Sikkim and the Himalayan Chess Game (2016)
historytoday.com34 points by pepys 6 days ago
34 points by pepys 6 days ago
Sikkim is one of the most beautiful states in India. And surprisingly a fairly prosperous one[1].
Thankfully, the mistake of Tibet where India helped Chinese army was not repeated.[2]
1 - https://ashishb.net/travel/gorkhaland-west-bengal-and-sikkim... 2 - https://latest.sundayguardianlive.com/news/nehrus-india-help...
I still don’t get how the world cares so much about conflicts in other parts of the world but ignores the colonization and takeover of Tibet by the CCP
It happened more than 70 years ago. What would be the point? I remember my mum wearing a Free Tibet t-shirt in the 90s, but even then it was a fait accompli.
Because it hasn’t resulted in a stable situation or a historical event that stops being relevant to the current moment. No harmony has formed since. It is still essentially an ongoing invasion and erasure and oppression of Tibetan culture and people. See moves related to giant damn building most recently, but it is has been continuous, and there are big concerns among Tibetans about it getting worse still in the future, when the Dalai Lama dies. Only the initial maneuvers of invading are in the past, the rest applies to the current moment, day by day.
the history of thibet is full of endless raiding and invasions by the thibetans on there low land niehbors, though they have been conquored themselves and the very title of dalai was created by a mongol emperor who controlled most of inner aisia in the late 1500's and so depending on where in history someone chooses to begin there arguments as to legitemacy is of course less meaningfull than the facts on.the ground, same with borders attempting to magicaly change demographics, if you dont have both, you have nothing.
Tibet has been a part of China for longer than your country's civilization history.
Sikkim was annexed by India in 1975, and its neighbor Bhutan currently retains limited sovereignty under Indian threats.
> Sikkim was annexed by India in 1975
A referendum was held in April 1975, where over 97% of voters supported abolishing the monarchy and joining India.
> its neighbor Bhutan currently retains limited sovereignty under Indian threats.
Source? or are you just spreading CCP propaganda?
Go look for the referendum results in the Ganges, poor Western netizens.
> Go look for the referendum results in the Ganges
What does this even mean? Do you have a source to back up your claims or not?
> poor Western netizens.
What is this to do with westerners?
Are you having trouble translating Chinese to English ?
You've been advised to read and follow the guidelines multiple times in the past.
If you have a constructive and informative counter response that will educate "poor westerners" then by all means provide that.
>A referendum was held in April 1975, where over 97% of voters supported abolishing the monarchy and joining India.
I know you are trying to express that the annexation is supported by the Sikkimese... But referendum is by far the worst tool you can use to support your point. Even more so, when South Asia is notorious for election rigging.
By the same logic, Crimea should "rightfully" be under Russia's rule.
> I know you are trying to express that the annexation is supported by the Sikkimese
Do you have any sources that say they don't support being part of India ?
> Even more so, when South Asia
Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in 1975 and lost in 1977. If there was widespread election rigging she wouldn't have lost the election.
> By the same logic, Crimea should "rightfully" be under Russia's rule.
Can you point to a separatist movement from the people of Sikkim, 1975 to today ? Without that, your comment just doesn't make any sense. You come across as CCP shill.
>Do you have any sources that say they don't support being part of India ?
I never said anything to that effect.
I simply said referendum, especially one regarding the sovereignty of a nation, is a wildly inaccurate tool to assess popularity.
Hence,
>You come across as CCP shill.
Is a very, very disappointing direction that you have decided to take the discussion toward.
As someone who has been to Sikkim and spoken with people there, I can say they are proud and happy to be Indians. In fact, they receive several concessions from the Indian state for being part of the Union - for example, they are exempt from income tax. While a referendum may not always be the best measure of sentiment, the absence of insurgency in Sikkim (unlike in some other regions in India) suggests that people are broadly content with being part of India.
If you have been there and know that the Sikkimese are comfortable with being part of India, that's good!
I am only resistant to the idea that "referendums = popularity".
According to your logic, you could go to eastern Ukraine and ask the same question in ten years. Or maybe even less.