Sirf Khana JEEMAN (MEALS), KUNDEH-KHANG BUILDING, NEAR SADA THANA, TIBET ROAD, GANGTOK. Phone: 225098. E-MAIL: [email protected]J eeman (Meals) A PURE VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT No Bar 1 GANGTOK; WEDNESDAY, May 28-03 June, 2003 NOW ! SIKKIM MATTERS VOL 1 NO 47 Rs. 5 EUROPE TOUR CALL FOR BOOKING: Tashila TOURS & TRAVELS 94341-53567 Telephone: 229842 / 222978 STEP IN TO YOUR NEAREST CENTRE TODAY Near Krishi Bhawan, Tadong Gangtok. Phone 270876 Below Power Deptt, Kazi Road Gangtok. Phone: 227917 Nayuma Building, Namchi Bazar Namchi. Phone: 263919 e-mail: [email protected]WITH JOINT CERTIFICATION FROM Education Partner presents FIXED THALI Rs. 40 ONLY Why the Representation of People Act was amended and how SAKEWA Enough of Appeasement and Intimidation, Let’s Try Logic Now TURN TO pg 5 FOR DETAILS ABANDONED ! LEPCHA BODY WALKS AWAY FROM SIBLAC T he way things are going, the Sikkim Bhutia-Lepcha Apex Committee [SIBLAC] might have to soon drop its claim to representing Lepcha associations. While the youth wing of the Sikkim Lepcha Association had already withdrawn its officials from SIBLAC some months back, the parent body, the Renjong Mutanchi Rong Tarjum, on May 21, last Wednesday, decided to pull out of the Apex Committee since they feel SIBLAC was going beyond the single-point agenda of redefining the Scheduled Tribes Order which the Lepcha Association had decided to lend support to when SIBLAC was first formed. Mem- bers of Lepcha associations who continue to associate with SIBLAC activities will be doing so at their individual capacities and not representing the Tarjum anymore, senior office bearers of the Sikkim Lepcha Association told NOW! SIBLAC, in the meanwhile has reacted to the decision as the handiwork of “vested interests” out to divide the BL community. TURN TO pg 3 FOR DETAILS SGMI INSTRUCTOR SCALES EVEREST SAKEWA IS MORE THAN JUST A FESTIVAL, IT IS THE VERY IDENTITY OF KIRAT RAIS: CHAMLING TURN TO pg 6 FOR DETAILS O n a day when screaming winds on the world’s highest peak beat back more than hundred climbers, Nadre Sherpa, a 35-year-old instructor with the Sonam Gyatso Mountaineer- ing Institute in Gangtok, conquered Mt. Ever- est. In 1996, Nadre Sherpa became the first In- dian to have scaled Everest from the Northern face and now he also holds the unique achieve- ment of having summitted Everest again on the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent by Hillary and Tenzing on May 29, 1953. TURN TO pg 7 FOR DETAILS SANGRAM GETS INTO ELECTION MODE SSP OBSERVES FOUNDATION DAY TURN TO pg 4 FOR DETAILS ON PROMISES BHANDARI PLANS TO FOR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2003
Why the Representation of People Act was amended and how
SAKEWA
Enough of Appeasement and Intimidation, Let’s Try Logic NowTURN TO pg 5 FOR DETAILS
ABANDONED!LEPCHA BODYWALKS AWAYFROM SIBLAC
The way things are going, the Sikkim Bhutia-LepchaApex Committee [SIBLAC] might have to soon drop
its claim to representing Lepcha associations. While theyouth wing of the Sikkim Lepcha Association had alreadywithdrawn its officials from SIBLAC some months back,the parent body, the Renjong Mutanchi Rong Tarjum, onMay 21, last Wednesday, decided to pull out of the ApexCommittee since they feel SIBLAC was going beyondthe single-point agenda of redefining the ScheduledTribes Order which the Lepcha Association had decidedto lend support to when SIBLAC was first formed. Mem-bers of Lepcha associations who continue to associatewith SIBLAC activities will be doing so at their individualcapacities and not representing the Tarjum anymore,senior office bearers of the Sikkim Lepcha Associationtold NOW! SIBLAC, in the meanwhile has reacted to thedecision as the handiwork of “vested interests” out todivide the BL community.
TURN TO pg 3 FOR DETAILS
SGMI INSTRUCTORSCALES EVEREST
SAKEWA IS MORETHAN JUST A
FESTIVAL, IT ISTHE VERY
IDENTITY OFKIRAT RAIS:CHAMLING
TURN TO pg 6 FOR DETAILS
On a day when screaming winds on theworld’s highest peak beat back more than
hundred climbers, Nadre Sherpa, a 35-year-oldinstructor with the Sonam Gyatso Mountaineer-ing Institute in Gangtok, conquered Mt. Ever-est. In 1996, Nadre Sherpa became the first In-
dian to have scaled Everest from the Northernface and now he also holds the unique achieve-ment of having summitted Everest again on the50th anniversary of the first successful ascentby Hillary and Tenzing on May 29, 1953.
TURN TO pg 7 FOR DETAILS
SANGRAM GETSINTO ELECTION
MODE
SSP OBSERVES FOUNDATION DAY
TURN TO pg 4 FOR DETAILS ON PROMISES BHANDARI
PLANS TO FOR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2003
2; NOW! May 28-03 June, 2003
42
GANGTOK MAY 28-03 JUNE, 2003
ED-SPACE
SIKKIM MATTERS
NOW!
A local Police Station in asmall town received acomplaint one day that a
particular family living in the areawas involved in “smuggling” and“antisocial” activities. The com-plainants reported that the familywas hiding something, covered in ablanket all the time, inside the house.
When the Police raided theone-room house, they found a bun-dle covered by a blanket in one cor-ner of the room. When the blanketwas pulled away, the Police, and theneighbours, to their utter shock,found a severely disabled personbundled underneath the blanket!
This is a true-life incident thatAloka Guha, Chairperson, Na-tional Trust for the Welfare of Per-sons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy,Mental Retardation and MultipleDisabilities narrates to every au-dience she addresses.
“This story reflects our society’sdouble-standards and the stigma at-tached to a family with a disabledchild, especially in rural and eco-nomically backwards areas of thecountry. It harks the acute need tobreak the information as well as thephysical and attitude barriers on dis-ability in our country,” she says.
Therefore, with a view to pro-tect the rights of the disabled per-sons, prevent their exploitation andprovide care and shelter to them, theNational Trust came into forcethrough an Act of the Parliamentunder the Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment, Government ofIndia in December 1999. The Na-tional Trust is a decentralised, demo-cratic and transparent organisation.
Addressing a Press conferencein Gangtok on May 25, Ms. Guhasaid that the main objectives of the
Trust is to enable and empower per-sons with disabilities to live as in-dependently and as fully as possi-ble within and as close to the com-munity they belonged to; to provideneed-based services and to deal withproblems of the persons with disabil-ity who do not have family supportand most importantly, to promotemeasures for the care and protec-tion of persons with disabilities inthe event of the death of their par-ents or guardian and evolve a pro-cedure for the appointment of legalguardians and trustees for them.
“The Trust works through lo-cal initiatives called Local LevelCommittees, which are headed byDCs and includes a disabled per-son and an NGO. Currently thereare 369 LLCs in the country. Thereare a number of grant-in-schemesof the Trust that are operationalthrough registered organisations,”Ms. Guha said.
The statistics provide an alarm-ing picture. Conservative estimatesbased on the 1991 census put thenumber of people with disabilitiesat 61 million in India. In Sikkimabout 3 percent of the populationis disabled, it is estimated.
“The Trust was born out ofthe need to address the problemsof this sector. It is a protective lawand the only one that provides fi-nancial assistance to the disabled.It was also in response to parentswith disabled children whowanted to know what would hap-pen to their child after their de-mise. In the last ten years, therehave been three legislationspassed by the Centre for the dis-ability sector. The NT Act is theonly one relatively easy to imple-ment,” she said.
A workshop on the National
Trust Act and its workings washeld here on May 26, which wasorganised by the Trust along withthe State Social Welfare Depart-ment. At the workshop, Ms. Guhastressed on the training of home-based care-givers under its Reach& Relief Scheme.
“This Scheme will be verybeneficial for a hilly state like Sik-kim, where parents with a disabledchild cannot come to the Centreon a daily basis. Under thisscheme, care-givers will be trainedto look after a disabled child withintheir own community,” she said.
Ms. Guha also asked the Stategovernment to take up variousother schemes of the trust like daycare, respite care and residentialcare centres for the disabled.
“We financially support regis-tered NGOs with the running of suchCentres,” she said. The Spastic So-ciety of Sikkim became the first NGOin Sikkim to register with the Trust.
One of the most significantaspects of the Trust is the appoint-ment of legal guardians for per-sons with disabilities.
