Sikkim

by Andrew Duff

  For India, these internal problems in Sikkim seemed minor compared to the grave challenges arising on the border with Pakistan – but the two were about to become linked.

  The Pakistanis launched the first strikes through the Rann of Kutch in the south and in Kashmir in early August. The Indians responded by taking strategic high positions above the Kashmir valley a few days later. Critically, the Chinese immediately came out ‘firmly supporting Pakistan’s just action in hitting back at armed Indian provocations’. But the Indians were not deterred and on 6 September launched major counter-punch offensives into Pakistani Punjab.

  While the conflict progressed along the Indo-Pakistani border, the stakes were raised significantly when news came through that the Chinese had moved troops to the Sikkim border. Indian defence experts realised that if the Chinese were to launch an attack through Sikkim they would be forced into a two-front war, the nightmare scenario for any general.

  In Sikkim the uncertainty was starting to bite. In a letter home to her parents on 13 September, Martha Hamilton warily noted all the signs of impending war:

  Slightly uncertain news these days and it is virtually impossible to disentangle facts from propaganda so I try to get the BBC but it keeps getting buzzed by China. The battery has now gone down so I listened to the news on a friend’s radio via the telephone! I told the chowk to get a new battery but he got involved in paying the bills so I’ll have to wait till tomorrow. The Chogyal and Gyalmo went off to Calcutta today and we all sat from 2–3.30 waiting to see them off – fearful waste of an afternoon, but I don’t think they knew we were there. One of Haldipur’s [the Dewan’s] efforts probably to give them a nice send-off. Special prayers said by the lamas today for their journey – certainly Bagdogra our airport was attacked two days ago* and paratroops fairly near. Goodness knows.

  Within a week, things had deteriorated significantly. As the fighting in the Punjab increased, Beijing raised the stakes in the Chumbi Valley on 17 September. The Chinese issued a strongly worded ultimatum to the Indians that accused them of planning further ‘aggression’ on the China–Sikkim border: ‘The Chinese government now demands that the Indian government dismantle all its military works for aggression on the Chinese side of the China–Sikkim boundary . . . Otherwise the Indian government must bear full responsibility for all the grave consequences arising therefrom.’

  The Indians were now facing the very real possibility that they would have divisions tied up in Sikkim, reducing their efficacy in the conflict with Pakistan.

  Martha Hamilton recorded the tensions in Gangtok, as well as the portent-laden viewpoint of the local Buddhist monks on 18 September, the day after the ultimatum had been issued. Her letter evokes some of the plucky spirit and humour employed during an earlier threat on 1940 London:

  I’m an air raid warden (!!!) for this area because I have car and phone, and now have 11 helpers, all men, for the area. Somewhat hilarious if it weren’t for the real possibility this time that something could happen, much more so than 1962 when the Chinese kept saying they had no quarrel with the Sikkim boundary. News tonight they are moving troops nearer the Gangtok border – we presume they mean Sikkim border. No black out here yet – very cheering to see blazing lights after the murk of Darjeeling.

  We cut up bandages out of sheets with great energy this afternoon and the chowk is making splints. Trenches are to be dug I think in the compound so don’t worry mum about the Garden arrangements – the whole place is holes. HH came back from Calcutta today – drove his best Mercedes through all that muck on the road. No wonder he goes through them at such a rate. I hope the advance to the border is only a move in the game but if the worst happens I have my car and this time I have filled it with petrol . . . Did I tell you I took Nicky [her white dog] for a walk by a small pond in the Palace garden while waiting for HH to come and that evening a branch fell by the pond – both I’m told holy and it was a v bad omen and huge pujas were done. Hence Chinese ultimatum came as no surprise as Buddhists waiting for bad omen to take effect! . . . BBC the same – moving troops nearer the border. By the time this reaches you situation will be v different.71

