Witness to Change in Sikkim

5. LAL BAHADUR BASNET AND HIS SIKKIM JANATA PARTY

PROF A C SINHA
Three-year term of the fourth Sikkim State Council was coming to end and some of the unattached politicians such as Lal Bahadur (LB) Basnet, Namgyal Tshering, and Krishna Chandra (KC or Kanchha) Pradhan were fired with the idea of bringing socialism to Sikkim. They formed a political party, Sikkim Janata Party in 1969 with avowed objective of uplifting the pathetic conditions of the commoners on socialistic pattern in an officially feudal and autocratic society. Three of these star leaders of the new party had their past, which was controversial. L B Basnet was a dismissed functionary of Sikkim government for allegedly writing against the royalty and the Government.  Namagyal Tshering was a fire brand leader of the Sikkim State Congress way back in 1949, who had snatched the keys from the Maharajkumar’s, when he was breaking SSC human cordon at the Palace by driving his jeep through the crowd. K C Pradhan was the youngest son of the Rai Bahadur Bhim Bahadur Pradhan, a descendant of the first Nepalese Thikedar Laxmidas & Lambordas and the first Forest Manager in Sikkim. Kancha Pradhan’s two illustrious elder brothers were senior engineer and the Chief Conservator of the Forests respectively. He had unsuccessfully dribbled in politics earlier. With this varied background, three leaders tried to enthuse the spirit of the masses through their good write-up and forceful speeches. They had to confront the oldest political party of the State: Sikkim State Congress, King’s own party, Sikkim National Party and L D Kazi’s Sikkim National Congress. No doubt, their task was not easy.

I remember the make-shift platform fashioned on the rooftop of two grocery shops in the middle of Gangtok market on the main road, from which leaders of various political parties would deliver their speeches one after another on Sunday morning. And Sunday being the weekly market day, when the villagers would flock to Gangtok in their most festive dress for various reasons apart from marketing. And audience would stand in the street in front on the main road, would eat, drink, gossip, laugh and even quarrel and, when the honorable speaker would finish his speech, they would not forget to clap for and then leisurely walk away for their marketing. Next speaker would climb to the rooftop stage and labeled most abusive charges to the other parties and would end with similar clapping from the audience. The same stage would be shared by all the four political parties and they would take the charges hurled on each other in a very sporting way one after another.  On a particular Sunday, I made it a point to attend this unique Sikkimese style of electoral canvassing and I was impressed by its smooth proceedings. I also chanced to listen L B Basnet’s most sensible speech in favour of the Janata Party, but also noted that it did not make sense to the listeners. It was too theoretical for the audience and too good to be and it was totally out of context in the prevalent feudal set-up of Sikkim. I was introduced to some of the leaders of the Janata Party and I expressed my wish to meet L B Basnet. He was just around and laughingly responded that he was yet to be a V I P and thus I could catch him any time in the street of I have a cup of tea to share. And that was the beginning of our acquaintance.

                    II

I was directed to Rev. Pazo’s Church near the Police Lines in Gangtok Bazar with a view to locating a common friend, Doma Pazo, who had studied in Philippines with Dr. K G Gurumurti, an anthropologist friend of mine from Karnatak. While conversing at Pazo’s place, I learnt about a Lepcha nurse, Ruth Lepchani, who had formed a Lepcha Independence Party once and agitated against the alleged Bhutia usurpers, who had woven myths of Lepcha subservience to Bhutia immigrants. As a researcher, I thought I should meet with that Ruth lady, but whosoever I enquired of, the answered that that person had vanished from Sikkim. And that was all the more reason for locating the Lepcha ‘rebel’. I shared my exasperation with L B Bastet, and he responded, ‘Do you want to meet her? In that case, you have to come with me to Kalimpong’. Slowly, I came in closer contact with Basnet and found him an intelligent person addicted to reading serious literature. He was one of the few Sikkimese activists, who thought of Sikkim in the context of the region. His father Capt (Rtd). D B Basnet, a retired soldier like him, was a nominated Councilor in Sikkim State Council; and resided in his house few km away from Ranipul on the left side on the National Highway among his paddy fields. Lal Bahadur possibly did not have the best of relations with his father and his family lived in Kalimpong at the time. He had rented accommodation for himself around Gangtok. Earlier, he had worked in the Army Educational Corps and he was employed in the judicial service of Sikkim after his release from the army. He wrote a series of three articles on Sikkim in a journal from Calcutta, NOW. For which he was charged with sedition proceedings and was dismissed from the government service. And that was the time he joined Kazi’s party, Sikkim National Congress. And having seen Kazini’s interference in the affairs of the Party, and that too, without being an ordinary member, convinced him that he could not work with honour in that forum. Humorously, he would refer Kazi’s Sikkim National Congress as Kazini’s petticoat party.

