HUMAN RIGHTS Under the Shadow of Guns

SIKKIM OBSERVER   Vol 20 No 13 Page 1 May 14 2011

Editorial

HUMAN RIGHTS

Under the Shadow of Guns

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

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

Get serious on accountability, CM tells officials

“Curb the menace of corruption in administration”

Observer News Service

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Observer News Service

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

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

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

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

Sudheer Sharma

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

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

Pro-India

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

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

Tripartite agreement

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

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

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

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

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

Indira Gandhi

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

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

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

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

SIKKIM OBSERVER May 14, 2011

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

Observer News Service

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LIBERATION FOR REAL PARIVARTAN

SIKKIM OBSERVER   Vol 20 No 13 Page 1 May 14 2011

They won, we lost: Duk Nath Nepal

LIBERATION

FOR REAL

PARIVARTAN

Jigme N Kazi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SOLIDARITY FORUM FOR SCHEDULED TRIBE STATUS

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     Vol 1 No 19       Page 1                    May 11, 2011

SOLIDARITY FORUM FOR SCHEDULED TRIBE STATUS FOR ALL ‘SIKKIMESE NEPALESE’

Himalayan News Network

Gangtok, May 10: The Sikkim Solidarity Forum for Gorkhaland is likely to give more emphasis on basic issues that concern Sikkim from now on.

This was indicated by the Forum’s Chief Convenor Bharat Basnet who is likely to convene a public meeting of the Forum to announce its new plan of action.

Indicating this at a press conference held here last week, Basnet said after the Sikkim Assembly passed a resolution on formation of Gorkhaland state there was now no need to focus on ‘Gorkhaland’.

He has demanded that ‘Sikkimese Nepalese’, who possess the Sikkim Subjects Certificate, should be declared scheduled tribes. This would go a long way in preserving Sikkim’s distinct identity and communal harmony as per the historic May 8, 1973 tripartite agreement and Article 371F of the Constitution, Basnet said.

The Forum believes that if the ST status demand for all ‘Sikkim subjects’ is met all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese – would be clubbed together. “This would ensure preservation of our distinct identity,” Basnet said.

 Incidentally, the Chamling Government also wants all Sikkimese Nepalese who were “Sikkim subjects” to be given ST status. As of now only the Bhutias and Lepchas and Limbus and Tamangs among the majority Nepalese are included in the State’s ST list.

Bihar to invest in Bhutan hydel projects: Nitish

T. Dem

Thimphu, May 10: Bihar is likely to take part in Bhutan’s hydel projects. This indication came during Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s three-day visit to the Druk Kingdom.

The Chief Minister said he will urge the Central Government to make Bihar a partner in Bhutan’s hydel projects and also seek permission to take equity stake in these ventures to meet the power needs of his State.

"There has been a constant demand for at least 1500 megawatts of power, which the central government could facilitate from the Psangchhu hydel project in Bhutan, currently under construction," the Chief Minister said after his returns from Bhutan last week.

Nitish Kumar further said Bhutan is the most trusted friend of India and the mutual relations are based on cooperation and understanding.

"A big number of Bhutanese visit Buddhist sites every year and tourists from India also go to Bhutan. The two nations enjoy very cordial relationship. The ties between Bhutan and Bihar are quite emotional," said Nitish in Bhutan.

The Chief Minister visited Bhutan at the invitation of Bhutan prime minister Jigme Yoser Thinley who sometime back made a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya. Thinley had met Nitish and invited him to visit Bhutan.

After Bhutan, Nitish is expected to pay a six-day visit to China from June 13 to 18. "Recently, the Chinese envoy had extended an invitation to me. Earlier, the foreign secretary (India) had advised me to make a goodwill visit to China," he said.

Bhutan and Bihar are set to sign a joint pact to promote tourism in famous Buddhist circuits in Bhutan. Every year thousands of Bhutanese Buddhist pilgrims visit Bihar, particularly Bodhgaya during winter, to undergo their annual nekor (pilgrimage).

JK Hurriyat leader meets European Parliament Prez

L.Verma

Srinagar, May 10:  Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq last Friday held a meeting to discuss the Kashmir situation with President of European Parliament Libor Rucek at Brussels..

During the meeting, Mirwaiz apprised Rucek about the “struggle of Kashmiris for right to self determination and the gross human rights violations, unidentified graves and the arrest and detention of youth and political activists in Kashmir,” a spokesman of the amalgam said.

“Mirwaiz also urged the European Parliament to use its influence over India for giving a practical shape to the commitments made to Kashmiris,” the spokesman added.

Leaders of Kashmir Centre London and Kashmir Centre Brussel, Nazir Ahmad Shawl and Barrister Abdul Majeed Tramboo were present during the meeting.

During his meeting with Josef Jenning, Director European Policy Centre in Brussels, Mirwaiz stressed that European Parliament could play a constructive role in facilitating meaningful engagement and dialogue between India, Pakistan and Kashmiris for the final resolution of Kashmir dispute.

Mirwaiz also apprised him that the treaties of India and Pakistan over water resources were not in favour of Kashmiris.

                    

Shabir Shah joins Geelani in Osama praise

Himalayan News Network

Srinagar, May 10:  Senior Hurriyat (M) leader, Shabir Ahmad Shah, on Friday joined Syed Ali Shah Geelani in high praise for Osama Bin Laden, describing the slain Al Qaeda founder as ‘an idea that can never die.”

Geelani himself used the funeral prayers for Bin Laden to dare India to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir, and demanded a ban on liquor and a halt to co-education.

Having been released from house arrest at around noon, Geelani offered Friday prayers at Batmalu and then spoke at Bin Laden’s funeral service, repeated that the Al Qaeda leader was steeped in love and concern for Muslims and had raised his voice against anti-Islam forces.

He condemned the US for burying Bin Laden at sea, saying that such measures had no justification.

 “It was cowardly of the American authorities to have executed Bin Laden after taking him into custody,” Shah said.

“There could be room for difference with Bin Laden’s methods, but not handing him over to Muslims for proper burial was cowardly,” he said.

“Bin Laden is not the name of an individual, but an idea, and ideas never die,” Shah said.

 “He was the wealthiest individual in the Arab world, but could not bear the American atrocities on the Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans and freedom fighters in other lands, and spent his entire wealth to free Muslims from the US oppression. He was aware of the oppression and the sufferings of the Kashmiri people,” he said.

“He was fighting anti-Islam forces against the religious and political slavery of Muslims, and we have a duty to offer prayers for him,” he said.

Hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday called al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden a martyr who died fighting US oppression in the world. He said Osama had become a symbol of resistance to America and laid down his life doing this.

“Osama has died a martyr. He fought US and its imperialistic designs," Geelani, The Indian Express reported. “But his martyrdom won't end the resistance against the US in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world.”

Geelani said he had no animosity with the people of America but the US government’s policies were stoking anger across the Muslim world. “The US policies are against Muslim Ummah. We condemned 9/11 attacks as they were terrorist acts. But ever since, US has massacred lakhs of Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and now Libya.”