  Hope Cooke was in London as the crisis broke. She had flown to Britain to take her stepchildren back to their schools – the boys to Harrow; Yangchen, the girl, to a school just outside London. But even on the flight she could not escape the delicate politics of the situation; she discovered that the Secretary-General of the UN, U Thant, was on the plane with her. Given that she had met Thant before, she took her chance, approaching him to plead Sikkim’s case, but due to a ‘tablet’ that she had taken for the flight found herself incapable of taking advantage of the situation:

  Now is the chance to express to him our anxieties that Sikkim might get caught in the power plays going on. Being himself from a small country, he is sympathetic. What a piece of luck that he’s on the plane! He himself is saying it – I think. He is saying that Sikkim might be in danger from her protectors – I hear him foggily, I can’t focus, my tongue is thick and won’t form any words. He looks at me kindly and says I need to rest. I’ve messed up this chance; we could never approach him officially if we needed to explain any predicament. At London airport the children have trouble waking me.72

  Nari Rustomji, too, was doing his best to help. He made a broadcast on All-India Radio in an effort to ensure the Indian public were aware of the gravity of the situation, and where Sikkim actually was. Rustomji, keenly aware of the concerns that some in Delhi had about Sikkim’s ruler, had written a carefully worded statement for Thondup, to which he referred in the broadcast. ‘What really matters,’ Rustomji said on the radio, pleading for the people of India to respect Sikkim’s independent identity,

  is not how I should like to see Sikkim or what I or anyone else think about the Chinese ultimatum, what matters is the feelings regarding these issues of the people of Sikkim themselves. Sikkim’s ruler did not waste time in announcing, in terms that were unmistakeably clear, that his people would resist to the last man any aggression into their country, and while indicating his satisfaction with the arrangements made for the protection of his country, expressed his confidence that, should the need arise, his people would be proud and happy to lay down their lives in Sikkim’s defence. Self respect is not the prerogative of only large countries, and Sikkim has sufficient pride in the legacy of her past and her institutions to make a determined stand for their preservation.

  Rustomji left no one in any doubt as to his support not only for Sikkim but also for its ruler, a man he called a ‘genius’ in the same broadcast.

  In mid-September Coocoola, who was in Ireland at the time, realised that Hope would be facing the press in London. She immediately flew to join her sister-in-law, sensing an opportunity to reinforce Sikkim’s unique identity. ‘We’ve got to stop the Indians from taking advantage of this,’ she told Hope. ‘Already in their official reports about the situation they’re calling Sikkim an area of India and talking about the border being the Indo-China border. The nerve. We’ve got to remind people of Sikkim’s identity before it gets lost. They’re doing it deliberately – they know this is the perfect chance.’73

  Coocoola drew on her friend David Astor (editor of The Observer) for advice for Hope on how to act as a spokesperson; Hope, despite the fact that her ‘legs are trembling both from thinking about Palden at home [the Chogyal and her one-year-old son Palden were still in Sikkim] and from fear of the press itself’, tried to make light of the situation, telling the press that ‘reports about the border are usually dramatised and things on the whole are calm in Sikkim’.

  In fact, the tensions were ratcheting up. On 18 September, the Chinese, recognising the impossibility of the demands they had made to remove all border posts within 48 hours, extended the deadline by two further days, thereby prolonging the stand-off. By now China had 60,000 troops in the Tibet Military Region, and ‘fifty five hundred positioned for quick commitment to combat in Sikkim’.74

  For
the next week, Gangtok was a mass of confused tension and efforts to prepare for the possibility of attack. While the town prepared for the worst, Thondup took the unprecedented step of creating a consultative committee of those considered ‘Class 1 Officers’ in Sikkim, which included Martha Hamilton in her capacity as head of the school. Journalists flooded north, eager to see some action. Martha Hamilton’s letter home on 25 September caught the high drama of the week, and her own (sometimes comic) response to being caught in the limelight:

  My dear mummy and daddy

  What a week! Since last Sunday I have scarcely sat down till now. I wonder if you saw anything in the papers or on ITV and what it was like. Pretty poor I imagine as I wasn’t honestly in a fit state to cope adequately or think clearly. I can’t imagine what tales reach England.

