Wake up, let’s protect Article 371-F
APPEAL
WAKE UP! LET’S PROTECT ARTICLE 371-F.
Dear Friends,
Most of us are well aware that nearly thirty four years ago, Sikkim was a kingdom. In search of democracy, Sikkim on 16th May 1975 became 22nd state of India. Some call this merger annexation and some call it referendum by the people. However, during the time of merger, there was an agreement and condition of the Sikkimese people with the Indian Union that Sikkim will be provided special provisions. Thus, this special provision was then inserted in the Indian Constitution according to 36th Amendment at 26th April 1975 (appointed day) which is known as Article 371-F. Article 371-F provides special provisions with respect to the state of Sikkim and its people. Some clause of Article 371-F are:-
(k) all laws in force immediately before the appointed day in the territories comprised in the State of Sikkim or any part thereof shall continue to be in force therein until amended or repealed by a competent Legislature or other competent authority;
(l) for the purpose of facilitating the application of any such law as is referred to in clause (k) in relation to the administration of the state of Sikkim and for the purpose of bringing the provisions of any such law into accord with the provision of this Constitution, the President may, within two years from the appointed day, by order, make such adaptations and modifications of the law, whether by way of repeat or amendment, as may be necessary or expedient, and thereupon, every such law shall have effect subject to the adaptations and modifications so made, and any such adaptation or modification shall not be questioned in any court of law;
(n) the President may, by public notification, extend with such restrictions or notifications as he thinks fit to the State of Sikkim any enactment which is in force in a State in India at the date of the notification;
(o) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the foregoing provisions of this article the President may, by order, do anything (including any adaptation or modification of any other article) which appears to him be necessary for the purpose of removing that difficulty;
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of two years from the appointed day.
These are various clauses which clearly states that our old law will be protected, central laws can only enter Sikkim within two years of appointed day i.e 25th April 1977 and president can only issue notification in the matter of Sikkim, if it is fit for the state (Sikkimese has the right to choose what is fit for them selves).
It has been 34 yrs since, we had given up our kingdom for the sake of democracy but it seems we have not achieved one. There have been occasions when some of the rights have been given a go by. This has led the people to go in far long struggle including litigation to safeguard their interest. The recent imposition of Central Direct Tax Laws by the Union and the diplomatic handling of the matter by the State Government raises various questions of the validity of Article 371-F. People are misguided regarding Direct Taxes, they are not made aware of the wealth tax, expenditure tax, interest tax and finance act which are levied to the people of Sikkimese origin also.
Today, every Sikkimese is proud to call him/her selves Indian which, one should be. Having said that, we can’t nor we must or give up our rights which the constitution has provided us. Imposition of Central Direct Taxes is total violation of Article 371-F. Today Article 371-F needs protection and it’s not a jewelry which can be protected inside a locker as politicians tend to say. It can only be protected with our unified effort. Hence, it’s not only duty but as well as responsibility of every Sikkimese to protect it not only for the present generation but for future generation as well.
Time and again our politician has always used the formula of “DIVIDE AND RULE”. Firstly, they divided us calling outsiders and insiders in the matter of Income Tax, might be in future they will divide us in terms of NBC, OBC, MBC then Nepali and B/L. Therefore time has come for every citizen of Sikkim to rise above politics, personal and fear psychosis and get united for the protection of Article 371-F and in the matter of imposition of Central Direct Taxes. Hence, I especially urge the present generation and the new generation to come forward for the protection of our right, as it is our duty to deliver a new, safe and a secure Sikkim for our future generations. Lastly, I put forward a common proverb “TOGETHER WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL”.
Jai Hind, Jai Sikkim.
Nawin Kiran
14 Responses for “Wake up, let’s protect Article 371-F”
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I totall agree with what Mr Nowin kiran has written, I add on few more issues with subject cited above..
1) At present State govt. is very happy and takeing all thecredit for exmption of Income Tax on sikkim subject holders, but till WHEN ARE THEY EXEMPTED???? nothing mentioned about that.
2) There was’nt any Indian Income Tax Office in Sikkim, but now it has been opened as everyone think the so called outsiders have to pay taxes, but it is to be undestood that evryone has to file a return and show where they are earning from.
3) Today utsder are paying tommorow everone will be paying as all the required datas of others will be accquired and will be of use when they will be taxed.
4) Article 371-F says retention of old laws of Sikkim.Inold laws its clear that Sikkim IT hasto be payed but since we are not paying now.. actully we are the one who’s reaking this rule and tommorow we will be showed that we didnt respect our old laws and followed it so even tey are not compelled to follow it.