EDITORIAL

HISTORIC PACT

The Indian Betrayal

Those who are well aware of what took place in Sikkim in the ’70s, when the former Buddhist Kingdom was taken over by its protecting power in the guise of ushering in democracy, ought to know by now the sense of betrayal the Sikkimese people feel after becoming the 22^nd State of India. The leaders of the so-called democratic movement led by former chief minister LD Kazi now stand fully exposed for their dubious role during the ‘merger’ era. That is why they have been unsuccessful in Sikkim politics as they stand forever condemned by the people at large. Post-merger Sikkimese are gradually re-discovering what really took place during the signing of the historic Tripartite May 8, 1973 Agreement. And they are not happy with what took place and are asking serious questions. Some of them have chosen the political path to react to situations that took place between 1973-1975, when anti-Sikkimese elements backed by New Delhi put an end to Sikkim’s distinct international political status.

But what really has got the Sikkimese angry and worried is the gradual dilution of the constitutional safeguards and protections given to the ethnic Sikkimese of Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepalese origin. Ironically, three years after the ‘merger’ Sikkimese Bhutias, the then ruling class in Sikkim, faced the first assault on their distinct identity when they were made ‘scheduled tribes’ and other communities mischievously included in the definition of ‘Bhutia’, leading to the gradual erosion of their political rights. A year later in 1979 Sikkimese Nepalese, who were always touchy about their political rights, lost reservation of their traditional seats in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. Despite the demand for restoration of their political rights in the past three decades New Delhi has kept mum. How long can the stalemate continue? The formation of Sikkim Liberation Party last week is surely an indication of what is to come in a strategic and vulnerable State like Sikkim.

SIKKIM: How A Buddhist Kingdom Became An Indian State

The Chogyal of Sikkim with India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in mid-1970s

    Sikkim’s original inhabitants, the Lepchas, call their land Nyemael, “Paradise.” Though one of the legendary “bayul” or Shangri-la valleys that refer to a handful of remote valleys of the Himalayas was said to be only behind the mighty Kanchenjunga, rather than implying the entire former Kingdom, Sikkim, now the 22nd state of India, has very much the same characteristics as the other fairy tale kingdoms of the Himalayas.

   The Buddhist patron-saint of Sikkim is Guru Rinpoche who is said to have passed through the land in the 8th century and introduced Buddhism to Sikkim. As a result landscape is studded with many picturesque monasteries, much like Bhutan further to the east. Though most monasteries extol Padma Sambhawa and follow the Nyingmapa order, or Red Hat school of Buddhism, since 1959 when the 16th Karmapa arrived in Sikkim after Tibet was overrun by the Chinese, Rumtek, a large monastery near Gangtok, has become the seat of the Tibetan Karma Kagyu lineage.

   Same as its neighbors, Sikkim too was a monarchy, presumably since the 13th century though the first king, or Chogyal, of Sikkim was not consecrated until 1642 in Yuksom, in West Sikkim. The end of Sikkim’s monarchy came on April 6, 1975 when the Indian army subdued the palace guards, placed the king under house arrest and Sikkim ceased to exist as an independent kingdom, its sovereignty lost.

     It is said that Sikkim’s merger with India was necessary for India’s national security since India’s first cross border skirmishes with the Chinese in the 1960s. China claimed Sikkim to be part of Tibet, hence part of China and India feared vulnerable to an attack should Sikkim succumb to China. Though the eventual annexation of Sikkim to India was years in the making, perhaps as far as back as 1947 when India gained independence from the British, fact is also that India played dirty in the process, staging referendum vote whether the people wanted to become part of the union, all to pave the road to justification of the eventual annexation.

       Hailed as expression of democracy, those that remember the voting and events of those days well recall India hauling in masses of poor folks from the plains, some said to have been brought from as far south as Bihar to vote, all to show the wish of the majority was to join the Indian Union. No foreign press was allowed into Sikkim for a long time and even as late as 1980s a number of those that used to be close to the former Chogyal and agitated against India’s rule lingered off in Indian prisons.

   Today, most Sikkimese know they lost their independence in 1975, and the plains-bound passengers from the hills still say they are “going to India” despite that indeed they are in India. The pride of the Lepchas and being Sikkimese carries on and it is good to see that the young generation has not lost their identity, quite the contrary. Although India has always been hailed as the largest democracy and praised for its practices, it seems the spirit of democracy it sowed in Sikkim is a far cry from its otherwise fine track record. (toptravelleads.com)

(To learn more about the events of 1970s when India annexed Sikkim, read Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim, by Sunanda K Datta-Ray.)

Better days ahead for Darjeeling tea industry

Himalayan News Network

Darjeeling, May 10: The Union Finance Ministry has cleared two foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals from the Darjeeling tea industry, the first FDI approval since 1974 for the branded brew sector in the hills.

“Such investments had stopped after the introduction of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera) in 1974, which stated that foreign companies making profit in India cannot remit their profits out of the country,” said an industry insider, according to a national daily.

The applications of M/s Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates Pvt Ltd and M/s Jay Shree Tea & Industries Ltd, Kolkata are among the 21 FDI proposals approved by the Centre recently.

In the early nineties, the FDI cap in tea gardens was raised to 74 per cent from 49. But even at that time, under FERA, profits could not be remitted out of the country. As a result, no company showed any interest in investing in tea gardens.

In 2002, the FDI for the industry with its ailing tea gardens was relaxed to 100 per cent. A stipulation, however, said the 100 per cent FDI had to be rolled back to 74 per cent in five years. Also, from then on, foreign companies were allowed to proportionally remit the profits back to their countries. This led to renewed interest in investing in tea, especially in Darjeeling where gardens were making profits.

A statement issued by the ministry of finance said that while 21 FDI proposals amounting to Rs 1027.20 crore were cleared on May 3, 17 applications have been deferred, nine rejected and one withdrawn from the agenda, the report said.

About the particulars of the application submitted by the Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates, Even though Darjeeling tea — only 87 gardens can use the brand name — by itself is a world-famous brand, companies had in the past gone in for value addition to make their product more attractive.

As early as in 2006, Gopadhara tea garden had started manufacturing “designer tea”. Such products included the handcrafted Olympic Flame — tea leaves resembling an Olympic torch — and the Dragon Pearl brew. When put in hot water, the tea opened up into two leaves and a bud. Dragon Pearl Tea is intricately finger-rolled

Darjeeling tea companies, which had suffered a setback last year due to a drop in production, are likely to perform better this year as the crop situation has improved and enquiries from the overseas markets have picked up significantly. Even quake-hit Japan has sent feelers to the Darjeeling producers for picking up good volumes of tea to meet the country's demand.

Britain's high street departmental store Harrods is also set to procure premium Darjeeling tea this year. "Harrods officials will come in June to place their requirements and tea companies hope to have a good deal with them," said Sanjay Bansal, chairman of Ambootia Group.

Production of tea has increased by at least 25% compared to previous year. "Last year, production got affected due to a drought-like situation. We lost the premium first and second flush teas, which fetch maximum revenues for tea companies. But this year the weather has improved and this will have a good impact on the production," said Ashok Lohia, chairman of Chamong Tee.

Kalimpong Park Hotel was once the summer residence of Maharaja of Dinajpur

S. Deki

An aura of modernity and a quaint sense of history tickles the sensitivity at the three-star heritage hotel, The Kalimpong Park Hotel, in Kalimpong, once known as Dinajpur House, the former summer residence of the Maharaja of Dinajpur. This hotel with a distinct personality sits one kilometer uphill from the town area and commands breathtaking view of the sweeping majesty of the Himalayas.

