Gangtok: Former Indian football captain and Hamro Sikkim Party leader Bhaichung Bhutia has asserted that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is the only solution to protect Sikkim as well as safeguard Article 371F.
Bhaichung was taking part in an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday that was organised by the Sikkim Suraksha Samiti at Gangtok District Administrative Centre.
Reacting to the recent protest in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar by two Bihar residents, Bhaichung said, “The Bihari protesters are the people who will be asking for the abolition of Article 371F. The only thing that can safeguard Article 371F is the Inner Line Permit. It is the solution for everything. The ILP has already been granted to Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. The four states in the Northeast have already got ILP. Why can’t ILP be implemented in Sikkim? Home Minister Amit Shah had already given a gift to Manipur just before the election one-and-half-year ago. We want the same gift.”
On the state’s security which is being surrounded by Nepal in West, Bhutan in East and China in the North, the Hamro Sikkim Party leader said, “Sikkim’s security is not just for the state but also for India. For India, it is very important that Sikkim is safeguarded. There are people trying to break Sikkim. The external and internal political forces are trying to break Sikkim. We know that there are people even inside Sikkim who are trying to break this unity. What we need from central government is the ILP in Sikkim.”
He added, “The vote percentage has increased by 17 percent in the state. Whereas in Bengal and Bihar there was a rise of only 11 percent between 2014-19. Sikkim’s fertility rate is the lowest in the country today. While Bihar has the highest, Bengal has 45 percent more fertility rate than Sikkim. This clearly shows that there are fake voters in the state. I think the demography is changing in terms of jobs and unemployment and the only solution is the ILP.”
Taking a shot at the state government, Bhaichung said, “The state government has kept ‘silence’ on the issue. The state government is a puppet government.”
He said, “When the government looks only for their post, money and chair, I don’t think they can safeguard Sikkimese people. We have been hearing from Sikkim Police that they are investigating on the two Bihar residents. How long does it take to investigate? The two Bihari residents have even degraded our sisters and mothers through the videos. But till now, the government has not been able to take any action. It is very dangerous to have a government which is a puppet, which can’t take decisions and which can’t safeguard Sikkimese people.”
On chances of communal divide among people, he said, “Over the past week people in Sikkim have shown exemplary unity. I think we all have to unite; we need to safeguard Sikkim. We have to make sure that we all fight for the ILP. On October 16, we are hosting a Jan Sansad to make people aware of the importance of ILP.”
“We want people to come and work here and we also want tourists to visit Sikkim. But they need to have inner line permit. We can only have data of those visiting the state only through ILP,” he added.
Also read | No forced collection of subscriptions: Tripura CM to Puja organisers