HERMONS ON THE MOUNT

“It Shall Be Rebuilt”

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple..."

I’m sure Hermonites from all over the world and from all groups and ages are geared up to celebrate the occasion in their own way. The spirit and the manner in which some Hermonites, including some from abroad, joined the school to celebrate MH’s 125th birth anniversary on March 11, 2020, is proof enough of our strong bonding and camaraderie. The spirit of MH is alive and refuses to die.

However, we are well aware that Hermonites all over the world are conscious of what’s happening to their beloved MH. Some have given up on the school, others are holding on. Hopes are high but apprehensions are genuine. What can I say at such moment!? Keep going. Aim. Shoot to score!

During the celebration of the Methodist Church’s 150 years of ministry in the sub-continent many years ago in Lucknow, one of the speakers reminded the delegates of what Mahatma Gandhi said about the Church in India. Bishop Robert Solomon of Singapore in his keynote address recalled an incident between Stanley Jones, an American Methodist Christian missionary, and Mahatma Gandhi. When Jones asked Gandhi, “You are an ardent practitioner of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount; why don’t you join the church?” Gandhi replied, “I have no problem with Christ; my problem is with church.”

When I see what has been going in our beloved Mount Hermon, the temple of learning in the past several years I’m reminded of how Jesus Christ reacted when he saw what was happening in the Church of God in the city of Jerusalem:

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mathew 21)

In 1967 when Dr. Welthy Fisher spoke at our Speech Day she reminded us how we should go about our job, particularly when things don’t go our way. She, while quoting an old Chinese proverb, said: “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

Those who are concerned about MH and have displayed their love, affection and loyalty to the school need not despair “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”.

It is the law of karma. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:8-10)

When the Chapel portion of our school’s main building was restored and rededicated on August 15, seven months after the disastrous earthquake of January 15, 1934, our Principal Miss Lila Enberg in her dedicatory speech said, “We need not mourn for the greater glory of the former building that was shattered by the earthquake. Instead we all rejoice that the latter glory is greater than the former. The Assembly Hall is now more firmly constructed, more strongly bound together than before. We would now, therefore, render hearts full of thanksgiving to your Gracious God who, of His infinite mercy and goodness, has made all this possible. It was He who gave the faith and courage that enabled us to say: ‘It shall be rebuilt!’ ”

In this hour of another crisis at MH may we, too, have the faith and courage to say: "It Shall Be Rebuilt!” and mean it.

Inch by inch

Step by step

One day at a time

WE SHALL OVERCOME!

 

(Ref: Hail Mount Hermon! A TRIBUTE, Jigme N. Kazi, 2020, Prowess Publishing, Chennai, India.)

 

 

SIKKIM’S SAKYA CONNECTION

The last king of the celestial race, which reigned in Minyak for 25 generations, became very powerful. At this time (13th century), this king invited Sakya Panchen, the famous Hierarch of Sakya, to his kingdom. During a ceremonial rite being performed by the Hierarch, the deity, Guru Dragpa (a wrathful aspect of Guru Rinpoche), appeared to the king and gave him a ruby seal with the sign of a scorpion from a hidden store (ter, hidden spiritual treasure). After receiving this gift, the king became even more powerful, conquered large parts of China and also brought minor provinces and states of Kham under his control.

   The successor of the above king was directed by the same deity to go southwards to Sikkim. In a prophetic injunction, the deity directed the descendants of the Minyak Dynasty to go towards south of Tibet to the sacred hidden land called Beyul Demajong (The Hidden Valley of Rice).

   Accordingly, 25 generations after the founding of the Minyak Dynasty in the 9th century by one of the sons of King Trisong Deutsen, Guru Tashi, a scion of the Minyak House, went westwards on a pilgrimage in the first half of the 13th century. He was accompanied by his five sons. During their pilgrimage in Lhasa, the statue of Jowo Rinpoche Sakyamuni (in Jokhang Temple) prophesied that they should proceed south-west to a place called Dema-Jong (Denjong). Accordingly, Guru Tashi and his family travelled to Sakya, located north of Sikkim in Tibet. In an authentic old record, it is said that there were three brothers as chiefs of Kham Minyak and the middle one was prophesied to go towards Sikkim.

