The State of Sikkim was once a unique and historic country that unfortunately perished in 1975. The main reason for this tragedy is the expansionist policy of India, a powerful country in South Asia, which brought profound disasters to neighboring countries, including the violation of China's borders, which eventually led to the Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962.
Let's uncover the reasons behind India's annexation of Sikkim and the fate of Sikkim. Historically, Sikkim was not wealthy and was once part of the Tibetan dynasty founded by Songtsen Gampo and was inhabited mainly by Tibetan immigrants.
Although Sikkim became independent in 1642 and established the Namugar dynasty, it did not bring significant development. So why is India annexing this once-bordering country?
What does the future hold for Sikkim? Let's delve into this little-known history.
Sikkim has been invaded by neighboring countries many times in its history, and the Kingdom of Bhutan has even invaded it many times. In the face of a powerless counterattack, Sikkim can only rely on the support of our country's ** region to maintain its own regime.
Surprisingly, the fourth king of Sikkim escaped from the palace after a quarrel with his wife and became a wandering dervishe. By the end of the 18th century, Sikkim was once again invaded by Nepal, and the king had no choice but to flee to ** again and ask for help from the Qing Dynasty.
Fortunately, with the help of Emperor Qianlong, Sikkim was able to barely maintain its own power.
After that, Sikkim officially became a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, but even under the protection of the Qing court, Sikkim still faced the challenge of survival. Frequent invasions of Sikkim by neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Nepal have led to the annexation of a large number of eastern and southern territories of Sikkim and the shrinking size of the country.
By the 19th century, British colonialism was rapidly gaining ground in South Asia, and the East India Company army poured into Sikkim and nearly destroyed the Sikkim regime. In 1861, Sikkim fell completely under British rule.
The British used Sikkim as a springboard and repeatedly harassed the ** territory of the Qing court. At that time, the Qing Dynasty's national strength was weakened and could only retreat, which further fueled the arrogance of British colonialism.
After success in South Asia and China, the British forced India, the Qing Dynasty, Sikkim and other countries to sign the Sino-British-Tibet-India Treaty in 1890, forcing the Qing Dynasty to recognize the British protectorate status of Sikkim.
The political reforms carried out after the British takeover of Sikkim promoted Sikkim's economic development and the improvement of the social system to a certain extent. A large number of Nepalis have been drawn to Sikkim and the livelihood of people in Sikkim has improved.
However, with the outbreak of World War II, Britain's colonial power suffered heavy losses, and large swaths of the colonies, including Sikkim, were abandoned. Sikkim eventually became independent, but in the context of being colonized by India, India began to covet Sikkim.
In January after India's independence, Sikkim signed the Status Quo Agreement with India to become independent and maintain the status quo.
After India's independence, Sikkim, although nominally an independent state, was in fact taken over by India in its entirety. Despite this, Sikkim did not lose much sovereignty and was sheltered by India, a powerful South Asian powerhouse.
However, India will not be kind to Sikkim because of this. After the signing of the Status Quo Agreement, India began to support the people of Sikkim to launch a non-cooperation movement and push for reforms in Sikkim.
The Kingdom of Sikkim, having just freed itself from British rule, had serious social problems internally. The Indians took advantage of popular movements and demonstrations, in the name of keeping peace, to send troops into Sikkim, take over the new **, and appoint the Indian as prime minister.
Map and history of Sikkim**) India's ambitions for Sikkim have long been ......clear. 1. Sikkim is facing the crisis of extinction, and the time is fixed on December 5, 1950.
India used diplomatic pressure to force Sikkim to sign the Indian Sikkim Peace Treaty. The treaty, which is similar to the status quo pact that preceded it, considers Sikkim to be a protectorate of India.
However, the new treaty granted India more rights, including defence, foreign affairs, banking, and international aid, making Sikkim a fully Indian state. Second, Sikkim's path to independence was challenging, and its destiny was firmly in India's hands.
The people of Sikkim could not stand the exploitation of their country by India, and they regularly took to the streets in the hope of driving out the Indians; At the same time, Sikkim** also sought assistance from the international community to find the newly established China.
However, the situation in China at that time was not optimistic. First of all, China has just become independent, and its domestic power needs to be consolidated, and it cannot spare energy to help Sikkim fight India. Second, China has no intention of being an enemy of India and has always adhered to the position of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
Therefore, we can only issue warnings and condemnations from the international community and do not directly send troops to assist the people of Sikkim.
The Indian army invaded Sikkim and controlled it militarily, disregarded international rules, deprived it of its sovereignty, designated it as an associated state of India, completely hollowed out Sikkim**, and even disbanded its army and placed the king under house arrest, which seriously violated the territorial integrity and national independence of Sikkim.
Such acts are immoral and should be condemned by the international community.
In the midst of the noise, India pretended to hold a referendum on whether Sikkim "chose to join India". Since there are many Nepalese in Sikkim who are supported by India, the result of this referendum can only be the annexation of Sikkim to India.
In this way, the Sikkim Dynasty, which had a history of more than 300 years, collapsed and became a state of India. Despite the demise of the country, many people of Sikkim still maintain a deep loyalty to the royal family, and the exiles of Sikkim** have also been angry at the fact that India has annexed Sikkim.
In 1982, Wangchuck, the 13th King of Sikkim, ascended the throne in New York, USA. To this day, Wangchuck is still fighting for the independence of Sikkim, constantly accusing India of its past aggression.
Despite Wangchuck Tensingh Namgar's best efforts to fight for Sikkim's independence, so far, no country in the world has recognized Sikkim's independent status and the status of King Wangchuck.
Even so, Wangchuck made a secret visit to Sikkim in 2014 and promised the people of Sikkim that he would continue to work for the independence of the kingdom. India** also admitted that their encroachment on Sikkim was immoral, so they imposed a blockade on Sikkim and mobilized a large number of Indians to live in Sikkim, resulting in Sikkim becoming more and more "Indianized".
Sikkim's past has been deliberately obscured by India, who have used religion and culture as a means to "make Indian cultural elements all over the streets of Sikkim."
Under the influence of India, Sikkim's economic development is gradually on the right track, with agriculture and tourism flourishing, bringing abundant income to the local area. To appease the feelings of the people of Sikkim, India gives them financial subsidies every year.
As a result, Sikkim has become the third largest state in India in terms of GDP per capita, and the standard of living of the people is relatively high.
Although the GDP of the Indian states has increased year by year, Sikkim's industrial system is still underdeveloped and the agricultural model is relatively primitive. India** accounts for more than 30% of its annual fiscal revenue.
Even more worrying is the suicide rate in Sikkim that it has reached 375,10000 and the unemployment rate also reached 15 per cent, both indicators are three times higher than the national average of India.
Therefore, Sikkim under Indian rule was not happy. The Kingdom of Sikkim is history, and now they are just a state in India. Hopefully, India will treat Sikkim well and live up to this region with centuries of history and culture.