SIKKIM: Dawn of Democracy By G. B. S. Siddhu. It is my fourth read in order to learn more about Sikkim. The journey comprises the folding and unfolding of events prior to the merger of Sikkim into the Indian state. The author has nicely narrated the events in a manner that can be easily understood by the readers. Sikkim's delayed merger with India in 1975 was a major blunder by Nehru. It should have happened in 1948. But history gives us another opportunity to correct the mistakes that happened in the past. The father's mistakes were corrected by the daughter.
Indira Gandhi, the Iron Lady of India, stopped India's policy of apparent appeasement and cautious containment policy towards Sikkim. The twelfth Chogyal, Thandup Namgyal, misplaced aspirations led to the downfall of the Chogyal of the Namgyal dynasty. He was the last Chogyal, the King of the Namgyal Dynasty, which started in the 13th century. It's been interesting to know that in pre-merger activities, India's external intelligence agency RAW was involved. The author G. B. S. Siddhu was involved in the operation team of RAW. The meticulous coordination of intelligence gathered by 3 members of the RAW team was really commendable. I would not hesitate to say that Kazi Lhendup Dorjee was the father of democracy in Sikkim. He was the first Chief Minister of Sikkim.
RAW's success led to establishing democracy in Sikkim and inducing Kazi as Chief Minister, while post-merger IB's failure led to the downfall of the first Chief Minister. India could have sustained the pre-merger aura in the post-merger period, also. While reading the book, you may feel that the book is full of too many political events, but in the end, you will realize two things: 1. How to gather intelligence. 2. Application of that intelligence. This book kept me spellbound, and you may also enjoy the read. Highly recommended.
Keep reading, keep rediscovering.
Faithfully,
Amol



