Gangtok: Sikkim Legislative Assembly held a special session on Thursday and passed a government resolution aimed at protecting and maintaining the distinct identity of the Sikkimese people, as outlined in Article 371F and the special status granted and protected upon merger by Indian Government.
The resolution was proposed by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kunga Nima Lepcha and was seconded by Tourism Minister B.S. Panth.
The resolution was prompted by a recent Supreme Court of India verdict on January 13 that referred to the Sikkimese Nepali community as “persons of foreign origin”, which caused major outrage in Sikkim. In response, the Joint Action Council called for a 12-hour bandh and Sikkimese politicians and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs filed a series of review petitions. The Supreme Court ultimately deleted these remarks from the judgement on Wednesday.
The government resolution passed on Thursday appealed to the central government in India to acknowledge and maintain the definition of “Sikkimese” and the special status and classification granted to the people of Sikkim. The resolution stated, “We request the Government of India to acknowledge and maintain that the special status and distinct identity and classification granted to the Sikkimese people are commitments given to the people of Sikkim by the Government of India at the time of the merger of Sikkim with India.”
The resolution also requested the Government of India to provide all possible assistance and support to protect the distinct identity of the Sikkimese people as outlined in Article 371F of the Constitution of India and to ensure that the rights and protections guaranteed to them are not diminished.
Furthermore, the resolution noted that the Supreme Court judgement of January 13 was incorrect in its historical representation of Sikkim’s pre-merger with the Union of India, as it failed to take into account the factual information filed in the Writ Petition by the Association of Old Settlers (AOSS) in 2013.
The resolution states, “The background leading to Sikkim becoming the 22nd state of India was not recorded correctly and the significance of Article 371F of the Constitution of India was missing in the said judgement. As a result, the observations in the judgement were made without taking into consideration the true historical facts of the State of Sikkim.”
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Discussions on the government resolution took place with participation from the lone opposition MLA, Pawan Kumar Chamling, Upper Burtuk MLA and State BJP President DR Thapa, as well as nine other BJP legislators and three legislators from the SKM party. The Chief Minister, PS Golay, responded to questions and concerns raised by the members, and the resolution was then unanimously adopted.
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