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India and the UAE on Wednesday inked 14 agreements in various areas including in defence, maritime transport, comprehensive strategic partnership, shipping, agriculture and allied sector, trade, oil storage and management, energy efficiency, road transport and highways and prevention and combating human trafficking.
The agreements were signed after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

In his press statement, Prime Minister Modi invited UAE to become India’s partner in infrastructure projects. He said that India is encouraging and facilitating the trade between the two sides and described as “crucial” the energy partnership between India and UAE. He said that India and UAE share similar concerns over terrorism and radicalization. He said the two countries feel that their growing engagement in countering violence and extremism is necessary for securing the societies.

Speaking about economic ties, the Prime Minister said India regards UAE as an important partner in its growth story. He said that closer ties between India and the UAE are of importance, not just for both countries, but for the entire neighbourhood. A special tete-a-tete before delegation level talks was held between the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister earlier in the day. The Crown Prince was accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan in the morning and in the night President Pranab Mukherjee hosted a banquet in his honour. 

The visiting dignitary, who is the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, arrived in New Delhi on January 24 on a three-day visit. He will witness Republic Day Parade on Thursday at Raj Path as a chief guest. This is the second visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India since February last year.

The two countries are among each other’s top trading partners with a well-balanced bilateral trade of about 50 billion dollars in 2015-16. UAE is among the top investors in India in terms of foreign direct investments.”

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President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday that the government’s decision of going for demonetisation, while immobilising black money and fighting corruption, may have led to temporary slowdown of economic activity but it will improve the transparency of the economy. As more and more transactions become cashless, the decision of demonetisation will improve transparency, he said. Addressing the nation on the eve of 68th Republic Day, the President said that Indian economy has been performing well despite the challenging global economic conditions.Mr Mukherjee said, the country is on the path of fiscal consolidation and the inflation level is within comfort zone. He said despite a population of 1.3 billion, the per capita income has shown a ten-fold increase and poverty ratio has declined by two- thirds. The President highlighted that, India is the fastest growing amongst the major economies of the world.Mr Mukherjee said, many flagship initiatives of the government have been designed to promote the well- being of the society. Stressing on the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission which aims at a Clean India by October 2, 2019 to coincide with the 150th Birth anniversary of Gandhiji, the President said increased spending on programmes like MGNREGA is enhancing employment generation to rejuvenate the rural economy.Pointing out that initiatives like Start up India and Atal Innovation Mission are fostering innovation and new age entrepreneurship, he highlighted that National Skill Development Mission is working on skilling 300 million youth by 2022. Mr Mukherjee said the time is ripe for a constructive debate on electoral reforms and a return to the practice of the early decades after independence of holding Lok Sabha and state assemblies simultaneously. He said it is for the Election Commission to take this exercise forward in consultation with political parties.Mr Mukherjee said, it is his firm conviction that India’s pluralism and her social, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity are the greatest strength of the country. He said, India’s tradition has always celebrated the argumentative Indian and not the intolerant. He said that a healthy democracy calls for conformity to the values of tolerance, patience and respect for others.The President urged the people to work harder to provide food security to people and make the agriculture sector resilient to the vagaries of nature.Mr Mukherjee said, there is a need to work harder to keep at bay the dark forces of terrorism. He said, these forces have to be dealt with firmly and decisively. The President said economy is yet to grow at over 10 per cent for an extended period of time to make a significant dent on poverty.He also stressed on working hard to provide safety and security of women and children and ensuring the well- being of soldiers and security personnel.”

Large funding of political parties show remains from unknown sources

 T R Ramachandran 08 Apr 2017

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Sources of political parties from where they collect funds remain largely unknown, an analysis of their Income Tax returns and statements filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) shows. The analysis was carried out by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). It said that at present, political parties are not required to reveal the name of individuals or organizations giving less than Rs. 20,000. As a result, over two-thirds of the funds cannot be traced and are from ‘unknown’ sources, ADR’s analysis said. 

This becomes very relevant in the light of recent events when demonetization was announced so as to weed out black money from the society. While the National Political Parties were brought under the RTI Act by the CIC ruling in June 2013, they have still not complied with the decision. Full transparency is, unfortunately, not possible under the current laws, and it is only the RTI that can keep citizens informed, it said. 

