In 1975, there was yet another takeover, this time organised by the itinerant immigrants from Nepal. On April 9, in a swift and sudden military operation that left many mental scars among the Bhutias especially, the Indian Army deployed on Nathu La and the watershed in Sikkim since 1963 took over the Chogyals palace by disarming the Royal Sikkim Guards, ironically officered by the Indian Army, and seizing the royal armoury.
The Chogyal was drinking his favourite Remy Martin when the commandant of the Royal Sikkim Guards, Lt Col K S Gurung, announced the surrender.
Mr John Lall and Sunanda K Datta Ray have written about 1975, but two stories can be added. First, that the officer leading the assault on the palace and the major defending the Chogyal were the Jagota brothers, one from the Jat Regiment and the other from the Gurkha Regiment. The two had orders to act in the best traditions of the Indian Army.
The second episode is about how the Chogyal, on learning that the Sikkimese guard at the main gate had been killed, wore his Indian Army uniform he was honorary colonel of the 8 Gurkhas, walked to the palace gates, and saluted the slain soldier.
Several years later, repudiating the proposed construction of a controversial dam across the River Teesta, Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari noted, Sikkim has peacefully merged with India, but we have no desire of being submerged by the Teesta.
The institution of the Chogyal, though officially dismantled in 1975, has several admirers. Like the Shah kings in Nepal, the Chogyal for nearly 300 years, much longer than the monarchy in Nepal, had become the rallying point. His son, the new Chogyal, became a monk and spends much of his time in Kathmandu. Most of the Chogyals land and assets have been taken over by the government. The Nepalese worry that India might do a Sikkim on Nepal dismantle the monarchy and assimilate the country.
The Truth about Sikkim Phutse’s Weblog