Sikkim bid to retain peak bar

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 24 Aug 2019, Gangtok: The Sikkim government has decided to approach the Centre to get the Union home ministry to reverse a recent decision allowing mountaineering and trekking on some peaks in the state, including the Kanchenjungha.

The central move has ignited protests by locals, who deem the peaks "sacred".

Sonam Lama, the minister of the state's ecclesiastical department, said here on Friday that the decision to open peaks such as the Kanchenjungha for adventure tourism must have been taken by the Centre "out of ignorance of local sentiments" and expressed confidence about getting the move rescinded.

"As minister in-charge of the ecclesiastical department, I will personally go to Delhi, meet Union home minister (Amit Shah) and explain to him in detail the significance of the peaks which are worshipped as deities. Once that is done, I am hopeful and confident the decision will be reversed," Lama said.

The Centre's decision to open 24 peaks in the state, in- cluding 13 which are considered sacred, for adventure tourism has led to howls of protests, particularly because the state government had in 2001 had protected some of them under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, banning them from being scaled.

The latest to join the protest bandwagon is the Sikkim unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a member of the Sangh Parivar. "VHP Sikkim state unit feels that it (opening up of the peaks) is an attack on the ageold traditions of Sikkim's culture," said a VHP release while calling on the Centre to reconsider its order.

Various other local organisations have threatened to take to the streets if the order is not withdrawn at the earliest. "We want the order to be revoked by September 13 because that is the day we will observe Pang Lhabsol in honour of Kanchenjungha, our guardian deity. Otherwise, we will take to the streets with the blessings of Kanchenjungha," warned Pasang Sherpa, a social and political activist and coordinator of "Iam371F" campaign.

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) has also come in for a lot of flak because the Centre's decision to open 137 peaks across the Himalayas for adventure tourism was based on its proposal.

"The IMF should have consulted stakeholders in Sikkim before sending its proposal. I think the MHA has been misguided by the IMF, which did not even consult us even though we are its member," said Kunzang Gyatso, an Everester and president of the Sikkim Mountaineering Association.

Gyatso said the SMA on its own will take up the matter with the IMF in an effort to get the Centre to rescind its order. "We will withdraw from the IMF if the order is not revoked," Gyatso said, adding the state government should also designate SMA as its nodal agency on mountaineering to avoid such situations..