Sikkim, a wonderland adorned with
beautiful and pristine valley tugged afar in the mountain ranges was at normal heart race when the British left the Indian Soil. She was a confident and dauntless kind ready to sacrifice everything for her subject. Blessed with rich cultural
heritage she prided in her unexploited abundance of their virgin natural
environment. ‘Choegyal’ May all good be victorious or popularly referred as ‘Mewang
Choegyel Chenpo’ the Supreme Dharma King, the 12th ruler of the
Kingdom of Sikkim who has unbroken and untainted heavenly Choegyal lineage was
peacefully ruling the small kingdom when India got its share in the pie of politics.
Chogyal Pelden Thondup Namgyal, was
most unfortunate ruler who faced the turbulent scenario whereby having to set
the reigning sun at midday; the long line of developmental plans got snapped in
between; a peaceful wind of governance became churning storm; a wonderful dream turned out the deadly
nightmare when their freedom slowly got unsheathed at the hand of domineering
India.
Sikkim was grabbed from his
throat and smashed over and over again till no man could stand on its way succumbing
under Indian authority. In tandem with the every single cells of Chogyel being killed from
within by cancer, Sikkim was gradually consumed by the callous politicians.
Chogyel’s hope was doomed by the series of tragedy. He was struck by strings of an unfortunate incident as his wife Hope Cooke left him no sooner did the problems got laid-out at his doorstep, his much invested hope in his son Tenzin was mysteriously killed in the car accident. As his hope and wish being bitten by all those ill-fated episode, his life force was gradually swallowed by cancer at the time when his country was on the brink of downfall at the vast Indians graveyard. He found his solace mostly in wine at the later part of his life.
Chogyel’s hope was doomed by the series of tragedy. He was struck by strings of an unfortunate incident as his wife Hope Cooke left him no sooner did the problems got laid-out at his doorstep, his much invested hope in his son Tenzin was mysteriously killed in the car accident. As his hope and wish being bitten by all those ill-fated episode, his life force was gradually swallowed by cancer at the time when his country was on the brink of downfall at the vast Indians graveyard. He found his solace mostly in wine at the later part of his life.
The twilight saga of Sikkim was
such a painful romance interwoven with Trust vs. Betrayal, dependence vs.
hurtful, peace vs. turmoil, Loyalty vs. Disloyalty, Power vs. dominance. It
overall paints the pathetic, helpless and crippled picture of the kingdom being
preyed upon by its enemy like a lamb of flesh. This book gives us a masterpiece
of a lesson.
Some of the pertinent factors
which paved the way for Indian Dominance are:
·
British India flooded the small valley with
Nepalese origin people which led to the minority of native Sikkimese.
·
Unclear demarcation of boarder with India due
to constant trespass of Britisher beyond Sikkim boarder.
·
The treaty signed with British India giving
authority to look into the foreign related matters was bequeathed to
India when they left Indian soil.
India’s divide and rule policy saw the seed of hatred amongst the different cast, creed, and religion.
India’s divide and rule policy saw the seed of hatred amongst the different cast, creed, and religion.
· Politician’s hungry quest for power has
undermined the national patriotism.
· Small nation being too much dependent on India.
Citing those documents that have
not been seen by any other writer, Sunanda k. Datta – Ray through his firsthand
information gives us the whole package of in-depth hidden stories of Sikkim. He
had alone witnessed all the events surmounting many obstacles and communicated
the essential story through this book. For which he deserves all our respect
and gratitude for making the information available to all.
