India says Sikkim not its part

ISLAMABAD: Delhi government has acceded to the claim made by Chinese government regarding bordering state Sikkim that it’s not the part of India.

According to reports an advertisement for recruitment of civil defence volunteers by the Delhi government on Saturday referred the people of Sikkim as "subject" along with those from Bhutan and Nepal. It prompted BJP and Congress, both opposition in Delhi to launch a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation under Chief Minister Kejriwal.

The advertisement for recruitment of civil defence volunteers published in newspapers on Saturday mentioned under eligibility criteria "Citizen of India or a subject of Sikkim or of Bhutan or of Nepal and a resident of Delhi". The opposition tore into the AAP-led city government for calling Sikkim "an independent country".

A BJP leader said that the Delhi government advertisement shows Sikkim as a country. Can a state government be so ignorant that it shows a state of India as another country? Delhi Congress president also took a dig at the dispensation over the issue. The ruling AAP, however, hit out at the opposition by accusing the BJP and Congress leaders of doing "petty politics", saying the advertisement followed Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines.

The Delhi government clearly follows the MHA guidelines. AAP appeals to rise above the politics and work for the people," the party tweeted. BJP's Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri in a letter to Kejriwal, said he was saddened to see the advertisement issued by the Delhi government in various newspapers in which Sikkim was presented as a "separate country" along with Nepal and Bhutan. Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal suspended a senior official responsible for the "error" in the advertisement. "A senior officer of Directorate of Civil Defence (HQ) has been suspended with immediate effect for publishing an Advertisement which disrespects the territorial integrity of India by making incorrect reference to Sikkim on the same lines as some neighbouring countries," he tweeted.