, particularly when so many
people depend and look up to the Press to make the right decision.
Sikkimese Society: If we cannot uphold certain
basic and fundamental values of human existence such as freedom, democracy,
justice, self-respect and the rule of law we miss the opportunity that life
offers to each one of us. The first indication of a society’s degeneration is
when individuals live and work only for themselves. Sikkim is on the verge of
being a dead and decadent society. Our constant efforts to camouflage ourselves
will not work in the long run. We will be fully exposed when the time comes.
We locals often
distance ourselves from the byaparis,
the business community, for encroaching into our economic and political rights
and interests. Little do we realize that while they sell potatoes, tomatoes
etc. we are the real byaparis. We
have sold our king, our flag, our country, our distinct identity and political
rights. Not content with this we are still selling our hills and valleys, our lakes
and rivers, our land and people, our religion and culture, and worse of all our
self-respect and dignity. Is it really worth sweating it out for such people?
Sikkim Politics: Me and my kind have lived
through this bitter period in Sikkim’s history. In our efforts to fight for the
common cause we have brought down five chief ministers and made four chief
ministers in the past so many years. We
did this for a good cause and without any selfish motive. We are not to be blamed
if our political leadership continuously fails us and lets us down the moment
they come to power.
I took leave from
the Fourth Estate at the end of the year 2000 to make my personal contribution
to Sikkim politics when I was convinced that those we backed were betraying us and
the issues we raised for petty considerations. Unlike many others, I could not
hang around and hide myself safe and secure in a small corner when I was
convinced that we were being led to a dead-end street. I left active politics after
three and half years in August 2004 when I was fully convinced that I was
heading nowhere and those around me were still deeply involved in petty
politics. There is no future for Sikkim and the Sikkimese if our political
leadership – ruling and opposition – fails to rise above mundane things and continues
to mislead the people while making great promises.
It is futile to
fight for the distinct identity of Sikkim within the Union if the leaders of
our larger community are not sure of who they are, whom they represent, and
what they really want. Nepal’s political situation, where ethnic communities
are being reduced to a minority in the land of their origin, has still not
opened our eyes. This is because while our head is still not clear our heart is
full of greed. When will we ever live in a place where the mind is without fear and the head is held high? When will this non-stop
looting stop? Corruption has reached a point of no return. Disillusionment has
set in and this seems to be irreversible. These are dangerous trends in a
sensitive and strategic border State like Sikkim.
India’s Role in Sikkim: Even if our
political leadership has failed us time and again, India must live up to the expectations of the Sikkimese people. If
it continues to ignore the hopes and aspirations of those who sacrificed their
country so that this nation may live in peace and security there may come a day
when Sikkim will become a hot-bed of international politics. We may not see
that day but that day is not afar if India fails to honour its commitments made
to Sikkim and the Sikkimese people during the takeover.
The gradual dilution
of our distinct identity, political rights and social harmony originates from
New Delhi. The erosion of our unique and distinct cultural identity, the
systematic manner in which seeds of division are sown in our social fabric, and
finally the destruction caused to our fragile environment and ecology cannot
and must not be easily condoned. We cannot blame our leaders only; we, too,
have shamelessly become agents of division, disunity and destruction. We have
sown the wind; we will surely reap the whirlwind.
Hope and Gratitude: I’m grateful to the Press Club
of Sikkim for recognizing my work and honouring me on this very special day. This
is the time and the moment to renew our pledge for a strong, united, free and
independent Press in the State.
On this special day
I want to remember those who have helped me in my three-decade-long career.
Some of them are late Chukie Tobden, Suresh Pramar, Devraj Ranjit, Tenzing
Chewang and Pema Wangchuk. I also owe a deep sense of gratitude to the Chamling
Government and to those who worked or in any way associated with my printing
press and publications.
Living the way I
did is a risky business and I want to say how happy and grateful I am to my
wife Tsering, her parents, and my four
kids – Tashi, Yangchen, Sonam and Kunga – for letting me live my life freely
and dangerously for so long.
I hope my endeavours will light up your path
and help you to bear the burden of being free and independent in a hostile
climate in the days and years to come. My message to you on this day comes from Rev.
Jesse Jackson: “Stand up, don’t bow! Stand up, don’t bow!”
On Myself: French Emperor Napoleon Bonarpate
(1769-1821) once said: “There are only two forces in the world, the sword and
the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.”
I have already
said “I have accepted the death of my dreams” a few years back and I stand by
it.
However, I have
filed my petition in the court of Khangchendzonga, Sikkim’s Guardian Deity, to
seek justice – for Sikkim, the Sikkimese people and for myself. I am still
patiently waiting for the verdict. That this award should come at this time and
in the name of our Presiding Deity is not only very auspicious but meaningful
as well.
Thank you all,
both for this wonderful award and your determination to preserve the integrity,
independence and freedom of the Press in Sikkim.
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