The contribution statements, submitted by the political parties declaring names and other details of donors who contribute above Rs 20,000, are the only known sources of income of political parties. The unknown sources are income declared in the IT returns but without giving source of income for donations below Rs. 20,000. Such unknown sources include ‘sale of coupons’, ‘Aajiwan Sahayog Nidhi’, ‘relief fund’, ‘miscellaneous income’, ‘voluntary contributions’, ‘contribution from meetings/ morchas’ etc. The details of donors of such voluntary contributions are not available in the public domain. 

Other known sources of income include sale of moveable & immoveable assets, old newspapers, membership fees, delegate fee, bank interest, sale of publications and levy whose details would be available in the books of accounts maintained by political parties. 

Six National parties (INC, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPM) and 51 Regional recognised were considered for this analysis, including AITC which was declared a National Party only in September, 2016. Currently there are 48 Regional recognised parties: HJC-BL and MSCP merged with INC during FY 2014-15 and MPP was de-recognised in 2013. 

Total income of National and Regional political parties between  2004-05 and 2014-15: Rs 11,367.34 crore. Total income of political parties from known donors (details of donors as available from contribution report submitted by parties to Election Commission): Rs 1,835.63 cr, which is 16% of the total income of the parties. Total income of political parties from other known sources (e.g., sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy etc.): Rs 1,698.73 crore, or 15% of total income. Total income of political parties from unknown sources (income specified in the IT Returns whose sources are unknown): Rs 7,832.98 crore, which is 69% of the total income of the parties.”

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India celebrated its 68th Republic Day with an impressive parade at Rajpath displaying its military might and cultural diversity. President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers, dignitaries and hundreds others watched the parade. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the chief guest this year.

It was a contingent from the United Arab Emirates which led the Republic Day parade this year as it marched down Rajpath. In 2016, a continent from France had participated in the parade. This was the first time that a foreign contingent had participated in the parade ever since it started in 1950 to mark the adoption of the Constitution on January 26 that year.

The Republic Day Parade ceremony commenced at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where Prime Minister led the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath. An eternal flame burns at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate the indomitable courage of Indian Armed Forces personnel who have laid down their lives for the country. A 149-member Presidential Guard from UAE soldiers impressed thousands of spectators who had gathered to witness the spectacular parade. The continent from UAE was led by a band consisting of 35 musicians, presented a ceremonial salute to President Mukherjee.

A contingent of the National Security Guard (NSG), popularly known as the Black Cat Commandos, also participated in the parade for the first time. The parade was commanded by Lt General Manoj Mukund Naravane, General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area. The army showcased its Tank T-90 and Infantry Combat Vehicle and Bramhos Missile, one of its treasured armour, its Weapon Locating Radar Swathi, Transportable Satellite Terminal and Akash Weapon System.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) tableau rolled down the Rajpath with the theme “”Air Dominance Through Network Centric Operations””. The tableau displayed the scaled down models of Su-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, AWACS, UAV, Apache and Communication Satellite.

The Indian Navy’s “”Professional Force-Anchoring Stability, Security and National Prosperity”” tableau showcased the lethal marine commandos proceeding for action, the indigenously built Kolkata Class Destroyer and the Kalvari Class next generation attack submarines. It also displayed a model of the P-8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Tableaux from 17 states and Union Territories, six Central Ministries and Departments presented the varied historical, art and cultural heritage of the country. A tableau on GST was the highlight of the parade as was a tableau on Khadi India. The heroic motor bike stunts of ‘Dare Devils’- the motorcycle display team of Corps of Military Police – was an instant hit with the parade viewers who braved bad weather and rains.

The grand finale of the parade was a spectacular fly-past by the IAF’s Mi-35 helicopters, indigenous combat light aircraft Tejas, Jaguars and Sukhois. Making a departure, Prime Minister broke his security cordon and mingled with the spectators after the ceremony was over.”

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Having won only 28 seats in the 2012 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has managed a good deal crossing the three figure mark by ensuring 105 seats for its nominees in the most populous and crucial state of the country. 

