When Sikkim's benign and enlightened King Palden Thondup Namgyal was crowned eight years ago in Gang-tok, he offered this pledge for himself and his queen, former New York Debutante Hope Cooke: "Together may we make Sikkim a paradise on earth." Today, Indian troops patrol his capital and his dreams of paradise look dark.
Sikkim's precarious position on the Tibetan frontier has long worried India, which is responsible for the Himalayan protectorate's foreign relations and defense and keeps a careful eye on domestic affairs as well. The immediate cause for the disturbances, however, is a controversy over Sikkim's bewildering electoral system, which is artfully arranged to keep opposition politicians in a minority in the 24-member legislature. When the ballots were counted after the most recent elections, in late March, the King's Sikkim National Party emerged with eleven seats and the two opposition parties with seven. Yet the opposition parties are backed by most of the Nepalese who make up 75% of Sikkim's population of 200,000. When the King exercised his statutory right to nominate six more legislators, four of these seats−and thus a clear majority−went to his supporters. The thwarted Nepalese erupted in noisy protests. That is not so unusual, but what came next was distinctly out of the ordinary.
Thousands of angry demonstrators stormed into Gangtok to lay siege to the King's palace. They demanded his removal, as well as a written constitution and various administrative reforms. Though Indian officials in Sikkim barred foreign reporters from the country, a few details of the fighting filtered out. In a telephone interview from Gangtok, 20-year-old Crown Prince Tenzing Namgyal made a series of oblique references to "the element outside us that has been causing problems ... we have several times been approached by the political officer to hand over all power to the government of ....," at which point the telephone line briefly went dead. Later in the interview, the King came on the line and predicted that he would be back in full control within 24 or 48 hours. The next day, however, the Indian government, which had some 25,000 troops stationed in Sikkim, took over because of what it called "the complete breakdown of law and order." The demonstrations thereupon stopped.
As Sikkim quieted down, more charges of Indian intrigue were heard. Interviewed in Hong Kong, the King's sister, Princess Pema Tsedeun Yapshi-Pheunkhang, charged that Indian intelligence agents were behind the troubles. "The powers of intelligence must be curbed," she added, warning that India is "making trouble for itself" in taking over full control. Late in the week, however, there were reports from New Delhi quoting the King as saying that he and the Indians had come to a "close and confident" understanding to grant the opposition "most of their political demands." As for how this would work out, the King said that discussions would last several months.
(courtsey: TIME Monday, Apr. 23, 1973 )
Sikkim's precarious position on the Tibetan frontier has long worried India, which is responsible for the Himalayan protectorate's foreign relations and defense and keeps a careful eye on domestic affairs as well. The immediate cause for the disturbances, however, is a controversy over Sikkim's bewildering electoral system, which is artfully arranged to keep opposition politicians in a minority in the 24-member legislature. When the ballots were counted after the most recent elections, in late March, the King's Sikkim National Party emerged with eleven seats and the two opposition parties with seven. Yet the opposition parties are backed by most of the Nepalese who make up 75% of Sikkim's population of 200,000. When the King exercised his statutory right to nominate six more legislators, four of these seats−and thus a clear majority−went to his supporters. The thwarted Nepalese erupted in noisy protests. That is not so unusual, but what came next was distinctly out of the ordinary.
Thousands of angry demonstrators stormed into Gangtok to lay siege to the King's palace. They demanded his removal, as well as a written constitution and various administrative reforms. Though Indian officials in Sikkim barred foreign reporters from the country, a few details of the fighting filtered out. In a telephone interview from Gangtok, 20-year-old Crown Prince Tenzing Namgyal made a series of oblique references to "the element outside us that has been causing problems ... we have several times been approached by the political officer to hand over all power to the government of ....," at which point the telephone line briefly went dead. Later in the interview, the King came on the line and predicted that he would be back in full control within 24 or 48 hours. The next day, however, the Indian government, which had some 25,000 troops stationed in Sikkim, took over because of what it called "the complete breakdown of law and order." The demonstrations thereupon stopped.
As Sikkim quieted down, more charges of Indian intrigue were heard. Interviewed in Hong Kong, the King's sister, Princess Pema Tsedeun Yapshi-Pheunkhang, charged that Indian intelligence agents were behind the troubles. "The powers of intelligence must be curbed," she added, warning that India is "making trouble for itself" in taking over full control. Late in the week, however, there were reports from New Delhi quoting the King as saying that he and the Indians had come to a "close and confident" understanding to grant the opposition "most of their political demands." As for how this would work out, the King said that discussions would last several months.
(courtsey: TIME Monday, Apr. 23, 1973 )