The Maharaja of Dinajpur lived here for about 38 – 40 years. The Maharaja, a zamidar (landlord), avoided much of the intense summer heat of the plains of Bengal by staying in this British architectural style bungalow with his family and entourage of servants, according to Amode Yonzone, the proprietor of the hotel.

Situated on a view-point about a kilometer uphill from town, this property sat like a sentinel on a ridge facing Kalimpong town, Dr. Graham’s Homes and Dehlo hill on the opposite hill, overlooking the river valleys to the east,  Kanchenjunga to the north and the hills of Durpin to the south.

Started as modest guest-house with three bedrooms in 1978, it is now a full fledged hotel with ‘three star’ facilities.

The main wing of Kalimpong Park Hotel was once known as ‘Dinajpur House’, the former summer residence of the Maharaja of Dinajpur (a district of West Bengal, now divided with Bangladesh).

Dinajpur House was bought by G. P. Yonzone (of Dumchipara Tea Garden in the Dooars) in December, 1960. The property included all the antique furniture, utensils, crockery and cutlery.

After Independence the government of India went about imposing land and property taxes on landlords and property owners and the Land Ceiling Act was imposed, according to the owner of the hotel, who is one of the sons of the late G P Yonzone.

 This ended the luxuries of the Maharajas and zamidars. Thus, many of their properties like Dinajpur House were put up for sale because the landlords who did not have any income now could not pay the new property taxes and neither could they maintain their vast properties.

Dinajpur is a district in North Bengal. After the partition of India with Pakistan, half of this district went to East Pakistan, i.e. present-day Bangladesh.

Remembering Tagore in Mongpo

On his 150^th birth centenary

Maitreyi Devi not having penned “Mongpo-te Rabindranath” (Tagore’s days at Mongpo), I am quite certain the common Bengalee literati would have forgotten Tagore’s memorable days at the Cinchona plantation.

This little remembered hamlet is about a fifty- kilometre drive from Siliguri. A place remotely cornered, heavily guarded by foliage in the jungles in district of Darjeeling, Mongpo is unscathed by footfalls, mechanised cars and cigarette packets.

 Maitreyi Devi’s husband Dr.Manmohan Sen was in charge of British India’s lucrative cinchona plantation at Mongpo and Maitreyi had invited Tagore more than once (especially between 1938-1940) requesting his thoughts to be bared, some even on the office note books of the factory. Dr. Sen’s official residence lies across factory gates and now an indiscreet bust of Tagore overlooks the beautiful garden.

The small, tidy bungalow allows nature to pierce through its innumerable glass panes where Tagore had once rested on a couch that still exist. Just at the end of the portico on the left; lies the very private enclosure restricted by glass walls on two sides, here silence prevails even now as if the bard is still nurturing his imaginations to flow down his pen.

This enclosure is adorned by the presence of a writing desk and a chair, designed by the poet himself, his faculty fine crafted by his son Rathindranath. Rathindranath’s mastery in wood work is well known and it enhances the aesthetics of this bungalow. A bamboo work of pen stand is emblazoned with Tagore’s drawings. A heavily purported wooden aisle lies beside Tagore’s medicine box containing some still fresh Homeopathy medicines.

Tagore himself had designed his bed whose backrest rises heavily against its frame in a rather odd fashion. This was likely as a remedy towards the respiratory distress he withstood during his last decade. This bed is kept in the adjacent room. A visit to this place whispers that nothing had changed here in spite of the tree just behind the house, which Tagore had lovingly named ‘Saptaparni’, growing enormously spreading its arms for the last fifty years or so.

How lucky the present generation is who would plan trips in noisy automobiles to this offbeat destination never even realising how tedious and difficult and time consuming it was in unfurnished palanquins in those days to travel from the plains of Siliguri. Mr Sisir Routh who now upkeeps this house feels proud when he mentions that his father Bhimlal was one of those palanquin bearers who attended Tagore during the trips to Mongpo. (calcuttaliterati) 

Manipur family celebrates Osama’s death

Himalayan News Network

Imphal, May 10: The news of Osama bin Laden's death brought cheers to the Manipur capital where the relatives and friends of a 9/11 victim from Imphal celebrated the sensational event.

Jupiter Yambem (42), a native of Imphal's Uripok Yambem Leikai, was among the 3,000 people who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. He was a banquet manager with Windows of the World, a restaurant spread across 40,000 sq ft on the 107th floor of the WTC.

Welcoming Laden's death, Yamben Laba, Jupiter's elder brother and former member of Manipur Human Rights Commission, said, "I'm so happy that justice has been done. I thank US president Barack Obama, who ordered the oppression against bin Laden. Now my beloved brother can finally rest in peace."

Laba said all should appreciate the war against terror and the role played by the US. "I extend my thanks to the White House, the Pentagon and everybody else who were part of the operation. I hope America will make more breakthroughs in the war against terror," added Laba, a well-known senior journalist in the northeast.

Jupiter is survived by his American wife, Nancy McCardle Yambem and son Santi Mc Cardle (15) aka Chinglailakpa (dragon-tamer). The mother-son duo, who lives in New York, often visits Imphal to spend time with Jupiter's relatives.

In 2002, Laba and his father, Yambem Tombi, visited New York to attend a memorial service at Ground Zero. Every year, Jupiter's family holds a memorial service in his memory on September 11.

Born to the Yambem family of Uripok neighbourhood in Imphal West, Jupiter left India when he was selected as a coordinator at Camp America, a youth exchange programme, in 1981.

He stayed back, married Nancy, a music therapist, went on to become a manager of the restaurant and stayed with his family in New York till he died in the terror attack.

“I am not very comfortable with the idea of celebrating this. My husband was murdered and killed. I know what it feels like. Though Osama needed to be brought to justice, and death was probably to only way to do it, I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of celebrating a killing,” said Nancy.

INTERVIEW/Baba Ramadev

“Majority of the people of India are fed up with the growing menace of corruption in the country”

After social activist Anna Hazare's soul-stirring movement against corruption, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev is now ready to fight “unto death” to eradicate corruption from society.

Baba Ramdev, who was with Anna Hazare when he was fasting at Jantar Manter, said, “I only wish that others too join movement against corruption. It is a fact that now majority of the people of India are fed up with the growing menace of corruption in the country.”

In an interview with Editor-in-Chief of News 24, Ms.Anurradha Prasad,  for her weekly show 'Aamne-Samne', he said that the fight against corruption will not stop.

In keeping with his combative new avtaar of crusader against black money and menace of corruption, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev is also ready to take Messrs Digvijay Singh and P.L. Punia head on for questioning his integrity.

Baba Ramdev took Congress leaders' direct barb on him with a pinch of salt. “I have no personal issue with them. He (Digvijay Singh) belongs to a feudal family and I have very humble origins. There is no question of joining issue with him or for that matter anybody.”

Baba further said, “I have no tablet to cure him. Let his party do something to make him all right."

When News 24 asked Baba what is wrong if Digvijay Singh or Punia ask him to furnish his income tax returns, Baba said, “The transaction of my trust is audited every year. I have no bank account, no property at all. I am ready to face any investigating agency to investigate the accounts of my trust. I am open to that. Our accounts are absolutely transparent.”

