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| Late Jaharman Rai |
The
ordinary people have always played an indispensable part for the development of
human society by producing agricultural items, rendering free services for the
constructive works of a state and by providing forced labour. Further, by
paying tax and rent of the land and agricultural products they make a greater
contribution for the economic prosperity of a country. Being the nucleus of
human development, the peasants in particular and ordinary people in general, who
are always in a larger number, have never been treated at par. It is not only a
case of a particular province or a state or a country, injustice against the
peasant is a phenomenon which is rampant in every nook and corner of the world.
The pricks, pains and the wounds the peasants have been subjected to in the
past are simply irreparable which are very much similar throughout the globe.
Their service to mankind in general and their Landlords or the Kings in
particular, the burden of taxation upon them, the yoke of forced labour on
their shoulders share a similar nature and feature throughout the earth. Amidst
their large contribution, they have been frequently ignored not only by the
authorities in the past but by history as well. Further, history of ordinary
people which also covers resistance made by the peasants is always regarded as
a sundry event by the contemporary historians. This is the major reason why the
hardships of the peasants in the past have not got their mention in the pages
of history. To quote Howard Zinn “...not
only to the orthodox history of those years, but to the very idea of history
told from the point of view of the authorities- a history confined to the
“important” people that ignores the struggle of ordinary people”. In
reality, it is an irony to monitor that human society is driven by a marginal
force. It may be in the case of chieftaincies or later in the case of large empires;
the majority have always been administered by the minority. In a truer sense,
the suppression of the voices of the powerless or the marginalized, which
always form the major group, continues even in today’s so called democratic
set-up. The government, which is in minority, hardly bothers to listen what the
majority are asking for and arrangements for settling the dilemma that occurs
frequently between the minority governed state and majority of interests is
seldom seen.
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| Late Rai on Second Row L-R during the construction of Sikkim House in New Delhi |
Hence,
being a student of history, this is my unpretentious attempt to bring into
light about those unseen heroes of Sikkim who have contributed a lot for the
erstwhile kingdom but are forgotten by the pages of History. I prefer to articulate
them as the Unsung Heroes of our society, which was a composition of the
ordinary people and peasants, and that never made any headlines in the leading
newspapers and journals to drag the attention of the elites. For me, they are
the real contributors, the altruistic and the most selfless human folks who
played an important part in the development of Sikkimese society by dint of
their labour and hard works.
Late
Jaharman Rai was also a son of an ordinary Sikkimese peasant of Tinzir Busty at
Namchi in South Sikkim. Born on 2 July 1915, Late Rai was the youngest child of
Late Ashdhan Rai. After the death of his father, Late Jaharman Rai took up the
task of tax collector under Lahso Kazi and later under Tenzing Wangdel Lahso. After
witnessing the deplorable condition of the peasants during his service, he made
his mind to resign from the job. The condition of Sikkimese peasantry thence was
at a wretched stage, where they not only had to pay the tax but also had to
carry Kalobhari and Jharlangi, the most crooked system devised by the Colonial
Government. When the peasants failed to pay their taxes, their household items
were auctioned of which they could not object as they were under the strict surveillance
of the Kazis and the Zamindars, the self-styled super class of the erstwhile Sikkim.
When
the level of repression reached beyond the tolerance of the ordinary Sikkimese,
they founded the first ever political party of Sikkim which was known as Rajya
Praja Sammelan. This party, though it lacks agenda and ideology, is regarded as
the first political party of the erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim. Late Jaharman
Rai joined this party and became an active cadre. Later, the Praja Sammelan along
with other two political parties namely, Praja Mandal and Praja Parishad was united
to form Sikkim State Congress in December 1947. After the foundation of Sikkim
State Congress, Late Rai continued to play an important part to ignite the
slumbered minds of Sikkimese peasantry. He became the Secretary of Namchi
branch of Sikkim State Congress for achieving the determined goal of democracy
in the Kingdom. His correspondence with Late Pratiman Rai, Late Kashiraj
Pradhan and Late Jainarayan Sapkota reveals his active participation in the
people’s movement that was launched by Sikkim Sate Congress. Further, Late Jaharman
Rai had also played a key role in raising party fund for the Sikkim State
Congress.
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| Lhaksam Shabdek Badhar- The Silver Medal presented by the Chogyal of Sikkim |
Apart
from the politics, Jaharman Rai is also remembered for his philanthropic works
at Namchi. Due to utter poverty he could not get his formal education and
learnt to write in Nepali in bamboo tablets as a shepherd. Therefore, to annihilate
such hurdles in education, he managed a night school at Tinjir which is now
raised up to a Junior High School. Further, in the unparalleled landslides occurred
from 3rd to 5th October 1968, which is popular in Sikkim
as adshat shaal ko pairo, Late Rai had
given refuge to many of his co-villagers in his house. He arranged Government help
in the form of edibles, household items and beddings for the affected people of
the catastrophe. It was under his guidance and initiative the citizens of
Tinzir and Kamrang, reconstructed the brush off roads between Jorethang, Melli
and Gangtok after the catastrophe. Recognising his social services, the Chogyal
of Sikkim Late Palden Thondup Namgyal rewarded him with the Service Medal (Lhaksam Shabdek Badhar) in 1969.
Further,
Late Jaharman Rai was a skilled craftsman, whose dexterity is visible at the Old
Sikkim House, New Delhi which was known as Sikkim Residency before its merger
with India. Still one can notice the huge sign board of “Sikkim Residency” in
front of the Old Sikkim House. Most of the wooden works there is the creation
of Late Jaharman Rai. In 1971, he led a group of Sikkimese craftsmen to give a
typical Sikkimese look to the Residency.
Though
he passed away in 2009, at the age of 94, his works are still alive at the Old
Sikkim House helping the mainstream people to understand Sikkim in a better
way. Sikkim is always proud of having such ordinary, but significant characters
in its past. The history of ordinary people is also thus important like the
history of “essential” people and their contribution should never be
underestimated.
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