The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on Saturday took to Twitter to inform that a senior officer of Directorate of Civil Defence (HQ) has been suspended with immediate effect in connection with the Delhi government advertisement that raised aspersions on the territorial integrity of India and incorrectly referred to Sikkim as a separate country.
The LG said that the officer has been suspended for publishing an advertisement which disrespected the territorial integrity of the country.
Zero tolerance for such gross misconduct !
— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) May 23, 2020
Direction has also been given immediately to withdraw the offensive advertisement.
The LG further added that there is no tolerance for such gross misconduct and directives have been issued to withdraw the offensive advertisement.
Delhi government advertisement sparked off a huge controversy
A massive controversy broke out on Saturday morning after the Arvind Kejriwal-led government issued an advertisement to recruit ‘Civil Defence Volunteers’ in most of the daily newspapers. The Delhi government in its ad to recruit nearly 200 volunteers, however, referred the state of Sikkim to be a separate entity and placed alongside sovereign nations like Bhutan and Nepal.
Sikkim government took strong objection to the Delhi government advertisements in which the Indian state of Sikkim was likened to the foreign countries like Nepal and Bhutan. In a letter written to the Delhi government, Sikkim chief secretary SC Gupta stated that the offensive advertisement has “immensely hurt” the sentiments of Sikkim residents and it should be immediately withdrawn by the Delhi government.
In a strong-worded letter, the Sikkim chief secretary also asked the Delhi government to issue a suitable communique to ameliorate the concerns of the people of Sikkim. He added that the inhabitants of Sikkim take pride in being citizens of this great country ever since it became the 22nd state of the Indian Union on May 16, 1975.
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang also posted a tweet condemning the advertisement that equated Sikkim with other sovereign countries.
Sikkim is a part of India and should not be sethis is condemnable and I would request the Delhi Government to rectify this issue.@CMODelhi @AamAadmiParty pic.twitter.com/VmLiGPqOew
— Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) (@GolayPs) May 23, 2020
“Sikkim is a part of India and this is condemnable and I would urge the Delhi government to rectify this issue,” Tamang said in a tweet.