“Many a times, a person withdisability may require a legalguardian if his parents have lefthim some property or when hewishes to open a bank account orapply for loans or licences or evenparticipate in mainstream activi-ties. A guardian has to fulfil all theneeds of the disabled person - hispersonal care, food, clothing, shel-ter, health, religion, education andsecurity,” Ms. Guha said.
The Chairperson, during hervisit, also met the Health and Edu-cation Ministers and asked for agreater involvement of the Stategovernment in the disability sector.
Now, with the National Trustactive in the State, those involvedin the disability sector are hopefulthat it will provide the much-needed boost to the various pro-grammes and schemes for the dif-ferently-abled of Sikkim.
Aloka Guha, Chairperson, NationalTrust for the Welfare of Personswith Autism, Cerebral Palsy,Mental Retardation and MultipleDisabilities, with Dr. Bela Cintury,President, Spastic Society, Sikkim,at the Sikkim Spastic Centre a NOW! pic
More Hope For Sikkim 3%
SARIKAH ATREYA on the recent visit of the
Chairperson, National Trust for the Welfare of
Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental
Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, and what the
visit could mean for Sikkim
Prudence - Never
MisplacedThe State Government, sometime back, set up a high-levelcommittee to examine the issues arising out of the inclusionof the Limbu and Tamang communities in the Scheduled Tribeslist. In its first order of business, the committee decided to callon all Limbu and Tamang organisations to submit detailed listsof all the subcastes in their respective communities.There will definitely be those who will scoff at the move as an-other attempt at delaying the benefits accruing to the two com-munities in their new identity as tribals. But Sikkim, with its con-tinuing problem of having bracketed communities as Bhutia in1978 without consulting the people and their representativesshould know that such prudence is not misplaced. In the caseof the Limbus and Tamangs, the problem is not so much asincluding communities that don’t belong to either category, butthat of exclusion of subcastes that should be a part of theirdefinition. Limbus for example have some 62 subcastes andTamangs about 15. While most officials in Sikkim will be able torecognise a Limbu or Tamang surname, officials elsewhere mightnot be as conversant with the two communities.To cite the example of neighbouring West Bengal. Bhutiasand Lepchas are recognised as tribals even there, but gettinga tribal certificate is much more complicated. Ever noticed whyalmost everyone hailing from the Darjeeling district writes his/her surname as Bhutia, Lepcha or Sherpa? It is because in-terpretation of the Schedule Tribes Order, 1978, by officialsthere forcs them to do. If, for example, a Bhutia person signshis surname as “Thondup,” he is refused a tribal certificatebecause “Thondup” is not recognised as a tribal according tothe guidelines available with officials there. Since a detaileddirective outlining all the subcastes of Limbu and Tamang com-munities is still possible, it should be seen through.The other initiative of the high-powered committee was to re-quest the Directorate of Census Operations to conduct a spe-cial survey to identify the exact number of Limbus and Tamangsin Sikkim and their concentration in different constituencies.This data is imperative if the political rights of the two commu-nities have to be cornered. The Centre will not decide on seatallocations without the exact figures. A special census surveymay, however, not be required because the one already heldin 2001 was quite exhaustive. It should contain the informa-tion required, but we won’t know about that till the CensusReport, 2001 becomes official some time in September.The hurry among the two communities to corner all the rightsthat they are now entitled to is understandable, given the closeto three decades that they have struggled for tribal status. Itwould, however, be in their benefit to exercise some self controlnow that they make a new beginning. A mistake at this juncturecould take much more than 3 decades to correct - the unre-solved confusion over who is Bhutia being a case in point.
Too Public For ComfortFor someone who has donned the greasepaint, the refrainthat they attract too much attention is rather confounding. Lessconfounding though, that the recent public rantings of a sen-ior political leader that his “image” has been tarnished in re-portage triggered by something that he let loose in the publicdomain himself. Politicians, because of the very nature of theline they have chosen, are constantly under the scanner. Al-though their private lives might be their own business, theirpolitics and their politicking are open for scrutiny, comment,reportage and even ridicule. They cannot escape it even ifthey want to. Politics after all is all about communication andalthough party loyalists ask for no justifications, the realm be-yond is a two-way street of allegations and counter-allega-tions, explanations and even some mudslinging. If a politiciandoes not want people to air their reactions or journalists topursue a statement, then, he should never venture out of thecontrolled confines of the party office. Once you have enteredthe public domain, then no complaints can be made that theglare is too bright. To complain when the other side is givencoverage hints at problems with free speech. And, when poli-ticians hold grudges, even though politics admittedly has nopermanent enemies, they broadcast their immaturity.
May 28-03 June, 2003; NOW! 3
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LEPCHA ASSOCIATIONS WALKAWAY FROM SIBLAC
GANGTOK: The RenjyongMutanchi Rong Tarjum [SikkimLepcha Association] on May 21,last Wednesday decided to pull outof the Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha ApexCommittee [SIBLAC].
A Press release issued by theAssociation informs that a CentralExecutive body meeting on thatday decided to withdraw NimaLepcha, an executive member ofthe Tarjum and a Convenor withSIBLAC, along with other Tarjumofficials deputed to SIBLAC. Therelease states that the single-pointagenda leading to the formation ofSIBLAC was to redefine theScheduled Tribes Order to removecommunities bracketed as Bhutiain the said order.
“This agenda appears to havebeen compromised with the an-nouncement of SIBLAC that theyare ready to accept all the brack-eted people falling within the defi-nition of Bhutia in their fold,” therelease adds.
Elaborating the reasons be-hind the withdrawal, the TarjumGeneral Secretary, KL Lepcha,told NOW! that the main reasonwas that SIBLAC had now gonebeyond the “single-point” agendafor which it was instituted.
“SIBLAC was formed withonly one purpose and was neverauthorised to raise any other de-
mand,” he said.SIBLAC of late has been very
vocal on the seat reservation issueand delimitation of assembly con-stituencies in Sikkim. Mr. Lepchamaintained that their presence inSIBLAC was only as support forthe “rightful” demand of theBhutias to remove the bracketedcommunities from the Bhutia defi-nition.
When asked to comment onthe continuing presence of LepchaAssociation members in SIBLAC,Mr. Lepcha clarified that they nowdid so at an “individual” capacityand were no longer representingthe Sikkim Lepcha Association.
Earlier, the youth-wing of theSikkim Lepcha Association hadwithdrawn its members fromSIBLAC when its one-month ul-timatum demanding the ApexCommittee’s support for its de-mands lapsed without any favour-
able response. The youth wing hadsought SIBLAC’s support for itsdemands of: 50 per cent reserva-tion for Lepchas in all reservationsfor the BLs, including in educa-tion, jobs and assembly seats; andamendment of Revenue Order No.1 to protect alienation of Lepchaland even to Bhutias.
The withdrawal of the twoLepcha associations fromSIBLAC is bound to affect itsclaims to being representative ofBL organisation in Sikkim. Mr.Nima Lepcha has already an-nounced his decision to ignore hisparent association’s call for with-drawal. At a SIBLAC meetingheld at Mangan recently, he coun-tered the order for withdrawal withan emotional outburst. He said:“Bhutia-Lepcha people are one.No force on earth can divide thetwo communities. If some disgrun-tled elements want to withdraw mefrom Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha ApexCommittee with an ill-intent toweaken the BL movement for res-toration of political rights, it is es-sential for them to first bring anend to the Treaty of Blood Broth-erhood solemnised betweenThekontek, Nyokungnal and
LEPCHA ASSOCIATION
CLAIMS SIBLAC WAS
ACTING BEYOND THE
AGENDA BEHIND ITS
CREATION; SIBLAC
COUNTERS WITH
ALLEGATIONS OF
“VESTED INTERESTS”
SPLITTING THE BLs
a NOW REPORT
Khyebumsa at Kabi Lunchog.”Claiming that he has been
leading the “SIBLAC movement”as its founder-member for morethan four years, he announced thathe would continue to do so till itsdemands are met.
Former chairman and zillacommittee member, Chopel Lep-cha, was more direct in his con-demnation. “Some vested ele-ments from Lepcha communityacting hand-in-glove with thosevested interests who are up to cre-ate division within the BL commu-nity are working against the inter-est of SIBLAC. The Lepchas ofDzongu strongly oppose their ul-terior design and appeal to all Lep-cha community of Sikkim not toget swayed by their by their cam-paign and come under the um-brella of SIBLAC,” he said.
Also reiterated at the meetingwere SIBLAC demands foramending the ST Order, 2003 andRepresentation of People[Amendment] Act, 1980 to restorethe original identity and politicalrights of the BLs and delimitationin a manner that BL electorates getmajority in the 12 seats reservedfor them.
The reiteration of the demandsnotwithstanding, it remains to beseen what impact the official with-drawal of Lepcha associationsfrom SIBLAC has on the Commit-tee’s following and status.