   On their way, they visited several important or renowned places of pilgrimage in Tibet and then, came to Sakya to pay their respects to the Hierarch. The Hierarch was engaged in the construction of a huge monastery and was busy trying to build the hall of the monastery. This monastery had seven storeys which were supported by four huge wooden pillars and 160 smaller pillars. The people struggled unsuccessfully to erect the four pillars.

   The Sakya Monastery, located in the city of Sakya in Tibet’s southern province of Tsang, was built in 1073 by Khon Khonchog Gyalpo. The name Sa-kya refers to the region’s grey (kya) earth (sa). From 1074 to 1959 the monastery served as the seat of the Sakya Trizins, the spiritual heads of the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Chogyal Phagpa, the fifth of the five founders of the Sakya Order, expanded the monastery in 1268.

   Guru Tashi’s eldest son was well known for his strength. He raised the pillars of the Sakya Trulpai Lhakhang Chenpo, located at the vicinity of the Sakya Monastery, and placed them in their proper places. This Herculean feat earned him the title “Khye-Bumsa,” meaning the one who possesses the strength of one lakh (one hundred thousand) persons. Guru Tashi’s family stayed in Sakya for some time, and Khye-Bumsa married Jomo Guruma, the daughter of the Hierarch.

Sakya Monastery in Tibet

The Sakya Monastery, the principal monastery of the Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism located at Sakya near Shigatse in Central Tibet, has two parts – the northern and southern monasteries. They are located on either side of Dhrum Chu River.

   The northern monastery, built on the hill side in 1073 by Khon Kongchog Gyalpo, the founder of Sakyapa, was destroyed by Chinese Red Army during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The southern monastery, built in 1268 by Chogyal Phagba, the fifth Sakya Trizin, survived the Cultural Revolution as it not only had a series of defence system around the monastery but also because of the changes in the policy of the Central Chinese Government of that period.

   Some of the giant wooden pillars of the southern monastery, the Sakya Trulpai Lhakhang Chenpo, were raised with the help of Khye-Bumsa, an ancestor of Sikkim’s Namgyal Dynasty, in the 13th century. These pillars still stand strong to this day.

   Giant pillars of the Sakya Monastery raised by Sikkim’s ancestor Khye-Bumsa in the 13th century are still seen in the main hall of the monastery.

 

(Ref: SONS OF SIKKIM: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim, Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications and Notion Press, 2020.)

 

 

LANDMARKS OF THE DECADE (1989-1999)

Though the Rising Sun Party under R.C. Poudyal’s leadership was a cause for worry for Bhandari before the November 1989 (Assembly) polls the party soon became ineffective after the elections with Poudyal opting to stay in Delhi instead of leading the Opposition in Sikkim. In retrospect, this was Poudyal’s greatest mistake and he never fully recovered after his party’s electoral defeat.

The next person who gave much hope to the people was A.K. Subba, who was then trying his luck in lottery business. After Subba became the PCC chief he did much to organize the party in the State and even held a meeting of the North-East Congress Coordination Committee in Gangtok in 1991. But Subba dithered when he was asked to choose between his lottery business and politics. He opted for his business concerns, where he was believed to have made quite a fortune, and lost his place in State politics. Had Subba captured the imagination of the people, who were looking for a saviour to save them from Bhandari’s dictatorial tendencies, his fortune may have risen and Sikkim’s contemporary political history could have been different.

A section of the local Press indeed played a very significant role in feeding the public with a variety of news and views during this crucial period. At times some local journalists displayed tremendous courage and professionalism despite threat to their life and properties. The fight for preservation of freedom of the Press in the State culminated in the protest rally by six local journalists in Gangtok on June 19, 1993.

The man who chose to keep mum but was carefully taking stock of the situation was Pawan Chamling, who was then a member of the Bhandari Cabinet. More than the rumblings within the backward classes it was the general disillusionment with Bhandari’s regime that inspired Chamling to try his luck for the top job. While Chamling tried to wean away the OBC supporters of the ruling party to his side, others, including the minority tribals, also sided with him.

When Chamling felt that it was the right time for him to come out he made his moves. Within weeks of his utterances such as “I’m a democrat, not a sycophant” in Sikkim Observer, Chamling was dismissed (in June 1992) from the Cabinet. After consolidating his position in the OBC-dominated belt of south and west districts Chamling finally came out in the open when in March 1993 he formed his new political outfit, Sikkim Democratic Front.