Replying to a question regarding Digvijay Singh's younger brother Laxman Singh joining hands with him, Baba said, “There cannot be any debate that 99 per cent people of the country support my cause. And I do not mind that one per cent are not with me. Even one per cent were not with Lord Ram and Sita. Even Congressmen with Gandhian thoughts are with me and fully supporting my cause.”

In order to clear his position once and for all, Baba said, “ I have no issue against any party or person.”

Replying to another direct question related to his growing wealth, Baba challenged anybody to prove that there is even an iota of misappropriation of funds in his empire. “My followers have given me an island in UK and a huge land in Houston. I got everything according to the law of land of those countries.”

Are you ready to contest the next general election to be held in 2014? To this question Baba Ramdev said he would like to clarify once and for all that he would not contest the election. However, he did say that he would put his candidates with clean image.

“My constitution has given me the right to fight against the anti-national forces. And what is the problem of anybody if I fight against all those who are fighting against the interests of the country.”

'Baba, how far this charge is true that Muslims still avoid your Yoga camps?'

"They are with me and support my movement. I addressed a huge gathering of venerable Islamic seminary Darul-ulum in Deoband. Muslim leaders also declared Yoga as not anti-Islamic. A large number of Muslims gathered at my recent really at the Ramlila ground in Delhi."

SIKKIMESE SOLIDARITY

SIKKIM OBSERVER   Vol 20 No 12 Page 1 May 7 2011

Editorial

SIKKIMESE SOLIDARITY

Initiative Must Come From Sikkimese Nepalese

Opposition leaders in Sikkim are basicially harpening on the same theme these days. They want permanent safeguards for Sikkimese who possess genuine Sikkim Subject Certificates. Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and his colleagues used to say the same thing before they came to power in 1994. Nar Bahadur Bhandari, who ruled Sikkim for nearly a decade and half before Chamling, too, made the same promises. In fact, Bhandari and his Sikkim Parishad, which overthrew the Kazi Government in the State’s first Assembly polls after the ‘merger’ in 1979, promised more than safeguards under Article 371F of the Constitution; they wanted de-merger. “Desh Farkaow” (return Sikkim) was their slogan.  After more than three and half decades down the line Sikkimese people are just scraping through in every respect and those who made tall promises have been accused of not only betraying the people but indulging in rampant corruption.

   If Sikkimese – Bhutias, Lepchas, and Nepalese of Sikkimese origin – are to stand united as aspired by Bharat Basnet-led Sikkim Solidarity Forum for Gorkhaland, then the initiative and leadership must come from the majority Sikkimese Nepalese community. Unfortunately, the Sikkimese Nepalese leadership has miserably failed the people on basic issues and long-term interest of the Sikkimese people. After nearly four decades let-down by the Nepalese leadership in Sikkim the minority Bhutia-Lepcha tribals have now been forced to do some real hard thinking. Mere statements, speeches, resolutions, emotional expressions of any kind will now not stir the hearts and minds of genuine Sikkimese if the political leadership in Sikkim do not have the will to carry on the noble and much-needed task to fight for all Sikkimese, including those other than ‘Sikkim Subjects’ who have been living in Sikkim for generations and have made Sikkim their homeland. The political leadership in the former kingdom needs to do an indepth self-introspection before embarking on yet another sentimental journey leading to nowhere. Even if the Sikkimese people do not deserve anything as they, with few honourable exceptions, are only after the mundane things of life and nothing else, ‘Sikkim’ should not be allowed to forever live on hope and die in despair. It should be given one more chance to come back to life and remain the homeland of generations of Sikkimese yet to be born.

Solidarity Forum demands ST status for Sikkimese Nepalese

Sikkimese Nepalese leadership has failed us: Basnet

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 6: Realizing the need to safeguard Sikkim’s distinct identity and the political rights of the Sikkimese Nepalese, Sikkim Solidarity Forum for Gorkhaland has demanded that all Sikkimese be declared ‘scheduled tribes’ in the State.

Briefing the media at a press conference here yesterday, Forum Chief Convenor Bharat Basnet has demanded that Nepalese of Sikkimese origin, who possess Sikkim Subjects Certificates and were ‘Sikkim Subjects’ in the former kingdom, should be declared scheduled tribes.

Presently, only Tamangs and Limbus from the majority Nepalese community have been granted ST status in the State. The Bhutias and Lepchas obtained ST status way back in 1978.

Basnet made a fervent appeal to Chief Minister Pawan Chamling to pass a one-point resolution in the State Assembly demanding ST status for all Sikkimese Nepalese.

“If Chamling does that I’m ready to join the ruling party,” Basnet said.

He said inclusion of all Sikkimese Nepalese in the ST list in the State would go a long way in preserving Sikkim’s distinct identity as per the provisions of May 8, 1973 tripartite agreement and Article 371F of the Constitution. “This is the only way to preserve the political rights of Sikkimese Nepalese and restore communal harmony in Sikkim,” Basnet said.

Basnet, a senior Congressman who was recently expelled from the party along with others, including former minister KN Upreti, for alleged anti-party activities, said the leadership of the Sikkimese Nepalese has completely failed Sikkim and the Sikkimese people.

He said Sikkimese Nepalese should now be willing to handover the post of chief ministership to a capable person from the minority Bhutia-Lepcha community.

Referring to the Forum’s activities on Gorkhaland, Basnet said after his organization got active Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President Bimal Gurung met Chamling. “This meet led to passing of Gorkhaland resolution in the Sikkim Assembly,” Basnet said.

BJP HOLDS ANTI-CORRUPTION DHARNA IN GANGTOK

Threatens to raise issue in New Delhi

Observer News Service

Gangtok, May 6: The State unit of the BJP has threatened to raise the corruption issue against the Chamling Government at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi next month if the State Government fails to act on the alleged rampant corruption in the administration as reported in the latest CAG report.

Briefing reporters during the party’s dharna on corruption in front of the District Collectorate office here on Tuesday, BJP Sikkim unit President Padam Chettri said if the concerned authorities fail to act on the report on corruption raised by the BJP with 30 days his party would raise the issue at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi.

BJP Lok Sabha MP from Bihar, Nikhil Chowdhury, who had come to attend the dharna to back the State unit’s anti-corruption campaign in the State, said at a press conference that the party is likely to raise the corruption issue in the Parliament and may also demand that the issue be referred to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the House as all the 32 members of the Sikkim Assembly belong to the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), leaving no Opposition members in the Assembly to raise corruption issue against the government.

Chowdhury has been appointed as the Sikkim in-charge in the Lok Sabha by the central BJP leadership. The central BJP has already formed a panel to look into alleged massive corruption in the northeast, including Sikkim.

 Recently, BJP President Nitin Gadkari, while campaigning for his party in Assam for the Assembly polls, said his party would raise alleged rampant corruption in the northeast with President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The alleged corruption scandal in northeast runs into Rs 63,000 crore, according to Gadkari, who released a report entitled ““Congress Government’s Loot of North East” in Guwahati recently.

In Sikkim, the NB Bhandari-led Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee’s “Sikkim Mahaloot”, a 108-page colour magazine detailing corruption in the Chamling Government, is doing the rounds. The magazine has been published in English and Nepal. Copies have also been submitted to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is said to have given the green signal to the party on the corruption issue. The matter is presently pending with the CBI awaiting the Prime Minister’s go-ahead.