DURING BETTER TIMES: The SIBLAC rally of March 20 in Gangtok; a time when Lepcha associations were still a part of it
After Bodos, it’s rogueGNLF activists
GANGTOK: Barely four monthshave lapsed since wanted Bodomilitants were arrested from theirSikkim hideout and it was the turnof rogue GNLF activists avoidingarrest on charges of murder to seekSikkim out for safe haven. Un-luckily for them, they met with thesame fate as the Bodo outfit’s vice-president.
Sikkim Police, on May 21, ar-rested Bishal Rai, 20, Milan Rai,24, Prabhat Kalikotey, 18 and ManKumar Rai, 24, all residents ofLower Goak busty, West Bengal,at the Ramam check post on theSikkim-West Bengal border nearNayabazaar, south Sikkim. Theywere wanted by the Darjeelingpolice in connection with the mur-der of Prakash Theeng, a council-lor of Darjeeling.
The group was reportedly be-ing escorted into Sikkim in a taxi-jeep by six residents of Kamjerbusty, in neighbouring West Ben-
gal when they were intercepted bySikkim Police.
Four days later, another ac-cused in the GNLF councillor’smurder, Sant Kumar Kalikoteyalias Kalikotey Kancha, wasnabbed by Sikkim Police atMangshila in North Sikkim.
Only one more suspect in themurder case remains absconding.Goak Kailaa alias Kamal Gurung,a contractor and prime suspect inthe investigations has remaineduntraced thus far. Darjeeling po-lice now plan to freeze his bankaccounts to facilitate his arrestonce he runs out of finances.
The GNLF councillor’s murderis believed to have resulted froman intra-party feud after he fell outwith those named in the FIR.
While it is not unusual forthose escaping the law inDarjeeling to slip into Sikkim, therecent Bodo experience seems tohave made Sikkim Police morevigilant in following up reports ofunfamiliar faces surfacing in re-mote areas of Sikkim.
( A u t h o r i s e d M A H I N D R A d e a l e r s )
* C
on
dit
ion
s A
pp
ly
650 DI
NO SHERPA CANDIDATESFROM BL SEATS,
ASSURES BHANDARI
GANGTOK: The OppositionSikkim Sangram Parishad kickedinto campaign mode with its 19thfoundation day observed here atthe Sangram Bhavan on May 24,last Saturday.
The party president and loneOpposition member in the Assem-bly, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, set thetone for his party’s poll campaignwith an attack on the ruling Sik-kim Democratic Front and its bun-dle of promises.
Given the confusion createdby the now postponed delimitationdrive, it was only natural that Mr.Bhandari had special announce-ments to make vis a vis the re-served assembly seats and morereservations on the anvil.
Speaking to some 1,000 partysupporters present on the day, Mr.Bhandari announced that his partyhad taken the decision not to fieldSherpa candidates from any of theconstituencies reserved for Sik-kim’s Bhutia-Lepcha community inassembly polls slated for next year.
“We made a mistake in theprevious election by fielding aSherpa candidate in a BL seat andthis will not be repeated in thecoming elections,” he said.
Constitutionally, Sherpas areentitled to contest from seats re-served for the BLs because theyare clubbed as Bhutia in theScheduled Tribes Order. VariousBL organisations have often de-manded that the communities
bracketed as “Bhutia” in the STOrder be removed since their pres-ence diluted the rights of the Bhu-tia community.
Mr. Bhandari justified his lat-est decision as one necessitated bythe constitutional provisions of Ar-ticle 371F and the spirit of the Tri-partite Agreement of May 8, 1973.
Assurances for the State’s BLscontinued with the reiteration ofSSP’s “commitment” to protect the12 seats reserved for the BLs andthe one Sangha seat in the assem-bly. Mr. Bhandari further promisedthat “only BL monks will befielded from the Sangha seats andSSP tickets for the reserved con-stituencies divided equally amongBhutia and Lepcha candidates.
In a clear signal to its partyworkers to gear up for campaign-ing, Mr. Bhandari revealed thatwith his re-election as party presi-dent recently, a new central highcommand had been formed tooversee party activities. He furthermaintained that this time around,party tickets will be handed outonly to “fitting” candidates and notnecessarily party-loyalists.
Fearing that the next electionswill see “rigging,” Mr. Bhandari said
that the such “undemocratic” prac-tices could be checked if the Stateused the 900 electronic voting ma-chines already delivered to Sikkim.He said that he had already met theChief Election Commissioner in thisregard and warned that SSP would“retaliate” to any undemocratictricks during the elections.
The SSP supremo also revealedthat the party had “studied” the in-flux pattern in Sikkim and will sooncome out with its proposal for de-ciding the “cut-off year” so that theoriginal Bhutia, Lepcha, Nepaleseand plainsmen business communitycan avail of the benefits reservedfor genuine Sikkimese.
Taking a dig at the ruling Gov-ernment, Mr. Bhandari began hisspeech with: “We are gatheredhere to discuss the corrupt, un-democratic and communal gov-ernment in the state.”
He announced that if his partymanaged to form the governmentafter the next elections, the firstorder of business would be to ex-pose the “ministers and VIPs” in-volved in various scams.
Mr. Bhandari’s spat with thePress continued in his addresswhen he criticised the fourth es-tate for focusing too much on the
corruption charges against him.These cases, he said, were morethan twenty years old and therewere many more issues that de-manded attention but were beingignored by the Press.
The tirade against the Presswas, however, much more vocalin the speech delivered by hisVice-President [legal], Hem LallBhandari, who alleged that a sec-tion of the media had tarnished hisimage in its coverage of his recentpetition against a sitting Chief Jus-tice of the Sikkim High Court.Claiming that he was the onlySikkimese to have taken a sittingChief Justice to court, the SSPVice-President threatened to takesuch newspapers, whom he re-fused to name, to court on chargesof contempt.
Interestingly, he also de-manded extension of President’srule in Sikkim in light of what hesaw as growing communal tensionand corruption in the State.
Also announced at the founda-tion day was SSP’s 14-point reso-lution on issues concerning theState. Informed sources further re-veal that SSP has also decided tokeep its options open for possiblepre-poll tie-up with national parties.
a NOW REPORT
Court gives Hem Lalltime to respond tocharges of perjury
GANGTOK: The Sikkim HighCourt has given SSP Vice-President,Hem Lall Bhandari, time till June10 to respond to charges of perjuryfiled against him by the RegistrarGeneral of the Sikkim High Court.
The Registrar General, on May14, reacting to Mr. Bhandari’s pe-tition accusing the sitting Chief Jus-tice of enjoying housing and con-veyance allowance that was not dueto him, had filed a counter affida-vit demanding that proceedingsunder section 193 of the IPC beinitiated against Mr. Bhandari for“intentionally making false allega-tions” against the Chief Justice.
While Mr. Bhandari’s petitionhas already been dismissed “withcost” by the High Court, whether itdecides to proceed with the perjurycharge or not will be known on June10, the date set for deciding on theadmissibility of the case.
The Criminal Misc. Applica-tion filed by the Registrar Generalaccuses Mr. Bhandari of levellingcharges against the former CJ “tobring the High Court in disreputeso that the judiciary in the Statemay not function smoothly, inde-pendently and without fear.”
Pointing out that the confusionover the allegation of withdrawingconveyance allowance had alreadybeen cleared in a similar petition[since dismissed as withdrawn] filedin the Supreme Court in 2002, theapplication for proceeding withperjury charges against Mr.Bhandari contends that since hewas aware of the contents of SCpetition, he should “necessarily”also have been aware of the coun-ter affidavit filed in that case. He stillwent ahead and filed the same alle-gation and should thus be “pros-ecuted for intentionally giving falseevidence in respect of the allega-tions,” the Registrar General pleads,
a NOW REPORT
turn to pg 6
SLTJAC blames
State govt for
delay in
reserving seatsa NOW REPORT
GANGTOK: The Sikkim LimbuTamang Joint Action Committeeheaded by PR Subba as Presidenthas held the State government re-sponsible for failing to deliver re-served seats for the Limbu andTamang communities.
Claiming that “politicalrights” should have been the firstright assured for the two commu-nities the moment they were in-cluded as scheduled tribes, anSLTJAC Press release accuses thetwo Sikkim MPs of being “negli-gent” and failing to brief the Par-liament properly on the nuances ofArticle 371F and thus delaying thereservation.
They have also pulled up theState Government and its MPs forfailing to “mention the properspelling and different titles of Lim-bus of Sikkim”. “The Bill shouldhave indicated Limbu [Subba,Tsong] and Tamang, in place ofLimboo and Tamang,” the Pressrelease contends.
The Committee has alsothanked SIBLAC leaders for theirsupport to the demand for reserv-ing seats for the two new tribalcommunities. It has now urged“BL leaders” to “come out boldly”in support of the SLTJAC demandfor eight seats for Limbus andTamangs.
