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The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) on Friday wrote to Governor OP Mathur seeking his immediate intervention to stop an Army expedition to the Mt. Kangchenjunga, citing its religious and cultural significance.
SIBLAC said Mt. Kangchenjunga, revered as the ‘guardian deity of Sikkim’, holds immense spiritual significance for the indigenous Bhutia and Lepcha communities.
“The sacred mountain has been protected under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which explicitly bans expeditions to its peak. Additionally, the Sikkim government reaffirmed this ban in 2001 and has since prohibited any climbing activities,” it said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday flagged off from New Delhi a joint Indo-Nepal expedition team, which aims to scale Mt. Kangchenjunga.
It has 12 mountaineers from the Indian Army and six from the Nepali Army.
The expedition, aiming to scale Mt. Kangchenjunga — the world’s third highest mountain peak (8,848 m) lying at the India-Nepal border, is led by Colonel Sarfaraz Singh of the Indian Army.
SIBLAC also raised concerns about environmental hazards, citing previous disasters.
It said that it fears human activity on the mountain could provoke further natural calamities, causing irreparable damage to the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.
“There is no tangible gain in scaling our places of worship. On the contrary, disturbing local deities could bring incalculable harm,” SIBLAC’s convenor Tseten Tashi Bhutia said.
He urged the state government to raise the matter with the Centre to ensure that Mt Kangchenjunga remains untouched.
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