History lessons for Chamling

Gangtok, March 31, 2006: On the final part of his tour to Europe, the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling, reached London. At the moment, he seemed to be keenly interested in the political history of Sikkim as he requested the British government to provide him historical documents pertaining to the influence of the British in Sikkim from the British Library in Euston, London. For a better understanding of the bygone historical links, Chamling has solicited the details of the agreement in the 1930s when Darjeeling was gifted by Sikkim to the ruling British government in India. He has also asked for the document written by John Claude White who was the first administrative official posted in Sikkim.

It is likely that the chief minister plans to chalk out his development plans for the state based on historical links; this was what he also said during a meeting with tour operators and businessmen in London.

However, the request of the inquisitive chief minister was not confined to the above documents but it was quite a long list. He also asked for detailed accounts written on military activities led by the British into Tibet via Sikkim; records of photographs and correspondences exchanged between the Sikkim government and the British govt. in India. Apart from these, he also requested details on the trade link between India and Tibet between 1860 to 1947 and treatise done by scientists, anthropologists and experts on Sikkim including the works of botanist J. D. Hooker.

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