May 28-03 June, 2003; NOW! 5
5
FOCUSFOCUS
When the then Union LawMinister, P. Shiv Shankar,proposed the amendment ofthe Representation of Peo-
ple Act, 1950, in the Parliament on Febru-ary 2, 1980, the first voice to rise in protestagainst the proposal was that of AnandPathak, the MP from Darjeeling.
The first point that Mr. Pathak made whileopposing the Bill was that it was no differentfrom the one that was moved on May 18, 1979by the previous Janata Government.
“Immediately after the introduction of theBill in 1979, there was widespread resent-ment, discontent, dissension and disharmonyamong the people,” he informed the House.According to Mr. Pathak, the Bill evoked ex-treme reactions because it “could not satisfyany section of the [Sikkimese] people”.
Mr. Pathak was not wrong.The LD Kazi government, already into
the sixth year of its first term, was rippedapart when news of what was proposedreached Sikkim. His own MLAs [he had 31]rose up in protest when the State Legisla-tive Assembly convened. Questions wereposed on who advised whom on the draft-ing of the Bill, which, although a Centralmatter, would have required suggestionsfrom the State. No one in Sikkim, neitherthe Ministers nor the MLAs, it appears weretaken into confidence. Most of the dissent-ing voices focused on where the seats re-served for Sikkimese Nepalese had gone.No answers were given. Soon, Mr. Kazi’sMLAs started deserting him until he wasforced into a minority and had to resign onAugust 13, 1979.
In the meanwhile, with the collapse ofthe Janata Government at the Centre, the Billin the Parliament lapsed without getting de-bated. Now, there was President’s rule, bothin the Centre and in Sikkim. Elections in Sik-kim had to be rushed because the Union’syoungest State was already into its sixth yearwithout a democratically elected government.Elections had to be held fast, but there wereno fresh guidelines in place. The earlier cal-culation of 15-15-1-1 was obviously not pos-sible and because these would be the firstelections in Sikkim since it became a part ofIndia, the Indian businessmen community,which did not get to vote in 1974, also had toaccommodated. The Centre had no other al-ternative but to hold it on the basis of theonly proposal at hand, the earlier Bill foramendment which had lapsed. The President,thus passed the same Bill as an Ordinanceand called elections in Sikkim.
Criticising this decision in 1980,Harekrushna Mallick, a Rajya Sabha MPfrom Orissa, alleged that Ordinance was un-constitutional since the President did notdiscuss it with the Rajya Sabha which, be-ing a permanent body, had survived throughthe President’s rule.
These technicalities apart, Mr. Pathak,the MP from Darjeeling, insisted that the“controversial” Bill not be rushed throughin haste. He advised that the Bill be broughtback to the Parliament only after its con-tents had been discussed with the SikkimLegislative Assembly [the Bhandari Gov-ernment was already in power in Sikkim bythe time the Bill was debated] and a for-mula for seat reservation acceptable to theSikkimese was worked out.
Mr. Pathak’s main grouse with the Billwas that it reserved 12 seats for the BLs, hadno protection for the Sikkimese Nepalese andthe Sangha seat. The last was protected byArticle 371F, but the two former points,which continue to remain contentious to thisday, were for the Parliament to decide in
WHY THE REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT WAS AMENDED AND HOW - II
1980. Mr. Pathak argued that the 1971 Cen-sus pegged the BL composition of Sikkim at21 per cent and that reserving 37 per cent ofthe seats for them [12 seats in 32] perpetu-ated the very reason which had prompted theMerger - minority rule. He pointed out thatthe rule of proportion was taken into accountwhen two seats were reserved for the Sched-uled Caste community of Sikkim and won-dered why it was ignored when it came tothe BLs. He even announced in the Parlia-ment that the BLs, because of “theiraboriginality and with aview to allay the appre-hension in their minds”should be given someweightage of one or twomore seats over theirconstitutional share, butprotested the manner inwhich the rights of onesection of the peoplewas taken away [aboli-tion of seats reserved forNepalese] and anothersection “pacified”.
“This,” he said,“has done no good toany section.”
Stressing on thepublic reaction againstthe abolition of seatsreserved for the Sikkimese Nepalese, Mr.Pathak said that the sentiments were a re-flection of fears that what happened toNepalese in Assam and Meghalaya mightget repeated in Sikkim. He claimed that suchapprehensions stemmed from the unin-formed opinion that central leaders had ofIndian Nepalese who continue to be viewedas foreigners. A small gesture like recogni-tion of the Nepali language in the EightSchedule would go a long way in makingthe Indian Nepalese feel more secure, Mr.Pathak observed. Had such a sense of be-longing been instilled among the Nepalese,they, as the majority in Sikkim, would nothave insisted on reservation of seats in theAssembly, he opined.
The statement of objects and reasonssupporting the Bill, which suggested that twoseats were reserved for the Sikkimese Nepa-
lese since most SCs belonged to this com-munity, was contested by NgangomMohendra, the MP from Inner Manipur, whowarned against such presumptions since theseats were not reserved exclusively for SCsbelonging to the Sikkimese Nepalese com-munity - they were open to SCs from all overIndia who settled in Sikkim. Criticising thestatement of objects and reasons, he said:“...in Sikkim, it appears, the interest of theethnic Nepalese seem to have not been safe-guarded and nothing is sought to safeguard
their interests. In fact,the statement of objectsand reasons actuallymerge the interests ofthe ethnic Nepalesewith those of the Sched-uled Castes.”
Sikkim’s firstelected representativeto the Lok Sabha,Pahalman Subba, toowas allowed a com-ment. He pointed outthe rout suffered byMr. Kazi in the elec-tions, where not evenone of his candidateswon, as proof of theSikkimese people’s“unhappiness” with the
Bill in question and the reservation formula.The government in power in Sikkim and theOpposition, he said, had already expresseda united desire to “see certain importantchanges and amendments in the Bill” whichwas why the State government should be“fully consulted” before any “permanent ar-rangement” is made.
Mr. Subba even suggested a formula.While supporting the reservations alreadyproposed, he suggested an additional reser-vation of 15 seats for the Sikkimese Nepa-lese. “The existing arrangement,” he said,“had caused an imbalance in the politicalstructure of Sikkim and concern among theNepalese born and bred in Sikkim.”
There were more voices of protest, butthe Bill had to be passed unchanged becauseof the unique constitutional deadlock createdby the fact that elections had already taken
place in Sikkim on the guidelines prescribed.Mr. Shiv Shankar, while responding to
the objections and suggestions said: “TheBill has a very limited purpose, namely topreserve the validity of the elections thathave taken place when the Ordinance wasin force, and I may straightaway submit thatif we do not enact this Bill, the difficultywill be with reference to the elections thathave already taken place... So, necessarily,those elections need to be saved.” Whiledefending the Sangha seat as somethingmade valid by Article 371F, he maintainedthat because the 1979 elections in Sikkimwere imperilled if any changes were made,the Bill be enacted as an Act.
It was, however, not as if a question-able system was made permanent. The thenUnion Law Minister did get on record abouta possible way out.
He said: “The suggestions that havebeen made can be considered for the futureelections.... If it is a case of revising thereservations for the future, that is a matterwhich can be taken cognisance of. Thehopes and aspirations of the people can alsobe considered and a new policy evolved.No doubt, valuable suggestions with respectto reservation have been made by the otherside, but they can be considered at an ap-propriate stage.”
That “appropriate stage” was the timebefore the next assembly elections in Sik-kim. However, after all the furore, the ar-guments were forgotten and the Bill re-mained unchanged for four more elections.In between, there was a Supreme Court casechallenging the seats reserved for the BLsand every party promised to return the re-served seats to the Sikkimese Nepalese.While there are enough memoranda with thecentre to fill a room with representationsmade to reinstate reservation for SikkimeseNepalese, none seem to have pointed outthat this was something even the Parliamenthad noted during the debate on amendmentand was to some extent committed to re-consider at a future date.
Going over the arguments made in theParliament in 1980 and the peculiar situa-tion which forced the Bill through withoutchanges, makes it obvious that it is flawed.The argument that the Sikkimese Nepalesehave been given a raw deal is obvious sincethe Act offers special status to only two ofthe three sections identified as the ethniccommunities of Sikkim at the time of theMerger. Suffice to say here that the Actneeds to be re-evaluated and its anomaliesresolved to the best extent possible.
