Gurudongmar Lake Controversy  

    Ever since the closure of the Indo-Tibet border in north Sikkim in 1962 local residents of the region, particularly in far-flung areas of Lachen and Lachung, have learnt to tolerate and get along with the growing presence and clout of the Indian army in the region. The peaceful co-existence between the two groups in the past so many decades has always been mutually beneficial.

   However, there are times when even the best of relations are soured by mutual disrespect and unfriendly postures. The deteriorating relations between army personnel and local residents bordering on hatred and bitterness was evidenced in 1997-98 when a zealous chief of 20 Punjab Regiment made concerted efforts to convert the holy lake of Gurudongmar, a sacred pilgrimage centre for Buddhists in Lachen, north Sikkim, into a Sikh pilgrimage destination.

  Matters reached a dizzying height of confrontation when the Lachen Pipon, head of the Lachen Dzomsa, the traditional assembly of the people, openly and quite defiantly, refuted allegations made by the army that the Lachenpas supported the army’s bid to construct a Gurudwara, a Sikh temple, at the lake’s vicinity.

    “We wish to point out that at no point of time that the local people of Lachen had requested the army to construct anything at the premises of the holy lake, leave alone the Gurudwara shrine.  Furthermore, let me as an elected representative of the people of Lachen state clearly that it is neither in their interest nor the aspiration of the local people to let anyone destroy the sanctity of this lake,” said the Lachen Pipon, Anung Lachenpa, in a statement published in the Sikkim Observer in April 1998.

   The Pipon also pointed out: “Construction of a shrine belonging to another religion in the name of national integration at our holy place of worship and pilgrimage does not reflect the hopes and aspirations of the Lachenpas and other local people who visit the area.” He also urged the “concerned authorities”, which included the State Government, to “rectify the mistakes” and restore the “original look and sanctity of the Gurudongmar Tso area.”

   The first party to raise objections to construction of the “highest Gurudwara on earth” (Gurudongmar is located at 17,200 ft. above sea level) was the Forests Department, which alleged that the project was carried out without the mandatory clearance of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Besides the concrete construction of the Gurudwara shrine four huts and a parking area were also built on the shores of the lake. Apart from the ecological damage done to the area, which boasts of being a home of some rare and endangered birds and animals such as Blacknecked Crane and Kiang or Tibetan Wild Ass, the locals viewed the renaming of the Gurudongmar Tso as Guru Nanak Jheel, an obvious bid to dilute and gradually erase the unique and distinct Buddhist cultural heritage of the former Buddhist kingdom.

   Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, quoting Guru Rinpoche (Lord Padmasambhava, widely revered as the Second Buddha), point out that Sikkim is one of the seven sacred and hidden lands for Buddhists in the Himalaya. Except for Sikkim, all others are said to be in Tibet, where religious freedom has been curtailed after the Chinese takeover in 1959. Locals believe that when Guru Rinpoche visited Sikkim in the 8th century he blessed the lake and thereafter it came to be known as “Gurudongmar Tso”, meaning Guru with red face or red-face Guru (‘guru’ means master/teacher, ‘dong’ means face and ‘mar’ means red).

    It is possible that Guru Rinpoche manifested at the lake in the form of Gurudongmar or Gurudrakpo (Gurdak in short form), which is one of the main aspects of the tantric master who established Buddhism in Tibet and the Himalayan region in the 8th century. Gurudramar – the red-face deity of Guru Rinpoche – is one of the main protecting deities of several important monasteries in Sikkim, including Lachen and Pemayangtse monasteries. It was the same deity who appeared to the ancestors of Sikkim’s ruling Namgyal dynasty in a vision in the 13th century, instructing them to go southwards to ‘Bayul Demazong’, the ‘hidden valley of grains’, meaning Sikkim.

   The conversion of the area around the sacred rock in Chungthang in north Sikkim, enroute to Lachen and Lachung,  also said to have been blessed by Guru Rinpoche, into Guru Nanak Jheel, has also been opposed by the locals. There exists a Gurudwara besides the sacred rock and the entire area is fenced and renamed “Guru Nanak Jheel”. Many influential local politicians, contractors and suppliers, who benefit financially and otherwise from their dealings with the army, discourage locals from raising issues, including religious matters, that would go against the army.

