Indian structures, Sikkimese processes: on being unprepared for the (Indian) nation

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article I draw on Robb”s insights (“The Colonial State and Constructions of Indian Identity” Modern Asian Studies, 1997), in discussing how during the British period (1888 to 1918), Indian structures were introduced and established in Sikkim closely following models used in British India. In areas such as law and justice, health, education, taxation and communication systems, Sikkim was structurally aligned with India. In contrast, however, the colonial era processes of national identity construction in Sikkim entirely excluded identification with an Indian Nation. Under the British, Sikkimese identity was constructed as a Tibetan Buddhist state comprising “indigenous” Bhutia-Lepcha citizens. That identity excluded immigrants whose origins were in the Gurkha kingdom. As a result of the social processes that imagined Sikkim as an (independent) Buddhist Nation, none of the ethnic communities in Sikkim identified themselves as “Indian”, leaving Sikkim structurally equipped but socially unprepared for membership of an Indian Nation.