By mid-1993, anti-Bhandari and pro-democracy activists under Chamling’s leadership gained the upper hand. Chamling soon emerged as the sole representative of the suppressed Sikkimese people. But political development soon took a new turn in early1994 after the income-tax issue surfaced. The crisis finally led to the abrupt ouster of Bhandari from chief ministership in May 1994. Dissidents within the SSP plotted against Bhandari for his dubious stand on the income-tax issue, where the tribals deeply felt betrayed and let down by Bhandari and his MP wife.

For six months before the November 1994 polls Sikkimwitnessed a brief spell of Congress rule under S.M. Limboo, who became the dissidents’ choice for the chief minister’s guddi. Limboo performed pretty well and paved way for a free and fair polls (November 1994) in which the SDF emerged victorious. Bhandari was finally ousted from power after he became CM in October 1979 on an anti-merger platform.

The electorate had given an anti-Bhandari verdict in favour of the SDF and Congress(I). While the SDF won 19 seats, 10 seats went to SSP, leaving Congress with two while one went to A.K. Subba, who contested as an independent candidate. When Chamling formed the government on December 12 (1994) the expectations of the people were very high. In the last five years the Chamling Government did much to live up to its expectations but, by and large, the people felt let down.

The SDF has once again been voted back to power in the October (1999) elections. With 25 MLAs in the House of 32 to its side there is no reason why Chamling cannot put the house in order and provide political stability and economic prosperity to the people this time.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, December 1999)

 

 

  SOW THE WIND AND REAP THE WHIRLWIND

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

 “If we cannot uphold certain basic and fundamental values of human existence such as freedom, democracy, justice, self-respect and the rule of law we miss the opportunity that life offers to each one of us. The first indication of a society’s degeneration is when individuals live and work only for themselves. Sikkim is on the verge of being a dead and decadent society. Our constant efforts to camouflage ourselves will not work in the long run. We will be fully exposed when the time comes.

   We locals often distance ourselves from the byaparis, the business community, for encroaching into our economic and political rights and interests. Little do we realize that while they sell potatoes, tomatoes etc. we are the real byaparis. We have sold our king, our flag, our country, our distinct identity and political rights. Not content with this we are still selling our hills and valleys, our lakes and rivers, our land and people, our religion and culture, and worse of all our self-respect and dignity. Is it really worth sweating it out for such people?

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

   Me and my kind have lived through this bitter period in Sikkim’s history. In our efforts to fight for the common cause we have brought down five chief ministers and made four chief ministers in the past so many years.  We did this for a good cause and without any selfish motive. We are not to be blamed if our political leadership continuously fails us and lets us down the moment they come to power.

   I took leave from the Fourth Estate at the end of the year 2000 to make my personal contribution to Sikkim politics when I was convinced that those we backed were betraying us and the issues we raised for petty considerations. Unlike many others, I could not hang around and hide myself safe and secure in a small corner when I was convinced that we were being led to a dead-end street. I left active politics after three and half years in August 2004 when I was fully convinced that I was heading nowhere and those around me were still deeply involved in petty politics. There is no future for Sikkim and the Sikkimese if our political leadership – ruling and opposition – fails to rise above mundane things and continues to mislead the people while making great promises.

   It is futile to fight for the distinct identity of Sikkim within the Union if the leaders of our larger community are not sure of who they are, whom they represent, and what they really want. Nepal’s political situation, where ethnic communities are being reduced to a minority in the land of their origin, has still not opened our eyes. This is because while our head is still not clear our heart is full of greed. When will we ever live in a place where the mind is without fear and the head is held high? When will this non-stop looting stop? Corruption has reached a point of no return. Disillusionment has set in and this seems to be irreversible. These are dangerous trends in a sensitive and strategic border State like Sikkim.

   Even if our political leadership has failed us time and again, India must live up to the expectations of the Sikkimese people. If it continues to ignore the hopes and aspirations of those who sacrificed their country so that this nation may live in peace and security there may come a day when Sikkim will become a hot-bed of international politics. We may not see that day but that day is not afar if India fails to honour its commitments made to Sikkim and the Sikkimese people during the takeover.