   The Green Circle, one of the few credible NGOs (non-governmental organization) in the State devoting to preserving the fragile eco-system in the State, while reacting against the army’s “blatant undermining of local culture and total disregard for a fragile and threatened ecosystem” in the Gurudongmar controversy, in a statement published in the Observer (Feb 1998) said: “As you are aware, the Gurudongmar lake is not only one of the most beautiful lakes of Sikkim but also held sacred by the locals. The army, because of its proximity and influence over these area cannot go about misrepresenting facts. Such gradual and systematic distortion of history only serves to sow the seeds of discontent and tension for the present and future generations…Construction of a permanent structure at 17,200 feet with marble, chandeliers and works is totally uncalled for and changing the surface of the lake by moving earth to create parking space is most deplorable. In an extremely sensitive ecosystem where even footprints stay for months, the army, we hope will take more responsibility and care of their environs which would be better served than find itself championing chauvinistic cultural imperialism.”

   Though rather late, the Chamling Government finally woke up and came to the people’s rescue and opposed army intervention in the Gurudongmar controversy. A committee, whose members included State Government officials, was set up by the Government to investigate into the controversy and restore the lake area to its original glory.

   Though the task is still incomplete as the concrete structure of the Gurudwara has still not been removed, the army’s attempts to takeover the area and convert it into a Sikh pilgrimage centre has failed.

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

REMEMBERING

Our beloved Principal, Mr. Graeme Armstrong Murray (August 24, 1931-April 7, 2015), on his 86^th birth anniversary.

   In MH (Mount Hermon School) we used to get a holiday on August 24^th because it was Mr. Murray’s birthday. On this day we recall the days of our youth in MH when Mr. Murray was there – 1955-1978.

   A former student, Ved Prakash Agarwal (SC 1971), paid a brief tribute to Mr. Murray in 1978, the year he left MH after serving for 24 years:

    “I did not know that this would be his last year, but somehow I was not surprised. I respected him as most children respected their teachers, and I suppose I was a bit infatuated with him. As a man I liked him and I hope I look at him honestly, good points, warts and all. I have never known him anything but honest, abrasive certainly, aggressive and blunt always, be it on the cricket field, in the classroom, or in the chapel where he is expounding a theory on the current trends of discipline among students.

    Mr. Murray is one of those most casual and immediately likable persons I have ever met. He knows character instinctively and is always in a hurry to impose the force of his own which is considerable. Perhaps the secret of his rugged good nature is that he is an incurable individualist, certain of himself that he can afford to be sure of others. This trait has always invited comments and he has been described by an NP (St. Joseph’s School) teacher as petulant, rude and stubborn. However, there is one yardstick about people I know. The ones who don’t change are the genuine ones. Bhuntay (a Nepali term for a fat person) has not bothered to change. He is always going to be his own man and do his own thing. He is loved by his students and although he endangers more arguments, more fury, more passing than others, he definitely is the most intriguing man I have ever met.

    Mr. Murray has been here for twenty-four years now. Thousands studied at his feet, united in reverence and love for him. I don’t know what he taught us and I don’t really care. He taught us to think and that was enough. That was the heart of it all, Bhuntay made us think. He was his own man. Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus (Not for school but for life we learn). That was his legacy to us – he made each of us what to be his own man.”

   In his final year at Mount Hermon, 1978, Mr. GA Murray in his Annual Principal’s Report on Speech Day, urged staff and students of the need to keep alive the spirit of Mount Hermon School.

   “Overall, I think, three things characterise what Mount Hermon is for me. I hope that they also speak to you of what is at the heart of our school, and that they will ever continue to do so. They are Friendship, Fellowship, and Worship. Perhaps I should have put Worship first, for it is in the worship and praise of God that we first find that friendship and fellowship which must characterise all we do in the Mount Hermon community.

   These are things I found at Mount Hermon when I came first with my wife, way back in 1955. These are things which I trust I have tried to cherish and develop through the years that have followed. These are now those values which I pass on to you, staff and students alike, for you to cherish and preserve and strengthen through the years that remain to you at Mount Hermon, that they may by you in your time  be transmitted to many others in the years to come.”

  On this special day we also remember – with love, thanks and gratitude – Mrs. Murray, Adrienne, Stephen, Bronwyn and Johnny for their service and friendship.

   “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.  (Numbers 6:24-26, Bible)

Hail Mt. Hermon!

CHARLES SWAN: A HERMON KNIGHT

Dr. Charles L. Swan and I share something in common. Both went to school, MH college (he, the Language School and me TTC) and later joined the staff. He joined our Queen's Hill School, then located above the Railway Station, Darjeeling, way back in 1914 in KG, and later taught in the present Mt. Hermon School - 1929-1936.

