LIVING IN SELF-IMPOSED EXILE IN MY OWN HOMELAND     

             “Only dead fish go with the flow”

The Press Club of Sikkim conferred the “Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar 2012” award to journalist-cum-writer Jigme N Kazi at a function in Gangtok on July 17, 2012. The following is the full text of Kazi’s acceptance speech:

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Secretary IPR, Press Club Advisor, Press Club President, 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.

 (L to R) IPR Secretary KS Tobgay, Chief Guest CK Shrestha, Sikkim Observer Editor Jigme N Kazi, Press Club Advisor CD Rai, Press Club General Secretary Joseph Lepcha and Press Club President Bhim Rawat at the Press Club of Sikkim function in Gangtok on July 17, 2012.

   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. (Full text published in Sikkim Observer, July 21, 2012)

July 14, 2012

SIKKIM OBSERVER Editorial

TAKING A STAND

Local Press: Regaining Lost Ground

The editor of this paper –whether he likes it or not – finally gets some kind of recognition. The question being asked is not ‘why’ he is getting the award but ‘why now’. This question is relevant and needs to be explained. When the President of the Press Club of Sikkim, Bhim Rawat, rang up Sikkim Observer editor Jigme N. Kazi last week and told him that he was being awarded this year’s Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar award by the Press Club Kazi wanted to know why he was being conferred with this award and at this time. Was it politically-motivated or has the local Press come of age, Kazi asked. Rawat’s two colleagues, Joseph Lepcha and Bishnu Neopany, both senior journalists in the State, met Kazi and reiterated the Press Club’s recent efforts to regain the local media’s independent image. While appreciating the new development within the local media, Kazi informed them that the Press Club and its members should be ready to face any consequences for associating themselves with a ‘black-listed journalist’, who has been living in self-imposed exile in his own homeland for nearly three decades mainly because he refuses to be ‘bought over’. Kazi is among the few public figures in the State who has kept his credibility intact – personally, professionally and politically (he ‘flirted’ with politics for a while in early 2000s but for a good cause)

      However, Kazi’s decision to accept the award will surely evoke mixed reactions. While one gentleman close to the editor said, “They had the guts to give you the award,” (to which the editor replied, “You have judged well.”) one senior journalist said, “The Press Club is not as independent as its members claim.” Another senior journalist commented: “They have finally come to their senses and rewarded you.” And yet one contractor from North Sikkim, who is close to Kazi, said, “Does this mean you have Chamling’s blessings?”  The fact of the matter is that in Chamling’s Sikkim all those who do not bow down to the powers-that-be are harassed or ignored. Anyone or any organization that tries to identify itself with those who fail to toe the official line are perceived to be digging their own grave.

      While the image of the local Press, by and large, is not too impressive there are those within the Fourth Estate in the State who are not happy with the way the Press has been projected and perceived in a State where dissenting voices find it very difficult to be heard. And yet the people depend on the Press and expect it to ventilate their grievances all the time and take on the high and mighty at times. The Press, too, depend on the people to react and respond to situations. It also expects the people to come to its aid when it is being attacked and hounded by the authorities. The sad part of the story is that people keep mum when the Press is under pressure. Did you even take the trouble to talk to Hamro Prajashakti journalists who were beaten up in their own work places in Gangtok on July 4, 2008? Did you care to call on this editor when his press was ransacked in early 1990, his Press vehicles set on fire in October 2001 and June 2004 in front of his printing press building in Gangtok? And which newspaper-reader even bothers to take a casual glance at the ongoing economic suppression of many local newspapers, including this paper, in the State? If the local Press is trying to set itself free help and support must be given by the people at large. By accepting the award Kazi has, once again, made his stand clear and sided with the foot soldiers of freedom and democracy in Sikkim. The local Press, too, has spoken – loud and clear.

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN  July 28, 2012

‘Black-listed’ Kazi finally gets recognition, appeals for Press freedom

“India must live up to the expectations of the Sikkimese people”

 Gangtok, July 17: Journalist-cum-writer Jigme N Kazi was today honoured with this year’s ‘Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar’ award by the Press Club of Sikkim.

Kazi, editor of Sikkim Observer and Himalayan Guardian,  was conferred the award for his “outstanding contribution and dedication made during last three decades in the field of journalism,” according to Press Club Working President Vishnu Neopaney’s letter to Kazi informing of the Press Club’s “unanimous decision” to confer the award on its decadal foundation year.

The “Most Promising Journalist” award went to Bishal Gurung while Mohan Lama, Darjeeling correspondent of Sikkim’s Samai Dainik, was also felicitated by the Press Club. Gurung is the State correspondent of Hindustan Samachar news agency.

Theatre activist and senior journalist CK Shrestha of Kalimpong, who was the Chief Guest for the occasion, urged the media in the State to remain united in “thought” and side with the people in all situation. “Merely reporting will not do. You must tell the truth,” Shrestha said.

While IPR Secretary KS Tobgay assured the Press that the government would positively look into all the problems faced the media in the State, Press Club advisor CD Rai, who was the chairman of the function, said Kazi not only deserved the award but his writings were “balanced.”

