Until the early 1980s the different ethnic groups in Bhutan lived in a happy atmosphere of brotherhood. But as 1985 gave way to 1986 and the Sixth Five Year Plan of Bhutan was unfolded, almost over-night the government started to maltreat the citizens of Southern Bhutan. The king declared that the preservation of tradition and culture was a priority of the plan. The Lhotsampas’ downfall had begun.
Lhotsampas downfall had begun but, the people in the east and in the north-eastern parts of Bhutan still live with animals? This is the living conditions of those ethnic people who are believed to be aborigines of Bhutan. The rulers never allowed them a civilized life. Justice is denied in Bhutan to all the communities by the ruling class. (Photo 4)
The core issue of the Southern Bhutan problem is the nationality factor. During the census in early 1988, officials began to rob the Southern Bhutanese of citizenship. Tek Nath Rizal, the then Royal Advisory Councillor and his associate, petitioned the king on 09 April 1988, outlining the suffering of the people resulting from the census officials’ abuse of power. They have appealed to the king to consider amending the 1985 citizenship act such that:
i) It could no longer be implemented retrospectively to deny citizenship to people whom under earlier legislation would qualify as Bhutanese Nationals.
ii) Children born to any Bhutanese citizens automatically acquire Bhutanese citizenship.
iii) It allows non-national spouse of Bhutanese citizen to acquire citizenship within the shortest possible time.
The appeal was viewed as seditious and on 3rd June 1988, Mr. Rizal was charged with treason, arrested and imprisoned. After three days of imprisonment Mr. Rizal succumbed to coercion and signed a document depriving him of the right to attend public function and to meet more than three people at a time. Mr. Rizal was deposed from his public office, released from the prison and ordered to leave the capital forthwith he was kept under house arrest in his district Chirang. Tek Nath Rizal went into exile to Birtamod, Eastern Nepal. On 16 November 1989 he was again treacherously abducted, arrested and dumped in the dark dungeons in Bhutan. The intention of the petition to the government was in the right earnest and in the interest of the country and the people. It was not intended for launching subversive activities with political vision against Royal regime.
On 16 January 1989, His Majesty King Wangchuk issued a Royal decree to formally launch the "One Nation One People" policy which essentially banned cultural pluralism in Bhutan. The ruling elite made observance of their culture, dress and language mandatory for all the Bhutanese in the name of National Integration. The people of Southern Bhutan in fact supported to move without dubbing it a racist policy but the direction, it took during its rigorous implementation pointed to the destruction of culture and depopulation in the six districts of Southern Bhutan. The "One Nation One People" thus became the rallying slogan of the government. "because Bhutan is small, it cannot afford to have too many divided identities". And their culture (ruling elite) alone would provide the single identity to the populace.
The first report of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Jurist mission to Bhutan, in their "unanimous findings" states that the enactment of a number of discriminatory law and policies in the mid-1980s has triggered serious human rights violations in Southern Bhutan. These laws are being implemented in an arbitrary, discriminatory and "intimidatory" manner; there has been "Systematic and Manifold Discrimination" against the Lhotsampas; the discrimination has been "cautious and directed by sections of the ruling authorities; citizenship rights of majority of Southern Bhutanese have been illegally confiscated; there have been attempts of forced national integration; there have been widespread violations in the south of the rights to education, health and basic goods and services; there has been massive suppression of the right to dissent, associate and assemble; access to human rights organisations has been denied; and "there have been instances of ethnocide". In fact ............ "There is no indication that Lhotsampas or Nepali speakers were as of 1988, organising to topple the crown or invade the north. Nor does it seem probable that any one was seriously contemplating asking India's help "do a Sikkim" on Bhutan. It is more likely that, as the Nepali-speakers became politicised against the 1988 census exercise and implementation of the Driglam Namza (ruling elite’s’ code of conduct), the Thimphu decision makers decided to nip the "Lhotsampas problem before it ever budded". Writes Kanak Mani Dixit in Himal July/Aug 1992, issue.
The "Green Belt Policy" was another design of the Royal Government to depopulate the densely settled population in the Southern Bhutan. Probably the one kilometre wide belt of forest along the border could have been for security reasons rather than for environmental ones since Bhutan is already - richly forested. The government's plan, involving the displacement of thousands of people from the most fertile land in Bhutan, was not met with favour from international donors and was quickly dropped. "Fortunately donor government officials in Australia, Japan and Denmark rejected proposal two years back by bhutanese government to create a kilometre wide environmental "Green Belt" of forest land along Bhutan's southern border. The Bhutanese Government tried to sell the idea as an environmental conservation programme. In fact, creating such a green belt would have allowed the Bhutanese government to oust Lhotsampas at the international expense (The last Emperor ?, carole Rose.)