Senior Congress leader and former Minsiter KN Upreti had earlier alleged that around Rs 4,000 crore has been misappropriated by the Chamling Government.

Chettri, while quoting CAG report, said more than Rs 6,000 crore has been misused by the Chamling Government. He has written to Governor BP Singh and Chief Secretary ND Chingapa demanding necessary action on the matter. If the concerned authorities fail to act on time the BJP will hold a dharna in New Delhi shortly, Chettri said.

Only Article 371F protects Sikkim’s distinct identity, not ST status: Upreti

Gangtok, May 6: Former minister KN Upreti said Sikkim’s “distinct identity” can only be preserved if Article 371F is implemented in “letter and spirit.”

Opposing the Sikkim Solidarity Forum for Gorkhaland’s demand  on scheduled tribes status for all Sikkimese Nepalese in the State, Upreti in a press statement said the view that the distinct identity of the three ethnic communities in the State can be saved if the entire Sikkimese Nepalese in the State are declared scheduled tribes is “erroneous.”

The former minister said Sikkim’s special status can only be preserved under Article 371F. Unfortunately, former chief minister, N B Bhandari, and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling used the provisions of Article 371F with an “ulterior motive” and played with “the sentiments of local people.”

Upreti also accused the Government of India for failing to protect Sikkim’s distinct identity under Article 371F.

He said Sikkim’s special status has been diluted due to old laws being replaced by new laws. He added that the three ethnic communities – Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese – and the old settlers can “survive” only under Article 371F and May 8, 1973 agreement.

“Inviting the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to get tribal status neither gives us protection nor preserves our distinct character,” Upreti said.

He has appealed to “right-thinking” local people to oppose the move to erode Sikkim’s “special feature.”

Khando’s death great loss for Tibetans: Samdhong Rinpoche

Observer News Serevice

Dharamsala, May 6: The Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration on Wednesday condoled the sad demise of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a helicopter crash in Lobothang near Tawang District.

In a condolence message, Kalon Tripa Prof Samdhong Rinpoche expressed "deep sadness and worry about the tragic demise of a young, honest and one of the best chief ministers” of Arunachal Pradesh.

“Moreover, he has brought immense development and improvement in the lives of the people of Arunachal Pradesh and the Tibetans living in there,” Kalon Tripa said.

“Since his death is a great loss to both the Tibetans and the people of Arunachal Pradesh, I, along with my cabinet colleagues offer our prayers and heartfelt condolences to the people of the state and his family members,” Kalon Tripa said.

A special prayer service will be organised by the Department of Religion and Culture at the Tsuglagkhang, the main temple in Dharamsala on 5 May, Kalon Tripa said.

The Core Group for Tibetan Cause in India said Khandu was not only an  “ardent Buddhist” and a “staunch follower” of the Dalai Lama but also “a great friend of Tibet.”

In a statement, the Group’s National Convenor, NK Trikha, said Khandu  “held Tibet deep in his heart and had even visited Dharamshala to express his solidarity with the Tibetan cause.”
” Despite China’s pressure, he stood firm and invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh as a State Guest.  He was a true friend of Tibet. His tragic demise is a huge loss to the Tibetans and friends of Tibet all over the world,” the statements added.

Khandu was declared dead on Thursday in a helicopter crash, six days after the copter carrying him dropped off the radar.

The wreckage was sighted on Wednesday after an aerial survey of the difficult terrain in the State's Tawang district, from where it had taken off on Saturday.

Besides the chief minister 5 others on board also died in the tragic incident.

 BJP seeks CBI probe against Chidambaram in 2G scam

New Delhi, May 6:  The BJP on Thursday launched a campaign seeking to corner the UPA government on corruption by using the PAC report on the 2G spectrum scam.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha fired the first salvo, demanding that home minister P Chidambaram be investigated by the CBI for his alleged role in the spectrum scam when he was finance minister, Financial Express reported.

The party, which kicked off what it terms “a campaign against corruption against a government of the corrupt” will be launching a series of public meetings, with the first being held in New Delhi on Thursday.

Sinha, who had taken on Chidambaram even earlier, said, “P Chidambaram is a master at obfuscation, and has not been able to explain why he first objected and then later fell in with plans to allocate 2G the way it was. Till his role is probed by the CBI, the investigation into the 2G spectrum allocation will not be complete,” he said.

Chidambaram had, after Sinha’s initial allegations last week, already clarified that, “the note of January 15, 2008, was sent to solely deal with the issue of the charges for spectrum, also known as spectrum usage charges.” The note, he maintained, made three very specific suggestions for raising additional revenue, including price discovery through the auction route.

PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW People Have A Right To Know

“I am deeply grateful to India and will not do anything against its interests”

In his first formal press statement after the recent controversy on the activities of his monastery His Holiness the 17^th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, says that he is not a “Chinese agent” as alleged and India has become his “home” after he escaped from Tibet in January 2000.

There have been many media reports recently about the Karmapa name and institution. I did not respond to them because I did not want to add unnecessary public controversy while the investigation was at a critical stage.

However, the time has come to make certain fundamentals clear to those who may still nurse any doubts. Let me at the outset state categorically that:

1.      I am not a Chinese spy, agent or plant in India.

2.      I am deeply grateful to the Government of India for giving me refuge in this great country and for all the courtesy and hospitality shown to me since my arrival here. I am also very moved by the marks of affection that the Indian people have always showered on me. India is my home now and I would never do anything against the interest of the country or her people.

3.      His Holiness the Dalai Lama is my spiritual and temporal leader, and I am committed to the well-being of the Tibetan people.

It would appear from media speculation that some people still wonder why I left Tibet in December, 1999. I have given press interviews on the subject previously. Today, I wish to reiterate that my spiritual education as the 17th Karmapa could not be completed if I had remained in Tibet. I had to receive the oral teachings of the Karmapa Lineage which have been passed down in an unbroken chain from India since the time of Lord Buddha. The origins of my lineage are in Nalanda whose great scholar, Naropa, received the teachings from his teacher, the Mahasiddha Tilopa. Naropa transmitted these teachings to the Tibetan Marpa, who passed them on to his disciple, Milarepa, and thence to Gampopa, from which they passed to Dusum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa. The Karmapa Lineage is thus deeply rooted in India where my illustrious predecessor, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, also found refuge in India, and established Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. All the gurus of my lineage were in India. The Chinese Government would not allow them to visit me in Tibet. I could not live up to the high expectations from my position without their spiritual guidance. If I had stayed in Tibet, I strongly believe I would have had to denounce His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

Tibet is under Communist China's totalitarian regime. Unlike democratic India, there is no religious freedom there.  Many Tibetans, including the illustrious heads of the different sects of Tibetan Buddhism had to flee to India following the Cultural Revolution. Even today, distressing news is coming out of Tibet regarding the current unrest at Kirti Monastery in the Tibetan area of Ngaba in Sichuan province. On March 16th, the self-immolation of a young monk named Phuntsok reveals the underlying tension that has been simmering for decades due to China's misguided policies addressing the grievances and resentments of the Tibetan people.

Reports say that the ongoing military siege of Kirti Monastery, the arrest of over 300 monks, and the death of two elderly local residents in police beatings have increased fears that if the authorities did not abandon use of force, the situation may deteriorate into full-scale violence costing lives of hundreds of unarmed and innocent Tibetans. I understand there are still some 2,200 monks completely isolated and the monastery is blockaded by the security police; the fate of these monks is still unknown owing to the April 21st official order sealing the Ngaba and Kandze areas to visitors.