While urging the media to remain strong, free, united and independent, Kazi called on the people, including the authorities, to respect and respond positively to the urges of the media to remain  free and independent.

“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 and respect this stand,” Kazi said in his acceptance speech.

Kazi, who has authored two books, “Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide,” and “Sikkim for Sikkimese”, also appealed to the Centre not to ignore the “hopes and aspirations” of the Sikkimese people and honour the terms of Sikkim’s ‘merger’.

“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,” Kazi warned.

SIKKIM OBSERVER July 21, 2012

Press rewards Kazi for three-decade contribution to journalism

Honour ‘merger terms’, Kazi tells Centre

Gangtok, July 20: Senior journalist Jigme N Kazi said his acceptance of this year’s Khangchendzonga Kalam Puraskar award, conferred by the Press Club of Sikkim here on Tuesday, was proof enough that the Fourth Estate in the State is trying to set itself free and improve its image as a strong and independent institution.

Kazi, also a writer, was conferred with the award in recognition of his “significant contribution” towards “development of journalism” in the State in the past three decades.

Kazi, editor of Sikkim Observer and Himalayan Guardian,  was conferred the award for his “outstanding contribution and dedication made during last three decades in the field of journalism,” according to Press Club Working President Vishnu Neopaney’s letter to Kazi informing of the Press Club’s “unanimous decision” to confer the award on its decadal foundation year.

The “Most Promising Journalist” award went to Bishal Gurung while Mohan Lama, Darjeeling correspondent of Sikkim’s Samai Dainik, was also felicitated by the Press Club. Gurung is the State correspondent of Hindustan Samachar news agency.

Theatre activist and senior journalist CK Shrestha of Kalimpong, who was the Chief Guest for the occasion, urged the media in the State to remain united in “thought” and side with the people in all situation. “Merely reporting will not do. You must tell the truth,” Shrestha said.

While IPR Secretary KS Tobgay assured the Press that the government would positively look into all the problems faced the media in the State, Press Club advisor CD Rai, who was the chairman of the function, said Kazi not only deserved the award but his writings were “balanced.”

While urging the media to remain strong, free, united and independent, Kazi called on the people, including the authorities, to respect and respond positively to the urges of the media to remain  free and independent.

“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 and respect this stand,” Kazi said in his acceptance speech.

Kazi, who has authored two books, “Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide,” and “Sikkim for Sikkimese”, also appealed to the Centre not to ignore the “hopes and aspirations” of the Sikkimese people and honour the terms of Sikkim’s ‘merger’.

“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,” Kazi warned.

SIBLAC, NASBO pat for Kazi, Press Club

 Gangtok, July 20: The Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) has congratulated writer-journalist Jigme N Kazi for being conferred with this year’s Khangchendzonga Kalam Award by the Press Club of Sikkim.

This is “an honor overdue since long back,” SIBLAC General Secretary Pem Tshering Lepcha said in a Press statement.

The organization, which represents the indigenous Bhutias and Lepcha tribals in the State, also thanked the Press Club of Sikkim for “rightly nominating” Kazi for the award.

It said Kazi’s “spirit and quality” of “fighting with wisdom” was “outstanding and simply awesome.”

SIBLAC Convenor and former Minister Tseten Tashi Bhutia and National Sikkimese Bhutia Organisation (NASBO - 371F) President Sonam Kaleon met Kazi, who received the award at a function here on Tuesday, at his residence here and offered traditional khada to congratulate him.

The Sikkim-Darjeeling Unification Forum (SDUF) General Secretary Shankar Hang Subba also offered a khada and congratulated Kazi here last week.

Padam Chettri, President of Sikkim unit of the BJP, also complimented Kazi for his achievement.

Sikkim Observer May 5, 2012

Editorial

PRESS FREEDOM

We Mourn The Closure Of Gangtok Weeklies

Ever heard of Female Journalist Association? We have one in Sikkim by that name and surprisingly while other media organizations are busy entertaining the public and at times playing the role of a public relations body, the Female Journalist Association has urged the State Government to give a better deal to Gangtok weeklies in matters regarding release of government advertisements. The IPR Minister CB Karki has again assured the Press that the government would respond positively on the issue.  Perhaps it will do something this time as the next Assembly polls are nearing.

Sadly the death of several credible Gangtok-based weeklies and other journals in the past few years is something that free societies should be worried about. Weeklies such as Weekend Review and Mid-Week are no more. We mourn their untimely death or indefinite closure. The Sikkimese and Sikkim Observer (Nepali edition) are also off the newsstands for a long time. Journals such as Talk Sikkim and Hill People have been forced to shut down due mainly to financial constraints. In such a scenario the claim that the Press in Sikkim is free and vibrant has no basis. Quality is what people are looking for in the media and this is in short supply in today’s Sikkim. A casual glance at which newspapers are getting government advertisements and how often will reveal the state of the Press in Sikkim. Let the facts be revealed and the truth will be out in the public domain.

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)