How Sikkim became a part of India?

              

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Where is Sikkim?

 Sikkim is  a state located in the north-east of India and is the smallest state in terms of population (about 671,720), in India. It is bordered by the Indian state of West Bengal to the south, by Nepal to the west, by Tibet to the north and north-east and by Bhutan to the south-east. Its capital is Gangtok and hosts the world's third highest and India's highest peak Kanchenjunga (about 8,600 metres). Nearly two-thirds of Sikkim consists of snow-covered mountains, dominated by the Kanchenjunga Massif.

The Kingdom of Sikkim

The Lepcha were the early inhabitants of Sikkim and they were followed by the Bhutia in the 14th century. The Kingdom of Sikkim was a monarchy from 1642 to 16 May 1975. Its official title up to the 1800s was Dremoshong. It was ruled by Chogyals of the Namgyal tradition and the religious and social ties with Tibet were exceptionally solid.  Its first ruler was Phuntsog Namgyal, who was a Bhutia. In the mid-18th century, Sikkim was attacked by Nepal (at that point the Gorkha Kingdom) and was under the the Gorkha  occupancy for more than 40 years. Between 1775 and 1815, nearly 180,000 Nepalis from Eastern and Central Nepal moved to Sikkim to settle there.

Entry of the British

After the British colonisation of India, in any case, Sikkim associated itself with British India as they had a common adversary-Nepal. This made Nepal to assault Sikkim with retaliation, overwhelming most of the locale counting the Tarai which resulted in the Anglo-Nepal war (1814-1816). After the vanquish of Nepal in the war, Sugauli Arrangement between the British and Nepal and the Settlement of Titalia between the British and Sikkim come about in the regional concessions by Nepal in which it ceded Sikkim to the British India which in turn restored these territories to Sikkim in 1816, but by 1817 it became a de facto protectorate of the British. 

British Protectorate

British acquired the city of Darjeeling from Sikkim for tea plantations in 1835. But the increasing influence of the British in the area caused suspicion and the Chogyal cancelled the license of British tea plantations. This event started an escalation which led to the annexation of Sikkim by the British in 1849. After the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, Sikkim became a princely state under British paramountcy. Britain was given a free trade agreement along with a license to build a road to Tibet through Sikkim. In 1890, borders between Sikkim and Tibet were settled by an agreement between the British and Tibet. Also, a British officer was appointed to assist the Chogyal in the administration which actually meant that the British officer was the Virtual ruler of Sikkim.

Darjeeling Hills

Protectorate of India

After the British left India, Sikkim became a protectorate of India, when Chogyal of Sikkim, Sir Tashi Namgyal and a representative of Indian Government signed the Indo-Sikkim Treaty of 1950. According to this treaty India was responsible for the External Affairs, Defense and Strategic Communications of Sikkim and the internal affairs were left to be managed by Sikkim Government. This also allowed the participation of the people in the government formation. Sikkim Congress leader Kazi Lendup Dorji was elected as the Chief Minister of Sikkim. The Chogyal, however still remained the head of this newly built constitutional monarchy. 

Change in Scenario

 But after the death of Sir Tashi Namgyal and Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, things changed dramatically. Sikkim's last monarch and son of Sir Tashi Namgyal, Palden Thondup Namgyal married an American, Hope Cooke in 1963. Soon, she became the driving force in the Sikkim administration. Indian representative to the Sikkim Government, made his concerns very clear to the Indian Government about the rising influence of Hope Cooke in the politics of Sikkim. Hope Cooke wrote many articles in which she talked about the independence of Sikkim from India. Many people in India as well as Sikkim accused her being a CIA agent of U.S. After the divorce with her husband, she went back to the U.S. The geopolitics around Sikkim was very sketchy at that time.  There was a rise in communism in Nepal and the Indian state of West Bengal. The Gurkha origin people in Sikkim were protesting against the discriminatory policy of Chogyal towards them. Also China annexed Tibet and had an altercation with Indian troops at Chola La in 1967, in Sikkim. India was not in a mood to let Sikkim become the Chinese gateway to the North=East India.

Indian Influence in Internal Politics

Heavy demonstrations were organised by political parties of Sikkim around Gangtok to put pressure on the Chogyal and India is said to have sponsor the movement. India's current NSA, Ajit Doval played a key role in orchestrating these protests. On 8 May, 1973 an agreement was signed between Chogyal of Sikkim, the Government of India and the leaders of political parties of Sikkim in which the demands of "a more democratic constitution" and "greater legislative and executive powers for the elected representatives of the people". In addition to that, Indian Government was requested to take responsibility for law and order and appoint a chief executive head of administration in Sikkim.

Making Sikkim an Indian State

Following the May 8 Agreement, the Indian Government sent a constitutional adviser to draft the new constitution of Sikkim but the Draft was rejected by Chogyal. Election results in April 1974 resulted in the victory of pro-India Sikkim National Congress. The new government sought an increase in the political and civil rights but all the demands were suppressed by Chogyal. In September, 1974 was made an associate state by drafting a bill in the parliament by the Government of India. On 9th of April, 1975, citing the dwindling law and order situation in Sikkim, Indian Army led an operation and overpowered the 300 men Sikkim Royal Guards force within 30 minutes. Chogyal was put under the house arrest and consequently the Sikkim Assembly met on April 10, 1975 and abolished the institution of the Chogyal. A referendum was was put in place after five days which was endorsed by 60,000 voters with 1,496 against it (Chogyal, however termed this referendum as illegal). On April 22, 1975,the Government of India introduced the 36th Constitutional Amendment making Sikkim the 22nd state  of India with effect from April 26, 1975. Official Gazette notification duly signed by president, however notifies the date as 16 May, 1975.

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