Frequent peaceful protests carried out by the Tibetans are symptoms of a broken and wounded people desperately crying out for the restoration of their cultural identity, religious and human rights. Since Kirti Monastery is very important with great historical significance throughout the Ngaba region, I join His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Eminence Kyabche Kirti Rinpoche in their appeal to the Central Chinese Government and the international community to peacefully resolve the current crisis in Ngaba.

Tibet was an independent nation from ancient times. It maintained strong religious, cultural and trade ties with India. The common border was open and peaceful, allowing not only the free movement of trade and people but also the flow of the finest thoughts of human civilization. Hindus and Jains revered Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake as places of holy pilgrimage. Tibetans regarded India as the holy land of Lord Buddha and aspired to make a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya. Buddhism came to Tibet from India. Along with Buddhism came much of the Tibetan language and the Tibetan script which was derived from ancient Indian scripts. We honour Indian saints and sages like Shantaraksita, Padmasambhava, Atisha, and many others who came to Tibet. Scholars and practitioners from renowned institutions of learning like Nalanda and Vikramasila inspired many of our religious schools.

Today, India is our second home. The Tibetan culture and religion has flourished in India's free and welcoming atmosphere. India has given refuge to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to many Buddhist lineage heads who have set up monasteries around the country. Tibetan Buddhism, culture and the Tibetan way of life thrive in India.

I am deeply conscious that India has not only saved Tibetans and their way of life from extinction but also enabled us to draw inspiration from this holy land of the Buddha and take Buddhism to distant parts of the world where it was unknown previously. I pray that Lord Buddha's teachings and Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence combined together become a source of peace and harmony for the entire world.

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN   EDITORIAL PAGE 4 May 4, 2011

GHISING’S COMBACK

Heat In The Himalaya

Even if none of his party candidates win in the Assembly elections the Gorkha National Liberation Front chief Subash Ghising has made a comeback of sorts in hill politics after three years of hibernation in the plains. The GNLF, which won all three seats in the last Assembly polls and has fielded candidates from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, is poised to revive and strengthen its base in Darjeeling hills, where people are disillusioned and confused with the way things are.  Despite threat to his life the GNLF supremo dared to return to the hills and that too during elections when emotions are high. While hundreds of his party supporters welcomed him during public meetings, a rare event in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-dominated hill region, Ghising threw another challenge to Morcha leader Bimal Gurung by demanding that his party be made party to the ongoing tripartite talks.

What is more significant to note is the fact that Ghising is not raising the Gorkhaland demand this time. He wants Darjeeling hills to come under the 6^th Schedule of the Constitution. Even if we are not in agreement with his views on the 6^th Schedule the fact that he chose to make a comeback with this demand when the prevailing mood of the hill people is for Gorkhaland state is in itself a mark of leadership that dares to go against the current. Ghising has his own reasons for going against the tide. Perceptive observers are convinced that while the Gorkhaland issue may be a vote-catching tool during elections most hill parties have reconciled to the fact that creation of a new state is not possible at the present juncture. Ghising is more realistic and an experienced hand in dealing with New Delhi and Kolkata. Hill politics, therefore, is bound to heat up after the polls no matter who wins in the hills and at Writer’s Building when results are declared on May 13 (Friday the 13^th).

The Rana Dynasty ruled Nepal for over 100 years

The Rana dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1953, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other government positions hereditary. The dynasty is descended from one Bal Narsingh Kunwar of Kaski who moved to Gorkha in the early 18th century and entered the service of Raja Nara Bhupal Shah around 1740, and of Bhimsen Thapa (1775-1839 who is counted among the National heroes of Nepal.

Janga Bahadur Kunwar began the dynasty. He came to power through the 1846 Kot massacre  where 36 members of the palace court, including the Prime Minister and a relative of the King Chautariya Fate Janga Shah, were murdered. These were unstable times and Janga Bahadur brought stability to the country by putting himself firmly in control. He took the title Rana ("king"), the honorific Shrī Tīn  meaning his name was preceeded by Shrī-Shrī-Shrī, and was accorded 19-gun salutes by the British Raj.

 However Shah kings were Shrī Pānch  -- Shrī-Shrī-Shrī-Shrī-Shrī -- called Maharājdhirāj "king of kings", and given 21-gun salutes. Junga Bahadur's sons and brothers inherited the title Rana and took it as their family name instead of Kunwar.

After Junga Bahadur's death his brother Ranodip Singh Rana took the Prime Ministership and title of Junga as per Junga's established wishes. However, the childless Prime Minister Ranodip was murdered by four of his nephews (sons of Dhir Shumshere Rana, youngest and most trusted brother of Jung). This was because against Jung's wishes Ranaudip wanted to pass on the hereditary title and position of Prime Minister to Jung's family only, while Jung had firmly established a system where the eldest member of the Rana dynasty should get the position as he himself had passed on his title to his brother and not his son after his demise.

This did not sit well with Dhir's elder sons, so just as their uncle Jung āengineered the Kot massacre for the stability of the nation, so too the unfortunate hand that Ranodip played led to his murder and the firm establishment of the Shamshere Rana rule. Most notable among the Shamshere Prime Ministers were Bir, Chandra and Juddha, who established the first banks, schools, hydro power plant and industries. They also adapted the full name of Shamshere Jung Bahadur Rana in honour of their uncle. The children of Jung Bahadur mainly lived outside of Kathmandu, in Nepal and mainly in India after escaping the coup d'état of 1885.

The shortest serving Rana was Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana who ruled for two months in 1901, he was deposed by his brothers because of his open display of guilt for what has happened during the coup. Known as "The Reformist" for his progressive policies, he proclaimed universal education, began to building schools, took steps to abolish slavery, and introduced several other social welfare schemes.

He also made improvements to the arsenal at Nakkhu (south of Kathmandu) and started The Gorkhapatra newspaper. Dev Shumsher felt guilty for what had transpired during the coup, also a key incident happened during the coup which affected him deeply. He was held at gunpoint by General Dhoj Narsingh Rana, but was allowed to live and forgiven. For this, he felt a lot of guilt and asked for the exiled family members to return to Nepal. This brought him to a clash with his immediate brothers.

He was deposed by his relatives, where he settled in Jhari Pani, near Mussoorie, where his Fairlawn Palace once stood. A developer purchased the palace and tore it down, replacing it with cottages. All that remains are a few of the original gates and a small portion of the palace skeleton.

The Ranas were acclaimed and given much prestige and a 19-gun salute by British as well. All with the exception of Deva Shamsher received knighthoods. The Rana dynasty developed into a powerful family clan and are still very influential in the country today. The family formed a close alliance with the Shah dynasty via marriage. (Wikipedia)

OPINION

 P. STOBDAN

Beijing weaving ‘garland of pearls’ around India

"Hide your strength and bide your time" is an old Chinese strategy

The Chinese are masters of the art of denial and deception. At a recent closed-door meeting of a reputed Beijing-based think-tank, Chinese experts told three Indians that China would be "magnanimous" in Aksai Chin if India agreed to give up Tawang. Among the Chinese experts were Sun Shi Hai, deputy director of Asia Pacific Studies and advisor to the highest in the country's power structure; Ma Jia Li, a senior analyst connected with China's foreign intelligence arm; and Chen Rui Sheng, a former ambassador to India. The so-called Indian representatives, by contrast, didn't possess expertise in the Sino-India relationship.