But there is no easy way out. Any re-evaluation of the Representation of People[Amendment] Act, 1980, will, perforce bringthe focus back on the seats reserved for theBL community in Sikkim. The present levelis obviously tilted in their favour and will be
ENOUGH OF APPEASEMENTAND INTIMIDATION,
LET’S TRY LOGIC NOWThe period from 1975, the year of the merger, to 1979, when the
Ordinance outlining the reservation structure for Sikkim was
passed, was a turbulent and fluid time both for Sikkim as well as
the Centre. The said Ordinance, it is clear now, was forced more
by the peculiar situation of the time than by any logic. It contin-
ues to haunt Sikkim to this date. Before we exorcise this ghost, it
is important to know its genesis.
PEMA WANGCHUK on the situation that gave us the Representation
of People’s [Amendment] Act, 1980, the problems the Parliamen-
tarians of the time had with it and the possible road ahead...
AT PRESENT,THE TONE IN
WHICHCERTAIN
GROUPS ARETALKING
ABOUT THERESERVATIONISSUE IS NOT
ONE THATHINTS AT THEPOSSIBILITY A
UNITEDRESOLUTION
- turn to pg 9
6; NOW! May 28-03 June, 2003
6
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GANGTOK: Chief MinisterPawan Chamling has urged theRai community to work harder topreserve and promote their ethniccustoms, traditions, art, cultureand language and identity. He saidthis at the Sakewa celebrationsorganized by the Akhil Kirat RaiSangh, Sikkim at the CommunityHall here on May 23.
While reiterating that his gov-ernment has given due importanceto all ethnic communities of theState by recognizing their lan-guages as State languages and de-
claring their prominent festivals asState holidays, he stressed on theneed for people’s participation inthe continued evolution of ethniccultures and traditions.
“We can only be thefacilitators. It is up to the differ-ent communities and the people topreserve their unique culture andidentity,” he said.
“Sakewa is not just a festival,it is the very identity of the KiratRais. An extensive research isneeded to fully document this greatfestival. Scholars should documentall aspects of this community sothat it can contribute positively tothe development of the society at
large,” the Chief Minister said.While advocating the use of a
“mool basha,” Mr. Chamling saidthat the different sub-communitieswithin the Nepali community havetheir own dialects apart of Nepali.“If certain words from all the eth-nic groups such as the Rais,Tamangs, Gurungs etc., are incor-porated into the Nepali language,it will greatly enrich the languageas well as ensure the continuity ofthe ethnic dialects,” he said.
Mr. Chamling said that Sik-kim was a melting pot of differ-ent cultures and customs and thattime had come for a “cultural in-tegration”, which would bind to-gether the different ethnic groupsof the State.
“There is a cultural revolutionunderway in the State,” he said,adding that all cultures, customsand traditions of different commu-nities were flourishing in the State.
He said that his government hastaken a decision to promote villageand cultural tourism in a big wayin Sikkim. The State would organ-ize month-long ethnic cultural fes-tivals throughout the year, duringwhich the traditional costumes,songs and dances and cuisine willbe show-cased, he announced.
Mr. Chamling also said that itwas important that today’s youth fo-cused on capacity building ratherthan running for white-collared jobs.
“I want to also dispel the per-ceived notion among the people ofSikkim that I will only favourthose from the Rai community.Nobody should come to me withfavours for jobs just because he orshe belongs to a particular com-munity. This solely depends on themerit of the person. That is why itis very important that our youth re-member that a mere degree willnot get them a job. They should
be capable in all ways,” he said.Earlier, in his welcome address,
the president of the Akhil Kirat RaiSangh, Sikkim, PD Rai, thankedthe State government for the duerecognition given to the Sakewafestival and declaring it a State holi-day. He said that the Sangh hasbeen celebrating the Sakewa festi-val in a big way all over the Statefor the past five years.
A cultural programme was putup by different cultural groupsduring the function. An exhibitionwas also put up where traditionalartifacts and tools of the Kirat Raicommunity were displayed. Mr.Chamling also conferred a post-humous award on late KripaSalyan Rai, renowned Rai linguistand winner of the Bhanu Puraskarof the Nepali Sahitya Sammelan,Gangtok for his outstanding con-tribution towards the developmentof the Rai language and script.
TASHI NAMGYAL ACADEMYADMISSION IN CLASS XI - 2003 in TNA
A few seats are available for admission in class XI - Sci-ence / Commerce and Humanities Streams. Studentswho have passed ICSE Examination March 2003 withexceptionally high marks may apply with marks sheetand character certificate on or before 5th June 2003. Ad-mission will be based on merit as per eligibility criterialaid down for various streams. Mere submission of appli-cation is no guarantee for admission.
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AGE: Age of the candidate should not be more than 22 yearsas on 1st July 2003. For candidates belonging to SC / ST, agelimit is relaxable upto 25 years.
RESERVATION OF SEATS: 15% seats are reserved for SC,71/2% for ST candidates and 3% for physically challenged can-didates subject to their disability not proving an obstacle forultimate employment in the service industry.
FEE RELAXATION: Special concession of 75% in Tuition feeonly is available for Bonafide Sikkimese students.
HOW TO APPLY: Application form & prospectus can be ob-tained from Institue of Hotel Management, Gangtok againstCash payment of Rs. 50/- or remitting Rs. 75/- through De-mand Draft / Postal Order in favour of INSTITUE OF HOTELMANAGEMENT, Payable at Gangtok.
Application form complete in all respects should reach theInstitue before 30th June 2003 accompanied by Registra-tion Fee of Rs. 250/-
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a NOW REPORT
Sakewa is more than just a festival, it is thevery identity of Kirat Rais: Chamling
since Mr. Bhandari “knew” his al-legations to be “false”.
Sources in the High Court areconfident of the merits of theircase because they are not filingany fresh documents or interpre-tation to press their charges. “Thedocuments submitted by Mr.Bhandari themselves prove thatthere was no foul-play afoot, yethe submitted the same in an at-
tempt to mislead the Court,” saida senior official of the Court.
Perjury [lying under oath], asmentioned earlier is a criminal of-fence and attract a maximum sen-tence of seven years. Since it isnear impossible to ascertainwhether a certain person knew hisstatement to be the truth or not,legal jurisprudence decides a per-son is lying if it believes that “anyreasonable person would haveknown the statement to be a lie”.
Contd from pg 4
COURT GIVES HEM LALL TIME TO...The 49th day Kutse Shegu of LatePoprim Bhutia, r/o Lingeythang Busty,Below Old Market, Pakyong Bazaar,East Sikkim who left for heavenly abodeon 10 May 2003 falls on Friday, 27 June2003. All relatives, friends and wellwishers are requested to join us in of-fering prayers for the departed soul atour residence. we also thank all thosewho helped us during our hour of be-reavement and regret our inability to doso individually.Mr. & Mrs. Prem Kr. Rai (son), Mr.& Mrs. C. B. Subba (son in law),Sunita Pradhan (daughter) & allfamily members
Kutse Shegu
May 28-03 June, 2003; NOW! 7
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GANGTOK: In the face of in-clement weather which beat backmore than 100 climbers, NadreSherpa, the 35 year old instructorwith Sonam Gyatso Mountaineer-ing Institute here and KushangDorjee, an instructor withHimalayan Mountaineering Insti-tute, Darjeeling, summited MountEverest at 12:30 pm on May 21,
last Wednesday.Mr. Sherpa is part of a 15-
member expedition to Everest ledby HMI Principal Col. VijaySingh, to mark the 50th anniver-sary of the first successful ascentof the Everest by Edmund Hillaryand Tenzing Norgay on May 29,1953. The expedition was flaggedoff from Darjeeling byPadmabhusan recipient NawangGombu on March 29.
Incidentally, this is Mr.
Sherpa’s second ascent of the Ev-erest. In 1996, he became the firstIndian to conquer Everest from theNorth [Tibet] face. The State hadrewarded his feat with a cash awardof Rs. 1 lakh at the time. His presentachievement becomes even morespecial given the timing.
A consummate climber, he hasscaled many other peaks likeGangotri-1, Mount Shivling,Mana, Mount Gya and Mount
Nygei Khangse to name a few.Also representing Sikkim in the
expedition is Phul Maya Tamang,another instructor with SGMI, whosuccessfully scaled Mt.Sudharashan in the year 2002 aspart of her preparation for moun-taineering’s greatest challenge.
Also vying for a spot on thetop are 500 members of 22 otherexpeditions from the Nepal side.The media hype surrounding the
a NOW REPORT
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expeditions this year has also seenmany records get broken. AppaSherpa, 42, climbed the peak fora record 13th time breaking hisown record, while Sherpa LhakpaGela, 36, broke the speed recordwhen he reached the summit in 10hours 56 minutes and 46 seconds.He broke the speed record set onlya couple days earlier of 13 hourswhich had skimmed some fourhours off the earlier record.
KATHMANDU: Although expe-ditions from the Sikkim side arebanned, Nepal continues to allowmountaineers to test their mettleagainst the third highest peak fromtheir side. The mountain remainsas treacherous as ever and contin-ues to exact a price from the climb-ers. Mountaineers too have proventheir grit on Khangchendzonga, aswas the case with the Spanishclimber, Carlos Puaner who sur-vived three days of exposure onthe upper reaches of the peak.
