Constructing Sikkimese national identity in the 1960s and 1970s

A generation has lapsed since Sikkim was annexed by India. Yet symbolic remnants from its former life as a semi-independent Buddhist kingdom linger: the election system reserves twelve seats for the minority Bhutia-Lepcha community; the Sikkim national flag decorates the rear windows of vehicles plying the steep streets of Gangtok; and the towering, five-peaked Mount Kangchendzonga still stirs the hearts of Sikkimese from government bureacrats in the capital to cardamon cultivators in remote hamlets. These legacies hark back to the 1960s and 1970s when the last Chogyal, or king of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal (1923-1981), and others led domestic efforts to create and shape a national identity for the kingdom, namely, an identity embraced by the multi-ethnic people of Sikkim and accepted as the foundation for a collective interest. Concurrently, the Chogyal strove to carve out a distinct international identity for Sikkim, specifically, apolitical presence on the world stage clarifying his country's status as an independent entity that enjoyed special treaty relations with India.