It was in 1973 that G.B.S. Sidhu, a young official with the newly set-up Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), took charge of the field office in Gangtok in 1973. With an insider's view of the events that led to the Chogyal's ouster, he presents a first-hand account of the fledgling democracy movement and the struggle for reforms led by Kazi Lhendup Dorji in a society that was struggling to come to terms with the modern world.
In his fast-paced, clear-sighted narrative, Sidhu tracks the reasons behind New Delhi's shift from a long-standing pro-Chogyal stand to a pro-democracy position and maps the political alignments on the ground in Sikkim. He outlines the interplay of personalities-Indira Gandhi, the Chogyal, the Kazi, and the Indian officials and intelligence agencies involved-to reveal the chain of events that led to the merger of the Himalayan kingdom with India.
I was in August 1973, a day before I left for Gangtok to take charge as the Officer on Special Duty (Police)-OSD (P)-that I called on the legendary Rameshwarnath Kao (also called R.N. Kao), the then head of India's external intelligence agency, i.e. the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), which he had founded just five years ago. My visit to his South Block office was short and brief. Kao asked me if P.N. Banerjee, then joint director, Calcutta (now Kolkata), and Ajit Singh Sayali, my predecessor in Gangtok, had briefed me adequately about the requirements of the job. I replied in the affirmative. He then told me that I had been hand-picked in consultation with Banerjee for a very important operation and that he was confident I would be able to live up to his expectations. I was also told that though I would be the man taking decisions to handle unforeseen developments, Banerjee and he would always be there to help me in every way required. Thanking Kao for the confidence he reposed in me, I promised to do everything possible within my means to achieve the desired results.
After my briefings in Calcutta and Gangtok, I had realized the historical importance of the job assigned to me. Meeting Kao convinced me further that in Sikkim I would witness the unfolding of an important chapter in India's history. This prompted me to start maintaining a diary in which I recorded notes about important developments, events and interactions as they took place during that period. I felt that these notes would be useful reference as and when I decided to write about the merger of Sikkim with India. Despite Kao's suggestion to me in 1988 to write precisely such a book elaborating the R&AW's role in the merger, I could not undertake this project for a number of reasons both official and personal. From May 2011, when my wife's leiomyosarcoma was detected, my time and energy were entirely devoted to her treatment. After the initial positive response, the cancer resurfaced. She faced the ailment boldly and there was no regret or pain on her face till the end, which came in January 2017.
The merger of Sikkim with India in May 1975 was a historic event in more than one way. Firstly, is undid the wrong done by India to the people of Sikkim by denying them the right to accede to, and finally merge with, the Union of India through the signing of the Instrument of Accession, as was the case with the rest of the 565 Indian princely states, which like Sikkim, were also members of the Chamber of Princes and the Constituent Assembly of India, before the country attained independence on 15 August 1947.
Secondly, to protect its strategic interests in this vulnerable and heavily defended sector along the Sino-Indian border, India no longer had to depend upon the whims and fancies, and the growing unpredictability, of the Chogyal who had long cherished. the ambition to secure an independent status for Sikkim like that of neighbouring Bhutan. Imagine the implications of a dissatisfied, sulking or even a revolting Chogyal in the background of a Doklam-like face-off between China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian army, with the Communist Party of China's People's Daily publication, Global Times, threatening to incite revolt in Sikkim against India.
Thirdly, through it, India's international borders achieved a finality, which will continue to remain the same unless minor adjustments, if any, are made based on mutual agreements with some of our neighbouring countries with whom we have festering territorial disputes. Though seven more states have been added to the list of member states comprising the Republic of India since 1975 (taking the total from twenty-two to twenty-nine), these were carved out through internal realignments of existing boundaries.
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