BB Gurung: “The guilt of having participated in the process of the merger has left a very deep and painful scar in my heart”

   Ten years after his controversial move to declare ‘Prince’ Wangchuk the 13th Chogyal of Sikkim, Bhim Bahadur Gurung admitted that he had always felt uncomfortable and somewhat guilty at having been a party to the ‘selling of Sikkim’. Gurung saw the Chogyal’s death and his funeral on February 19, 1982, as a god-sent opportunity to expiate himself of the sins he had committed, and made attempts to ventilate his true feelings. In 1975, Gurung moved a resolution in the Assembly, abolishing “the institution of the Chogyal” and declaring Sikkim to be a “constituent unit of India”, thereby paving way for Sikkim to become the 22nd State of the Indian Union.

BB Gurung 

   “The guilt of having participated in the process of the merger has left a very deep and painful scar in my heart”, Gurung confided to me at his residence in Gangtok one afternoon in mid-1992. “By publicly acknowledging Prince Wangchuk to be the 13th Chogyal of Sikkim, I wanted to exonerate myself and get rid of this guilt,” Gurung explained. He revealed that he, then legislative leader of the Opposition, and his MLAs had made a controversial move in openly accepting Wangchuk as the 13th Chogyal of Sikkim on February 19, 1982, and thereby acknowledging the traditional process by which the Chogyals succeeded to the throne. If in 1975, Gurung was a party to the abolition of the Chogyal’s institution, in 1982, he more than made up for his past misdeeds by publicly acclaiming Wangchuk to be the 13th consecrated Chogyal of Sikkim and acknowledging the continuance of the Chogyals’ hereditary succession.

      Wangchuk’s response to his ‘crowning’ more than satisfied Gurung, who was ready to pay any price for his action, which was of great historical significance. In an interview in India Today after he was proclaimed the 13th Chogyal of Sikkim, Wangchuk stated: “It is not for me to proclaim myself the new Chogyal. It is for the people to accept and acknowledge me as the new Chogyal and you can see for yourself the support I have been shown by the people…We do have the custom of automatic succession that on the death of the Chogyal, the heir apparent becomes the new Chogyal.”

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal 

    “I was all prepared to face any consequence and was even ready to get arrested and face jail sentence,” Gurung pointed out to me, and added, “Even my family members were conscious of what I was doing and were prepared to face any eventuality.” Referring to the Chogyal’s “enthronement”, Gurung said the people expected Bhandari, who was then the Chief Minister, to back him. “But his handling of the situation showed that Bhandari’s patriotism was superficial,” Gurung explained.

   Gurung boasts that unlike some MLAs, he stuck to his stand and refused to compromise and withdraw his signature from the historic document submitted to Wangchuk on February 19. Sunanda K. Datta-Ray in his book – Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim, describes Gurung as a “leading architect” and “prominent” among those who bartered away the Kingdom’s independence. Referring to Gurung’s opportunistic tendencies, the book adds: “In the distant past, Gurung had enthusiastically defended his King’s demand for independence; but he had recanted his loyalty to become one of New Delhi’s most loyal adherents in Sikkimese politics.”

   Gurung’s nationalistic feelings surfaced when he was one of the three Executive Councillors of the Chogyal’s Sikkim Council way back in 1967, when the demand for revision of the Indo-Sikkim Treaty of 1950 by the Sikkimese, was worrying New Delhi. A joint statement on the Treaty revision issued by the three Executive Councillors – Netuk Tsering (Sikkim National Party), Nahakul Pradhan (Sikkim State Council), and B.B. Gurung (Sikkim National Congress) – on June 15, 1967, stated: “Since Sikkim signed the treaty with India, surely it is within her sovereign rights to demand a revision of the treaty as one of the signatories. In fact Sikkim gained her Sovereign Status on the 15th August, 1947, when India achieved her independence from the British rule. Every country has its inherent right to exist and maintain its separate identity and, therefore, to review and revise its treaty obligations in the wake of changing circumstances.”

Chogyal Wangchuk Namgyal

  Though Gurung’s political actions in the past may have been motivated by occasional nationalistic feelings, his confession about his attempt to atone himself of the political sins he had committed during the merger era, reflected the painful experience and the burden of guilt that all merger veterans have had to live with.

   (Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against The Tide, Jigme N. Kazi, 1993)

   

I have made mistakes and regret it: Kazini

Sikkim’s absorption into the Indian Union and its integration with the mainstream has always been a touchy and a very controversial subject. This chapter will not deal with every aspect of the ‘merger’, but will mainly focus on certain important issue of the ‘terms of the merger’ under which the tiny Himalayan Kingdom became a part of the Indian sub-continent almost two decades back. It will also reflect on the general mood of the people in the post-merger era, and reactions of those who played a major role in what many perceive as the annexation of Sikkim.

