CAUSES AND CRISIS IN BHUTAN.

The government's operation of "Ethnic cleansing" in Southern Bhutan is a thorough brainwork and well thought out team work aimed at it's well execution by the ruling echelons (Ngalung Ministers, Army Chief and the King), keeping the international community at bay by carrying out propaganda drill of economic development in the south with a venomous design at the back of mind. The southerner were particularly unaware of the government's planned crack down and even the top ranking Lhotsampa Government Officials in the civil and military services were kept uninformed about the government's planned strategy. The government quietly carried out the feasibility study for it’s much publicised planned economic development through-out Bhutan and drew a conclusion that Southern Bhutan is the ideal site to usher Bhutan in the twenty first century. The government realised that it was not at all possible to carry out the development activities in the stiff cliffs and rugged terrain in the northern Bhutan.

Geographically, northern Bhutan borders with the People's Republic of China. The region consists of virgin snow capped mountain peaks and unfavourable terrain conditions with few thoroughfare through difficult mountain passes to the autonomous region of Tibet. Trade with Tibet is non-existent and Bhutan does not have any diplomatic or bilateral relations with China. The Tibetans on the other hand are not in good terms with Bhutan for obvious reasons. In 1974, the Tibetans in Bhutan had suffered a lot at the hands of the ruling elite who were subjected to persecution; ironing and severe jail terms and some reported death. The Bhutanese people were then made to believe that the Tibetan-Step-mother Yanki of the Father-King Jigme Singye Wangchuk had wanted to wrest the throne for her son, the proof of which has not been established till to date. Yanki and her son fled to India and since then they are in India under Indian security and protection. The Tibetan thereafter, faced the wrath of the Bhutanese Regime. They were given ultimatum to either become the citizens of Bhutan or to follow Dalai Lama in exile. Some agreed and many refused the government's offer and left Bhutan. The harassment to Tibetans still continues in Bhutan. The Tibetans who often infiltrate into Bhutan through Tibet for political reasons or otherwise are apprehended, their belongings confiscated and sent back the way they had come without any mercy to human ethics and values. Some of the Tibetans are kept as refugees in the Royal Bhutanese Army Headquarters in Lungtenphug, Thimphu at the mercy of the Army. The Tibetans who accepted the Bhutanese citizens have never raised to prominent positions in the government services. There are no Tibetans in the Government services and in the defence forces. They are not allowed to prosper economically, nor are they taken into Bhutanese confidence. The Tibetans struggle for their daily sustenance. Some beg in the streets and some survive through the income from their small momo and liquor shops. The conditions of Tibetans in Bhutan are miserable. There are no Tibetan representatives in the national assembly of Bhutan nor are there Tibetans of some power in the monastery of Bhutan. The Tibetans are pocketed in places like Bumthang, Tongsa, Wangdi, Punakha, Thimphu and to some other places. They are not kept at one place due to the fact that they would soil their culture. The Bhutanese Government appreciates the contribution of the Tibetan monk Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel but does not want his followers to dominate Bhutan and hence the Tibetans are subjected to a third class status in Bhutan.

Based on the terrain study after a thorough reconnaissance the government prepared a preliminary report and unanimously agreed that southern Bhutan met all the pre-requisite for the infra-structural development conditions. The government realised the immense potentiality that the southern hills hold for them which so far was discarded as uneconomical but a mere source of revenue from the Lhotsampa settlement. The proxy of Indian markets in the fertile plains with enormous population close to Bhutan border and the availability of raw materials indeed incited the government to venture in for it but how? As the development activities envisaged by the government mainly centred in Southern Bhutan for drastic result and productivity, it was felt that there would be uproar from the other quarters, which indeed proved correct when the representatives from other than southern districts started raising their concern for modernisation drive in their respective districts in the national assembly. The government again carried out the analysis of the terrain of Bhutan through sand models and blow ups for the relocation of their proposed industrial plants and other economic sectors. The conclusion arrived at was the same as before. The government just could not reject south, for it realised that Southern Bhutan was not only an area of strategic importance as gateway to India and outside world but also a storehouse of riches for the modern economy. Southern Bhutan met all the requirements that are needed for accelerating the economic growth. Thus with the start of development activities in the south from 1970s, the Lhotsampas started becoming the targets of the government after the Tibetans.

Bhutan achieved a perfect social harmony and tranquillity and became a haven of peace not only to the Bhutanese but to the outsider too. There was rapid economic development and with it the social happiness of the people also shot up. With the economic aid packages and grants from the donor countries, Bhutan moved ahead to keep in time with the developing countries and shed its image of the poorest country of the world. The per-capita income of the people soared up with the increase at GNP. The period from 1975 to 1985 can rightly be called the golden periods in the annals of Bhutan history as no untoward incidents occurred. The country was acknowledged as the most peaceful country in the world and further it started getting the status of the fast developing country in South Asia. Its virgin ever green forests, untapped water resources with hydro-electricity potentiality, its intangible snow covered mountain peaks and the docile people all indicated that Bhutan is indeed a land of paradise and fantasy. This period saw the cultural integration between all the ethnic groups in Bhutan and the fusion of ideologies into one unit which indeed are a parameter for the socio-eco-politico development of the country. In the meantime South became the industrial belt of Bhutan with cardamom plantations, orange groves, ginger crops, minerals, hardwood forests, mines, hydro-projects and distillery units. All the major industries of Bhutan are based in the south like the hydroelectric plants, the cement factories, the timber industry and other small scale industries. The development in the Southern Bhutan made the Lhotsampas economically sound and thus the ruling elite turned against them for they realised that the south had become a potential economic power house and the Lhotsampas a threat to the cultural survival of the ruling tribe. The Chukha Hydel Project, which earns the maximum revenue for the government started effective operation from 1988. These projects clearly provided Thimphu with the self confidence to move ahead with its plans for the south. (Chukha and Tala Hydel Projects perhaps, showed the rulers the riches that lay within their grasp). "Mega projects bring mega dislocations to society those who control the distribution of the additional revenue have the power to destroy social exchange mechanism and economic balance" (Dipak Gyawali, Nepali water economist). Southern Bhutan; a malaria infected region once; untouched and feared by the ruling class then, now an economic base of Bhutan made so by the sheer will power of the people over a long period of time has become a bone of contention of the ethnic groups in Bhutan. Now, the very people who sweated, toiled and laboured hard to make Southern Bhutan a prosperous region are made to flee the country by use of bayonets and bullets so that the ruling cats could heave the rich harvest. The rulers of Bhutan could not bear the economic prosperity of the Lhotsampas; their happiness; their social interaction with the common Bhutanese people and their affiliation with the cultural identity of Bhutan and found a pretext to brand the Southern Bhutanese; ngolops or anti-nationals without a clear conscience and perception. Perhaps, in their haste to evict the people from the south, they forgot to realise that Southern Bhutan of today is the economic gift to Bhutan and is synonymous to the ethnic Lhotsampas of Bhutan.