Khangchendzonga summit row: SIBLAC to hold puja at Kabi-Lungchok

ISABELLA GURUNG

GANGTOK,:  Stating that the controversial Mount Khangchendzonga summit by the Team National Institute of Mountaineering & Adventure Sports (NIMAS) recently in May has disrupted peace in Sikkim, the Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) has informed that the committee will be conducting a Buddhist puja for peace at Kabi Lungchok, Mangan district on June 15.

Addressing a press meet here on Friday, the SIBLAC has also urged the concerned authority to show seriousness and go towards a legal framework regarding the incident.

“Various incidents have been occurring in Sikkim, with the recent being the accident in North Sikkim, which means that the gods are angry. Mount Khangchendzonga is a sacred mountain in Sikkim and Nepal, and is the highest peak of India, standing at an altitude of 8586 meters. A video release was issued recently, where it was mentioned that 516 people have climbed Mount Khangchendzonga so far. It being a sacred mountain, why have so many people summited Mount Khangchendzonga? By defiling Mount Khangchendzonga, it is playing with the sentiments of our religion and murdering our beliefs. It is not about scaling the mountain from Sikkim or Nepal, but about setting foot on the holy peak,” expressed SIBLAC general secretary Sangay Gyatso Bhutia.

The SIBLAC general secretary said the committee is conducting the proposed puja at Kabi Lungchok for its historic significance as the heritage site marks the ancient blood brotherhood treaty between the Lepcha and Bhutia communities of Sikkim.

The committee questioned why the State Forest, Home, Tourism, and Ecclesiastical departments did not take action when there were previous press statements regarding the Mount Khangchendzonga expedition and summit by the NIMAS team. We welcome the letter of May 23 written by the Chief Minister to the Home ministry opposing the summit on the sacred peak but we feel that the Chief Minister should have written the letter immediately, said the committee.

The SIBLAC added that the committee had got an appointment to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Sikkim visit on May 29 but unfortunately, the visit got cancelled due to bad weather. However, a letter was sent to the Prime Minister and an application was also sent to the MoS of External Affairs. A letter will also be sent to Nepal Tourism on Saturday.

At the press meet, the SIBLAC condemned the national security agencies for allowing a Pakistani girl to summit Mount Khangchendzonga recently and hoisting the Pakistani flag at the sensitive border near China.