5) The time has come for evryone to unite together and save our old laws as this laws are ourboggest assset, which we losing day by day…
jai Sikkim
I am a sikkim Subject holder, so pls take it seriously
If today some sikkimese (Bhutia,Lepcha or Nepali) are occupying the chairs of big boss in government estalisshment than its only because of being a Sikkimese defined by the Chogyal regime, now having fruits they should not forget the future of their generations . The future is only protected if Article 371F is properly implemented ,wherein three ethenic are defined and protected constitually and legally. Our youths like Navin should come in open now to fight for yourself and sikkimese.
Thank you Navin.
3,50,000 Sikkim subject holders with Volume No and Serial No are happy that they have not to pay Income tax and thus save a huge sum. The rest 1,50,000 will pay tax with pride as a contribution to national excehquer. The Cabinet meeting itself recently has directed for TDS of salary. Good Bye to Article 371F . But who is responsible ? It is the Beaurocrats who negotiated.
Yes, SEVA I agree with you. It is sad our own people are manipulating with 371-F for their personal interest, be politicians or bureaucrats. Our bureaucrats might have forgotten that they were inducted into Sikkim govt jobs according to the Sikkim Government service rule 4(4), which is protected by clause (k) of Article 371-.F. HAVING SAID THAT, LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR “WE THE PRESENT GENERATION WILL NOT MAKE THIS HAPPEN” (manipulating Article 371-F). I will fight for our right till the last blood remaining in my life.
So pleaseee every sikkimese brothers and sisters, try to understand how serious and important is Article 371-F in our life.
people ..dont expect anythng from this government…incompetent..corrupt …communal..dats wat this government is..
SONAM DENZONGPA IS RIGHT and i quote
” If today some sikkimese (Bhutia,Lepcha or Nepali) are occupying the chairs of big boss in government estalisshment than its only because of being a Sikkimese defined by the Chogyal regime, now having fruits they should not forget the future of their generations ”
This government is just busy with amendments ..i dnt think the present government will do anythng positive to safeguard the 371f ….
i would like to add somethng more here
” last week i had been to SECRETARIAT to inquire about my sister’s Stipend money..and what i came to know was that though the money had been sanctioned by the Central Government, the State Government used it for paying the salary of the employees..so thats how the Sikkim Government functions…”
SO GUYS …IF AN IMMEDIATE MATTER LIKE SALARIES ARE SNUBBED THIS WAY..JUST THINK ABT 371F..government doesnt bother abt it at ol….i would rather say…we have a useless government
SIKKIM POLITICS— SIKKIM SUBJECT
Posted by Tashi Pemba
Sikkim Subject :
You may bury an injustice but you can never kill an injustice.
Like Banquo’s ghost it will come back to haunt you till your death.
Today the term “Sikkim Subject” is being used to supposedly describe indigenous Sikkimese people .In fact the status is an absolute misnomer as the aforesaid “status” has been reinvented by a circuitous Sikkim government initiated ploy in 1989 to allow Nepalese of not known nationality who came to populate Sikkim after its merger with India in 1975 to become not only citizens of India but gain domicile status in the state of Sikkim.
Simultaneously the same central government directive by a sleight of hand allowed by this notification (obviously engineered by the state government) that all the old settlers of Sikkim other than Nepalese would be deprived of their constitutional right of domicile in the state as the rule allows only rural land owners to apply for Sikkim subject when the King’s laws specifically encouraged Indians to purchase land only in urban areas.
History.
The Sikkim Subject Regulations came into being in 1961 under the erstwhile King of Sikkim to stop the influx of Nepalese into his kingdom as they were posing a danger to the indigenous population. The regulations specifically allowed Sikkim subject status only to people settled in Sikkim for at least 14 years before promulgation i.e. 1961.
This law was specifically directed towards stopping Nepalese/Tibetan/Foreigners influx into Sikkim but has been construed today to deprive Indian people who have been in Sikkim for not 15 but 50 years before the act was extended in 1961.
This law also applied to all Nepalese/Tibetan immigrants and in fact even more so as they were also governed by the “Sikkim Work Permit Regulations” (till date in effect ) which further required that on entry into Sikkim they must be listed (unless they were Indians) and they were specifically were barred from any property rights in Sikkim.
Thus any entrants to Sikkim before 1974 must either be Indians or if they were stateless then they should have been registered under the work permit rules and there should be a record with the government of these people, and they alone if any, are entitled to Domicile status. All others must be considered as Foreigners without any rights.
In addition all Indians were protected by the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Sikkim and India. The treaty specifically recognized the reciprocal rights of Sikkimese and Indians to settle in, own property and engage in commerce in each others territory without any let or hindrance.
