Gangtok: “If China had annexed Sikkim, they would not have done it so clumsily,” veteran journalist and author Sunanda K Datta-Ray remarked while delivering the Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal Memorial Lecture at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (NIT) on Friday, as he revisited Sikkim’s political transition, questioned the circumstances surrounding the State’s merger with India, and reflected on the legacy of the Chogyal before a packed gathering marking the institute’s Founder’s Day.
The programme commemorated the 103rd birth anniversary of His Highness Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal and was attended by Prince Gyalsey Palden Gyurmed Namgyal as chief guest in the presence of Minister for Ecclesiastical Department.
Datta-Ray, speaking from personal memories of his association with the Chogyal dating back to the 1960s, described him as “a warm, accessible and forward-looking leader” who envisioned Sikkim as a modern Himalayan state with a distinct identity rooted in cultural diplomacy, trade and international engagement.
Reflecting on Sikkim’s merger with India in 1975, Datta-Ray reiterated his long-held position that the process was not one of equal negotiation.
“It was more of an annexation than a merger. In a merger, both sides negotiate as equals. Here, none of that really happened,” he said.
He added that at the time, many outside Sikkim did not fully understand the broader political objectives behind the developments.
“We did not fully understand then what Delhi’s larger objective was or where the entire operation was ultimately headed,” he said, describing the events as an important “historical chronicle” that needed to be understood with nuance.
Recalling a conversation with former political officer B. S. Das, Datta-Ray said he had never seen evidence that the Chogyal posed any threat to India.
“I replied by asking — what exactly was he doing? I never saw any concrete evidence suggesting that the Chogyal was doing anything dangerous,” he said, adding that the Government of India had never publicly produced categorical evidence accusing the monarch of colluding with China or pursuing any anti-India agenda.
He also referred to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s later remarks about the Chogyal.
“At one point, she said he was a good man who cared for his country,” Datta-Ray said.
Datta-Ray revisited the tense days of April 1975, recalling being stopped for hours near Singtam while political developments unfolded in Gangtok, and alleged that dissenting voices of the period were discouraged and silenced.
“Changing the outlook of an entire society without the cooperation of its people is difficult,” he remarked, while acknowledging that many in Sikkim today appear to have “made peace with destiny.”
Questioning whether Sikkim’s merger was necessary, he said the issue still remained unresolved in his own mind.
“I had asked then — why did Sikkim have to be acquired, and what exactly was gained from that acquisition? Even after all these years, I still ask myself the same question,” he said.
Reflecting on Sikkim after more than five decades of statehood, Datta-Ray expressed concern over what he described as excessive commercialisation.
“Too much has happened — congestion, excessive business activity, over-commercialisation,” he said, adding that controversies and new revelations continued to surface even today.
Asked about his hopes for present-day Sikkim, he responded candidly.
“Sikkim should be happy, but materialism and consumerism have deeply entered society. Because Sikkim is small, these changes become more concentrated and visible,” he observed.
He also raised concern over the functioning of the State Bank of Sikkim and its unique legal position outside the regulatory ambit of the Reserve Bank of India.
“Some of the best known journalists are investigating and studying the State Bank of Sikkim’s histories, power and ambit. As specified in the Royal Proclamation that the Chogyal used to set it up in 1968, apparently the State Bank of Sikkim may be used for funding of terrorist activities. Reserve Bank of India doesn’t have the supreme control over the State Bank of Sikkim. The Darbar was abolished but not the State Bank of Sikkim. The laws enacted in 1975 to bring Sikkim to the Indian Union left a lot of things undone,” he said.
Drawing parallels with past controversies, he referred to what he called the “tobacco excise tax fiasco.”
“Cigarettes could be manufactured with any company in the country with the stamp of ‘Made in Sikkim’ and sold in Sikkim, with hundreds of crores of rupees that did not go into the revenue of the State government but remained in businessmen’s pockets,” he said.
He further pointed to exemptions under the Sikkim Subject Regulation framework, saying such issues reflected unresolved legal anomalies from the post-merger transition.
In one of the more emotional moments of his lecture, Datta-Ray recalled the death of Sikkim Guards soldier Basant Kumar during the 1975 uprising and narrated a gesture by the Chogyal that left a lasting impression on him.
“The Chogyal dipped his four fingers in the blood of the martyr and smeared it across his forehead. When I asked him why he did so, he could not say anything. It seemed like an instinctive gesture, with no message of any kind,” Datta-Ray recounted.
Reflecting on his final meeting with the Chogyal during his last days, Datta-Ray said the encounter remained deeply poignant.
I felt he had lost hope by then,” he said quietly.
He concluded by expressing surprise that younger generations continue to engage with his writings on Sikkim’s political transition.
“I never considered myself a political prophet. I was simply writing about what I saw happening around me and what disturbed me at the time,” he said, while cautioning that the story of Sikkim was not merely about politics, but also about preserving its cultural memory, identity and social essence.
“The mountains and landscapes remain beautiful, but ultimately it is the thoughts and culture of the people that define a place. It would be tragic if that cultural essence disappears,” he said.