   The gradual dilution of our distinct identity, political rights and social harmony originates from New Delhi. The erosion of our unique and distinct cultural identity, the systematic manner in which seeds of division are sown in our social fabric, and finally the destruction caused to our fragile environment and ecology cannot and must not be easily condoned. We cannot blame our leaders only; we, too, have shamelessly become agents of division, disunity and destruction. We have sown the wind; we will surely reap the whirlwind.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

OSU FAVOURS ST STATUS FOR ALL SIKKIMESE

“Distinct Identity Within The Union”

Though it has not yet taken a formal decision on the issue, the Organisation of Sikkimese Unity (OSU) has taken a serious note of the demand for Scheduled Tribes status to all bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities in the State who were genuine subjects of the erstwhile kingdom.

   Presently, only the minority Bhutia-Lepchas have been enlisted in the Scheduled Tribes list as per the Scheduled Tribes Order of 1978. The inclusion of all former ‘Sikkim Subjects’ belonging to the three ethnic groups of Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese in the State’s ST list will not only ensure peace, unity and harmony in the State but will also go a long way in improving the economic and educational welfare of bonafide Sikkimese.

   The division among Sikkimese Nepalese on caste lines not only affects political stability in the State but also endangers national security in this sensitive region. The need to restore peace, harmony and unity along the Sikkimese is the need of the day. The OSU believes that forces of disunity will hamper preservation of Sikkim’s ‘distinct identity within the Union.’

   Though the OSU favours ST status to all bonafide Sikkimese, irrespective of caste and community, it is firm on political rights concerning restoration of Assembly seats to the Sikkimese. While the OSU may prefer economic benefits and facilities to be enjoyed by all STs in the State it wants seats in the Assembly to be reserved solely for the Sikkimese on the basis of them belonging to the three ethnic groups and not on the basis of them being scheduled tribes.

   This is aimed at preserving the distinct identity of the Sikkimese as per the terms of the merger and Article 371F of the Constitution, which reflects provisions of the May 8 Tripartite Agreement of 1973 and Government of Sikkim Act of 1974.

   The Sikkim Newar Guthi (SNG), headed by the former Chief Secretary, Keshav Chandra Pradhan, as its President, recently urged the Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) to demand inclusion of all Sikkimese in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the State. Pradhan believes that declaration of all Sikkimese in the list of STs in the State will “reweave the fine Sikkimese fabric and bring about a trust, amity and goodwill among all sections of the community so vital in this sensitive border State.”

   In his letter, dated Sept 6 1999, to the SIBLAC Convenor, Pradhan pointed out that mutual trust and harmony in the State “was in fact the basic spirit and objective behind the Article 371F when it was initially framed.” Though SIBLAC has not yet responded to the Guthi’s initiative the OSU has taken the matter seriously and will soon take a firm decision on this issue. It must be noted that while other social organizations kept mum, choosing to take sides with political parties during the recent elections, the Guthi took a principled stand and openly supported SIBLAC’s demand for restoration of the political rights of the minority Bhutia-Lepchas in the State.

 In response to the appeal made by SIBLAC on the seat issue, OSU leaders helped to form the Sikkimese Nepalese Apex Committee (SNAC). The OSU feels that the seat issue should now be fought jointly by both the minority and majority communities.

(Ref: Sikkim Observer, 30 October 1999, Sikkim For Sikkimese: Distinct Identity Within The Union,  Jigme N. Kazi, Hill Media Publications, Gangtok, 2009)

 

 

  

 

OCTOBER 2, 1999 HUNGER STRIKE ON ‘NO SEAT, NO VOTE’ ISSUE

Just days before the scheduled date of the proposed hunger strike on October 2, 1999, the OSU and SIBLAC formed the Sikkimese Nepalese Apex Committee (SNAC) in Geyzing, West Sikkim. The new body was formed at a joint meeting of the OSU and SIBLAC and was chaired by K.C. Pradhan. Buddhilal Khamdak, a young and educated Nepali from the Limbu community in West Sikkim, was made the SNAC’s Convenor. The newly-formed body supported the seat issue demand raised by the SIBLAC and OSU and urged the two organisations to support the demand on restoration of Assembly seats of the Sikkimese Nepalese.

   On October 2, while the rest of the nation celebrated the 130th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi Jayanti), the Sikkimese people – represented by SIBLAC, OSU and SNAC – sought the blessing of the ‘Father of the Nation’ and the Guardian Deities of Sikkim in their struggle on restoration of their political rights. The 12-hour hunger strike by six representatives of the three ethnic communities at the ‘BL House’ in Gangtok on October 2 symbolically ushered in a new phase in the fight for restoration of the political rights of bonafide Sikkimese belonging to the three ethnic communities.  Four members of the SIBLAC – two convenors (Nima Lepcha and Pintso Bhutia), Vice-Convenor Tenzing Namgyal, and a woman representative (Gyamsay Bhutia), the SNAC Advisor K.C. Pradhan and myself as OSU Chairman took part in the historic one-day hunger strike on October 2, 1999.

