Open Secrets: The Explosive Memoirs of an Indian Intelligence Officer (26 page)

Whatever it is, Sikkim emerged as the 22nd state of India in May 1975 with B. B. Lal as the Governor and Kazi Lehndup Dorji as the Chief Minister.

There has not been any systemic enquiry into the allegations of rigging of the referendum. Only the governments in Delhi and Gangtok could order an enquiry. Neither was interested. A few stray voices from the supporters of the Chogyal were stifled by the administration and later with the imposition of internal emergency nobody dared to challenge the outcome of the referendum, except a few political adversaries of the Kazi.

I was not in Sikkim to make an enquiry into the past events. I was there to understand the people and the situation and help the government to strengthen the post-merger relationship between Delhi and Gangtok and to consolidate the gains of the merger.

The students of history and Sikkim watchers, however, could not justify the use of the Indian Army to oust the Chogyal. He had surely used his ham radio to send out distress messages but there was no proof that the Chinese had made serious strategic moves along Sikkim and other bordering tracts of India. The USA, the major conductor of Cold War symphony, also did not make strategic move in support of the Chogyal. Indira used cannons to maim a small potentate that could be done by an ordinary swatter. It was an overkill and perhaps not necessary for the geo-political insularity of India. Expanding its borders cannot ensure the security of a nation. Security comes from within the people. Indira faltered again on that front. The people of India were disenchanted with the Durga of 1971.

It is impossible for me to sit on judgement on the propriety of Sikkim’s merger with India. But suffice it to say that the Sikkimese people had been agitating for over two decades for representative popular government and the Chogyal had misjudged the mood of the injured lady in Delhi and he was misled by meaningless noises from some foreign capitals. He happened to cross Indira’s path at a crucial point in her life. The ‘Durga’ of 1971 was almost encaged by internal problems, some of her own making. She was not ready to allow another assumed moment of victory to pass by against a blundering king and his over ambitious wife. Moreover, Indira Gandhi, as I came to know better a little later in my career, could hit more ruthlessly than a gladiator cornered in the ring. Nobody could ever doubt her fighting spirit. She was a born fighter.

*

The Sikkim assignment was a tougher challenge than the tasks I faced in Manipur and Nagaland. The merger of Sikkim did not solve its problems. The new status added up to its vulnerabilities. The democratic leaders headed by Kazi Lehndup Dorji Khangsarpa, a Lepcha noble, was inexperienced in handling the complex affairs of a state that was beset with ethnic tension, economic crisis and not so hidden sympathy for the deposed king.

B. S. Das, a distinguished member of the Indian Police Service with vast experiences in handling the affairs in Bhutan, had rendered exemplary services to Sikkim as its Chief Executive. He was well assisted by three Indian Administrative Service officers of West Bengal cadre, K. M. Lal, Jayanta Sanyal and D. K. Manavalan. They played crucial roles in manoeuvring the political events that had resulted in Sikkim’s ultimate merger with India. Their contribution in implementing the rule of law and in seeding some sort of economic activities in the capital town and in the outlying districts could not be denied even by the staunchest monarchists, who resented the so called ‘annexation’ of the 333-years old monarchy. They were seen as the new masters and were loved by those who derived benefits from the developments and hated by others. The people in general were contemptuous of the ‘
desh bechoas
’ (the sellers of the country).

Governor B. B. Lal piloted the complex team of the politicians and the bureaucrats. He was very aptly described as the person who had transplanted in Sikkim, lock stock and barrel, the Indian administrative machine, helped in educating and ‘guiding’ the inexperienced politicians and laid some of the cornerstones of the new state’s economic edifices. The old breed officers, hitherto loyal to the Chogyal and adept in functioning in feudal tradition, were gradually made to unlearn a lot and learn the new mantras of Indian administrative techniques. They did not take time to emulate the virtues of the new system and its shortcomings that encouraged corruption.

I was placed in an unenviable situation.