The ruling Samajwadi party headed by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest the remaining 298 seats in the 403-member Vidhan Sabha. With Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on a 3,500 Km ‘Kisan yatra’ in UP, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra played a vital role in hammering out the seat adjustment with the Samajwadi party. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also reached out to Akhilesh Singh ensuring her party got the best possible deal in the prevailing circumstances. This is the first time that the SP and Congress are having a truck. Priyanka’s role in working out the arrangement has been vital. She is expected to confine her campaigning to her mother’s constituency of Rae Bareli and brother Rahul Gandhi’s Amethi.

The Congress is contesting all the ten assembly segments in these two constituencies. The bitter struggle in the first political family of UP, Samajwadi party patriarch and the wrestler-turned-politician Mulayam Singh Yadav has lost the battle for the ‘cycle ‘ symbol. His marginalisation is all too apparent. The autonomous Election Commission of India granting the ‘Cycle’ symbol to youthful chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s faction of the SP has been a severe blow to Mulayam Singh or Netaji as he is widely known. The ECI’s decision was on account of the large majority of legislators and party loyalists vociferously endorsing Akhilesh Yadav’s leadership had won the day.

The mantle of leadership in the SP founded by Netaji 25 years back passed on to Akhilesh Yadav on January second. This facilitated the smooth installation of the chief minister as the national President of the regional party. Since then he has gone from strength to strength. Things have since moved fast in forming a la 2015 Bihar style “”mahagatbandhan”” for keeping the Lotus party at bay in UP. The JD (U) and RJD are extending support. This has the portends of resurrecting the Congress to some extent which has been in political wilderness in the state for the last 27 years. It managed only 28 seats in the 2012 assembly elections.  

The Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh appears to have gone off the radar of both the SP and the Congress. The SP made it clear it is not interested in a tie up with Ajit Singh’s RLD. The Congress has also not evinced interest.

The importance of Western UP cannot be undermined as it accounts for 67 seats in the state assembly. It is the bastion of the Jats. Significantly no less than 26 Muslim candidates won from Western UP in 2012. Simultaneously, Akhilesh Yadav does not want to alienate the dwindling Mulayam Singh loyalists. Worried by the SP-Congress truck, the BJP is once again indulging in its familiar game of communal polarisation. 

In a three cornered contest the BJP might well be pushed to the wall with the minority Muslim vote ranged against it. It is in this context that the Lotus party is seeking to project itself as a saviour of the other backward classes in a desperate bid to regain power in UP after 14 years. 

Notwithstanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diktat of steering clear of giving tickets to the relatives of party leaders, the party has just done that. The saffron brigade appears to have alienated its supporters of small traders as well as the Brahmins. In the general elections in 2014 the BJP secured a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha for the first time since it was formed in 1980. 

It won a staggering 71 seats in the Lok Sabha out of the 80 from UP finishing with a tally of 73 as its allies in the NDA baggeg two. It is unlikely that the BJP will be able to replicate that humongous performance in the ensuing February-March elections.

The BJP’s first list of candidates there is not a single Muslim candidate and is banking on communal polarisation in riot affected western UP. Tickets have been distributed to leaders involved in communal incidents including sitting MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, both of whom are accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The wife of the BJP/RSS leader accused in last September’s Bijnor incident has also been fielded. This has sent a wrong signal to the minorities all over the country. The BJP has resorted to playing the communal card amid reports of the Jat community being disillusioned with it. 

With reservation for Jats in a limbo, they might desert the BJP this time and consolidate their votes along with the minority community in favour of the SP-Congress alliance. The outcome in UP will set the stage for the saffron brigade in the general elections two years later in 2019.  

As the main campaigner for the BJP, PM Modi’s sudden decision of demonetisation created problems galore because of poor planning coupled with the Centre’s failure to anticipate the problems which got compounded with the RBI issuing new directives on a daily basis for nearly a month. The Lotus party is handicapped as it has not announced a chief ministerial face in the critical cow belt. One of their pledges is building a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. 

The Modi government urgently needs to increase its strength in the Rajya Sabha where it is handicapped being in a minority. This has compelled the BJP led NDA at the centre to resort to Ordinances which has been decried by constitutional experts.Important legislation pertaining to economic reforms has invariably hit a wall and fallen by the wayside in the Rajya Sabha. With BJP strategists focussing on non-Yadav OBCs, the party is wooing the most backward castes which can alienate the Brahmins as they don’t vote in sync with the OBCs. 

