Sikkim Politicians and the Art of Fearmongering – Much Ado About Nothing

Sikkim Politicians and the Art of Fearmongering – Much Ado About Nothing by Upendra highlights how a section of politicians in Sikkim have always used “Darjeeling-Sikkim” merger issues to rake up political capital.

During the Sikkim Legislative Assembly elections of 2014, the then Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had used “Sikkim lai Gorkhaland banauncha” narrative to scare people of Sikkim to vote against SKM. That was the first time I had realized how politicians in Sikkim use “Darjeeling merger” as a tool to fear-monger people into voting for them. In almost every election after that, this narrative is raked up in Sikkim by one group of politicians or another, to serve their nefarious political purposes.

The recent storm in the tea cup that has engulfed Sikkim and social-media stem from a position paper shared by Dr. Mahendra P Lama, who also happens to be the Chief Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sikkim. The position paper lists out four potential forms of Permanent Political Solution for Darjeeling region, among which the fourth reads “minimum possible solution – national interest project – wherein North Bengal as a State and/or with contiguous areas of neighbouring states could be legislated by the Govt of India” (sic).

This has been interpreted by a section of Sikkimese politicians to translate that Dr. Lama is pushing for a Darjeeling-Sikkim merger. Their target is not Dr. Lama or what he wrote, but Chief Minister PS Golay. In politics as in love and war, all is fair.

In targeting Dr. Lama and running this “Darjeeling-Sikkim merger” narrative, politicians in Sikkim, particularly those associated with Citizen Action Party and BJP are seeking to score some political brownie points. That’s not the issue, the issue is being outright offensive and losing all sense of decency and decorum.

We are not sure which political party these morons support, but some individuals have been downright abusive. They have gone past disagreement and into vile personal attack.

I have no love for Dr. Lama, but I take offense to the way he is being treated by a section of politicians in Sikkim and their media. If they think Dr. Lama’s proposal is wrong, they can answer it with facts, or with a position of their own, instead of resorting to abuses. Whichever party these individuals belong to, they have shown poor manners and poor judgment. A political party that wants to be taken seriously should not need this kind of support.

The “merger” claim also deserves a plain reply. What I find hilarious is that some in Sikkim suffer from this “Central Character Syndrome” and have taken “with contiguous areas of neighbouring states” to mean Sikkim. That’s absolutely not the case. As far as I know, securing the Chicken’s Neck by incorporating Kishanganj district of Bihar into a possible North Bengal state has been an idea national security experts have proposed many times. We don’t see people in Bihar protesting, nor people in Assam with which also West Bengal shares a border. Why is it that every time, a solution to Darjeeling is proposed, a certain section of politicians in Sikkim feels insecure? it’s because this narrative serves their political purpose and nothing else.

What’s funnier still, a former MLA from Kurseong, who got less votes than NOTA during the MP elections has also waded into the murky waters, blaming Dr. Lama while targeting CM Golay. He is like that typical, “बेगानी शादी में अब्दुल्ला दीवाना”, no use or purpose, create controversy and seek relevance.

If the Citizen Action Party and BJP want to question Chief Minister Golay, they have every right to do so. It has the Assembly, the press and the public. They can criticise his policies, his record and his decisions. They do not need to invent a “merger” story and drag Dr. Lama into it to do that.

Politics can be sharp without being crude.