Carlos Paunerand SilvioM o n d i n e l l is u m m i t e dKhangchendzongafrom the Nepal sideon May 20, butCarlos disappearedwhile descending,never arriving backin Camp III at7600m. Just whenall hope was lost,Carlos arrived at the
base camp having survived highaltitude in bad weather for threedays without shelter, food, or wa-ter. He, however, is nursing se-verely frostbitten fingers and is indanger of losing them.
Khangchendzonga was firstsummited in 1955 from the Nepalside and in 1977 from the Sikkimside. It is considered a more diffi-cult climb than Everest and hasonly had 172 summits. 40 have losttheir lives on this mountain givingit a very high fatality rate - 23%.Everest, in comparison has seen1,200 successful ascents and 175casualties.
a NOW REPORT
Carlos Puaner
8; NOW! May 28-03 June, 2003
16
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CHUJACHEN
SCHOOL FOOT-
PATH LITTERED
WITH GARBAGE
All plans and proposals of thegovernment to provide a
better life to the people shallstand defeated until the peoplethemselves start making best useof the incentives. Crores offunds are drained into schemesintiated to provide betterinfrastructure to the the people,but none seem interested inpreserving them.
The condition of the CCFootpath from Chujachen Sr.Sec. School to Sungdong Road isan example of such carelessnessof some local people. Housewastes and debris thrown on thefoot path by people who are orwere part of the school at onetime is disturbing.
Why don’t the departmentalauthorities check such malprac-tices? Is their duty simplyconfined to building and nothingmore than that? Please dosomething because almost all thestudents, the teachers and localpeople are finding it difficult towalk on this footpath during themonsoons.
Students, Chujachen Sr. Sec.School
This letter is not intended tobring disrepute to the Central
Referral Hospital, Tadong or tosettle personal scores. However, inthe interest of the general people,I feel obliged to bring to record theblatant negligence that’s beingdone there.
On the morning of May 22, Itook my ailing mother there. Uponthe suggestions of the Gynaecolo-gist, she was admitted immedi-ately. She was to undergo an op-eration the following day. Afterseveral tests were conducted, shehad to be examined by the Anaes-thetist for the final approval. Buthe simply refused to look into herfile when approached. At that timehe was on duty and his refusal isnot at all justified.
I approached the Medical Su-perintendent to complain but evenhe did not do anything. He askedme to keep the patient till May 26,but the Gynaecologist advised oth-erwise saying that delay may leadto complications. So I got her dis-charged in the evening after theentire day had been lost.
The Anaesthetist’s attitudewas deplorable. Isn’t there some-thing called medical ethics? Weplace doctors next to God, now Iam forced to have secondthoughts.
I urge the Deptt. of Health,GoS, to take steps to check suchirregularities occuring in that hos-pital, which is putting many aninnocent life to risk.Samdup Bhutia, Ranipool
When NOW! contacted Dr. S.Singh, Medical Superin-
tendent and Dr Prachi, the Gynae-cologist at Central Referral Hos-pital, it was learnt that the patientwas a 60 year old woman withbleeding problem.
Dr Prachi wanted to operate onher immediately, but further inves-tigation revealed that she also had
WHAT WAS BEST FOR PATIENT: CRHa heart problem which wouldmake the operation complicated.
The doctor then consulted theanaesthetist who did not want torisk it since gynaecological surger-ies are slated for Tuesdays whenthe operation ward is better pre-pared to handle such cases.
Since the patient’s conditionwas rather serious, keeping her at
CRH till Tuesday was not advis-able. An emergency operation wasruled out because the patient wasalready losing blood and wouldbleed more during the operation.
“Since we do not have adequateblood bank facility, keeping the pa-tient’s interest in mind, we advisedher son to take her to STNM hospi-tal,” informed Dr Prachi.
I, a concerned citizen of Gangtok would like to bring to your
notice the attitude of the MotorVehicles inspectors. Recently, Ihad been to them for my trial test,but no seemed to be interested intaking it. I wonder what wouldhave motivated their interest.
Every year, 18-year-olds waiteagerly to get their driving li-cences, but the attitude I saw atMV office makes it near impossi-ble to get one properly. If so be
their attitude, then Traffic Policeofficers, please don’t blameyoungsters if they drive without alicence. We are sorry, but wewould rather go about drivingwithout licenses than wait for 4 to5 hours on people who seem sodisinterested in their work.
I am a regular reader of NOW!and sincerely hope that you willhelp me voice the feelings of manyyoungsters like me.A concerned citizen
WHY I DRIVE WITHOUTA LICENCE
NO BOOKS,
NO NEWS
I shall be grateful if you kindlypublish this letter in your paper.
Among the many problems that weface in our student life, the delayin book supply seems the mostperpetual. We, the students of classXII of Yangang Sr. Sec. Schoolperhaps suffer the most. Twomonths of the session for 2003 arealready over and we still do nothave our books. We have alsoheard that the books have changed,but we do not know whether thenew books are coming or not.
So, we the students of Sr. Sec.School, Yangang, South Sikkim,appeal to the State Governmentthrough the Education Departmentto kindly look into this matter andtake necessary action as soon aspossible.Mahesh Dawari, Govt Sr. Sec.School, Yangang, South Sikkim
Everyone’s got complaints and the
best thing about a democracy is that
these complaints can be voiced. “Ac-
tion Mail,” is a platform where the
public mails us their grievances and
we get them the replies from the con-
cerned authorities. If you too have a
problem that needs redressal, just
mail your complaint to us at NOW!
Gairi Gaon, Tadong, Gangtok, East
Sikkim or email us at sikkimnow@
rediffmail.com.
May 28-03 June, 2003; NOW! 9
ONE KILLED INDAMSITE
EXPLOSION
a NOW REPORT
DIKCHU: One person was killedand another injured when a cylin-der used for fabrication work hereat the NHPC damsite exploded ataround 8:55 PM on May 20, lastTuesday. Ranjan Kumar Singh, aroller operator, died on the spotwhile M. Kumar Chettri, a driverwith the NHPC, is reported to bein a critical condition and has beenreferred to a Siliguri nursing home.
17
RECAP SIKKIMRECAP SIKKIM
something that will not go down well withMPs in the Lok Sabha. This point cannot beignored either since it is bound to surfacethe moment the Act comes up for an amend-ment to reserve seats for the latest membersof the Scheduled Tribes list - the Limbus andTamangs. Also, because an amendment ofthe Act is the only way that protection, byway of reserved seats, can be sought for theSikkimese Nepalese, such examination can-not be stalled either. The reservation for BLsis bound to attract attention also because ofthe amount of hue and cry that has been madeover the perceived threat to them when therewas none. Now there is no escaping themunless we decide to continue with status quoand allow a situation that has haunted Sik-kim since its merger to continue.
A re-evaluation of the Act is perhaps re-quired not only because new communitiesneed reservation, but also because Sikkimcould soon have more seats in its Assembly.When the Representation of People Act,1950 was amended to give 12 seats for theBLs, the formula by which it was workedout was never explained. Should the numberof seats in Sikkim Legislative Assembly beincreased to 40 as demanded, or 60, as is theminimum strength in other States, on whatformula will the new BL quota be workedout? At present we have none.
Sikkim also needs to learn from the fi-asco of 1979 and work out its arguments andsuggestions before the Centre wakes up toneed for an amendment. This is not a prob-lem that can be worked out in isolation andrequires colletive thought. At present, thetone in which certain groups are talking about
the reservation issue is not one that hints atthe possibility such a united resolution. Thoseclaiming to speak for the majority arewrongly demanding a reduction in thenumber of seats reserved for the BLs. Thisline of argument has already been thrown outby the Supreme Court. If anything, theyshould be demanding reservations for theSikkimese Nepalese. As for the voice claim-ing to be that of the BLs, they should remem-ber that the twelve seats are not in threat ofdiminishing [thanks to the SC judgement inthe RC Paudyal case], but the danger is thatthey might remain 12 forever - even afterthe Assembly strength increases [since thereseems to be no formula explaining how thefigure of 12 was arrived at].
After twenty-eight years of becoming apart of India, it is time that the problemwhich came with Sikkim’s first elections as
a democracy be resolved. Thus far, the rightsounds have not been made, it is perhapsalso time that new voices emerge to force aresolution. Because the problem concernsthree communities, it is important that eachfinds its voice and then collaborates on asolution. Appeasement and initimidationhave already created enough confusion, letus try logic for a chance.
Given the emotions attached to the is-sue, politicians cannot be expected to comeup with the solution. The formula will haveto come from organisations outside the com-promising limitations of politics and oncesuch a formula gets widespread endorse-ment, the politicians can step forward anddeliver it. It is a tough ask, but we are alsofaced by a complex problem created by theturbulent and fluid time when it was forcedon Sikkim.