He is most remembered by us for his 'Going Home Day' songs. I met him in MH when I was teaching there in mid-'70S. I still remember how, one fine day in the staff room, he thundered: "You are APPOINTED to write!" What?

Was he a prophet? I have written three books already and am now preparing a souvenir on MH as a Tribute to these giants of MH - I refer to them as "HermonKnights".

When I edited the school's annual Hermonite magazine in 1978, this is was he said in the magazine:

"When I was a small boy in old Queen’s Hill, Miss Knowles, the founder of the school, was still Principal, and Miss Stahl was Vice-Principal. When I was appointed to teach at Mt. Hermon, Miss Stahl had only just retired from the principalship. So my memory leads me to think of the original purposes of the school. It was patterned after the Public Boarding Schools of England, but the pattern was given an American flare, and some major adjustments were made to fit to the Indian scene."

Dr. Swan died many years back. May he rest in peace. Hail Mt. Hermon!

IF PEACE DOES NOT PREVAIL

    If peace does not prevail because of our ego and stubbornness, because of our determination to defend our territory and sovereignty irrespective of consequences – we face the risk of war. Even small skirmishes may lead to a full-fledged war. This can and must be avoided at all cost.

   As the final hour toward that fate approaches the leadership of the world's two largest populated countries must re-think their decisions to go to war and avoid any move that would ultimately lead to a nuclear disaster on this planet.

    Sikkim – a sacred, hidden land, the last frontier of peace in the Himalaya – now faces the risk of being turned into a battlefield. If peace does not prevail in the Himalayan frontier it is not only because of those who are bent on destroying each other because of their hatred and greed and their lust for power, it is also because of our fate and destiny. The coming situation will remind us that “the peace of the grave or security of the slave” that we have witnessed in Sikkim in the past several decades will not last forever.

   On April 15, 1975, the Hindustan Times warned: “Security depends on people, not territory.” This applies to both India and China.

ON MY OWN

   In the remaining days of my life on earth and when I’m finally gone I would like to be remembered by these words of Theodore Roosevelt:  

                                       

   “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

A TRIBUTE Nar Bahadur Bhandari

Too late to talk about Sikkim when battle tanks roll down Nathula and non-Sikkimese occupy seats of power

  (This article is being republished as a Tribute to Mr. Nar Bahadur Bhandari, who passed away on July 16, 2017)

   Having retreated to my small corner – the fourth estate – after quietly bidding adieu to my two-and-half-decade-long struggle to fight for the common cause of all Sikkimese I reluctantly accepted the offer to give a piece of my mind during a day-long seminar  organized in Gangtok on January 28, 2010 by an enthusiastic group of young people who work under the banner of All Sikkim Educated Self-Employed & Unemployed Association.

The topic was “Article 371F” – a dead horse which still needed more flogging! – and many of those who were present and actively participated in the debate-cum-discussion were distinguished personalities in Sikkim’s social, political and intellectual circles.

(L to R) Jigme N Kazi, N B Bhandari, P M Subba and K N Upreti at the seminar on Art 371F in Gangtok on Jan 28, 2010

    Anti-merger veteran and former Chief Minister and President of the Sikkim unit of the Congress party, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, was there. His former Lok Sabha MP, Pahalman Subba, often regarded as the grand-old-man of Sikkim politics, who has fallen out with both Bhandari and his former colleague, the ‘Mandal Messiah’, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, was there.

     Former Minister and senior Congress leader, Kharananda Upreti, the man who accompanied Ram Chandra Poudyal during the famous hunger strike at the lawns of the Palace in early April 1973 that led to the Indian-backed agitation, which culminated in the signing of the historic 8^th May Tripartite Agreement of 1973,  ultimately leading to the ‘merger’ in 1975,  was also present.

    Among the younger politicians present at the seminar were Padam Chettri, who only very recently took over the State unit of the BJP as its President, Biraj Adhikari, President of Sikkim National People’s Party, which still demands restoration of Sikkim’s pre-merger “Associate State” status, former Communist leader and now the Convenor of Matri Bhoomi Suraksha Sanghathan, Duk Nath Nepal, and former Minister and Convenor of Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC), Tseten Tashi Bhutia, who is regarded as one of the few vocal leaders of the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals.

    Conspicuously absent from the scene were representatives of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, which often claims that it has restored democracy and removed fear psychosis in Sikkim after Bhandari’s dictatorial rule (1979-1994).The truth is Pawan Chamling is now faced with the same charges leveled by dissidents within his ruling elite.

