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| Tashi Tshering-The First President of Sikkim State Congress
The peasants of Sikkim
had resisted a lot against the Sikkimese theocracy. After the Indian
independence they were not at all in a mood to live the very same life which
their forefathers lived. The earlier individual resistance they had shown against
the suppression of the Kazis now began to take a shape of united resistance in
which the peasants of Sikkim were searching their new avenues to live their
lives. The age old concept of Devine Right of the King &Co. was at a very
shaky position. This all was happening due to the geo-political situation which
was prevalent not only in India after her independence, but in the entire
Himalayas. It is to be noted here, that the political situation of Nepal was
also coming across from the similar ups and downs which was then ubiquitous in
Sikkim. The Nepali populace started an open divergence against the Rana regime
for its removal. It was all happening because the resistance level of the
masses in the entire Himalayas was plummeting heavily due to the suppression
from the higher authorities.
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| Capt. Dimik Singh Lepcha General Secretary of S S C |
Likewise in Nepal, the
Sikkimese peasants also began to raise their voices against the forced labors
which had exploited its peasantry a lot. Unlike an open rebellion in Nepal, the
peasants here began to ask for their rights through various associations founded
by different leaders in the Kingdom. In the words of Howard Zinn-“The
uneasiness grows and grows and the citizenry gathers in resistance in larger
and larger numbers, which becomes too many to control; one day the top heavy
empire collapses.” He further writes- “Change in public consciousness starts
from low level discontent, at first vague, with no connection being made
between the discontent and the policies of the government. And the dots begin
to connect, indignation increases, and people began to speak out, organize and
act”. Similar to the ideas of Howard Zinn, the small gatherings of
uneducated and Bustiwallas in far
flung Sikkim organized themselves and founded the first ever political party of
Sikkimese Kingdom at Gangtok on 7th December 1947. They named it as SIKKIM
STATE CONGRESS which was greatly inspired from its Indian counterpart the Indian
National Congress. Interestingly, the flag of the said party also had a tri-color
similar to that of the Party Flag of the Indian National Congress.
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| Kashiraj Pradhan The Vice President |
To continue their
united resistance through a political banner, the Sikkim State Congress had even
made a constitution. It was meant for the execution of a member’s duties in
some far off places of Sikkim. It basically deals with the code and conduct of
the party members. The picture posted here is of the few pages of the said
Party Constitution. Details have been provided by the document about the powers
and functions of its President and other Executives. Further, the paper also offers
some new ideas to understand the basic purposes of this political organization.
The interesting part of the document is
that a block level committee in every block was founded after the formation of
the Party. To reach at the doorsteps of the peasants those blocks were further
sub-divided into villages. Every member of Sikkim State Congress had to get a
membership card at the cost of Rs. 1. Adults of 18 years and above were given the
general membership (who wanted to join the Party). The Constitution of Sikkim
State Congress had all together 12 Articles supported with many other clauses. It
has given much emphasis on the discipline of the cadres and Annual Meetings.
I am greatly indebted
to Mr. B. B. Lhorung Rai of Kazi Tar Namchi for sharing this piece of
information with me. The document is to a great extent helpful for the study of
political development in the erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim.
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