Contd from pg 5
Enough of Appeasement and Intimidation, Let’s Try Logic Now
GANGTOK: Retired Chief Justiceof Sikkim, Ripusudan Dayal, re-signed from his post of ChairmanState Human Rights Committee andthe State Law Commission on May22, within days of taking charge.
The former Chief Justice ofthe Sikkim High Court, who had
retired on May 17, had taken overas the Chairman of the two com-missions on May 18. He tenderedhis resignation to the Governor, VRama Rao.
Speaking to the NOW! on Fri-day, Mr. Dayal said that the totalabsence of work culture and dis-cipline in the two Commissionsprompted him to take the step.
“What does one do when there
is a total lack of work culture anddiscipline amongst the Staff andthe members of the Commissions?A member secretary, when sum-moned does not turn up. No onetakes in any interest in the work-ing of the Commissions. It is asheer waste of time,” he said.
Mr. Dayal was reportedly noteven provided with a clerk or apeon or even an official vehicle to
discharge his duties.Contradicting the former CJ’s
reasons for quitting office, SSPVice-President, Hem Lall Bhandari,said that the resignation was proofof Mr. Dayal’s guilt on charges ofenjoying undue benefits during histenure as Sikkim High Court’s ChiefJustice. Mr. Bhandari’s petition rais-ing the allegations has already beendismissed by the High Court.
a NOW REPORT
LACK OF WORK CULTURE FORCES DAYALTO QUIT COMMISSIONS
China appears to be making the right noises about resumption oftrade with India through Nathula and Jelepla passes. While theoptimism might just be an exercise at generating some positive
PR ahead of the Prime Minister’s China visit, it could be the only hopefor places such as Gnathang which seem to have fallen off the mapwith the closure of Indo-Tibet trade. Places like the shuttered rest-houseshown alongside could open for business.
During the Indo-Tibet trading days, caravans headed for Lhasa fromKalimpong used to halt at the Gnathang village in East Sikkim for thenight before proceeding further. A huge wooden house, believed to havebeen built in 1886, was the only rest-house in the village.
The house still stands today, although it is now abandoned and inan utter state of neglect. NOW! was informed by a local villager thatthe house belongs to a family from Kalimpong. The rest-house was lastused some 40 years ago.
pic and text SARIKAH ATREYA
RESTED FOR OVER 40 YEARS, REST HOUSE AWAITSRESUMPTION OF TRADE
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GANGTOK: Sikkim RenewableEnergy Development Agency[SREDA], an autonomous bodyunder the Rural Development De-partment, has once again beenawarded the first prize for imple-mentation of Solar Voltaic Pro-gramme and National Project onBiogas Development. The awardinstituted by the Ministry of Non-
conventional Energy Sources,GoI, covers SREDA’s activitiesover the year 2001-2002.
SREDA, informs its Director,KS Tobgay, has been involved inthe promotion of non-fossil energysources such as solar, hydel, windand biomass. Besides popularisingsolar home lighting systems, solarstreet lights have also been in-stalled at important places such aspolice check points at Rangpo,Melli and Ranipool. The Agency
has also installed solar water heat-ing systems at a number of schoolhostels across the State.
In the field of biogas devel-opment, SREDA has been pro-moting the Deen Bandhu biogasmodel and its initiative at train-ing masons on this model has re-sulted in the construction of about250 biogas plants in Sikkim everyyear. These plants have foundwide acceptability in rural areasespecially in places where there
are no other means of cookingfuel available.
Mr. Tobgay, while outliningthe future plans of SREDA re-vealed that installation of solarpower plants for Singtam districthospital and STCS building is onthe anvil. Micro hydel projects forsmall unelectrified hamlets andmanufacture of solar lanterns us-ing local material such as bambooand cane rank high on SREDA’spriority list, it is learnt.
“The popularity of SREDAprogrammes can be gauged fromthe enormous demand for variousnon-conventional energy devicespromoted by us,” he said.
The Agency is also involvedin capacity-building in rural areas,it is learnt. It has now decided toinvolve village communities andreputed NGOs in all its futureplans to ensure that its pro-grammes are more people-centric.
SREDA DOES IT AGAINDEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT
18
a NOW REPORT
Hard workpays off
for toppersa NOW REPORT
Daipeyan Bhattacharya a studentof Tashi Namgyal Academytopped ISC in Sikkim by scoring93.25 per cent in PCM.
When NOW! tried to contacthim, it was learnt that he had al-ready left for Bangalore. Hismother, Dr. Bhattacharya, a lec-turer at Sikkim Government Col-lege, however spoke to NOW! andsaid she was proud of her son’sachievement.
“He is very sincere andhardworking and always followeda strict routine of study hours inthe morning and evening. It washis hard work that has fetched himsuch good marks,” she said.
Though the CBSE results arenot yet officially out, informationavailable thus far pegs Gargi Royof Holy Cross School as the topperfor class XII with 93 per cent inPCM. She has already left for Delhi.
The Principal and some teach-ers of Holy Cross School toldNOW! that Gargi Roy was an in-telligent and hardworking studentand that they were sure that shewould top this examination.
They shall grow not old, as we that are
left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the
years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in
the morning,
We will remember them
The High Commissioner of Malta at
the ceremony on 14 May, 2003
All: We will remember them
Great Britain bestowed thebravest of the brave a fitting tribute on May 14,
earlier this year when a nationalmemorial for Victoria Cross andGeorge Cross holders was in-stalled at the Westminster Abbeyin central London.
The special occasion was alsoa proud moment for Sikkim withone of it’s sons representing theState at the memorial in the formof Capt. Ganju Lama, VC, MM,
PD, who won the decoration forhis actions in the Burma front dur-ing World War II.
Engraved on Nabresina Stone,with enlarged bronze and silvercrosses, the memorial plaque withthe inscription “Remember theirvalour and gallantry,” was in-stalled within the Abbey and un-veiled by Her Majesty Queen Eliza-beth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Over 1,400 descendants and 34living holders of the awards werepresent at the ceremony which wassupported by the British Govern-ment and the royal family.
As the bugle sounded “the LastPost,” the holders and families, withpride and tears in their eyes, wit-nessed the fulfilling of a long cher-ished dream to see a national memo-rial come up for the brave soldiers.
Rinchen Ongmo, representing
her father late Capt.Ganju Lama, whilespeaking to NOW! ad-mitted that she could nothold back her tears as theceremony unfolded.“How I wished my fatherwas alive to see thisevent,” she said. Therewere tears in every eye atthe ceremony as even theliving members of theVictoria Cross fraternitywept openly for theirfriends who were nomore to see the memorial come up.“The brave recipients had becomevery close due to the annual reunionsin London and it was very moving tosee them miss their friends,” she said.
Although there are many me-morials throughout the world dedi-cated to those who have receivedthese highest decorations, a na-
tional memorial in Britain couldnever come up. The idea was firstmooted only in 1995 and aftermuch careful consideration, the fi-nal design and location of the me-morial were decided upon. TheVictoria and George Cross Asso-ciation raised funds and donationsto give shape to the memorial. TheQueen is the patron of the Asso-ciation with the Prince of Wales,Prince Charles, as the President ofthe Association.
Inclusion of names of all the1354 VC recipients and 155 GCholders was impractical so theirnames have been included in aledger which serves as the com-panion to the memorial.
Ganju Lama was awarded theVC for his action against the Japa-nese at Ninthoukong on the Burmafront where he destroyed fiveJapanese enemy tanks single-handedly. Although severelywounded, he overcame advancingenemy tanks and saved a desper-ate situation during the campaign.In a similar situation, a week ear-lier he had destroyed two enemytanks for which he was awardedthe Military Medal. Lord LouisMountbatten, the then SupremeCommander of the allied forces insouth east Asia, recognizing the
fresh everyday
ofSLICELIFE
PRESENTS
This week, try out the different lures of Mango,the king of fruits at our Mango Festival
Life is not what you find, it’s what you create - Oscar Wilde
REMEMBERING THEIR VALOUR & GALLANTRY
Ganju Lama would have liked itWhen the British finally installed a “national memorial” at Westminister Abbey on May
14, earlier this month, there was not a single dry eye in the gathering. Even the surviving
recepients of the highest awards for bravery in war, the Victoria and George Cross hold-
ers could not hold back their tears. This was an event Sikkim’s Ganju Lama would have
loved to be a part of. Sadly, he is no more. He was represented by his daughter. NOW!
caught up with Rinchen Ongmu upon her return to understand just what the event means
for those who won the medals and those they left behind...
A garlanded Ganju Lama being taken to afelicitation ceremony after being announcedas a recipient of the Victoria Cross
turn to pg 11
May 28-03 June, 2003; NOW! 11
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FOUND An original and attested Other Backward Caste certificate of one Binod Subba of Timberbong, West Sikkim. The document is with the NOW! Office and the person may come and collect it anyday.