  Last Sunday morning HH held a meeting of Heads of Department on the Palace lawn. Rather vague and woolly statements about roads and fire hydrants and trenches and protecting glass – quite sure Chinese not coming but prepare for worst. Black Out etc. So all off to church then to hostel to fix up black out and strip the windows across and across and make an air raid shelter in the kitchen. My warden list arrived – I had eight others with me so divided out the area which was huge. The . . . warden and I sallied forth to do our area – humping up and down stairs – flights of steps – over muddy fields telling people who’d never heard of black out. No time to black out own house so just sat in the dark to phone and wash etc.

  Monday school as usual and the girls had a marvellous time cutting up newspaper and covering the entire school with gum. Ghastly sticky mess everywhere . . . Tuesday was digging day and trenches for 200 is no joke. First I chose out the ground and luckily we had two or three enormous natural drains which had been run dry to build quarters and the whole primary fitted into them but had to dig them deeper. The first television man, Indian, arrived that day and took pictures of children carting enormous sacks full of wood shavings to line their trench. The High school dug in the Primary Gardens and each vied with the others to make a better trench . . . By 2.30 all were ready and when the siren blew at 3.30 they all shot out and the entire school was battened down into trenches within exactly two minutes sitting crouched with hands over ears. I ran round them all – endlessly up and down and hundreds of leeches but all were very safe and I really felt much happier. At night there was a surprise warning which many thought was an actual raid – the hostel shot down to the shelter like rabbits but were very quiet . . .

  Wednesday reporters began to arrive by the score. To me came Harper of the Express, Claire Hollingworth (Defence correspondent of Guardian) and an American Assoc Press. Looked at trenches and took pictures of children jumping in. All v nice so asked them to dinner on Thursday after Nathu La trip. Class tests as usual and beginning of preparations for English debate and more first aid. Went to prayer meeting – surprisingly sparse attendance – and popped in to the hotel on road back to see if reporters were there. Had had lunch with Claire etc and heard news of ceasefire but Chinese still moving up on Nathu La so thought they might have more news in the evening. Three more reporters, Newsweek with French name B--- and Dean Bayliss of NBC television and Agence France with huge moustache . . .

  By Thursday trench drill was beginning to pall with staff but Newsweek and BBC arrived so out again. Coffee first and NBC then photographed me blowing whistle leading children then fearful interview. Weather v damp – hair frightful, real mis looking. And no clothes to wear as dhobi* not back for 2 weeks. Not a single dress clean or even shirt! And no time or water to wash. No water all week. Not a single drop. It really was the last final straw. I was half dead because hadn’t slept well as it was end of ultimatum and many thought with the usual underhand methods of the Chinese they would attack. Had slept about 3am only to be woken by the phone at 6.15am. – the executive councillor to say ‘Miss Hamilton, I haven’t received the receipt for the money given to the artist who painted the backdrop for the coronation.’ You can imagine what I felt but I merely told him coldly that since he had paid the money in person to the artist I presumed he had collected the receipt.

  At nine o’clock a car arrived and out leapt 4 journalists. Tra La. Luckily with the black out they didn’t see my astonishment but I murmured something about a note – oh but we told them to make it clear we were coming (i.e. Guardian and Express) and we hope you don’t mind but we’ve brought Stephen Coulter of Sunday Times and Guy Race of Telegraph. I was delighted as all food was ready and Claire (Guardian) I know thought she ought to come to me as a European though actually she was out on her feet . . . Sunday Times I liked tho he is v unpopular here for writing such anti-Indian articles. Harper of Express also v nice – after he left a cable arrived for him ‘send pics of Martha immediately’!! . . . all v critical of Indian press arrangements and lies and hold-ups – frustrations fantastic they say and hence v anti-Indian articles appear. Obviously not only for this reason but plays a large part. Press here v v anti British. Personally I don’t blame them. I think Mr W† made a big mistake in his statement re crossing the line.

