An advertisement for the recruitment of civil defense volunteers by the Delhi government started a conspiracy after it referred to Sikkim as a separate nation and clubbed it along with Bhutan and Nepal.
the advertisement stated that the eligibility criteria for recruitment is that the volunteers should be citizens of India or a subject of Sikkim, Bhutan, and Nepal which marked a series of events that escalated the issue. The Sikkim government later wrote a letter to the Delhi chief secretary to immediately remove the advertisement. In the letter, the Sikkim chief secretary S.C Gupta wrote that it was immensely hurtful to the people of Sikkim who have been proud of being the citizens of India ever since it became the 22nd state of the Indian union. The letter also asked for an apology from the Delhi government for their mistake.
Members of the opposition parties also didn’t miss out on the opportunity to attack the opposition party on their mistake. BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi recently demanded investigation over the Delhi government’s advertisement and calls the advertisement a goof-up or conspiracy. She demanded that all the files regarding the advertisement should be made public. She also demands for an investigation against the roles of the deputy cm as the Director of Directorate of information and publicity’s role, portfolio of Information and publicity by a probe from MHA or Court. Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar also felt the chance to humiliate the Delhi government and stated that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is too busy publicly that he is unaware of the fact that Sikkim is a part of India.
Soon after Lieutenant Governor Anil Bajaj suspended the senior officer of Directorate of Civil Defense responsible for the mishap. Later he even tweets and apologizes for the mistake committed on his side for disrespecting the territorial integrity of India and by making incorrect
reference to Sikkim on the lines as some neighboring countries. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also apologized later and stated that there is zero tolerance of such misconduct and that the offensive advertisement will be withdrawn immediately.
This comes at a time when tensions gradually building between the Indian Army and the Chinese people’s liberation army after a clash in Ladakh and Sikkim along the Sino Indian border. Its been reported that there has been a surge in troops in both the sides near the Galwan river and Pangong Tso lake. The Chinese army has also erected a number of tents in the Galwan valley area.
Archit Gupta
Grade XII, Manav Rachna International School, Gurgaon
Archit is an enthusiastic and very logically oriented young man who has a keen interest in global affairs and politics. He wants to bring about change in the society by the power of science and information. He has participated and has also organized various debates related to global politics.