On the other hand the Samajwadi party government has not crowned itself with glory during its rule in Lucknow over the last five years. There were too many centres of authority. Despite that Akhilesh Yadav has focussed on development which is critical for UP and appears to have caught the imagination of the youth. In all this Mayawati of the BSP who fancied her chances of becoming the chief minister for a record fifth time in UP appears to have lost the plot because of the SP-Congress alliance. Her gambit of splitting the 20 per cent Muslim votes in the state might not fructify.

Akhilesh Yadav’s test lies in leading the party to victory because of the BJP’s negative campaign against him. That is not his only challenge in the seven-phase assembly elections in UP but overcoming the the problems arising once the dust at the hustings settles down.   

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.)”

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In an extraordinary gesture of warmth and friendship, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lit up the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai and several other important buildings in Abu Dhabi in Indian flag colours. Three times on Wednesday evening, the musical fountains adjacent to the world’s tallest building leapt to the strains of Jai Ho and Vande Mataram as a mile high electronic tricolour draped the Burj Khalifa, official spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry said. Coming on the eve of India’s Republic Day and coinciding with the State visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the combination of lights and music drew rapturous applause from crowds of Indian, Emiratis and other visitors. The same inspiring sequence will be repeated on Thursday as well.”

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A strong movement demanding quality of education is being seeded in government schools in several villages across rural Karnataka, Southern India. Jawalgere, Raichur District is one such village. It lies at a distance of around 45 km from Raichur town in Northern Karnataka, and is inhabited by communities engaged primarily in farming. Literacy levels amongst them are low and several families have children who are first-generation learners.
On a warm afternoon, the Government Higher Primary School (GHPS) in Jawalgere is abuzz with activity despite it being a Saturday when the school gets over early. There are large cauldrons of food cooking in the school kitchen. A dais has been readied and speakers, mike-sets, festoons and other arrangements are visible. Gram Panchayat members are bustling around supervising arrangements for a math contest being organized with a view to assess levels of performance among children studying from levels III to VI.Contestants have been drawn from six schools of five villages of the panchayat. Around 250 children sit in orderly lines under a colourfulshamiana pitched on the sprawling ground of theschoolwaiting for the contest to begin.
The contest has been initiated with assistance from Akshara Foundation, which has helped to set the question papers and ensured processes for evaluation and assessments of the results by volunteers (educated youth) from the village.The questions for the contest are basic, e.g. a child from Grade VI is asked questions that a child of Grade V is supposed to know answers to. This is done with an intention to assess how well a child has learnt basic math concepts. Additionally, there is a consolidation of the performance of each school, which shows starkly that learning levels are distressingly low among children from most schools – a particularly alarming result is that of a boy from Grade VI who has scored 0/20. Others are only marginally better.As a follow-up to the contest, each gram panchayat gets a report card which clearly points to areas for improvement so as to sustain the movement.
By the end of the day, five prizes out of nine have been won by children from one school, while the other four have been won by children across four schools. The winners will get small cash prizes donated by the community, and a medal. This motivates them to keep performing well. A gram panchayat member, while handing over the prizes demands answers from the teachers, “We send our children to school to learn and trust that the teachers are doing their jobs. These results show that there are some problems. We cannot accept this situation and need to discuss solutions because if our children don’t study well they have no future.” His voice is but one of many from across the districts where the math contests have been held.
The contest however, is not just a one-off event.It is a part of Akshara’s overall programme – GanithaKalikaAndolana (GKA) , designed to enhance math skills in the children, which is gaining momentum in four districts of Karnataka. The contest at Jawalgere is one of many that have already been conducted successfully. It is in fact the first step in a process initiated by the Gram Panchayat to ensure that children don’t merely go to school, but also learn and assimilate what they have learnt. Their demand is for quality of education – a first in many ways. Across the four districts, over 550 math contests have already been conducted by gram panchayats, and the results are being followed up by corrective action, where required. A look at how GKA works…
GKA – a birds-eye view