Through the Beijing meet, the Chinese have emphatically conveyed that Tawang is non-negotiable in a final settlement of the border issue. Located strategically at the Bhutan-Tibet-India tri-junction, a transfer of Tawang to China will bring this point further down south to the slender Siliguri corridor joining the Northeast to the rest of India. With Beijing's claim in Bhutan also inching closer to the Indian border, the Chinese threat needs no elucidation. If China's minimum demand in the eastern sector has been defined 'unofficially' to a certain extent, the so-called offer of concessions in the western sector remains vague. Mostly, this offer has been qualified by the phrase, "China will consider".

Worse, China can deny even these messages from the Beijing meet. This has been its habit, its history. Deng Xiaoping offered in 1988 a package deal on the border. It was withdrawn as "just a concept" when Indian officials sought clarifications. And yet, many in India swallow the Chinese propaganda that New Delhi has always rebuffed Beijing's reasonable overtures for resolving the border issue!

The Chinese are only interested in resolving the border issue on their terms. And these terms extend beyond Tawang to cover all of Arunachal Pradesh, which appears linked to Beijing's Tibet policy. They feel their control over Tibet is incomplete without Arunachal. Didn't ambassador Sun Yuxi declare that the whole of Arunachal belongs to China? Should they not manage to regain Arunachal now, they'd encourage the Tibetans to lay claims to the State once a deal is struck between Beijing and the Dalai Lama. Completion of the ongoing railway project in Tibet is expected to only harden Beijing's position in the eastern sector.

"Hide your strength and bide your time" is an old Chinese strategy. This involves lulling their opponent into disarming, while they acquire overwhelming strength. Then they suddenly pounce upon their foe. For decades, China worked behind the veil of being a Third World country, implementing the theory that says development and security must go together; that in the absence of one the other can't be achieved.

The veil is now slipping off. The Chinese Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a think-tank supported by China's external intelligence agency, recently unveiled the "Greater Peripheral" theory of emerging as an "independent big power". This was most recently showcased through a commitment of $5 billion in assistance to 48 African countries. The scheme was earlier applied in its immediate periphery (East and Central Asia) where it had used a varied mix of instruments—diplomacy, political support, economic allurement and military aid—to acquire heft and influence.

The greater periphery strategy includes both big and small nations. Of the several US-led alliances in the region, Beijing perceives the following as vital: US-Japan, US-Australia and US-India, which can coalesce into a US-Japan-Australia-India alliance to encircle China. Independent interests of the US, Japan and India in Central Asia are also viewed as catalysts for an anti-China coalition. India is seen as the weakest of the above actors. But then it straddles the Indian Ocean and, along with the US, controls the sea-lanes to the Malacca Strait and beyond. Most of the ASEAN countries are also increasingly looking at India to balance China's force projection in the region.

The standard Chinese policy, therefore, is to ensure that India is surrounded by inimical neighbours. Thus, Pakistan was elevated to a nuclear weapons power through illegal proliferation. Bangladesh is the new sparkling pearl in Beijing's "garland of pearls" strategy against India. Not only is it arming Bangladesh, it is assisting Dhaka to build a nuclear reactor. This Chinese strategy is expected to only accentuate. (Professor Stobdan is the director of the Strategic and Regional Studies, University of Jammu.)

NE students back Manipur’s “Iron Lady”

Himalayan News Network

Guwahati, May 3: The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), the banner organization of all the major students’ unions in the seven Northeastern states, has launched a fresh region-wide agitation to press for its demand to repeal the ‘draconian’ Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act ,1958. This Act provides sweeping powers to security forces fighting insurgents in the region and allegedly precipitated many cases of human rights violation and aberrations in the region for over five decades.

The NESO has started its fresh agitation in solidarity with Manipur’s ‘Iron Lady’, Irom Sanu Sharmila, who has been on hunger strike for over ten years demanding scrapping of the AFSPA. The activists of the NESO would wear black cloth on their mouth to register protest against the continuation of the  Act in the region to protest the central government’s inaction on the demand.

“The Government of India which buckled under the hunger-strike resorted to by Gandhian leader Anna Hazare against corruption, has adopted a grossly discriminatory attitude towards Manipur’s iron lady Irom Sharmila on fast since November 2, 2000 demanding scrapping of the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 that has been in force in the North East for about five decades,” stated NESO chairman Dr Samujjal Bhatacharrya.

The NESO has expressed its anguish over the Centre’s lukewarm attitude towards fasting Sharmila and termed it ‘inhuman’ and lambasted the Centre for adopting an overall attitude of treating the people of North East as second class citizens of the country.

“Nowhere in the world a lady has been on fast for more than a decade for the causes of her fellow people and the Government of India is keeping her under judicial custody in a hospital in Imphal. It is outrageous,” Bhattacharrya said.

Bhaichung joins Tibetan rally in Shillong

P. Ghosh

Shillong, May 3: Indian football skipper Bhaichung Bhutia last Friday joined a candle-light procession by Tibetans here protesting the alleged atrocities by Chinese forces on monks in Tibet.

Tibetans in Shillong were protesting the repression by Chinese forces at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba province.

"We should join hands for tranquility and peace of the people," Bhutia said. "We are praying for the monks who are under house arrest in Kirti Monastery," he added.

Regional Tibetan Youth Congress president Gompu Tenzin said at least three monks have been beaten to death while over 300 arrested by Chinese forces at Kirti Monastry in Northern Tibet.

The 100-odd protesters displayed placards saying 'Release the Monks', 'We want Peace' and 'Stop the Starvation of Monks'. (also see page 2)

Himalayan Children’s Home of the Tharchins

Kalimpong’s Himalayan Children’s Home was established in 1962 by the Late Rev. G Tharchin and his wife Margaret Tharchin, who was a German missionary working in West Bengal.

In 1956, Rev. Tharchin became the first local Tibetan Pastor. Seeing the plight of many destitute and displaced children of Tibetan refugees after the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 the Tharchins started a small Children’s Home in Kalimpong from their residence.

The school started with only five students. The Home is located at Tirpai hill above the main bazaar.

After the couple passed away the Home was looked after by their son Rev SG Tharchin and his wife since 1975. Most of the students belonged to ethnic communities of the region – Nepalese, Tibetans, Sikkimese and Bhutanese.

Presently, Himalayan Children’s Home has around 100 students between  the age group of 5 to 18. To cater to similar needs, the Tharchins have opened two similar branches in Nepal (in Ayabari town at the foothills in southern Nepal) and at the Indo-Bhutan border township of Chamurchi. Each of these Homes, run in rented houses, has at present 25 students.

SC breather for Sikkim CJ in corruption case

Himalayan News Network

New Delhi, May 3: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed all further proceedings of the three-member panel probing corruption and other charges against Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court P.D. Dinakaran.

A Bench of Justices H S Bedi and C K Prasad stayed the impeachment inquiry, saying it cannot continue in the larger interests of natural justice if Justice Dinakaran has even a mere “apprehension” that the men judging him are biased.

The stay for two weeks was granted after senior counsel Amarendra Saran and counsel Romy Chacko, appearing for Justice Dinakaran, pointed out that the committee had passed orders without even hearing the petitioner, raising the question of bias.