The 12-hour hunger strike by Sikkimese representatives at the ‘BL House’, Gangtok, on October 2, 1999.

(Left to Right) Tenzing Namgyal, Jigme N Kazi, Nima Lepcha, Pintso Bhutia, KC Pradhan and Gyamsay   Bhutia.   

   We had actually chosen the premises where the ‘Statues of Unity’ are installed for the venue of the one-day hunger strike. Located in the heart of the capital at the northern end of the Mahatma Gandhi Marg – the main market area in the capital – this venue would have been the ideal place to begin a prolonged and intensive campaign on the seat issue. However, the State Government refused to allow us to use this place. In fact, it asked us to call off the hunger strike and the boycott call.

   In a letter to the SIBLAC, dated September 17, 1999, Chief Secretary Sonam Wangdi said redressal of grievances should be done through participation in the electoral process and pointed out that boycott of elections “is the last action to be taken as the final resort when all other means have failed.” The Chief Secretary simply could not see that we had resorted to this method as “all other means”, including the electoral process, in the past two decades failed to achieve the desired result. We ignored the government’s plea and went ahead with the hunger strike.

   However, it must be placed on record that if it hadn’t been for the OSU the hunger strike and boycott call may have been put off. Pradhan and I tactfully and very firmly exerted enough pressure on the SIBLAC leadership, which was dithering on the issue at the last moment when they were under extreme pressure. Even if the SIBLAC had backed off at the last moment the OSU and SNAC would have certainly continued with the mission. No amount of tactics and pressure would work on Pradhan and me and on this we were very confident.

   As planned, we held the hunger strike on October 2 to remind the world that we were determined to struggle on till our demand on restoration of our political rights were met. While others fought the elections we fought for our people. We were not concerned with who wins or loses in the polls; our main concern was that if the Assembly seats were not restored to us in the near future we would be the ultimate losers and the electoral process would then become a meaningless ritual as the Sikkimese people would have no future to look forward to.

 

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

TIBET AND SIKKIM DID NOT ACCEPT 1890 CONVENTION

Sir Charles Bell, Britain’s Political Officer in Gangtok with additional responsibility for Tibet and Bhutan, called the Chumbi Valley, where the Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a tantalising minuet, “a dagger aimed at the heart of India.” Vincent Coelho, independent India’s much later official in the same position, claimed “that India’s frontier with China is the Chumbi Valley and the crest of the Himalayas along Sikkim’s northern border with Tibet.”

Chumbi Valley

Strictly speaking, India is not involved in today’s dispute over the Doklam plateau where the Chinese are said to claim 269 sq km of Bhutanese territory. But Jawaharlal Nehru’s warning in the Lok Sabha in 1959 “We have publicly, and rightly, undertaken certain responsibilities for the defence of Sikkim and Bhutan, if they are attacked. It is very necessary for us to understand that if anything happens on their borders, then it is the same thing as an interference with the border of India” still shapes policy. Doklam is one of the four disputed areas in Haa and Paro in western Bhutan. Haa Dzong (Castle) is the family seat of the once powerful Dorjee clan of the half-Sikkimese Ashi Kesang Wangchuck, whose grandson, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, is the current “Dragon King.” Haa is also the headquarters of the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan and, therefore, an object of Chinese suspicion. India’s southernmost military post is at Dokolam on the China-Bhutan-India tri-junction.

The kings (Chogyals) of Sikkim had their traditional seat in the Chumbi Valley. It was the subject of prolonged Anglo-Chinese negotiations in the late 19th Century when Sheng Tai, the Manchu envoy, not only had to contend with Lord Lansdowne, the viceroy, who himself argued Britain’s case, but was also under the influence of his British secretary. The crumbling and corrupt Celestial Empire was in no position to resist such high-powered pressure, and the negotiations ended in the Anglo-Chinese convention of 1890 which affirmed Britain’s protectorate over the Kingdom of Sikkim, and gave the Chumbi Valley to China.

    The Chogyal of Sikkim and Bhutan's Ashi Phuntsho Choden, Thimphu, Bhutan.

