Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee appeals to Nepal to respect sanctity of Mt Kangchenjunga
In two separate letters addressed to Nepal's tourism minister and the NMA president, SIBLAC urged the authorities to reconsider their decision to allow a joint mountaineering expedition involving climbers from India and Nepal, which is scheduled to begin from Nepal on June 18 under the aegis of India's National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports .
According to SIBLAC, Mt Kangchenjunga is not merely a geographical landmark but a sacred entity, revered as a guardian deity by the Sikkimese people.
The organisation noted that the mountain is central to the state's religious and cultural heritage, and is associated with annual prayers and ceremonies deeply rooted in local traditions.
The letters further reference the 2001 notification by the Government of Sikkim, which banned mountaineering activities on the mountain out of respect for local beliefs. They also invoked provisions of Article 371F and Sikkim's special status within the Indian Constitution, emphasising the protection of indigenous customs and religious sentiments.
SIBLAC warned that any expedition involving summiting Kangchenjunga, particularly from Nepal, could be perceived as a serious cultural violation, and called for the mountain to be treated with spiritual reverence rather than as a site for adventure tourism.
The committee requested both governments to act with sensitivity and uphold the sacred status of the mountain.
The appeal concluded with a request to halt the planned ascent and preserve the spiritual and environmental sanctity of the region, while respecting the sentiments of the Sikkimese people.
SIBLAC had earlier urged the Sikkim government to enforce the standing prohibition on climbing Mt Kanchenjunga, citing the sacred status of the mountain and the legal protections already in place. It had condemned the summit attempt by a group of mountaineers in May.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Supreme Court To Hear Plea On J&K Statehood Restoration On August 14
New Delhi: The Supreme Court would on Thursday hear a plea for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran is likely to hear the matter, according to the causelist. On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370, even as it ordered that assembly elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024 and its statehood be restored "at the earliest". Last year, a plea was filed in the top court seeking directions to the Centre for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir within two months. The application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist. "It is submitted that the delay in the restoration of statehood would cause serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, causing a grave violation of the idea of federalism which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India," the application said. The assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls were conducted peacefully in Jammu and Kashmir without any incident of violence, disturbance or any security concerns being reported, it said. "Therefore, there is no impediment of security concerns, violence or any other disturbances which would hinder or prevent the grant/restoration of the status of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as had been assured by the Union of India in the present proceedings," the plea said. The non-restoration of the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, the plea said, would result in a lesser form of elected democratic government to the state, particularly given legislative assembly results were declared on October 8, 2024. Despite the supreme court's directions for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir "at the earliest and as soon as possible", no steps have been taken by the Centre to provide any timeline for the implementation of such directions, it claimed. "Jammu and Kashmir is being operated as a Union Territory for a period of almost five years now, which has caused many impediments and grave losses to the development of Jammu and Kashmir and has affected the democratic rights of its citizens," the plea added. In its December 2023 verdict, the supreme court held that Article 370, which was incorporated in the Indian Constitution in 1949 to grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was a temporary provision. The President of India was empowered to revoke the measure in the absence of the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state whose term expired in 1957, the court said.
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Add a word to the preamble, don't subtract two
When India won freedom in 1947, some of the finest and most far-sighted ideas in the realm of anti-colonial thought lost out in the struggle for power at the helm of the post-colonial state. Foremost among these was the imperative of power-sharing arrangements between the federal centre and the constituent units. Partition, with its religious connotation, obfuscated the provincial political dynamics that had made imaginative ideas of a federation such an irresistible goal for a cross-section of anti-colonial nationalists. We need to engage in a creative process of historical retrieval of visions for substantive democracy and federal union during the struggle for freedom that remained unrealised during the post-colonial transition. On June 26, leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh suggested considering removal of the terms 'secular' and 'socialist' from the preamble of the Indian Constitution. These two words had been inserted as part of the 42nd Amendment railroaded through parliament during the authoritarian interregnum of the Emergency. The erasure of 'secular' would be a symbolic victory for the proponents of a Hindu republic and consigning 'socialist' to the dustbin of history would be appropriate in an era that brazenly revels in increasing socio-economic inequality. Both secularism and socialism had been adduced by Indira Gandhi as ideological pillars of centralised state authority. As these columns have cracked and crumbled in formally democratic India, religious majoritarianism has been harnessed in the service of centralised authoritarianism. If symbolism in the preamble matters, it may be much wiser to add a word rather than subtracting two. On November 15, 1948, K T Shah had brought an amendment to Article 1 to proclaim: 'India shall be a secular, federal, socialist union of states.' The preamble was not up for debate at that stage of the proceedings, hence Shah wanted to bring clarity by amending the first article. 'Lest the term 'union' should lead anyone to imagine that it is a unitary government,' Shah stated, 'I should like to make it clear, in the very first article, the first clause of that article, that it is a 'federal union'.'
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Time of India
SC to hear on Aug 14 plea for restoring Jammu & Kashmir statehood
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Supreme Court would on Thursday hear a plea for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran is likely to hear the matter, according to the December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370, even as it ordered that assembly elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024 and its statehood be restored "at the earliest".Last year, a plea was filed in the top court seeking directions to the Centre for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir within two application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist."It is submitted that the delay in the restoration of statehood would cause serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, causing a grave violation of the idea of federalism which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India," the application assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls were conducted peacefully in Jammu and Kashmir without any incident of violence, disturbance or any security concerns being reported, it said."Therefore, there is no impediment of security concerns, violence or any other disturbances which would hinder or prevent the grant/restoration of the status of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as had been assured by the Union of India in the present proceedings," the plea non-restoration of the status of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, the plea said, would result in a lesser form of elected democratic government to the state, particularly given legislative assembly results were declared on October 8, the apex court's directions for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir "at the earliest and as soon as possible", no steps have been taken by the Centre to provide any timeline for the implementation of such directions, it claimed."Jammu and Kashmir is being operated as a Union Territory for a period of almost five years now, which has caused many impediments and grave losses to the development of Jammu and Kashmir and has affected the democratic rights of its citizens," the plea its December 2023 verdict, the apex court held that Article 370, which was incorporated in the Indian Constitution in 1949 to grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was a temporary provision. The President of India was empowered to revoke the measure in the absence of the Constituent Assembly of the erstwhile state whose term expired in 1957, the court said.
