Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on Sunday said the people of Sikkim are like the unpaid soldiers guarding the nation.
Chamling said this while attending the release function of the book, ‘Shadow of the Dragon and Recent Developments’, by a senior journalist, Amalendu Kundu.
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Chmaling, who attended the programme as the Chief Guest, also stated that the people of Sikkim have also shown a great sense of patriotism and national integrity by opting to join the Indian Union through a referendum. He stated that Sikkim is a model Border State of the country and this is a big contribution of the State towards the nation.
Kundu is an internationally acclaimed journalist having more than 50 years of experience in the journalism. He worked as a correspondent during the 1971 war and has been associated with Sikkim for a long time.
The book has been published by Poets Foundation. Poets Foundation is a government registered, non-profit making, non-political, educational-literary-social-cultural organisation having several centres in India and abroad.
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There are 13 write-ups by 12 eminent writers on the subject covering Sino-India relationship in the light of the recent developments which is the focus of the book. The essays deal with myriad aspects of this issue and seek to present the best scholarship in the field and have been divided into four separate chapters of China, Sikkim, Darjeeling and general and each section is preceded by a general hard stories of news by the author and finally some rare photographs have also been included in the book.
In his address, the CM congratulated Kundu for coming out the book. He also mentioned that the author being a senior-most journalist in the State has contributed towards the intellectual field of Sikkim. He also expressed his happiness on being the party of the book release function.
The CM mentioned that although being small, Sikkim was an important and sensitive State sharing three international borders. He added that although situated along a sensitive border, Sikkim has been the most peaceful State in the country. He stated that there was no insurgency and unrest and the State government has maintained peace and security in the State.
However, Chamling mentioned that it was very unfortunate that the contributions and integration of the State have not been well appreciated and recognized and people of the State still being refer as foreigners from Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet which hurts the sentiments of the people.
“Our government has started working with new thoughts in Sikkim with innovative and exemplary initiatives and programmes which have made Sikkim a model State for the country in different sectors,” the CM said.
However, he expressed that the innovation and exemplary initiatives of Sikkim in social, environmental and other sectors have been known very less in the country. The CM mentioned that the State Government has been working on the mission mode to eradicate Tuberculosis by year 2022.
Chamling stated that Sikkim has suitable environment for journalist to work and express freely. He also said that the State Government has been working for the welfare of journalists by provided support and recognitions. He urged journalists to work responsibly in the interest of the State and the nation. He stressed that everyone need to come together in the interest of the State and the nation.
The function was also addressed by Patron of Indo-Tibet Sahakari Manch, N Indresh, Major General (Retd), KK Ganguly and the publisher and founder of Poets Foundation, Pradip K Chaudhuri. The author, Kundu also spoke about his long journalism experiences and about his new book.
The function started with the welcome address by the PCS president, Joseph Lepcha and concluded with the vote of thanks by PCS general secretary, Puran Tamang.