Delhi govt ad refers to Sikkim as ‘separate nation’, official suspended

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday (May 23) suspended a senior official after a controversy erupted over an advertisement by the state government that referred to the people of Sikkim as “subject” along with those from Bhutan and Nepal. This also prompted the BJP and Congress to launch a scathing attack on the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Zero tolerance for such gross misconduct !

Direction has also been given immediately to withdraw the offensive advertisement.

— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) May 23, 2020

“A senior officer of Directorate of Civil Defence (HQ) has been suspended with immediate effect for publishing an Advertisement which disrespects the territorial integrity of India by making incorrect reference to Sikkim on the same lines as some neighbouring countries,” the lieutenant governor tweeted on Saturday.

“Zero tolerance for such gross misconduct! Direction has also been given immediately to withdraw the offensive advertisement,” he said in another tweet.

The advertisement for recruitment of civil defence volunteers published in newspapers on Saturday mentioned under eligibility criteria “Citizen of India or a subject of Sikkim or of Bhutan or of Nepal and a resident of Delhi.”

“A senior staff officer of Civil Defence (headquarter) has been suspended with immediate effect,” a Delhi government functionary said.

“The official in-charge for the advertisement without applying his mind copy pasted the eligibility criterion from the Civil Defence Regulations, 1968 (amended in 1971 and 1973) issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, for recruitment to the Civil Defence Corps,” he said.

Sikkim is an integral part of India. Such errors also cannot be tolerated. Advertisement has been withdrawn and action taken against the officer concerned. https://t.co/BgTcjJF4MF

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 23, 2020

Reacting to the controversy, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Sikkim is an integral part of India. Such errors also cannot be tolerated. Advertisement has been withdrawn and action taken against the officer concerned.”  The Sikkim government also took exception to the advertisement.

“This is immensely hurtful to the people of Sikkim who take pride in being the citizens of our great country ever since it became the 22nd state of Indian Union on May 16, 1975,” Sikkim Chief Secretary SC Gupta said in a terse letter to his Delhi counterpart Vijay Kumar Dev.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang also condemned the advertisement and said it was “regrettable, objectionable and harmful” to the federal structure of India. “I am deeply hurt by an advertisement published by the Government of Delhi terming the people of Sikkim as different citizen equated with Nepal and Bhutan,” he said in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile the opposition tore into the AAP-led city government for calling Sikkim “an independent country.”

Delhi BJP president Manoj slammed the government for the “serious lapse”. “The Delhi government advertisement shows Sikkim as a country. Can a state government be so ignorant that it shows a state of India as another country? Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should answer to the people for this serious lapse,” he said.

Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar also took a dig at the dispensation over the issue. “Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is so busy in publicity that he does not know if Sikkim is a part of India. Let me remind him, Sikkim is a part of India,” he tweeted.

The ruling AAP, however, hit out at the opposition by accusing the BJP and Congress leaders of doing “petty politics”, saying the advertisement followed MHA guidelines.

“At this difficult time when the Delhi government is trying to work together with other governments, the BJP and Congress leaders are busy in petty politics. The Delhi government clearly follows the MHA guidelines. AAP appeals to rise above the politics and work for the people,” the party tweeted.

BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri too demanded a reply from the chief minister regarding the advertisement. Bidhuri, in a letter to Kejriwal, said he was saddened to see the advertisement issued by the Delhi government in various newspapers in which Sikkim was presented as a “separate country” along with Nepal and Bhutan.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor demanded an apology from Kejriwal over the issue. “My father Shankar Kapoor, Joint Secretary MHA, on behalf of the Government of India had signed the document of Sikkim’s merger into India,” he said. “Arvind Kejriwal should apologise to the people of the country, especially of Sikkim, whom his government has hurt,” Kapoor added.

Sikkim became an Indian state in 1975.

Meanwhile, Sikkim reported its first COVID-19 case on Saturday as a 25-year-old student who recently returned from Delhi tested positive for the disease, according to a senior official. The sample of the student was sent to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri for testing.

(With inputs from agencies)