  Nari Rustomji, a noted author and authority on the eastern Himalayas and the Northeastern region of India, in an article in the Literary Supplement of the Sunday Statesman on July 22, 1984, wrote: “I had not met the Kazini of Chakung for several years, and recently called in at her home in Kalimpong on my way from Sikkim to Shillong. It had not been my intention to discuss with her or with her husband, the former Chief Minister of Sikkim, the politics of the country, but the options were not open to me. I barely stepped out from my car into her brightly-spangled parlour before she burst out with her dramatic confession.”

   And what was Kazini’s dramatic confession? As reported in the article, Kazini told Rustomji, “You and the Chogyal were absolutely right. It has all been a terrible mistake.”

   Surprisingly, Kazini, in a letter to the editor of the Statesman, denied having stated this to Rustomji. Unfortunately for Kazini, very few people would be convinced that Rustomji was lying and that she was telling the truth. Even her own husband, who after having lived for years under her shadow, has been making startling statements over the outcome of the merger of which he was its chief architect. If Kazini had confessed that merger was a mistake, then Kazi has stated that the Sikkimese people have not benefited from it.

   Five years after her reported confession with Rustomji, Kazini made another startling confession: “I have made mistakes and I regret many things I have done.” This confession, even more dramatic than the previous one, made in April 1989, was to be her last few words to the people before her death. Her candid admission that she made mistakes and regretted them, was made in her residence in Kalimpong in the presence of her husband, friends, relatives and two journalists from Sikkim, who had come to see her after she survived a critical liver complication.

   Upon learning that Kazini had survived another attack, Ranjit Devraj, UNI (United News of India) representative in Sikkim, and I rushed to Kalimpong to see her and to find out about her views on her long and chequered semi-political career. It was to be a historic moment for us and we didn’t want to miss this chance. After waiting in the parlour over a cup of tea for a while, we were finally ushered into Kazini’s bedroom. There were already some guests present in the room when we got in. More followed after we entered the room. Everyone was aware of the significance of the moment.

   The room was quiet and I could feel that the atmosphere was quite tense even as the 85-year-old lady, who once led a vigorous life in the hills, lay sick and helpless on her bed. I had never met personally, but Kazi, to my pleasant surprise, later told me what she was quite fond of me. I think she got to know me through my writings, which appeared in numerous local and national publications. She took a careful look at us when we entered the room and then asked us to come closer to her. And while everyone in the room waited with bated breath for her to say something of historical significance, she finally spoke up.

   “Jigme, you write well,” were her first words. She asked me to sit beside her. The compliment was quite flattering and totally unexpected. I just stood there quietly beside her without uttering a word. Although I must admit that I was quite flattered by what she said, I had not come all the way from Sikkim to hear a few kinds words from the old lady about myself. I expected more from her.

   When she saw the notebook in my hand and realized that we had come to her for more than that, she adjusted herself and finally spoke up, loud and clear for all to hear. Besides being the wife of the former chief minister, Kazini was also a journalist in her younger days. She actually took a live interest in the Himalayan Observer, an English week published from Kalimpong, which virtually became the mouthpiece of the Sikkim Congress led by Kazi. Having been a journalist and perhaps being aware of the role of the media in her life, she must have instinctively realized why we had come and the importance of what she spoke.

   “I would like all the people in Sikkim to be sustained, to live together, and to have a common destiny,” was Kazini’s first statement. The fact that the Government of India had, in the past, used her and her husband to cause divisions among the three ethnic groups in Sikkim, with the sole objective of weaning Sikkim closer towards India, was an open secret in Sikkim. Kazini knew full well that the people were suspicious of her own role and her party’s activities in Sikkim, particularly between April 1973 to April 1975, when the political upheaval, which began in early April 1973, finally led to Sikkim’s merger two years later. The division between the minority Buddhist Bhutia-Lepchas and the majority Hindu Nepalese reached its peak during this period, enabling Kazi’s Sikkim Congress to grab the seat of power with the tangible backing of the Indian Government.

   It was Kazi’s Sikkim State Congress (SSC) in 1953, which demanded ‘accession’ of Sikkim to India, and eventually it was his Sikkim Congress which put an end to the Chogyals’ 333-year rule, and made Sikkim a constituent unit of India in April 1975. Instead of maintaining its international status and framing its own Constitution for a more democratic set-up, Sikkim was made to accept the Constitution of another country. No wonder Karma Topden, till recently Sikkim’s Rajya Sabha MP and formerly the Chogyal’s ADC, reportedly commented during the merger period: “Everything comes to us ready-made from India these days, even constitutions.”