The result of the State Council elections, 1970 was announced and as expected, Sikkim Janata Party was totally routed. They polled negligible number of votes and the forum got disintegrated within no time. That also made the end of political activities of Namagyal  Tshering for good after about three decades. Lal Bahadur got busy in writing on the political history of Sikkim, which would later get published from S Chand from Delhi in 1974. But Kanchha Pradhan was one, who never said ‘die’. He got busy in forming an alternative joint between Sikkim Janata Party and Sikkim State Congress and ultimately they came out with the birth of Sikkim Janata Congress. Thus, when the tripartite Sikkim Agreement was signed on May 8, 1973, it was the K C Pradhan along with his other four colleagues, who signed the document on behalf of Sikkim Janata Congress. In the next two years, a political miracle of the sort had happened: Sikkim Janata Congress and Sikkim National Congress would merge to form SIKKIM CONGRESS under the leadership of  L D Kazi and the ruler’s Sikkim National Party vanished from the political scene of Sikkim after 25 years in the absence of support from the Durbar. After the next election, Kazi formed his cabinet as the Chief Minister and K C Pradhan became a minister. But he proved to be the square peg in the hole of Kazi cabinet and vary frequently he was to be chastised. The discordant government of L D Kazi could drag on till 1979, when Sikkimese rejected it lock, stock and barrel for all the time to come. Most of its former leaders became politically inactive after the electoral debacle. But some of the brave hearts floated their own political outfit, which could not last long either.  

                     III

I along with Lal Bahadur Basnet travelled to Kalimpong and I parked myself in a hotel and he went to his family’s abode. Next day, two of us went to meet Ruth Lepchani. Lal Bahadur knew her well before hand and he had decided not to join our discussion and he functioned simply as a guide to me. The lady did not talk much of politics of Sikkim, related to the Lepchas or in general; either she was apprehensive of me, or she had given an undertaking not to meet any boy to the Government, or she was lost in domesticity; but there was no evidence that she and her Lepcha forum were actively engaged in politics of Sikkim in early 1970’s. And administration had imposed a ban on her entry to Sikkim. And it appears that she was strongly watched by Intelligence Bureau of India. She was married to an eccentric Muslim gentleman, Muhammad Salim, possibly a small time leather merchant. In this way Kalimpong was the host of three anti-Maharaja activists in early 1970: Ruth Lepcha, L D Kazi and Lal Bahadur Basnet. And not for nothing, I was reminded of Communist leader, S A Dange’s statement in the Indian Parliament that ‘Kalimpong was the den of international espionage in 1962.’ Of course, that was with reference to George N Patterson, a Christian Missionary from eastern Tibet turned journalist, who claimed to support the cause of Tibetan independence, in which no boy had interest.

On our return, I entered Mani Press and introduced myself to its owner, venerable Paras Mani Pradhan. He stood up and emphatically uttered, ‘you people are hishra, ferocious’ and he laughed. I was puzzled and said, ‘Sir / I did not follow you?’ He answered quizzically, ‘Sinha, Singha, hishra, Singha: lion /tiger’ So originally in those days of primitive times, ‘those who were ferocious like lions, were assigned the duty to guard the band against any attack’ and they were assigned areas: Kshetras, Kshatriya. He was referring to the origin and function of the Kshatriya. How bands of ferocious or daring people were assigned the duties to guard the area (Kshetra), became Kshatriya. I instantly developed a respect for the venerable Pradhan Sahib. Later I learnt that he was one of the three pioneer icons of Nepali literature and grammar, who established the modern Nepali Literary form. I used to have a good breakfast in the morning and would spend entire day in the library and Pradhan Sahib would lovingly bring relevant books to me while polishing them with his aprons. A most touching and embarrassing moment used to be around 11 o’clock every day, when he would unobtrusively bring a cup of tea with two thin biscuits for me. I used his library for many years off and on and my contacts with him remained for many years even when I was conducting my researches on Bhutan.
     
                    IV

All these years of upheaval in 1970’s, L B Basnet was politically inactive in a way. He remained with an obscure international body, Bahai International, a claimed humanitarian forum based in Iran. But there was hardly any activity or following of that body in Sikkim. The moment State Election was declared in 1979, L B Basnet was astute enough to join Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s, Sikkim Parjatantrik Parishad. By then, most of the active and known politicians of Sikkim had exhausted their public good will and they had turned out to be suspect in the eyes of the Sikkimese. He contested election on behalf of SPP from prestigious Gangtok constituency and came victorious. Considering the age and seniority of the arc-turncoat, Sonam Tshering, the leader of the victorious party, Nar Bahadur Bhandari offered him Speaker’s chair, though it was known that he would not be able to do justice to the job. With a view to covering up Tshering’s inadequacy, Lal Bahadur Basnet was brought in as his deputy and he did full justice to the office assigned to him. Incidentally, he travelled from Gangtok to Shillong on some official assignment and stayed at Hotel Pinewood Ashoka sometimes in early 1980’s and made a call to me in the University. I went to see him but I could not make head and tell of his visit. By then, he had turned out to be a formal functionary and there was little in common between us. I felt sad about it, but could do nothing about it. Nar Bahadur Bhandari decided not to field him as a candidate for the next Assembly election held in 1984. And once more LB Basnet, one of the finest political minds of Sikkim, was politically unattached and thus he remained for more than a decade prior to his end, which came in 1997, when he had reached a ripe old age.