Docile even in the face of the loss of a kingdom, could it be that decades later the Bhutia and Lepcha are finding their voice, to try and protect what remains of their precious land?
For the first time in Sikkim´s recent democratic history, the Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepcha have come forward to defend what remains of their original homeland. This sudden awakening of Sikkim´s indigenous population, otherwise renowned for its timidity, was prompted by the construction of a hydro-electric project in the very heart of Sikkim´s most sacred region.
The docile Bhutia-Lepcha have little tradition of protest and tend to shun confrontation even when things turn unpleasant. Even the integration of the kingdom into the Indian Union in 1975 was carried out without much resistance, with Sikkim literally handed over with only one casualty among the Sikkim Guards.
It was to be a full 20 years before Sikkimese lamas would take to the streets of Gangtok, demanding that their land and heritage be protected. On 29 July this year, representatives from 1 all the monasteries of the former kingdom marched through Gangtok, beating drums and cymbals and carrying banners. They were demanding that work on the Rathong Chu hydroelectric project be stopped and the whole exercise be abandoned immediately.