Behind GKA is AksharaGanitha, a programmedesigned by Akshara Foundation to improve numeracy skills and facilitate classroom teaching of math in government primary schools. The Government of Karnataka has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Akshara Foundation to implement GKA in all schools in the six districts of the Hyderabad Karnataka Region over twoyears (2015-2017). This includes an intervention that imparts special math learning techniques and skills through the use of specially designed aids and a learning kit. Training is given to teachers on the use of the math kits and the principles on which they are designed.They are also provided with guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of the kit. A research team from AksharaFoundation carries out assessments regularly to understand the impact of the programme, thus completing the loop of comprehensive learning, assessment and assimilation.
GKA is housed within AksharaGanitha and seeks to involve communities in the process of learning, by motivating them to demand quality education for their children. It is a coming together of several stakeholders – gram panchayats, school staff, School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMC), parents, local elected representatives, village elders and other interested stakeholders. The involvement of a large range of stakeholders ensures that there is strong ownership for children’s education. Ashok Kamath, Chairman, Akshara Foundation says, “For every development practitioner seeking to bring change, it is a challenge to shift priorities from supply to demand. The GP contests have done just that. They have demonstrated that the cause of children resonate with communities and that they can and do demand the best for them. This movement is gaining momentum and the demand for quality in education is only bound to grow hereon.”
The GP-owned math contest is an example, which involved planning at several levels, all of which was undertaken by the community itself. Beginning with the gram panchayat members agreeing to bear the costs involved, right up to selecting the venue and planning the course of the contest, the process was owned by the communities of the five villages, and led by the Jawalgere Panchayat.
“While Akshara Foundation works closely with teachers and cluster resource persons (CRPs) to ensure teachers use the math kits to ensure that children learn math concepts thoroughly, that by itself is not enough,” says Shankar Narayan, Head, Operations & Community Initiatives,Akshara Foundation. “It is important for parents and the larger community to get involved in sustaining demand for quality education, an element that has been missing from our education system for long. We at Akshara are trying to enable this process through GKA.”
There is evidence that it is working. “The first GP contest was held in 2016. It had minimal response and buy-in but as the results became evident, there was a sense of awakening in the community. They realized that their children deserved more, and we began to get requests for GP contests to be held in more villages. Soon it was becoming difficult to keep up with the demand and now, we request that they block dates well in advance for conducting the event. This encourages us to think that quality of education is finally becoming a priority among communities,” says Shankar. What is even more significant is that gram panchayats take an active role to raise funds from the community to conduct the contests, each of which can cost up to Rs 25000/-, including Rs 6000/- which is cumulatively given out as prize money to the nine prize winners (three per grade),thereby demonstrating the strong motivation they have towards bringing change in the education system, as well as to the lives of their children.
GKA has seen spontaneous response from communities. “Being unlettered themselves, they often feel hesitant to hold school authorities accountable. But when they see the results, they feel compelled to do something and demand action. This is a very encouraging trend and we hope that the demand for quality of education becomes stronger,” says Shankar.
By facilitating this movement, Akshara Foundation wants to ‘wake up the village’ thereby giving credence to the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.”

BharathiGhanashyam is a freelance journalist.
Journalist in Residence Scholarship – 2015, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
WHO – STOP TB Award for Excellence in Writing on TB – 2011
EU India – Thomson Foundation Award for Excellence in Writing on HIV – 2006″

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The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled has asked the Supreme Court to consider, in its next hearing on February 14, issues related with the guidelines prescribed by the Home Ministry on the national anthem vis a vis disabled people. The disability group believes that the guidelines, issued in compliance with the Supreme Court order of December 9, 2016 on the national anthem, would lead to unnecessary harassment for persons with disabilities.

In a statement issued here, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled has said that the guidelines specify that those whose lower limbs are affected and are wheelchairs users will position themselves to the “extent of maximum attentiveness and alertness”. While conceding that persons with intellectual disabilities will have difficulty in understanding and comprehending and showing respect to the National Anthem, it prescribes that those with mild intellectual disability can be trained to understand and respect the National Anthem. For those who are not considered as mild, the guidelines say that relaxation may be considered. What would constitute these relaxations however have not been specified.