My immediate concern was to secure an office space for me and get more office and intelligence generating staff for meeting the demands of Delhi. I was saddled with a Deputy Central Intelligence Officer, who simply supervised the administration of the remote check posts on Indo-China border. He wasn’t a part of the ‘political and internal’ intelligence generation system that was exclusively handled by the former OSD (Police) and now the R&AW representative. Mutual efforts finally helped in solving the accommodation problem. The R&AW was accommodated in a part of the complex formerly occupied by the officers of the ‘Political Officer’. I shifted to the designated office and residence of the OSD.

However, I did not inherit any intellectual asset.

The border check posts were mostly located on the higher reaches along China border. The ethnic Lepchas and Bhutias exclusively inhabited these areas. The Nepalese were not encouraged to settle down in the ethnic tribal pockets. The only check post on Nepal border was at Uttrey, which functioned as an immigration post as well. The presence of the IB was nil in the rest of the state, mostly inhabited by the Nepalese and Limbus. The Chogyal had not allowed the Indian intelligence to set up its shop in the interior areas. Some of these pockets were traditionally covered from the IB posts at Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

In fact, way back in 1966-68, as the Sub-Divisional Police Officer at Kalimpong I had to submit a weekly report to West Bengal state intelligence on matters related to Sikkim. The IB officer at Kalimpong often consulted me over the emerging developments in the Indian protectorate. Those were the days when Sikkim’s politics had started germinating the stems of democratic aspirations and Kazi Lehndup and his legendary wife, Kazini Eliza Maria, were prominent features at Kalimpong. Most probably a Belgian national, the Kazini was an integral part of the problems and their solutions in Sikkim. She was one of those European entrepreneurs who had fleeted on the margins of history and in the fringes of the lives of some of the legendary leaders, mostly contemporary of Jawaharlal Nehru. Her journey through a colourful life finally tagged herself to the fortune of the tall and handsome Lepcha leader, Kazi Lehndup, and the people of Sikkim. Her journey of life is by itself a saga of human achievement.

One of the loyal officials of the former Chogyal had very aptly described the tryst of history in which Sikkim was drawn into the mysterious webs of ambition, aspiration and frustration of three women—Indira Gandhi, Hope Cooke and Kazini Eliza Maria Khangsarpa. Some day someone should be able to peel off the webs of mystery that surrounded the Kazini. I would try to narrate a few snippets of my encounter with that legendary ‘
rolling stone of history
’ that came to rest in the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim.

*

It was not an easy task for me to address the infrastructure problems. My regional boss at Calcutta did not appreciate the logistical problems. To him Sikkim was another territory gifted to him after the merger of the Himalayan kingdom. I gave up on him and pleaded directly with the top bosses in Delhi to help me with men power, communication equipment and funds for hiring accommodation. I received immediate support. Within three months I could establish a few intelligence posts at Rehnock, Jorethang, Rongpo, Malli, Geyzing, Namchi, Mangan interior pockets. My efforts were complimented by adequate support from the technical branch of the IB. They provided the basic wireless sets and trained operators. I was allowed to use 20 helicopter sorties in a year to visit the outposts on China border and any number of sorties for evacuation of sick and wounded personnel.

The tiny 22nd state of India presented myriads of challenges.

The Intelligence Bureau was an unknown commodity in Sikkim. The Sikkimese was exposed to the operatives of the PMO, External Affairs and the R&AW. The OSD stamp at my back did not befool the uncanny political gangs and the persona closer to the former Chogyal and even some of the Indian bureaucrats on deputation to the government of Sikkim.

In 1975 Sikkim presented a crystal clear black and white collage, though the intervening colours were not imperceptible. But extreme analytical skill was required to decipher those colours.

The people were broadly branded as pro-India and pro-Chogyal. Being pro-Indian was the fashion of the day. The pro-Chogyal elements were treated as pariahs and were natural suspects, having possible linkages with China, America, and the all-pervasive evil machine of the day, the CIA. The general rung of the government and political establishments were required to demonstrate their loyalty to the new country and new masters in demeanour and deeds. They did everything possible to please the ‘deputationist officers’ and the enigmatic Indian bureaucracy that were being gradually imported to the new state. The Governor had replaced the Chogyal. The chief minister physically resided in his Mintokgong house located in between two hills, one occupied by the Governor and the other housing the Tashiding palace, abode of the former king, Palden Thondup Namgyal.