   After painfully witnessing what was taking place in Sikkim in the one and a half dacades since the kingdom’s entry into the Indian Union, and having been a party to the total disintegration, destruction and division amongst the Sikkimese, Kazini finally yielded to her long-suppressed emotions and accepted defeat. She actually acknowledged her devious role in Sikkim politics, admitted her mistakes, and expressed regret. And then, perhaps seeing a ray of hope, advised the people of Sikkim to “live together and have a common destiny”. She, however, did not specify what she really meant by a “common destiny”, and left it for posterity to interpret. Realising the state she was in, we refrained from asking further questions. That Kazini attained political maturity at this late stage after so much of damage and so many bitter experiences is regrettable. The only guidelines she left for the people was to ask them to learn from her past mistakes.

   The next solemn confession made by Kazini to all of us in the room concerned her past activities in Sikkim. “I have made mistakes and regret many things I have done,” she declared. I realized that while she was speaking to us, she was not just making a quiet confession about herself and her work, but her words came out quite spontaneously and there was an air of confidence and conviction in how she delivered her statement. She was not just talking to us, but seemed to be declaring something important to all in the room in her rather commanding and authoritative voice, so that posterity could take note of it and remember how she lived and died.

Kazi, Kazini and Prime Minister Morarji Desai in Gangtok, 1979.

   If Kazini had acted mischievously in the past and let down the Sikkimese people, she at least had the courage and the decency to actually come to terms with herself and the people, and admit her mistakes. It certainly takes a rare courage for anyone to admit, in the last hour of one’s life, that whatever was done in the past, was a mistake and, therefore, regrettable.  

   And finally, her last few words concerned her beloved husband, who was beside her when she made the statements. “Anything I have done which has upset my husband, I regret,” is how she put it.

   In the final days prior to the merger, Kazini made a last-minute bid to save the separate political entity of the kingdom. But she was unsuccessful, and the events of the day overtook those who tried to outmaneuver New Delhi’s men in Sikkim. According to some Sikkimese, what Kazi really wanted in Sikkim was a more democratic set-up and closer ties with Indian, while maintaining Sikkim’s distinct personality as separate from India. The merger was, therefore, unnecessary and a mistake. It was, to borrow Jawaharlal Nehru’s phrase, like “killing the fly with a bullet”.

   In just forty two words, Kazini summed up how she felt about her life, her husband and the people of Sikkim. “I Regret” should have been her epitaph.

(Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against The Tide, Jigme N Kazi, 1993)

EMERGENCY DECLARED AFTER SIKKIM’S TAKEOVER

     Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal

Two months after Sikkim’s merger with the Indian Union a national emergency was declared in India on June 26, 1975. For the Sikkimese who wanted to voice their resentment against the merger this was an unfortunate development.

In the midnight of June 26, 1975, President, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, passed an ordinance declaring a state of emergency under Article 352 (1) of the Constitution.  By June 27 morning, all prominent leaders of the opposition in India were under arrest under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). In Sikkim, the axe fell on Nar Bahadur Bhandari and his anti-merger colleagues - Sonam Yongda, Ashok Tsong (A.K. Subba) and P.B. Subba.

Bhandari and his colleagues were arrested under MISA and spent about a year (1976-1977) in Berhampur jail in Bihar. The Emergency lasted precisely 635 days (21 months) between 1975-1977 and about one lakh political activists were arrested during this period. Around 35,000 people were arrested under the MISA and 72,000 were put in jail under the Defence of India Regulation Act. All the fundamental rights were suspended, politicians were arrested and a heavy censorship was imposed on the media throughout India.

The Emergency was in effect from 25 June 1975 until its withdrawal on 21 March 1977.

SPRING SURPRISE:HERMONS ON THE MOVE

It all began this spring when the Hermons were on the move. Uttam Pradhan and I went to see Miss Russell in Darjeeling on March 20. We visited MH and we felt good; the school was putting its best foot forward despite trying situations. 

We met Chuck, my school mate and ex-Princi of Lamarts Cal. Cindy and Pradeep flew from Ireland and visited MH in April with Anup Chachan.  They felt the same.  I drove down to Siliguri to meet them at Shiv Saria’s place before they left for Darj in early April. This was followed by the visit to the school by Shiv Saria and his son Suds. Shiv and Suds who also came to Gangtok, also felt good about the school.