Apart from the fact that patriotism and nationalism and respect for national anthem and national symbols cannot be imposed and has to be generated by inculcating democratic and secular values, the apprehension is that these provisions can be easily misused to the disadvantage of the disabled. In the case of many disabilities maintaining a steady body posture is a big challenge. Who will determine what constitutes “maximum attentiveness and alertness”, when it comes to a person standing with the support of crutches, or a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy — the other cinema goers, the management or staff of the cinema hall or the police, the statement pointed out.

Even before these guidelines were issued a disabled activist and writer Salil Chaturvedi was thrashed in a cinema hall in Goa last October for not standing up when the National Anthem was being played. Chaturvedi who has a spinal injury is a wheelchair user, the statement said.

Ironically, the guideline itself admits that “unwarranted incidents against persons with intellectual disabilities” may occur, and asks for wide publicity to generate public awareness. Sensitisation on disability issues, needless to say, must first start from government department, police, and judiciary.”

The Indian Navy’s Annual Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) got underway on January 24. The month long exercise will have ships and aircraft of both the Western and Eastern Naval Commands, as also assets from the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard exercising together. The exercise is being conducted off the Western Seaboard. The last edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2015. 
 
TROPEX has grown in scale and complexity over the years and will see participation of major surface combatants and air assets of the Indian Navy including the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, nuclear submarine Chakra, Landing Platform Dock (LPD) Jalashwa, the recently commissioned destroyer Chennai, the P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft operating alongside SU-30 MKI, Jaguars, AWACS, IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft of the Indian Air Force and Infantry units of the Indian Army. The exercise will be conducted in various phases, both in harbour and at sea encompassing the various facets of war-fighting and combat operations. 
 
TROPEX 17 assumes special significance in the backdrop of the current security scenario. The exercise is aimed at testing combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Indian Navy, and the assets of the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard. It will also strengthen inter-operability and joint operations in a complex environment, according to Navy’s spokesperson in New Delhi.

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51pGapM0OVL._SX353_BO1204203200_”” alt=””51pGapM0OVL. SX353 BO1204203200 “” />The book “”Sikkim – Requiem For A Himalayan Kingdom”” is a well researched book by Andrew Duff, a freelance journalist based in London. It provides valuable insight into late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s thinking and her firm resolve and ruthlessness in annexing the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim in 1975. 

Against the backdrop of a Cold War machinations in Asia, the author recounts the last days of this landlocked Kingdom and the inside story of its last King Palden Thondup Namgyal along with his American wife Hope Cooke who together believed they could revive the ancient Kingdom. 

As the then head of Government, Gandhi had used her intelligence services to shatter their dreams surrounding the Palace with troops in capital Gangtok and making Sikkim the 22 state of the Union of India. 

Duff was fascinated by Sikkim thanks to his paternal grandfather having trekked from Darjeeling to Sikkim and found the hills captivating and breathtaking. “”Notes on a ten day circular route into the Sikkim Himalayas tour in October 1922″” that his paternal grandfather had written fascinated the young Scot. He decided to retrace his grandfather’s journey to Sikkim. 

It was in the 1980s Duff journeyed to the beautiful hilltop monastery of Pemayangtse when he was a teenager living in Edinburgh. From there over a period of time he travelled through Nepal into Tibet where he began to comprehend the delicate political and religious connections and tensions between the countries across the Himalayan region. 

But it was Sikkim’s tale that obsessed the author. He learnt that Sikkim’s ties to Tibet and its position alongside the biggest chink in the Himalayan massif had made it geopolitically valuable for centuries. 

The British involvement in Sikkim and Tibet in the early twentieth century had set up many of the Kingdom’s problems. After the British left in 1947, the Himalayan region had been at the centre of a period of international intrigue across Asia, a second front for the Cold War. Sikkim never stood a chance of being independent. 

Duff managed to have first hand, contemporaneous accounts of the years from 1959 to 1975 during which Thondup and Queen Cooke or Gyalmo had tried to reinvigorate the Kingdom of Sikkim. In all this Tibet’s occupation of China since 1950 cannot be overlooked. It was important to understand the motivations of Indira Gandhi, who was Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 to 1984 which remained critical in telling the story of the Kingdom. 