The ignorant population of Southern Bhutan were kept unaware of the census categorisation from F1 to F7 nor was the government aware of its implications. Everything was done in haste in the fabricated backdrop of modernisation and rapid economic development. In the words of Kinley Dorji - the editor of government run Kuensel, Bhutan's only newspaper .......... "The 1988 head-count, the first detailed census in the country's history, was organised because the government officials said they needed better statistics to plan a process of modernisation after years of self-imposed isolation". The king on the other hand calls the Ngalongs "as endangered species” and says Bhutan is facing the greatest threat to its survival since the seventh century and also adds that in the next 10, 15 or 20 years ............ Bhutan will no longer be a Bhutanese nation. It will be a Nepali state ............... just like Sikkim". The conflicting stand of the government for the development and modernisation in one hand and the tactics it has adopted to achieve successful modernisation drive on the other hand by ethnic segregation and cultural disparity is indeed contradictory. Mr. Kinley further adds that "The findings sent shock waves through the government; census officials estimated that more than 100,000 economic migrants had settled among the ethnic Nepalis living in the Kingdom's Southern Districts" ............ a figure which tallies with the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and in the Darjeeling Hills and Duars in India. This figure has been presented to the readers after the distortion of census records and documents. "Census registers are incomplete, some people have had their names deleted from the census records, and many people who might otherwise be able to prove their residence in the country by producing their lands tax receipts and other relevant documents have been confiscated by local government authorities (Report of Amnesty International quoted in Bhutan Review Sept. 94). Further, the Amnesty international has found out and proved with relevant facts that in most of the cases Sa thram (land deed) numbering system were altered and all the previous recording systems and registers were substituted.
The Southern Bhutan problem in part can be attributed to the matrimonial links of the king to the four queens in 1988. the queens are the daughters of an ambitious business man from Talo in Punakha district. Before the troubles began, King Jigme was liked by all the Bhutanese people irrespective of ethnic background. He was indeed a hard working king and was in constant touch with the development activities in the country. However, his marriage saw increasing domination in the palace by the new members of the royal family both in economical and political field. The post marriage of the king saw the emergence of five top powerful men in the bureaucratic system. All the top executives are related to the royal family. These include Foreign Minister Dawa Tshering, Home Minister Dago Tshering, the chief of Army Staff Lt. General Lam dorji and Social Minister Tashi Topgyal. The Finance Minister Dorji Tshering is the elder brother of Lt. General Lam Dorji while the Joint Secretary in the Planning Commission is the queen's elder brother. The youngest brother of the queens is the final authority to decide on Bhutanese citizenship. Trade Minister Mr. Om Pradhan is another person closely related to Lam Dorji through marriages.
The king's father-in-law has benefited financially and politically from the new marriages. He became financially very sound and politically very strong by acquiring the following industrial sectors from the government at concessional rates.
i) Singye Enterprises
ii) Dhendup Enterprises
iii) Bhutan Engineering corporation
iv) Lakhi cement Project
v) Bhutan Tourism Corporation
vi) The Gedu Plywood Project besides hordes of other small scale projects.
It is apparent here that the king was under some compulsion to act according to the whims and fancies of the new coterie of the royal family team and was pressurised to set up his Bhutanization programme in the face of stiff opposition from the southern Bhutan. It is widely speculated that the moderate plans of the king for the solution of southern problem is altered overnight and implemented abruptly with vigorous force. The king in this deadly game of power struggle seems to be left alone as he seems to have succumbed to coterie which desires cultural purity and unhindered economic access to the southern lands. King Jigme seems incapable of discerning his goal amidst web of intrigue and vested interests that has been spin around him especially since his marriage. Meanwhile, as the "New Royal Family" has centralised power, the king's three sisters and his paternal uncle Namgyal Wangchuck, all of whom once had charge of key ministries, have been sidelined. "His majesty does not want to know the real suffering of the citizens, but the officials will never allow him to meet them. These people will never tell the King what he does not want to hear. The top brass in the army and the various ministers are colluding to such an extent that even the king is powerless", says a former high ranking official who wants to remain anonymous.
When every means failed to convince the government about the adverse implications of the ambitious Bhutanization Programme to the southern populace, Peoples Forum for Human Rights (PFHR-B) was formed on 09 July 1989 in exile, to redress the human rights situation in Bhutan, and elected Rizal as chairperson - who was later abducted from Nepal. Almost about 45 people were arrested for their involvement in writing of 'Human Rights Pamphlets' and imprisoned. This act of the government greatly undermined his prestige issue of the Bhutanese people and the government also stepped up with its allegation of the Southern Bhutanese as 'anti-nationals' and 'terrorist' concurrently. Visible frustration signs were seen amongst people against the government's dual nature. It became eminent that the southern Bhutan’s situation would become volatile after the people started peaceful demonstrations against the atrocities of the government. Instead of assessing the emerging political development in the south; the government became more rigid and determined to carry out its thorough scrutiny of the demoralised southern population with more ferocity. Harassing technique became more common with the census officials and the people got more dejected and frustrated. Mass mobilizations of the security forces took place and were stationed in all the southern districts in complete battle fatigue. Simultaneously, the government also started mandatory militia training in the country to the people other than the ethnic Lhotsampas. It was a war-like situation except that one group was well prepared while the others were defenceless.