Then we all said, “Why not? Why not give another try to save MH?” Pradeep and Cindy swung into action and got in touch with school authorities. General Thip, our HI (Hermonites International)  President in Bangkok, was contacted and updated on the events and he gave the green signal. He also wrote to Rev. K. Sardar, the school’s Administrator and Secretary, and got a good response from him. He invited us for talks. On June 14, Anup, Namgyal and I met the Senior Master, Mr. Partho Dey, to apprise him of the new development. The meeting went off well, the decks were cleared.

  Finally, a meeting has been fixed with Rev. Sardar on June 20. We are hopeful and confidant that the Managing Committee, which looks after MH on behalf of the Methodist Church in India, will give us the go-ahead in taking MH to greater heights.

Meanwhile, Jagdish Saria and Mahesh Singh of 1972 and 1973 batch respectively also visited Darj recently. Mahesh, a Supreme Court lawyer, also paid a short visit to Gangtok. Earlier, my class 5 student of the 1970s, Dhruba Ghosh, a senior lawyer at Calcutta High Court, also visited us in Gangtok recently.

In Bhutan, Thinly Dem and other Hermonites looked after Cindy and Pradeep. Thinley and other Hermonites are currently taking care of visiting Hermonites in Bhutan.

The central focus and the talks held during all our interactions were and will be always “MH”. Hail Mt. Hermon!

A NEW BEGINNING AT ‘MH’

A new beginning has been made by concerned Hermonites to enable the Hermonites (alumni of Mt. Hermon School, Darjeeling.) to do whatever possible to help and support their alma mater.

Rev. K. Sardar, the school’s Administrator and Secretary, has welcomed the initiative taken by Hermonites International (Hi!), a global body of the Hermonites, to work together in unison for the welfare of the school.

In response to a letter from Hermonites International President, Varongthip Lulitanond, Rev. Sardar, who also represents the Managing Committee of the school, while stating that the Hermonites’ concern for the school “has encouraged and motivated us a lot and made us feel that we are not alone in this struggle but the entire ‘Mount Hermon Family’ is standing behind us to support this noble cause”,  has also stated, “I am keenly interested and look forward for the opportunity to have a meeting with you to apprise you about the status of the school.”

On June 14, three Hermonites of the ’70 era – Namgyal Wangdhi, Anup Chachan and Jigme N. Kazi – representing the global body, met the school’s Senior Master, Mr. Partho Dey, at Mt. Hermon to lay the groundwork for further talks regarding the school’s welfare. Mr. Dey’s response was also very positive and encouraging and the talk was very friendly and fruitful.

A team of concerned Hermonites in the region, representing the HI, are expected to have a formal meeting with Rev. Sardar shortly on the said matter. If the Methodist Church of India (MCI), which owns the school and governs it through its Managing Committee, formally gives the green signal for the alumni to pitch in then a way will be cleared for global Hermonites to participate in the school’s welfare in a more organised and systematic way on a long-term basis.

Finally, after a long and arduous struggle the way is being cleared for the alumni’s association with their alma mater in a deep and meaningful way. In his year-long stay at MH, Rev. Sardar and Mr. Dey, who has been on MH staff for the past 25 years, have done a wonderful job in running and maintaining the school despite trying circumstances. Hermonites who visited the school recently are all impressed by their work.

At this stage, when we see a ray of hope for the school’s future success, we urge all Hermonites and well-wishers of the school to be very, very positive in their outlook and ensure a bright future for MH. Hail Mount Hermon!

‘My father taught me how to fight and survive’

REMEBERING DAD ON HIS 20^TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY

He was only 68 when he passed away on May 21, 1998, in Gangtok after a brief illness. It is now 20 years since he left us but all of us still have him close to our heart.

‘Lachen Yapla’, as he was popularly known, was the son of Rhenock Yap Tseten Tashi and Libing Chum Seden. Unfortunately, dad (Aba) did not have a stable childhood. He was separated from his father at a young age and sent to Yangang, south Sikkim, with his mother. The elders in the family thought it best to force the separation as both my Azyola (grandfather) and Anyola (grandmother) belonged to the Takarpa family of the Bonpo-Ngadik clan of the Sikkimese Bhutias.

Aba was studying at the Tashi Namgyal Academy (TNA) and living at the Libing House premises in Gangtok when at around the age of 17 he was married to the daughter (Chum Yangchen) of Lachen Pipon, Cho Ledon Nima Gyatso. In those days it took at least seven days to reach Lachen (north Sikkim) from Gangtok or Yangang.

My mom died when I was just 2-3 years. Dad  then got married to Amla’s younger sister, Chum Phigu. Later in 1960, when my Amchung (Chum Phigu), too, passed away my father got married to her cousin sister Chumzay, eldest daughter of the late Lachen Pipon, Cho Wangchuk Palden.