Sikkim is a cautionary tale of what can happen when a small Kingdom tugs at the tailcoats of the Great Powers. Thondup, a shattered man after the annexation of Sikkim, died in 1982 but Cooke moved to New York. In 1835, the British had secured a permanent presence in the region by persuading the Chogyal at that time, Thondup’s great grandfather to sign over a small ridge of Sikkimese land, Darjeeling, nominally as a sanatorium or hill station. 

The initial deal was undoubtedly underhand but by the time the Chogyal and his advisers realised they had been misled, it was too late. They lodged a formal complaint to Calcutta who accepted in 1846 that Darjeeling had been acquired in a very questionable manner but by then the town was already a thriving hub of commercial activity in the hills. 

For the British it was the start of a concerted effort to open up trade through the land route that they had discovered lay alongside Sikkim: the Chumbi Valley. 

Following the annexation of Sikkim the official press organ in Sikkim, with Thondup’s knowledge, put out an angry piece emphasising what they called India’s ‘fascist policy’. On December 14, 1950, five days before the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa, Thondup’s father, Sir Tashi, finally signed a new treaty formalising the arrangement between India and Sikkim. Given the worsening situation in Tibet no one was under any illusion about the strategic rationale behind the terms. 

Sikkim’s status as a protectorate of India was confirmed; Sikkim would enjoy autonomy in regard to its internal affairs while the government of India would remain ‘responsible for the defence and territorial integrity of Sikkim’ with the right to station troops there. The government of Sikkim was to have no dealings with any foreign power. 

It was in 1974 that things began to take shape leading to the annexation of Sikkim the next year in 1975. India’s worry was apparent with China having taken control of Tibet which was Sikkim’s immediate neighbour in the North. This tiny 70 miles by 40 miles territory was definitely being eyed by China which could have been gobbled up by the Dragon given its expansionist designs. 

Listening to the late night broadcast over All India Radio on August 29, 1974, Thondup and his adviser Jigdal Densapa could hardly believe their ears. The report stated that Gandhi intended introducing  an “”Amendment Bill”” to the Indian Constitution in the Lok Sabha aimed at converting Sikkim into an ‘associate state’. 

Just six days prior to this, then External Affairs minister Swaran Singh had written a letter to Thondup that they “”were looking into the legal and constitutional implications””, a draft bill had been prepared and Parliamentary time had been found for it to be discussed. The government was mistaken if it thought that the bill could slip through without any adverse reaction. 

The Hindustan Times newspaper was vehement in its criticism of the government’s actions. In a leading article entitled “”Kanchenjungha, Here We Come”” was accompanied by a cartoon “”The Autumn Collection!”” that depicted Indira Gandhi sashaying in a long Himalayan dress emblazoned with the word “”Sikkim””. The accompanying article was no less harsh and the newspaper’s respected editor B G Verghese, who died recently, was sacked within hours of the newspaper hitting the stands in the morning. The article embarrassed the government no end. It observed “”If it is not outright annexation, it comes close to it. To suggest anything else would be self deception and compound dishonesty with folly…..The worst suspicions about the manner in which the protector has seduced its helpless and inoffensive ward, with some genuine and much sympathetic drama, will not find confirmation. No country or people voluntarily choose self-effacement, and the Indian government is not going to be able to persuade the world that Sikkim’s “”annexation”” to India represents the will of the Sikkimese people. Indeed this issue has never been placed before them.””   

Many Sikkimese felt that India’s “”sense of justice”” had now been casually cast aside. What had started as a movement for democratic change within Sikkim had been hijacked and now threatened the very existence of Sikkim itself. Even as Gandhi assured that Sikkim’s ‘distinct personality”” will be respected, she pointed out that the Act was merely a response to a request from the leader of a democratically elected Assembly. The Indians had done their preparation well. 

Duff’s book is absorbing. A disappointed and dejected Thondup died in 1982. His old friend Nari Rustomji wrote in an obituary “”Sikkim’s existence for the rest of the world was a non-event. His (Thondup’s) principles might have been unrealistic and all wrong but he was not prepared to the very last to compromise with them. He was intoxicated by the passion for his land and his people.””

TR

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)
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