Neither of the two principals, Sikkim and Tibet, was consulted. The protesting Tibetans announced they did not recognise the Convention, as did Sikkim which clung to her title to the Chumbi Valley. Legally, the Convention was of doubtful worth. In practical terms, it was irrelevant, for the exercise of British power mattered far more than fudged legality. With or without the benefit of Chinese acknowledgement of British pretensions, the Viceroy did as he pleased in the Himalayas.

It was an age when all Asia deferred to the white man. Stirring events, including the only major engagement the British ever fought in Sikkim, preceded the Convention. The Tibetan army was finally pushed back through Jelap-la in September 1888, and the Derbyshire regiment poured into Chumbi to ransack the “large three-storied rambling building… rich with valuable and curious China, costly arms and all sorts of quaint curiosities” that was the Chogyal’s palace.

It suited British strategy to act on the assumption that Tibet was subject to China. That way, the Tibetans could not threaten British actions in the Himalayas while an enfeebled China was no threat at all. The British again ignored Tibet’s rights in the trade regulation talks three years later, and insulted and imprisoned the Dalai Lama’s envoy, refusing to allow him any part in the negotiations. Claude White, then Political Officer, deliberately did not wait for Tibet’s representatives in 1895 when he erected boundary pillars at Jelap-la in the presence of three Chinese commissioners. These pillars along a 14,500-ft ridge gave, and give, India’s artillery an overview of the entire Chumbi Valley, including military fortifications and troop movements.

This is probably what the People’s Liberation Army is trying to correct. A road through the Doklam plateau along the eastern Bhutanese edge of the Chumbi Valley would counter the advantage the British gave themselves at Jelap-la on the Valley’s western Sikkimese border. China reportedly offered Bhutan a package deal in 1996 to exchange its claim to 495 sq km of land in the north-central sector of Bumthang in return for the 269 sq km in Doklam.

It seemed a wonder China did not ask for abrogation of the 1890 Convention as yet another “unequal treaty” forced on the dying Qing dynasty just as it repudiated or demanded renegotiation of many other treaties. One reason could be that it enshrined British recognition of the Chumbi Valley as Chinese. A no less vital reason with contemporary political relevance may be that it portrayed China as Tibet’s suzerain power. The historian John Rowland claimed, “Peking, which sees the Himalayan states as irredentist regions to be regained as soon as possible, also assigns to them an offensive role. They can be future bases for the subversion of India.” But this is to overlook modern China’s sophisticated diplomacy. Beijing already controls Tibet. It knows Sikkim is beyond its reach. Nepal is probably thought to be more trouble than it’s worth. Bhutan alone remains to be wooed.

Zhou En-lai sounded jubilant at his New Delhi press conference on 30 April 1960 when he was asked about Chinese claims to Bhutan. “I am sorry to disappoint” he retorted. “We have no claim with regard to Bhutan, nor do we have any dispute with it. You may recall that in its letters to the Indian Government, the Chinese Government twice mentioned that China has no boundary dispute with Sikkim and Bhutan, and that China respects India’s special relations with Sikkim and Bhutan.” This is India’s version. According to China’s Hsinhua News Agency, Zhou said, “proper relations” (as in his note to New Delhi) and not “special” relations. The distinction is interesting for “special” is not always “proper.” Although Zhou dismissed the McMahon Line as “illegally delineated through an exchange of secret notes by British imperialism with the Tibetan local authorities of China,” he did not, for the reasons already suggested, denounce the 1890 Convention as another fraudulent imposition.

But, presumably, China seeks to improve on its gains from the Convention. Hence, the PLA’s attempt to build a motorable road “inside Bhutanese territory” from Dokala in the Doklam area towards the Royal Bhutanese Army camp at Zornpelri. Having reportedly already built what the Bhutanese media calls “a major road till the Yadong town in the Chumbi Valley,” the Chinese are apparently trying to take it as close as they can to the Indian and Bhutanese borders. India is paranoiac about security in the region. One of the reasons why the late King Birendra of Nepal lost New Delhi’s favour was his proposal for a six-point zone of peace that would, in India’s view, bring the Chinese right down to the Nepal-India border. Neither Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck nor his ministers will make a similar mistake.

(Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, Free Press Journal, July 8, 2017, Sons of Sikkim: The Rise and Fall of the Namgyal Dynasty of Sikkim, Jigme N. Kazi, Notion Press, 2020.)