  Friday last day of school . . . I hung on to the hostel girls – heard Betty had let hers go to Kalimpong. They had escape routes all worked out – we didn’t have time honestly and there is only one road anyway . . . At 11 had a ring that ITV were coming and come they did and Observer and Assoc Press. Incredible lads – v young, bouncing with energy and great fun. . . . In afternoon took beginning of debate in English on ‘In times of crisis a student’s duty is to stay at school and not join the forces.’ Girls did v well though I had spent ages on Wednesday jockeying them into it and on need for morale etc. In end girls v thrilled to be on TV . . . end of blackout. Joy. Rapture.

  Although the ITN piece was never broadcast in full, it is still possible to access it today. Against footage of Indian troops trudging up to the Nathu La with pack ponies, the journalist solemnly announced that the pass through Sikkim had now become ‘another potential starting point for a Third World War’.

  ‘The team had been warned to expect machine gun fire,’ he added, ‘but found the Chinese to be more interested in an exchange of camera shots.’*

  Martha Hamilton was interviewed against a magnificent backdrop of Himalayan mountains, talking of her life in the region. But the footage of Thondup was perhaps the most revealing. The king was first shown on a visit to the front in his Indian Army uniform (he had been promoted to honorary Major-General at the time of the coronation), accompanied by the political officer, whose presence, the voiceover pointed out, ‘underlines that Sikkim’s future lies partly in Indian hands’. In a further interview outside the palace, Thondup disguised his stutter carefully while answering all the questions with great precision. Something in his eyes tells of the need he felt to be careful with the press, and to emphasise Sikkim’s separate status. When asked what he thought the Chinese were trying to achieve, he replied in his clipped English accent,

  One’s really not quite sure what they were trying to do . . . we do not believe that they meant actually Big Business because apart from the troops they had in this part of the world, they are of course dependent on the USSR for oil, so I don’t think they meant an all-out war, so one assumes that it was really to tie down Indian troops in this part of the world from maybe going across Pakistan side.

  On the day after China had issued their extended ultimatum, the UN Security Council demanded that India and Pakistan accept a ceasefire by the morning of 22 September. The revised deadline from China therefore fizzled out. The crisis had been averted. After delaying to the last possible moment, Pakistan agreed to the Security Council’s demand for the ceasefire. India had ‘feared a two-front war’. Comments from G. W. Choudhury, the director of research for Pakistan’s foreign office from 1967 to 1969, suggest they had been right to. Choudhury was sure that ‘China was prepared in September 1965 to initiate operations in the Himalayas to reduce Indian military pressure on Pakistan – if Pakistan requested this aid.’ Cho
udhury also reported a conversation where Mao told General Ayub that ‘if there is nuclear war, it is Peking and not Rawalpindi that will be a target’.75

  It had apparently been a close-run thing. As the tension subsided, Hope Cooke flew on to New York to try and gain further publicity for what had happened in Sikkim, managing to get a spot on the Walter Cronkite broadcast. But with the peace talks between India and Pakistan still top of the agenda, the news that ‘tensions in Sikkim had abated was really non-news’.

  Within a couple of weeks Hope Cooke was back in Gangtok. As usual, Martha Hamilton reported back to her parents, a little disappointed at Hope’s rushed welcome. But the letter was of significance for another reason – there was an ominous change in her tone. This time she kept it short and to the point. There was one sure sign in her final sentence that the Indians now viewed matters in Sikkim as of more than just local importance:

  Hope is just back from England – ‘oh yes I saw you on TV and in 3 newspapers in the evening’. And that was all the comment. I gather she had a happy time in the Hilton avoiding the press and trying to put across the Sikkim image.

  Nuff said. I think they are opening letters.

  * Martha Hamilton often referred to Thondup as ‘HH’, or His Highness.

  † In June 1959 Coocoola wrote to Colonel Bailey, the old Political Officer (who she had known as a child and with whom she maintained a close friendship), while in the midst of ‘another packed-to-overflowing day . . . I’ve ensconsed myself in Thondup’s office tonight and sit on his carpet with a sheet of his letter paper laid on a file that’s balanced on my knees and write to you.’