The Anthyesthi Kriyaof my late sonAshutosh Pathak, S.I.India ReserveBatallion (on Deputa-tion to CBI) will be heldon 1st June 2003 at 1.PM in the Campus.
P. C. Pathak & Family
TNA Campus; Phone: 225632
AnthyesthiKriya
GANGTOK: The Transport Depart-ment has finally resolved the contro-versy surrounding the PassengerReservation System (PRS) counterat the SNT depot here by clearing allthe dues outstanding with the North-eastern Frontier Railways.
Ever since reports of misap-propriation of funds at the coun-ter surfaced sometime in Augustlast year, the counter’s fate hashung on a balance with NFR of-ten threatening to down shutters ifthe dues were not paid up.
The “scam” involves allegedmisappropriation of some Rs. 1.25crores by some officials manningthe counter between January 1997to November 2001.
The case is being investigatedby the Vigilance Directorate now.Informed sources reveal that al-
RAILWAY PASSENGER BOOKING DEADLOCK RESOLVED
The Anthyesthi Kriya of Late
Ganesh Suji, r/o Lingeythang
Busty, Pakyong , East Sikkim
who left for his heavenly abode
on 18 May 2003 falls on 30 May
2003. All relatives, friends and
well wishers are requested to join
us in offering prayers for the de-
parted soul at our residence. we
also thank all those who helped
us during our hour of bereave-
ment and regret our inability to
do so individually.Dinesh Suji (son), Uma Suji
(daughter), & all family members
Anthyesthi Kriya
though the Transport Departmenthad never shown signs of renegingon its commitment, officials at theNFR had often threatened to closedown the counter. The matter ap-pears resolved now with the De-partment paying NFR Rs. 85 lakhsin two instalments. The balance ofRs. 1.25 crores shown as outstand-ing will reportedly get adjusted withthe dues accruing to the Depart-ment for handling the NFR accountin Sikkim.
A major scam was unearthed lastyear when NFR complained of hugedues still pending in 2002. The moneycollected from passengers at the com-puterized booking terminal amount-ing to Rs. 1.25 crores had neverreached the NFR office in Guwahati.
Two of the staff running thecounter was charged with embezzle-ment. Subsequently, Meghraj Chettri,DGM Railway, and N. Dahal, Super-intendent, of the Transport Depart-ment, were chargesheeted and ar-rested. They are now out on bail.
A part payment of Rs. 55 lakhswas made to NFR on March 15,earlier this year, the last date setby NFR for payment. Last week,the remaining amount of Rs. 25lakhs were paid clearing all dues.
With the dues paid, the NFR islikely to renew its agreement withthe Department on continuing withthe counter in Gangtok. A verbalcommitment to this effect weremade by the NFR General Man-ager, Vipin Nanda, it is learnt.
two feats within two weeks hadeven described Ganju Lamas VCas the “most richly deserved in theentire far eastern theatre of war.”
Few would have deserved a “na-tional memorial” in London morethan Ganju Lama and his clique.
contd from pg 10
GANJU LAMA
Deptt. pays up, NFR agreesto keep counter open
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The funeral of our beloved mother Late Nazung Dorjee, w/o LateS. G. Dorjee (Pedong Kazi) was held at Pedong on 21st May 2003and we would like to express our sincere gratitude to one and allwho came in large numbers to attend the funeral and shared oursorrow at the time of our bereavement. We also regret our inabilityto thank them individually.The Chankho (14th Day Ghewa) will be performed at the ancestralhouse at Kazi Kothi, Sakyong, Pedong on Friday 30 May 2003.Hence, all are requested to kindly join us in offering prayers in thememory of the departed soul.Rinchen, Samten & Tshering Dorjee (sons), Hishey Ongmu, Anila, TsheringDoma & Tshering Pem (daughters), Daugher in Laws, Son In Laws & host ofgrandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons & great granddaughters.
Chankho; 14th Day Ghewa
NO PLACE TOO REMOTEFOR DRUG AWARENESS
SOMBARIA: A one-day AntiDrugs Awareness Camp was heldat Sombaria Senior SecondarySchool on May 20, 2003.
Organized by the United So-cial Awareness Committee, thecamp was well attended. PJ Prad-han, counsellor and resource per-son, was invited to deliver a de-tailed presentation on drug-relatedissues. He was accompanied bySnehlata Rai and Marthamit Lep-cha, both 3rd year students at Sik-kim Government College.
Pradhan developed a radioplay which had students fromSombaria Sr. Sec. School narrat-ing the progression of drug abuseas a disease within a family. Pre-senting a paper on the occasion,Pradhan emphasized on the needto look at addiction as a disease.
“Addiction is not just a habit. Itis a progressive disease and needsto be treated as a medical problem.People should not place value judge-ment on it,” he told the gathering.
Admitting that drugs was still
a NOW REPORT
not a major problem in the area,Santosh Pradhan, IC, Sombariaelaborated on the stringent provi-sion of the Narcotic Drugs and Psy-chotropic Substance Act. PK Rai,Master of Ceremonies said, “In-stead of ignoring the problem andopting for treatment later, it is bet-ter to devise preventive measures.”
Concluding the camp, RubenRai, Principal, English ModelSchool stressed on the need for ajoint effort to combat this problem.
This is the first time that sucha camp was held at Sombaria. Al-though local residents were notkeen to acknowledge that the prob-lem existed there, the fact that thecamp was organised shows theconcern among the authorities andhealth workers. The committeealso visited remote areas to moti-vate drug users to come forwardfor treatment.
“Such programmes should notbe just held once a year. Drugawareness should now be a part ofschool curriculum. We can’t keeppretending that the problem is notthere and will just go away,” saysPradhan.
12; NOW! May 28-03 June, 2003
Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Choice International, Daragaon. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Now! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: [email protected]
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Well known Nepali au-thor and SahityaAkademi Purashkar
winner, Sanu Lama has added onemore feather to his cap.
His books “Payu Phule Ko Din”and “Mrigyatrishna” are now beingfilmed as a Hindi series forDoordarshan. This is the first time thata local writer’s work is going to beshowcased on the national network.
“I’m very happy with the film-ing. It is a matter of pride for the stateand will encourage other writers too,”said Mr. Lama, speaking to NOW!The series is funded under a specialallocation made by the central gov-ernment to promote the culture andlifestyle of the Northeastern states.
The shooting for the episodesstarted on April 26 and will con-tinue for the next two months.Locations are as varied as Nam-chi Blind School, Temi Tarku,Rumtek, Ranka and areas sur-rounding the capital.
“I was very keen to shoot onlocation here to give an authenticfeel to the serial. I did not recourseto the easy option of shooting atsome hill -station near Delhi. Thatwould not have done justice toSanu Lama’s books,” reveals thedirector, Ramchandra Sahu.
For all the attempts atauthencity, the one thing that theshoot lacks is the presence of lo-
cal actors. Apart from ChunnilalGhimeray, who has already es-sayed the roles of a doctor andengineer in the two serials, thereare no local artistes in the series.
“All the artistes have beenbrought from Delhi. We are yet tofind any local actors. The problemis basically about correct Hindi dic-tion. We are dubbing sound on lo-cation and for this we need actorswho can speak the language cor-rectly and well,” says Ghimeray,who is also the local coordinatorand resource-person on the serial.
The books have been trans-lated from Nepali to Hindi by re-search students from JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi.
Have they managed to capturethe essence of the book?
“Yes, the translation is quitegood. It has been done by learnedNepali students and I am happywith it,” says Mr. Lama. “Al-though I hope someday they candub this in Nepali too,” he adds.
Ask the director why he chosethese books and he says, “I waslooking for the works of a SahityaAkademi Purashkar winner. ThusI came across these books. Read-ing them I found that although theyare based on local themes and en-vironment, the issues they touched,things like urban migration etc. hada universal appeal and viewers eve-rywhere could relate to them.”
So how has their experience ofshooting in Sikkim been? “We just
loved filming here. Leave aside thebeauty of the place, the people hereare so warm and friendly. We hopeto keep coming back,” repliesRinchen Doma, the producer, whohas an affinity to the hills, comingas she does from Arunachal Pradesh.
The film crew are still on thelookout for local artistes to playsome of the roles. Those interestedcan contact Chunnilal Ghimerayat 9832054984.
![Saturday, 08 July, 2006 Vol. 5 No. 145 Gangtok Rs. 3 NOW!himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/now/pdf/NOW_2006… · SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY U/C YOURS COMPUTER [2794],](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/5ed0bfad140f632d825e429d/saturday-08-july-2006-vol-5-no-145-gangtok-rs-3-now-sikkim-manipal-university.jpg)
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