Kazi had reluctantly committed himself to the merger of Sikkim with India. Once caught into the web of Delhi’s design the Kazi had no other option but to drift along, though he did not want outright abolition of the identity of Sikkim. After the merger his cabinet colleagues and the elected legislators, most of who knew which side of the bread was buttered, vied with each other in proclaiming loyalty to the new political dispensation.

The Kazini too was vociferous in proclaiming loyalty to Indira Gandhi and the new political masters in Delhi. She had achieved the final fruit of her lifelong pursuit, power, glory, adulation and a final destination. But, as I penetrated closer to the hearts and thoughts of the Kazis I was left with no doubt that Kazi Lehndup and Kazini Eliza Maria had not really
barga
ined for the merger of Sikkim with India. They wanted the Chogyal out and continuation of Sikkim as a protectorate of India with a democratically elected government and at worse a constitutional monarch.

On several occasions Kazi opened up his heart and conversed with me in Nepali to convey that at heart he was a Sikkimese and had struggled for a democratic dispensation. A Lepcha noble, he was a devoted Buddhist but he did not trust the wily Bhutias and the Tibetans. He considered the Nepalis as demographic ants, who were bound to gobble up the identity of the aboriginals. Kazi had a vision. But he was not a politician of the mettle the Indian politicians are made of. He was a trusting type of person and easily yielded under pressure. His biggest disadvantage was that he believed in the Indian bureaucrats and politicians who guided him along the course of merger of Sikkim, as per the strategic design of Delhi. The Kazini often vociferously voiced the personal and secret views of Kazi. Discretion was not her forte. Behind the back of Kazi some of his Nepali colleagues had arrived at secret understanding with Delhi as they hoped to gain a better deal from an Indian Sikkim, where the rule of majority was the basic ingredient of democracy. I do not want to name these Nepali colleagues at this stage of his life, when he is sufficiently disillusioned with the political leaders and bureaucrats in Delhi.

The events had overtaken the Kazi and Kazini. Back in Delhi Indira Gandhi was in no mood to allow the ripe fruit to fall on wrong laps. She was seemingly on a winning streak and Sikkim offered an opportunity to reaffirm her greatness. She had helped demolishing a part of the history written by the British Empire and the hungry politicians of 1947 by dismembering Pakistan. She had earned for India the membership of the nuclear club. Sikkim was another stepping stone to put her on the pedestal of greatness. Both Kazi and Kazini had failed to fathom her problems and proclivities. They finally ended up as the reluctant tools that helped the people of Sikkim to achieve democracy and lose their distinct identity that they had enjoyed for over 300 years.

Most of the cabinet ministers were ignorant kids and were not able to comprehend the complicated political process that involved in making a democracy function smoothly. The elected legislators had very little to do but endorse the actions of the Governor which were normally routed through the chief minister with approving seal of the state assembly. But all of them were happy on one account. The merger brought in huge plan and non-plan budgetary support from Delhi and they did not take time to learn the tricks of funnelling the riches to their pockets. Some of the Indian bureaucrats were quick to come to their rescue by teaching them the Indian rope tricks that made budgetary provisions vanish into thin air. Having wide experiences of such magic tricks in mainland India they themselves practiced the trick and taught their new political masters in appreciable collaborative spirit. The merger had inextricably molested the political and moral virginity of the once innocent people. I had seen the same rat race towards the cesspool of corruption amongst the politicians and bureaucrats in the North East. Bhartvarsha like the Imperial India believed in the political philosophy of stuffing the gullet of the concerned people with currency bills to keep them silent and contended. I suffered from serious pain to witness the simple people of the North East and Sikkim imitating the people of mainland India, immersing them in corruption and degrading their intrinsic values. That’s the decisive march of democracy!

Has democracy been the harbinger of corruption and total degradation? Well! History will decide this fascinating story of decline of democratic values and moral integrity of the people of India. Some sort of free election alone does not make a country democratic. It requires stringent implementation of the concepts of liberty, equality, and fraternity as enshrined in the constitution.