Nisha Chettri
Kalimpong December 6, 2014:

An opening ceremony of 150th year of freedom from Bhutan and its annexation to India was celebrated with the speeches of retrospection by orators like H.B Chettri and Ganesh Mani Pradhan in Town Hall today, where a yearlong anniversary celebration has been decided to be celebrated soon.
The significance of the date was extolled after the article published in Statesmen by Sandip Jain- the editor of Himalayan Times. And a discussion with few people made Morcha of Kalimpong Sub-Division committee decide, to keep the historical date alive by an awareness ceremony.
People of different political parties like Nanita Gautam of T.M.C, Dilip Pradhan of Congress, Tara Sundas of C.P.I.M, Kalyan Dewan of G.T.A, etc were present to pay homage to the years of sacrifice which Kalimpong made since time immemorial. The enthusiastic students of Kalimpong College also attended the program with utmost attention.
However H.B Chettri threw light on the importance of preserving the history of Kalimpong, He said ‘Learning about Jhasi’s Rani, Tatia Tope, etc have certainly improved our general knowledge but the requirement to learn about our own freedom fighters like Dal Bahadhur Giri and Jangabir Sapkota is neglected without doubt.’
He thrilled the audience by talking about the local characters which Kalimpong owned years ago and which is unheard today, he also mentioned to approach the education section to include the local history in the texts of the students. ‘We were ruled by Sikkim and Bhutan centauries ago, why we don’t study such histories first?’ he questioned.
Chettri later explained about the wide geography of the town which is 168 square kilometers, whose boundary starts from Sikkim Rangpoo and ends in Bhutan Todaytangta, that’s when he verbally declared to appeal the higher authorities to make Kalimpong a different district. ‘Kalimpong has a wide measurement, it has a large area, I will put up my effort to make Kalimpong a different district.’ Said chettri.
However the talk of the freedom’s celebration has taken a new turn and the student Morcha are positive and enthusiastic to celebrate a year-long program in order to remember and make the students aware of the importance of the date. ‘We would be encouraged to get an opportunity to organize or celebrate the freedom of Kalimpong; we will discuss more about it soon’ Said the central committee president of student morcha, Deep Thapa.