The treaty specifically granted to Indian Citizens all the rights of citizenship under the Sikkimese Government and the 1961 regulations acknowledged this fact by not requiring Indians to apply for the aforesaid “Subject Status” to avail of any protection under Sikkim’s laws as absolutely equal citizens.
In fact the Indian community as a whole were treated absoloutely equally by the ruler and his administration without any discrimination whatsoever vis-à-vis the indigenous people. After the ruler was deposed in 1975 both “Padma Vibhushan Kazi” and “N.B. Bhandari” administrations continued the equal treatment and in fact even the current administration more or less continued the same policies till the passing of the Finance Act 2008 when Mr.Chidambaran was inveigled into pronouncing on the term “Sikkimese” in the Union Budget.
This opened a “Pandora’s box” and the “Chamling” government quickly started expanding on the term (Sikkimese and “Sikkim Subject”) to deprive a communally sensitive minority of their rights in a blatant attempt to try and foist an ethnically Nepalese state on the Indian union. (The indigenous people are a fast reducing minority who will like the Parsees soon face extinction and all the other communities have been deprived of Domicile status by a spate of bills in the Sikkim Assembly which even deprive them of Basic Human rights.)
Thus all others in spite of living in Sikkim for more than a hundred years are now not “Sikkim Subjects” ——all state protection and avenues of advancement are barred to them. (No hospital treatment/no educational benefits/no trade licenses/ no part in any state sponsored activity.)
In actual fact the Nepalese of unknown status(stateless according to petition of the “Bhandari” government in the petitions committee of Rajya Sabha) were granted both Indian citizenship and by a convoluted operative portion of the directive also became “Sikkim Subject’s” although “Sikkim Subject status” was specifically repealed by the Central Government when Sikkim joined the Indian Union .There cannot legally be any recognition of any status beyond “Indian Citizen” or “State Domicile” as these are the only two recognized status for a citizen of India.
However cleverly the above ‘Sikkimese” status pronounced by Mr. Chidamabaran is now being used as a logic to bestow citizenship (central government’s prerogative) in the state of Sikkim. The “Chamling” Government has in effect allowed Stateless persons to acquire a status above the actual Domiciled people of the state—a special citizenship granted by the state government. Any special status for foreigner’s would certainly in years to come translate into a fertile ground for anti –India forces to claim and proclaim sovereignty and other such mischievous claims in Sikkim.
Conclusion.
The fate of Jammu after Prime Minister Pandit Nehru’s tribe were thrown out and where today no Indians are left to protect or project India’s claims will surely descend on Sikkim too.
The constitutional anarchy attempted by the ‘Chamling” government in trying to foist a Nepalese population as absolute rulers on the minority indigenous Sikkimese and their natural allies “The Old Sikkimese of other than Nepalese origins” must and will result in the fall of the government for unconstitutional practices as soon as the central government or the Supreme court applies its mind to the subject as at the least basic protection under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India have been blatantly flouted.
article 19 (1) (a) of the indian constitution provides us freedom of speech. having said that, at the same time article 19 (2) also bars us from speaking against any community.
past is past, it is useless to talk who came from where? this sorts of things or topic makes communal people from the section stronger.
so please people, lets say WE SIKKIMESE rather I.
I have read Sikkim Subject Regulation Act, 1961. It was not ment against the Nepalese community, rather it was the first step th provide citizenship to the deserving Silkkimese.
if you have, you also read the speech given by the then crown prince, Palden Thudup Namgyal who was the chairman of the drafting committee of the SSR, Act, 1961 at New Delhi at feb, 1961.
please read my article, CLARITY IN CITIZENSHIP for some idea.
and yes, about providing COI (regardless to any community) at the year 1989, it should be properly verified and the guilty should be punished.
this topic was about integration, not differentiation.
why talk about Sikkim Subject Regulation Act, 1961? It has already been repealed by the Adaption of Old Laws (No 1 Order), 1975 on 13 Sep 1975, affecting from 26 April 1975.
sorry speech was at Feb, 1962
yes mr navin d spririt is dre… bt if u dont differentiate between d real sikkim subject holders those who have been there since the chogyals time or mybe before and d present inflated one where many have been jst made sikkim subject holders just becoz they have similarity wid a particular community and the leadership in sikkim is solely dependent on them then dont u think some sort of differentiation has to be done…..
otherwise the original inhabitants and there culture would be history…
and an open fact is dat politics is being played wid the sikkim subject matter…ya d bureaucrats have been lame ducks just worried about their posts…