Himalayan Times (1955)

Eight

ffetsr.atlBgxn 'Jhum

November 6, 1965

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Tlu Editor is notmpoiuiN* forvUteMixjmiMi in Mi mJwmh Hi.U. Timet

TIBETAN ORGANISATION

Sir, I have been instructed
by the members of the Execu-
tive Committee of the Associa-
tion of Tibetan Indiana to
issue the following rejoinder on
behalf of the Association to the
article written by ShrK T. Tashi
Tobgyel in your "Himalayan
Times" of 23rd ultimo under
the caption of "Tibetan Orga-
nisation."

"We do not know the
iudentity of Shri T. Tashi Tob-
gyel but from his article, it
appears that ho has got very
poor knowledge of Tibetan
Kiduks' position in Kalimpong.
Read between the lines it also
appears that he has written the
article in question under the
dictation of some interested
people because it is full of
absurd things.

If Shri Tobgyel is'a bona-
fide Tibetan then we 'request
him to come to our office,
which is situated on the top
floor of Chung building on the
ina'n road on 10th instant at
4. P. M. where we will try to
explain him our position in
India and the reason for the
formation cf our Association.
Space and time forbid us to
put all these down in writing.
If he is coming to our office
then let him intimate the
undersigned before 9th inst.
In the mean time we also re-
quest the EDITOR of the
Himalayan Times to grace us
with his presence during our
talk so that he may be our
Before*.

Siuce Shri Tobgyel has
written a lengthy article, we
are also compelled besides the
above invitation to him to
comment as briefly as possible

on his article, paragraph
by paragraph.
Re; para I.

Shri Topgyel has triod but
miserably failed to give the
names of all the local Tibetan
Kiduks. Moreover he lias given
the name of some Kiduk which
is not in existence and some
Kiduks are not at all connected
with Panchayat Kiduk. We are
the people who are now mem-
bers of the Association of
Tibetan Indians who first
started the Panchayat Kiduk
in 1944 and run it i ill we for-
med the present As-ociation
with proper constitution accord-
ing to law and duly registered
with the Authority concerned.
As such we know the ins and
outs of Panchayat Kiduk more
than him. We should like to
know whether Shri Tobgyel,
who appears to be a champion
of Tibetan causes, was ever a
member of Panchayat Kiduk ?
Re; para II.

It is not a fact at all that
our Association is formed by a
so-called gentleman with Sikkim
nationality. It is WE the Tibe-
tan residents of Kalimpong who
are in India since many years
or are born in India of Tibe-
tan parentage but registered as
Foreigners according to the
Govt, of India's Order of 19.50
who have formed the Associa-
tion of Tibetan Indians with a
view to Bafcguard our interest.
Against the will of the gentlo-
man who is leading a retired
life, we managed to persuade
him to become our President
and to guide us to become
law abiding citizens. He is our
benifactor, a friend and a guide.
He has given us unbounded

help and lias saved us from in
numerable crisis. Due to his
advice and tactful handling of
our affairs several big clashes
amongst us have been averted.
He never hesitates to help us *-
in time of our distress and
trouble even with his pur?e
though Bhort it m^y be. We
owe him a tremendous debt of
gratitude.

Is Shri Topgyel at all
aware that the Panchayat Ki-
duk was once totally defunct
due to diffrence among the
various Kiduks and the said
gentleman brought together all
the kiduks, settled their differ-
ences amicably and gave a ne w
lease of life to the Kanehayat
Kiduk ? Moreover he kindly
patronised the Panchayat Kiduk
till we formed our new Associa-
tion. Can Shri Tobgyel tell us
the origin of Sikkimese and
what constitute a nationality ?

Re; para III,

We do not know what has
prompted Shri Tobgyel to drag
in the name of Shri T. Wangdi.
As he has mentioned the name
of Shri T. Wangdi, we are
compelled to make a few ob-
servations without meaning any
- disrespect to the gentleman in
question. Majority of our mem-
bers do not know who Shri
T. Wangdi is and what is more
that some of our members have
never heard his name at all.
It is not «fact that some of
our Kiduks have appicached
Shri Wangdi from time to
time to ventilate their grievan-
ces. Can he prove this
by citing instances ? He ought
to know that Shri Wangdi is
a Deputy Minister of Tribal
Welfare and not for Foreigners.

With regard to the formation
of our Association, it is none
of his business to interfere in
other people'* affair or to offer
unnecessary and uncalled for
advice.