Editorial:-
A Darjeeling-based political outfit was recently in Sikkim to announce the name of its Lok Sabha candidate from Darjeeling. The group was in Sikkim because it is lobbying for a Darj-Sikkim merger and seeks to build support here. People in the Darjeeling Hills are still grappling with identity issues and their statehood demand and it is unlikely that too many there take such a merger proposal too seriously because it complicates their more passionate extant demands. In Sikkim, reactions to a merger proposal veer on extremes – either not taken seriously at all, or dismissed with vehemence. It can be safely vouched that even those who will discuss the issue here without throwing a fit will consider the option only at an academic interest level. There are too many things that militate against the proposal and the demand will not find many backers in Sikkim. The demand, however, continues to be raised off and on and some comments need to shared on it as well from time to time.
Darjeeling, although just a district/ territorial administration, packs in many more people than the state of Sikkim. Its people are also seen as politically smarter [even though the continued sway of dictatorial regimes would have one believe otherwise]. Since democracy is all about numbers, Sikkim knows that it will be swamped if a merger is ever formalised. The Darjeeling Hills also subscribe to a more aggressive brand of politics, and Sikkim’s penchant for vehicle-burning and stone-throwing political clashes pale in comparison to the violence which Darj politics can visit its players. When it comes to politics then, Darjeeling with its numbers, muscle and reputation can prove too overpowering for a Sikkim still trying to find its voice in the Indian mainstream. Darjeeling Hills were a part of Sikkim at one time long ago, but history has carved separate identities for the two in the nearly two centuries that have lapsed since it was severed from Sikkim. Darjeeling, for instance, is much older as a hill station than Gangtok is as the capital of Sikkim. The people on either side of Rangpo have evolved their own ethos and are not in sync with each other. In fact, there is also a strong cynicism in how the two people regard each other and while they might come together for reality show voting and even emotional support for political demands, a strong sense of mutual distrust also exists. This skepticism that the two people harbour about each other also underlines why a Sikkim-Darjeeling merger is ill-advised any time soon.
The two regions might have been a composite unit at one time, the people, however, were never so because the neighbouring Hills were populated after Darjeeling was carved away from Sikkim. This is not a land where people were partitioned away along with territories; in this case, the boundaries were carved and the people came in later. The emotional strands required for ‘reunification’ do not exist and only historical context is not enough to push through a merger. All this, of course, applies for the now; what the later future holds, no one can say…
A Darjeeling-based political outfit was recently in Sikkim to announce the name of its Lok Sabha candidate from Darjeeling. The group was in Sikkim because it is lobbying for a Darj-Sikkim merger and seeks to build support here. People in the Darjeeling Hills are still grappling with identity issues and their statehood demand and it is unlikely that too many there take such a merger proposal too seriously because it complicates their more passionate extant demands. In Sikkim, reactions to a merger proposal veer on extremes – either not taken seriously at all, or dismissed with vehemence. It can be safely vouched that even those who will discuss the issue here without throwing a fit will consider the option only at an academic interest level. There are too many things that militate against the proposal and the demand will not find many backers in Sikkim. The demand, however, continues to be raised off and on and some comments need to shared on it as well from time to time.
Darjeeling, although just a district/ territorial administration, packs in many more people than the state of Sikkim. Its people are also seen as politically smarter [even though the continued sway of dictatorial regimes would have one believe otherwise]. Since democracy is all about numbers, Sikkim knows that it will be swamped if a merger is ever formalised. The Darjeeling Hills also subscribe to a more aggressive brand of politics, and Sikkim’s penchant for vehicle-burning and stone-throwing political clashes pale in comparison to the violence which Darj politics can visit its players. When it comes to politics then, Darjeeling with its numbers, muscle and reputation can prove too overpowering for a Sikkim still trying to find its voice in the Indian mainstream. Darjeeling Hills were a part of Sikkim at one time long ago, but history has carved separate identities for the two in the nearly two centuries that have lapsed since it was severed from Sikkim. Darjeeling, for instance, is much older as a hill station than Gangtok is as the capital of Sikkim. The people on either side of Rangpo have evolved their own ethos and are not in sync with each other. In fact, there is also a strong cynicism in how the two people regard each other and while they might come together for reality show voting and even emotional support for political demands, a strong sense of mutual distrust also exists. This skepticism that the two people harbour about each other also underlines why a Sikkim-Darjeeling merger is ill-advised any time soon.
The two regions might have been a composite unit at one time, the people, however, were never so because the neighbouring Hills were populated after Darjeeling was carved away from Sikkim. This is not a land where people were partitioned away along with territories; in this case, the boundaries were carved and the people came in later. The emotional strands required for ‘reunification’ do not exist and only historical context is not enough to push through a merger. All this, of course, applies for the now; what the later future holds, no one can say…
Excellent comment considering all the relevant facets. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure wether "Its people are also seen as politically smarter [even though the continued sway of dictatorial regimes would have one believe otherwise]" refers to Darjeeling or to Sikkim, but I suppose this is an intentional ambiguity. :)