The 1961 Sikkim subject regulation and ‘indirect rule’ in Sikkim: ancestrality, land property and unequal citizenship

Vandenhelsken, Mélanie

doi:10.1080/14631369.2020.1801338

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Such development has definitely a positive impact on political stability (Table 2 ). Despite periodic pressures from national political leadership during the post-merger period (Sikkim was twice under President’s Rule), the local political parties have successfully balanced internal issues and development agenda since then (Vandenhelsken 2021 ; Prasad 2021 ). We have also seen how national parties have tried and failed to gain traction.…”

Section: Key Drivers Influencing Political Stability In Sikkimmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite his strong opposition to the kingdom’s merger with India, Palden Namgyal Thodup, the then Chogyal (king), was able to negotiate a number of policy decisions that would guarantee special constitutional protections for the Sikkimese at the time of the merger (Vandenhelsken 2021 ; Gupta 1975 ; Sikkim Darbar Gazette 1961 ). Since then its political and economic development has been smooth, as well as unique and replicable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Political stability and its effect on economy: some lessons from Sikkim Himalaya

Singha

Singh

2022

J. Soc. Econ. Dev.

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The Himalayan state of Sikkim has a unique political culture and social environment that could be replicated. Unlike other north-eastern states of India where ethnic identities have been intensely used for electoral politics and state developmentalism, the collective Sikkimese identity has taken precedence over narrow ethnic identity politics in Sikkim. As a result, the state has evolved as one of the most politically stable and better-governed states in India, resulting in rapid economic growth. This has been made possible by the charismatic quality of its political leadership, and the peoples’ collective vision of an inclusive Sikkimese identity.

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Section: Key Drivers Influencing Political Stability In Sikkimmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political stability and its effect on economy: some lessons from Sikkim Himalaya

Singha

Singh

2022

J. Soc. Econ. Dev.

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“…17.On the vexed question of Marwaris’ claims for recognition as ‘Sikkimese’, see ‘Rights, Distribution, and Ethnicisation: The Marwari’s Claims for Recognition as “Old Settlers” in Sikkim’ (Thatal, 2021), and ‘The 1961 Sikkim Subject Regulation and “Indirect Rule” in Sikkim: Ancestrality, Land Property and Unequal Citizenship’ (Vandenhelsken, 2021). …”

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confidence: 99%

Fashioning a ‘Buddhist’ Himalayan Cartography: Sikkim Darbar and the Cabinet Mission Plan

Chawla

2023

India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs

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In the months leading up to the transfer of power in India, the eastern Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim made several representations to the Cabinet Mission and other constitutional bodies that were giving shape to the successor Indian government. The Sikkim Darbar was worried that its ambiguous position under colonial treaties might lead India to treat it as one of the five-hundred odd princely states that were slowly merging with the union. In letters, memoranda, legal briefs, and personal meetings, the Darbar argued that it was racially, religiously, socially, and culturally distinct from India, and that its allegiance lied to its north with Tibet. This article traces the vocabulary for the Sikkim Darbar’s assertion of difference from India back to the racialised imperial writing and realpolitik that had informed colonial policy towards the Himalayan states since the nineteenth century, most notably Olaf Caroe’s 1940 thesis on the ‘Mongolian Fringe’. This archival evidence emphasises Sikkimese agency and helps excavate an imagination of the Himalaya from within the region. The article also nuances the history of the forging of Indian republic by foregrounding the processes of negotiation and compromise that continued to shape the territorial contours of the Indian nation long after the moment of decolonisation. 1

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Ancestrality, Migration, Rights and Exclusion: Citizenship in the Indian State of Sikkim

Vandenhelsken

2020

Asian Ethnicity

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This is the introduction to a special issue of Asian Ethnicity that includes six papers on the issue of citizenship in the Indian state of Sikkim, from the perspectives of anthropology, political science, sociology and history. These contributions explore the entanglement of migration and ethnicity that defines political membership and exclusion in Sikkim, as it does in other parts of India. They give a central place to the consequences of the combination of the 1961 Sikkim Subject regulation (that remained valid after Sikkim became a part of India in 1975) and 'group-differentiated citizenship' in a context where Sikkim's population-formed through people's mobility within a region that has long been a crossroads between Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Indiawas brought into the frame of a territorial concept of the nation. These papers also explore the means used by people in Sikkim to contest their categorisation by the state.

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The 1961 Sikkim subject regulation and ‘indirect rule’ in Sikkim: ancestrality, land property and unequal citizenship

Cited by 3 publications

References 22 publications

Political stability and its effect on economy: some lessons from Sikkim Himalaya

Political stability and its effect on economy: some lessons from Sikkim Himalaya

Fashioning a ‘Buddhist’ Himalayan Cartography: Sikkim Darbar and the Cabinet Mission Plan

Ancestrality, Migration, Rights and Exclusion: Citizenship in the Indian State of Sikkim

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