In his petition, Justice Dinakaran challenged the April 24 order of the committee rejecting his plea that Rao recuse himself from the committee, on grounds of bias. Once the apprehension of bias was raised against a member, he said, an order compelling him/her to continue to serve was fraught with disastrous consequences, impinging on his fundamental rights.

He alleged that Rao was part of a delegation that met then CJI K G Balakrishnan in 2009 to protest his elevation to the Supreme Court.

The probe panel led by Justice Aftab Alam of the SC, which was appointed by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Hamid Ansari, has framed 16 charges against Justice Dinakaran, including possession of wealth disproportionate to his sources of income and encroachment on public property and land belonging to Dalits.

Jamir back in State politics, to contest by-election

For the interest of Naga people, we must win: Rio

Kohima, May 3: After 60 years in politics former Nagaland Chief Minister, who served as Governor of Goa and Maharashtra, is back in State politics.

Jamir, one of the seniormost Congress leaders in the country, will be contesting the ensuing by-election from Aonglenden Assembly constituency on May 7. If declared a winner he could pose a threat to the present Democratic Alliance of Nagaland Government led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

 Jamir wants to make a comeback to contribute towards “peace, unity and prosperity” of the Naga people. “Let us look forward to the future with hope and great expectation, where the younger generation of the Nagas would feel proud of themselves,” he said.

Jamir expressed his appreciation to the Congress party for unanimously recommending his candidature and thereby giving him the opportunity to play an active role in Naga politics once again.

Campaigning for his party (Naga People’s Front), Rio said when regional parties come to power, there is peace and harmony; however when nationl parties come to power in the State, there is trouble.

Rio said that political vision of the NPF party is to work for the protection of the Naga people’s identity and culture and to work for the development of the State.

“We must win. For the interest of the Naga people, we must win. For the future of the Naga people, we must win,” said Rio during his poll campaign.

Jamir’s return has not only rejuvenated the State Congress, but has also posed a major challenge to the ruling Nagaland People’s Front, which has won two consecutive Assembly elections.

Jamir launched his campaign by stating that decades of armed conflict had not only brought untold misery and hardship to the Nagas, but had also divided the tribal society.

“We cannot blame others for this and we cannot deny that Naga society lies mortally wounded because of its own follies,” he had said.

INTERVIEW/Lobsang Sangay

“I would like to continue the dialogue with China”

Lobsang Sangay is the first Kalon Tripa, or prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, to come to power since the Dalai Lama announced he would relinquish his political responsibilities last month. As such,  Sangay will have an unprecedented role to play in the future of the Tibetan movement.

The results of the election for the new prime minister, which took place March 20, were announced in India’s Himalayan town of Dharamsala, where the exiled government is based, on Wednesday.

Born in a Tibetan refugee settlement in India’s hill station of Darjeeling in 1968,  Sangay moved to the U.S. in 1995 to study at Harvard Law School, where he later completed a doctorate on the history of Tibet’s exiled government. He has been living in the U.S. since, and is now a senior fellow at the school.

Before moving to the U.S. he was an active member of the Tibetan Youth Congress in Delhi, participating in many protests against Chinese rule in Tibet.

Sangay, who is set to take office in August, is widely seen as the face of political change among Tibet’s exiled community. In a telephone interview with India Real Time, he talked about his approach to the job and the plights of Buddhist monks at Kirti Monastery, located in a traditionally Tibetan area of China’s Sichuan province, following police crackdowns on unrest there over the past month. Edited excerpts:

IRT: How do you feel about being the first Prime Minister to be elected since the Dalai Lama announced his retirement from politics?

Sangay: It’s humbling and also an honor and a privilege that Tibetans have entrusted their hope and aspirations in me and I will do the best in my capacity to live up to the expectations of Tibetans.

I regard His Holiness’ top down gift of democracy as magnanimous. For Tibetans it remains a difficult decision to digest and I, for one, will do my best to promote His Holiness’ vision of a secular, democratic, Tibetan society. This will always remain my inspiration.

IRT: What will your top priority be as Prime Minister?

Sangay: My number one priority is to end the suffering of Tibetans inside Tibet, to have the Chinese government recognize the identity and dignity of Tibetans and to find a peaceful way to address the issue of Tibet.

Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King are all great leaders of the nonviolent movement who achieved their goals through both dialogue with the other side and, yes, by also confronting unjust policies as required.

IRT: What is your policy line on China?

Sangay: In my 16 years at Harvard, I organized conferences and met hundreds of Chinese scholars. I would like to continue the dialogue at the people level and if the Chinese government is willing, also at the government level.

More moderate policies and attitudes will serve their interests, too. Tibet is under occupation and there is ongoing repression, cultural assimilation and economic marginalization.

One case in point is the repression at Kirti Monastery in northeastern Tibet. It is a symptom of the ongoing tragedy in Tibet which must end. Moving away from its hard-line policy on Tibet is in the best interests of China, too. It would improve its image in the eyes of the international community.

IRT: You’ve attracted a lot of support from young Tibetans in exile. What message do you have for them?

Sangay: I come from a humble background. My parents had to make many sacrifices for me to go to the Tibetan refugee school. I spent my winter vacations working in the woods to help my parents. The person I have become is mainly because of the education I got and because of my hard work. I hope to inspire the young generation to pursue their education.

I’ll do my best to provide the opportunities, through policies and funding, so that they will be able to stand on their own feet and become successful professionals in the future.

IRT: How would you respond to critics who say you have little experience in government?

Sangay: I have an understanding of the government’s political institutions, I’ve dialogued with Chinese people and have confronted unjust policies of the Chinese government. I am also familiar with the Indian government and its people, which is also important for the role of Kalon Tripa.

Although I do not have direct experience of government, I have had exposure to the inner workings of Dharamsala because I spend a lot of time there. People have taken me for who I am. If you look around the world there are a lot or prime ministers and presidents who are in their forties, from Barack Obama in the U.S., to Julia Gillard in Australia, to David Cameron in the U.K. They are doing fine and I should be fine as well.

NAWANG GOMBU: YOUNGEST HERO OF 1953 EVEREST EXPEDITION

Nawang Gombu (79), the youngest member of the 1953 team that put Sir Edmund Hillary on the summit of Mount Everest, who died at his home in Darjeeling last week (April 25), was the first person in the world to scale Mt. Everest, the world’s highest peak, twice.

Prominent among those who were present during his funeral in Darjeeling last Thursday was Bachendri Pal, a close friend of the deceased who was India’s first woman to climb Everest in 1984. "We not only shared a professional relationship but he was more like a father figure to me. Besides being a great mountaineer, he was also an explorer. His death is a great loss to the nation," Pal said.

Gombu was barely 21 when he joined his uncle Tenzing Norgay -- who eventually summitted with Hillary -- on the first successful expedition to climb the world's highest peak.

Gombu missed out on the summit in 1953, but got there 10 years later and again in 1965 -- making him the first person to scale the mountain twice.

Born in Tibet, he had moved with his family to Nepal before finally settling in the Indian hill town of Darjeeling.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association and a leading organiser of Everest expeditions, said his death was a "great loss" to the mountaineering community.

"We know that his passing will not only leave a void in our lives, but in the hearts of all those who knew him," he said.