   Yesteryears’ ‘revolutionary’ and one of the valiant soldiers of ‘democracy’, R C Poudyal, suddenly turned ill and failed to come! With his absence Poudyal missed a great opportunity to stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder with sons and daughters of Sikkim to save what is left in order to pass it on to the generations of Sikkimese yet to come.  Others were invited but fear of what may happen to them if they come chose not to grace the occasion.

    Let them live on hope and die in despair. There is no space for spineless walking corpses, who are neither black or white and who will surely fade away into nothingness, to mingle with honourable defenders of the Sikkimese cause during the time of crisis when the need of the hour for unity and solidarity, despite personal and political differences, has never been felt so much.

   Added to this unique and historic gathering representing the multi-faceted Sikkimese society were Nagrik Sangarsha Samiti Coordinator and prominent critic and member of the old business community, Prem Goyal, Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) activists, Gyatso Lepcha and Mayalmit Lepcha,  former District Collector, S P Subba, and former police officer, Jiwan Pradhan.

    I not only offered my heartiest congratulations to the organizers of the 10-hour-long marathon session but also salute those who spoke out their mind and warmed our hearts and hopes. Together we made history on January 28, 2010, two days before the 28^th death anniversary of the late Chogyal of Sikkim.

    I was certainly the odd man out as I did not belong to any political or non-political grouping. The organizers created the right mood for Sikkimese from all communities and from all walks of life to speak their heart out on an issue that is dear to them for a very long time. That the speakers, mindless of who they were and what positions they held,  spoke eloquently and with conviction and emotion on a wide variety of subjects on one-point theme – Article 371F – is indeed a rare treat for any viewers.

    With tears in my eyes and heart full of burden I made my stand clear. “I have no wish to dethrone anyone or help anyone to get the top job. This is mainly because I have gracefully and very reluctantly accepted the death of my dream,” I told the gathering.

   I made it plain that the casual and directionless manner in which the political leadership among the majority Sikkimese Nepalese tackled the Assembly seat issue in the past so many years led to the death of my dream of a united Sikkim, where all people live in perfect peace, harmony, freedom and prosperity and where the country’s security concerns were fully safeguarded.

    New Delhi ought to realize by now that security, particularly in Sikkim, depends on the loyalty of its people, not just territorial acquisition whether by force or consent.

   I took a dig as I often do when the opportunity arises on those who often make the right noises but the wrong moves: “I quit everything when some of my friends and former colleagues who are educated, have some political experience and feel for Sikkim and the Sikkimese could not look beyond Chamling and Bhandari despite the pressing need to stand firm and pursue our common objectives.”

    I warned that activities of agents of division and disunity actively serving New Delhi, which seems least concerned about what is happening in Sikkim besides pumping huge amount of funds (and perhaps taking some back on the quiet) to its former Protectorate keeping the people perpetually drugged with power and money, will not only finish Sikkim and the Sikkimese people but greatly and surely endanger the country’s territorial integrity.

   Didn’t I make it clear in my book, “Sikkim for Sikkimese – Distinct Identity Within the Union” (published in Feb 2009) why Sikkim is facing a crisis of our own making: “Phony revolutions led by fake revolutionaries and democrats have created a system that thrives on lies, deceit and corruption. We are all victims of the ‘democracy’ that we longed for in1973 and 1993.”

   We may blame the Centre for the gradual erosion of our special status and dilution of our distinct identity. But we, too, are responsible for failing to look after our long-term interests and live up to the hopes and aspirations of our people.

  My message during the seminar was sharp and incisive: “It will be too late to talk about Article 371F when battle tanks roll down Nathula pass and non-Sikkimese occupy seats of power in Mintokgang (CM’s official residence) in the near future.” (Sikkim Observer)

OBITUARY

Bhandari gave us Sikkim’s ‘finest hour’

 Jigme N.Kazi

   He had been suffering from back pain – injuries incurred from police beating during his anti-merger days in early 1970s – for a very long time and finally hospitalized in Delhi. But he breathed his last in a New Delhi hospital on July 16, 2017, due to cardiac arrest.  “Dad was fine till the last moment. He did not reveal any signs that he was leaving us,” said his daughter Primula who was beside him when he passed away.

