On Saturday, 23 May, the Delhi government suspended a senior officer over an advertisement that incorrectly mentioned people from Sikkim along with those from Nepal and Bhutan.
The advertisement for the recruitment of volunteers for Civil Defence Corps, under the eligibility criteria, mentioned “citizen of India or a subject of Sikkim or of Bhutan or of Nepal and a resident of Delhi.”
Quoting sources, ThePrint reported that Rahul Sudan, senior staff officer (publication and coordination), in the Directorate of Civil Defence (headquarters), was suspended on the orders of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday.
Baijal took to Twitter to state that the advertisement “disrespects the territorial integrity of India by making incorrect reference to Sikkim on the same lines as some neighbouring countries.”
In other tweet, he wrote, “Zero tolerance for such gross misconduct!”
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also tweeted mentioning that such errors “cannot be tolerated” and that the advertisement had been withdrawn.
Further, reacting to the advertisement, Sikkim Chief Secretary SC Gupta, in a letter to his Delhi counterpart Vijay Kumar Dev wrote, “This is immensely hurtful to the people of Sikkim, who take pride in being citizens of our great country, ever since it became the 22nd state of the Indian Union on 16 May 1975.”
He further urged that the advertisement be withdrawn immediately.
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay), too, tweeted that the Delhi government should rectify the issue. “This advertisement published by the Delhi government in various print media mentions Sikkim along with countries like Bhutan and Nepal. Sikkim has been a part of India since 1975 and celebrated the State Day just a week ago,” he wrote.
Kejriwal Should Apologise: BJP
Reacting to the erroneous advertisement, BJP Delhi tweeted that Arvind Kejriwal should apologise to the people for Northeast for this “insensitivity.”
Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari, along with Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP IT Cell, too slammed Kejriwal-led Delhi government.
Reacting to the Opposition, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that the advertisement “clearly followed the MHA guidelines.”
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