Altogether five sons and two daughters were born to the three wives. The eldest son, Tenzing Danen, died in 2011 during the tragic earthquake that struck north Sikkim. All of us were born and brought up in Lachen and though most of us live away from Lachen we still consider Lachen our home and ‘motherland’.

Just before he passed away Aba had a word with me: ‘Temiharo sab melay ra bosnu’ (you all live together in harmony). This was his final benediction.

Over the past six decades Lachen Yapla’s family has gone through a tough time. But our struggle has kept all of us together so far and I’m sure our descendants will, too, stay the course.

A former Sikkim chief minister once told me: “You are a great survivor”. I think I learnt this from my dad. We all miss him and remember him on this day, his 20^th death anniversary. May he continue to enjoy the bliss that he so rightly deserved.

  HAIL MOUNT HERMON!

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep...”

  By Jigme N.Kazi

 In the two years from now, MH will celebrate its 100^th birth anniversary on March 11, 1995. Hermonites all over the world, particularly in India and the neighbouring areas, are making preparations to make the centenary year a grand success. This has led to the setting up of the All Indian Hermonites Association (AIHA) with its headquarters in Darjeeling. Pratap Singh Rai (MH 1964-68), who is in-charge of the Association’s activities in this field, have been very active in his work. The ex-students in Siliguri have recently formed The Foothills Hermonites with Jagdish Singh (MH 1962-1971) becoming one of the most active members. The Mount Hermon Alumni Association Nepal (MHAAN) of Nepal led by Tom Creese (MH 1955-63), Sulee Hung (MH 1962-1970) and Annie (Gardner) Vaidya (MH 1968-1979) is also quite active and will definitely participate in the centenary celebrations.

   The occasion will give us an opportunity to focus our attention on the school, which needs help and guidance in various fields. Its problems and prospects will have to be studies in depth and a concrete plan of action has to be initiated by all Hermonites, friends and well-wishers of the school to take our 

dear old MH into the 21^st century and beyond.

 We live and die, but life must go on. The ideals and values and the high standards set by the school must continue to enrich our lives and the lives of those around us. March 11, 1995 will indeed be an occasion for us when we can, once more, join our hands and hearts together, and sing the school hymn in full-throated voice and mean it:

“Beloved Mount Hermon, we greet thee,

Thy daughters and sons from afar

As of as we pause in our toiling

To hail thee whose children we are.

Hail, Mount Hermon! Hail, Mount Hermon!

Safe for aye in memory's shrine.

Hail, Mount Hermon! Dear Mount Hermon!

Praise and love be ever thine.

     I loved MH and wanted to stay back, but something in me pulled forward and I had to finally move out. And as 1979 approached, I knew it would be my last year in MH. By then I had made up my mind to leave the teaching profession. MH had given me so much and the only way to show my gratitude was to give myself for the school for a few years.

   My attitude to life has always been to give my best to whatever work in undertake. I certainly would not be able to do this if I did not enjoy what I was doing. I realised that I would not enjoy being in the teaching profession if I was not working in MH. It was partly because of this that I opted for another profession and decided to go for law studies.

   My attitude to life is best described in these words from my little quotation book, which I have kept with me since 1967-68: “Behold, I do not give lectures or little charity; when I give, I give myself”. I gave myself to MH fully and completely.

   And as I look back now, I think the most valuable and the lasting thing that I have learnt from MH was not in the classroom, but on the playground; not from my textbooks, but from people and from everyday experiences. Taking part in the various school activities, leading various teams and finally the 1^st XI football team and going through our many defeats and victories on the playing field, have been some of the greatest moments of my life. Giving my best shot and fighting till the very end, irrespective of consequences, is what I have learnt from MH. And as I look back over these fourteen years away from the old and familiar surroundings, I know that whatever MH taught me during my brief sojourn in Darjeeling has withstood the test of time.

   In the final talk to the school on November 25, 1979, I said, “I venture into new frontiers with good intentions, high ideals and faith in God. To those who will be leaving us at the end of this year, let me urge you to give your life to a great cause. The kind of person we are in tea years time will reflect what we have learnt here in MH. I will you all the very best.”

   And with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I gave my last few words to the school, which had been my home for sixteen short years: “Sometimes when you reach out for a dream, you have to leave something behind. I leave behind my school, my friends, my home...my MH.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

I left MH at the end of 1979; but a part of me has always remained behind. And, I guess, a part of MH has always been with me. Hail Mount Hermon!

(Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against The Tide, Jigme N. Kazi, published by Hill Media Publications, Gangtok, 1993)