1

Andrew Duff weaves together many strands of the unfolding

drama in Sikkim in this gripping page-turner.
In Requiem…, Andrew Duff masterfully weaves together the many strands
of the unfolding drama to produce a gripping page-turner. Besides the use
of existing resource materials, revelations from newly-released secret
documents and interviews with some still-living players, his account is
enhanced by a hitherto-unknown source: weekly letters home (which
sometimes had to be camouflaged from Indian censors) of two British ladies
who served as principals of a Gangtok school.

On the morning of April 6, 1975, the roar of army trucks climbing the steep
streets of Gangtok woke up the king. The 5,000-strong Indian force didn't take
more than 30 minutes to subdue the palace guards, and Sikkim ceased to exist
as an independent kingdom.

ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH X-C ROLL NO:6 1

 2

Sikkim: Requiem For a Himalayan Kingdom tells the story of Sikkim's

annexation, its last king and his American wife Hope Cooke and their 'fairy-
tale' wedding in 1963.

In the years leading to the 1975 annexation, there was enough evidence that all
was not well between New Delhi and Gangtok. It is also said that the real battle
was not between the Chogyal and Kaji Lendup Dorji, leader of the Sikkim
National Congress, who had an ancestral feud with the Chogyal's family, but
between their wives. On one side was Queen Hope Cooke and, on the other, Kaji's
Belgian wife, Elisa-Maria Standford. And then there was a third woman,
Indira Gandhi, in New Delhi.

The seeds were sown as far back as 1947, when the Sikkim State Congress
launched an anti-monarchist movement to merge with India. Pro-democracy
leader CD Rai recalls meeting Jawaharlal Nehru: "He told us, 'We'll help you
with democracy and getting rid of feudalism, but don't talk about a merger
now.'" The Chogyal later included Rai in a five-member council of ministers to
sign the treaty with India, which would effectively turn Sikkim into an Indian
"protectorate".

ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH X-C ROLL NO:6 2

 3

Chogyal had met 24-year-old New Yorker Hope Cooke in Darjeeling in 1963
and married her. The Cold War was at its peak. There was a tendency in India
to see a 'foreign hand behind everything, so it was not unusual for the
American queen to be labelled a CIA agent. Former foreign secretary KS Bajpai
denies these claims now, but admits the marriage greatly influenced events in
Sikkim.

However, as Sikkim's relations with Delhi deteriorated, so did Cooke's marriage

with the Chogyal. In 1973, she returned to New York with her two children. She
hasn't returned to Sikkim since. Then there was Elisa-Maria, daughter of a
Belgian father and German mother, who left her Scottish husband in Burma
and married pro-democracy leader Dorji in Delhi in 1957. She wanted to be
Sikkim's First Lady, but Hope stood in the way.

ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH X-C ROLL NO:6 3

 4

During the British Raj, Sikkim had a 'subordinate alliance' with the Crown. At
the time of India's independence, New Delhi acknowledged its special status and
concluded a treaty with Sikkim in December 1950, recognising it as a
'protectorate'. India was responsible for external affairs, defence and
communications, while Sikkim enjoyed autonomy in internal affairs, subject
to India's ultimate responsibility for maintaining law and order.

This treaty was concluded against the backdrop of the Chinese invasion of Tibet
and the treaties concluded by India with the Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal
and Bhutan.

India is accused of using people of Nepali origin in Sikkim, who were in a

majority and opposed to the Chogyal. The anti-Chogyal parties swept to power in
the election of 1974. They promptly introduced a new Constitution and sought
Sikkim's association with India. In turn, New Delhi amended its own
Constitution to "absorb" Sikkim.

ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH X-C ROLL NO:6 4

 5

Experts are still debating whether constitutional amendments can override an

international treaty. In an earlier book, Sunanda K Datta-Ray underlined the
absurdity of an international treaty being superseded by an amendment of the
Indian Constitution. "Such egregious legal legerdemain was possible because of
Indira Gandhi's parliamentary majority – though it must be added that most
opposition parties willingly went along with it," he wrote.

The Chogyal himself misstepped in his unwillingness to grant full democratic

rights to the Nepali majority and in his attempt to simultaneously take on
India. In contrast, the Bhutanese monarch handled the relationship with India
skillfully, and by 1971, secured entry into the UN.

ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH X-C ROLL NO:6 5

 6

Duff's book highlights how India seldom shied from using force when its
security – especially territorial – is threatened. The accession of Junagadh,
Hyderabad, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir were all through military means.

But it must be noted that a peaceful and economically-integrated

neighbourhood were the only guarantees to prosperity. Security cannot be
delinked from prosperity and keeping a population with force, against its will,
can lead to a perpetual national security problem.

……………………………………………………………………… ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH (X-C)

ANGAD SINGH CHATRATH X-C ROLL NO:6 6