   Nar Bahadur Bhandari ruled Sikkim, the former Himalayan kingdom – now the 22^nd State of India, for more than a decade and half (1979-1994). The teacher-turned-politician began his political career in early 1973, when pro-India forces in Sikkim under the leadership of Congress leader Kazi Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa – a Sikkimese Lepcha aristocrat – were gradually tilting towards India. Despite opposition from the Sikkimese people Sikkim became a part of India in mid-1975. The Sikkimese people led by the Chogyal (king), Palden Thondup Namgyal, Nar Bahadur Bhandari and other Sikkimese nationalist leaders lost the fight to retain Sikkim’s distinct and unique international status. Despite the odds heavily stacked up against them pro-Sikkim forces swam against the tide. Theirs was a losing battle but come what may they would go down fighting. The Indira Gandhi-led Congress Government, Congress dominated Parliament, Indian officials at the helm of affairs in Sikkim, Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indian Army – were no match to the people’s movement opposing the ‘merger.’

    However, four years after Sikkim’s annexation the Bhandari-led Sikkim Parishad scored a decisive  moral victory when it trounced Kazi’s Congress-turned-Janata Party in the first Assembly elections in Sikkim as an Indian State and formed the government on October 18, 1979 with Bhandari as the Chief Minister.  Kazi, the grand old man of Sikkim politics, lost his own seat to a Parishad candidate, Athup Lepcha, from the remote Dzongu constituency in North Sikkim. The Parishad won 16 seats and with the help of an Independent (Sangha MLA, Lachen Gomchen Rinpoche, was actually a Parishad candidate) formed the government.  The Congress (R) party led by Kazi’s Cabinet member Ram Chandra Poudyal, who revolted against Kazi and New Delhi for unilaterally and illegally abolishing the 16 seats reserved for the Sikkimese Nepalese in the 32-member House, won 11 seats, leaving Nar Bahadur Khatiwada’s Sikkim Prajatantra Party with 4 seats. Khatiwada, the former Youth Congress leader who spearheaded the merger movement, fell out with Kazi in 1977 alleging that the ‘merger’ was ‘illegal’, ‘undemocratic’ and ‘against the wishes of the Sikkimese people.’

   The rest is history. Petty politics does not deserve much attention. But what needs to be mentioned here is that Bhandari’s downfall began when he, against the wishes of the people, merged the Sikkim Janata Parishad with Indira’s Congress party in July 1981. Three years after this unfortunate merger Bhandari was dethroned in May 1984 by dissidents within the Congress party. He was accused of being corrupt and communal. However, he fought back and formed the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) and returned to power in March 1985, winning 30 of the 32 seats. The Congress party had to bite the dust and had to be content with only 2 seats. Significantly, till date no national parties have won Assembly polls in Sikkim.

   For two terms beginning from 1985 Bhandari ruled Sikkim singlehandedly like an autocrat. His critics accused him of acting like a dictator until he was finally ousted from power by dissident SSP MLAs on the income tax issue in May 1994. His protégé and SSP legislator, Pawan Kumar Chamling, aroused the imagination of the people and using the OBC (Other Backward Classes) card and leading a pro-democracy movement, challenged Bhandari’s authority and came to power in the Assembly elections held in December 1994. Ever since Chamling’s Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has been in power. Bhandari tried his luck for a comeback but his efforts to do so when he joined the Congress (I) in August 2003 and thereafter to revive his own SSP in 2009 failed.

    “Despite his age we still cannot write off  Bhandari politically,” observed  Suresh Pramar, former editor of Sikkim Express and Eastern Express. A day later Bhandari breathed his last. Significantly, Bhandari’s death came at a time when Sikkim has been in the headlines in the national media for almost a month. China has not only threatened to strike India at the strategic and highly sensitive border area in eastern Sikkim, it has also – for the first time since 1974-75 – stated that Sikkim was annexed and that China may back pro-independence movement in the former kingdom after de-recognizing the ‘merger’.

   When he was abruptly ousted from power in 1984 Bhandari claimed that he was thrown out because he refused to yield on his demands on constitutional recognition of Nepali language, citizenship for ‘stateless persons’, and Assembly seat reservation for Sikkimese Nepalese. Except for the Assembly seat issue the two other demands were met during his tenure as Chief Minister. The third issue, yet to be resolved, is posing a big headache to the Chamling Government.

  When he was ousted from power in 1984, I wrote:  “Perhaps history will look back to this era and recall this period as Sikkim’s “finest 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 that he set out to fulfill.”

   His stand, “We have been merged, we shall not be submerged” still echoes in the heart of many Sikkimese. Sikkim faces yet another crossroad even as the man whom many looked up for political leadership is no more. Between China’s latest bid to liberate Sikkim and India’s ‘democracy’ lies the Sikkimese people, who are uncertain and insecure of a future in their own homeland.