The legend of April "73" Agitation in Sikkim

I was not born when Sikkim got merged with the mighty Indian Union, but being a student of Sikkim History, all that is available to me is a rack of books by different authors and those old folks who had been part of that historical “April ‘73’ Agitation”. When I go through the history of Sikkim, April ‘73 Agitation holds an important role, mostly as the turning point of the Independent Sikkim and the Sikkim State. The mass demonstrations against the Chogyal rule shocked the 300-year-old monarchy system and ushered in democratic rule in Sikkim. 

The agitation was a result “due to big differences which ensued with the demand of repoll in one booth by Kazi Lhendup Dorji and Mr. Krishna Chandra Pradhan, as such the Chogyal had to face the people’s agitation launched by the Joint Action Committee with the tacit blessings of the Government of India. This people’s political movement spearheaded by Kazi Lhendup Dorji finally resulted in Sikkim joining the mainstream as the 22nd State of India in 1975”.

March 26, 1973 at Gangtok (MG Road)

The face of agitation started during the fifth General Election in January 1973, wherein Rabong constituency alleged that the Durbar had rigged the election result. The National Congress led by LD Kazi and Sikkim Janta Congress led by KC Pradhan charged the Presiding Officer with aiding and abetting the Sikkim National Party in rigging the election. On February 2 protest was lodged and letters were written to the Chogyal and the Election Committee. 

With the final election result favouring the Sikkim National Party (they won 11 out of 18), there was major disappointment among the other local parties. Two (one each of the National Congress and Sikkim Janta Congress) of the six newly elected councils declined the office. The masses felt that they had been created, and as a result, a large demonstration broke out at Gangtok bazaar that slowly ignited to every corner of the then-independent kingdom of Sikkim.

On March 26th, 1973, as KC Pradhan told in his interview with Weekend Review, “That day, there was not a step that could be taken in Gangtok Bazaar. There were 8,000 people…..it looked like the whole of Sikkim had assembled there. I spoke at the meeting, and people were highly agitated. After the meeting and my speech, I was arrested and jailed at 4.30.”. The arrest further gave air to the movement. Twenty Thousand agitators joined the national movement at Gangtok.

The next day the Joint Action Council of the Sikkim Janta Congress and the National Congress submitted a memorandum to the Chogyal seeking four demands. The demands were i) release of the arrested leaders, b) enquiring into the rigging of the 1973 Council elections, c) a man-vote system of election, and d) setting up of a democratic system of government. BS Das in Sikkim Saga puts, “ If the Chogyal as an intelligent and shrewd person had conceded the four demands of the political leaders in April itself, Delhi would have no position to do anything beyond accepting the arrangements between the two sides. Ultimately, the Chogyal, by refusing to come to such an understanding with his opponents and confronting Delhi, thereby lost his rulership and his kingdom”.

MG Road during the 73 agitation

With the demands of the JAC not meeting to a result, on April 4, the agitated mobs surrounded the Durbar. The Durbar Police fired, injuring eight persons, and even a teargas shell was busted. The crowd went violent, capturing police stations, government offices, and houses of government officers were destroyed, and an effigy of the king was also burnt. The agitators echoed the ending of monarchy rule. Till then, the agitation spread to other towns and villages in Sikkim. The Durbar administration had collapsed, and Gangtok Bazaar was beyond control. The much-hyped 50^th birthday of the Chogyal on April 4 was canceled at every village and the small town of Sikkim. Chogyal had no option but to call upon India for help and restore normalcy in the region.

Sikkim and India, written by BSK Grover, the Indian Army took control of the situation on April 6. The act resulted from the Chogyal's request to the Indian Political Officer KS Bajpai. The request came under the news that 15,000 volunteers of the JAC were heading for Gangtok from Sangkhola (Near Singtam). A telegram was sent by the members of the JAC to Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, appealing to her to intervene in the matter.

Here I would like to draw attention to what my grandfather told me once, he remembered being at Gangtok during the pro-democracy movement in Sikkim where he was caught along with thousands of other protestors and kept captive at Palzor Stadium. He persisted that he belonged from Kalimpong but the CRPF (Central Reserve Protection Force) were not interested in his words, they replied all Nepalese are to be kept captive wherever they belonged to. For around 10 days, protestors could not move from Palzor Stadium. They had to chant the entire day, “Long live Indira Gandhi”. After democracy was restored in Sikkim, everyone was freed.

On April 8, BS Das was appointed as the Chief Administrator of Sikkim. The following day, JAC suspended the entire revolution. This signified the takeover of the administration of the Kingdom of Sikkim by the government of India, and the people of Sikkim acknowledged it, too. On April 13, the Chogyal attended the press conference and announced that the constitutional and administrative reforms would be discussed.

Thus it was on May 8, 1973, the Tripartite Agreement was signed at the Palace by the Chogyal, Kewal Singh, the Indian Foreign Secretary, and the five representatives of the three political parties that included the Sikkim National Party, the Sikkim National Congress, and the Janta Congress. The Agreement provided a democratic setup for Sikkim, administrative improvement, and closer relations with India.