The success of democratic movement in Nepal and the fall of Communism for democratic set up elsewhere did not have any bearing with the Southern Bhutanese nor did they have any pride with their superior population strength. However, the government's biased policies compelled the people to voice for their basic rights which the government promptly misinterpreted it as an indicator for Nepali autonomy. When people finally took to streets against these policies in September 1990, the peaceful rallies and silent protest marches were termed as anti-national activities and the government was quick to crack on the demonstrators inflicting heavy causalities. Amnesty International reported that as many as four thousand demonstrators took part in this protests in Samchi district alone. The report further says- "The total number of people arrested since early 1990 for suspected involvement in opposition activities runs into thousands". Arbitrary detention, torture, rape, murder, confiscation of lands, properties and citizenship documents became a daily routine. This led to the flight of many Southern Bhutanese to India and Nepal for security reasons and for their own protection.
Following the September 1990 demonstrations, raids by the security forces became very common. People were beaten frequently and questioned on participation in protest activities, rape became a common nightmare. Many innocent people were detained in the prison cells, local schools, hospitals which were converted to army barracks and jails, without trail. In 1990, National Institute of Family Health (NIFH) a WHO funded institution at Gaylegphug was converted into army detention centre, where hundreds of people were tortured, hacked to death and many were still in the prison. It became mandatory for the people speaking Nepali language to have a "No Objection Certificate" (NOC) for employment, admission to schools, trade licences or permission to leave the country on official work. "NOCs were denied to anyone who had a family member suspected of participating in the 1990 demonstrations. Although NOC requirement was dropped in 1992, following negotiations between the Bhutanese Government and Amnesty International, Thimphu continues to expel people on grounds that a "family member" has participated in the opposition movement. In many instances, refugees say, entire families are expelled from the country because a relative had participated in the September 1990 protests" (The Last Emperor? Carol Rose).
The post demonstration period witnessed tensions between the ruling class and Lhotsampa members in the civil services and in the bureaucracy in Thimphu. In the proceedings of the 1992, Bhutanese National Assembly, representatives from the southern districts submitted “Genja" or “legally binding documents"- signed by all the people in their districts, vowing loyalty to the “Tsa Wa Sum” (King, Kingdom and the Government). In reply the Ruling community representatives said, "Although the Lhotsampas had pledged their support and loyalty many times before, they had not been sincere in the past.... it is very difficult to place any trust and confidence in them and believe in the sincerity of their Genja. It may be recalled that the1992National Assembly called on the government to speed up the transferof land "left behind by the ngolops (terrorists) who had absconded after the 1990 national uprising and the land vacated by the Lhotsampas who had sold them and legally emigrated to India and Nepal should be allotted to landless people from all the districts. In the proceedings proposals for "eviction of ngolops" were forwarded by various district representatives. They suggested that "all Lhotsampas should be evicted as they do not seem to be interested in staying in the country anyway” to a "call for the eviction of all family members and relatives of ngolops" to the suggestion that "all Lhotsampas who are in the government services and closely related to the ngolops should be evicted from the country" (Government of Bhutan, Agenda for the 71 session of National Assembly on 16 Oct - 3 Nov 1992). The 74th 1995 National Assembly passed the resolution of Capital Punishment to Tenzing Gawa Zangpo and Rongthong Kunley Dorji for their involvement in the democratic movement and for their publications which highlighted the root causes of the problems in Bhutan. Similarly, the 75th 1996 National Assembly in the one hand reminded the people that the government had provided cash incentives to the people for inter-marriages between northern Bhutanese and Southern Bhutanese families and on the other hand these married couples are evicted declaring non-nationals. One can just pinpoint in this context as to how efficient and capable are the people's representatives in Bhutan. If the fate of Bhutan is left to them to be decided, one can well imagine the destiny of the citizens of Bhutan. It is futile to blame them as they are illiterate and completely ignorant about politics and government policies. They are a well briefed fools dictated well to speak in tune with the government wishes of the assembly. Hence every resolution adopted by the National Assembly of Bhutan passes unanimously for immediate implementation.
The census took on a new character, as protests grew; not just as a tool against illegal immigrants but as a tool against anti-govt. The then Home Minister Dago Tshering through his government circular, 17 August, 1990 noted that "any Bhutanese National leaving the country to assist and help the anti-nationals shall no longer be considered a Bhutanese citizen. It must also be made very clear that such people's family members living under the same household will also be held fully responsible and forfeit their citizenship". Hence the census team found a pretext to deny the citizenship under this legal interpretation. This was the main reason for the influx of refugees in larger numbers at later stage as accused anti-nationals joined those whose earlier classifications as non-nationals were being enforced with deportation.
The king Jigme very often frequented the disturbed areas of Southern Bhutan knowingly the king used to be kept remote from the public. Despite the large ground gathered at stage-managed events, only hand-picked representatives were allowed to speak to him. The majority were made to remain silent due to threats of dire consequences by the Dzongdas and Dungpas. These much publicised trips should have public relations value because they show king's much-vaunted accessibility, but they do not seem to have provided him with insights on what is really going on.
On 14 July 1992, King Jigme, travelled down to Gaylegphug when he learnt that there was a mass exodus of Lhotsampas from Sarbhang district. According to the Kuensel the king said, "All of you are bonafide citizens who have been issued with Bhutanese citizenship Cards. It is very important that I understand your problems and know the reasons why you want to leave your country". "He further went on" short of literally going down on my knees with folded hands; I have tried every thing possible to resolve the serious problem we have today in Southern Bhutan. I am therefore deeply pained that all of you here today who are genuine citizens have not only applied to leave your country but even declared that you would not wait for more than two days to have your applications processed. I have come here from Thimphu to ask you all not to migrate and leave your country. I have every hope that you will reconsider your decision and not abandon your country when it is going through a very difficult phase. "I have done everything I could think of to make you responsible citizens. I can now only hope and pray that you will stay back so that we can all live together like members of one household and make our country strong ...........".
What could be the soothing words of the Bhutanese Monarch to his people above? That, the very people he addressed near the jungle in Sarbhang had to flee the country the next day and land in the refugee camp with tales of woe and humiliations. (Photo 05, 4 nos.)
A few men and women agreed to stay, but it did not work. The day after the king returned to the palace, the Lhotsampas of Sarbhang including those that had promised to stay, were shown the way by the local administrators.
Kanak Mani Dixit opines that "King Jigme's administration is sharp, disciplined and responsive, with a reputation of "getting things done". It is this administration acumen that has been brought to bear against the Lhotsampas. The result has been devastating in its efficiency". He stepped ahead to add that "Somewhere along the way, a plan evolved. Its goal was to defuse the Lhotsampas demographic threat, and intricate details were worked out. A census would be taken again under more discriminatory criteria; Driglam-Namza would be strongly enforced; all political opponents would be termed ngolops and terrorists; schools, hospitals and services in the south would be closed; requirement of ‘No Objection Certificate’ would be slapped on the southerners; all land found to be "illegal would be confiscated and northerner invited in". This is what exactly the Royal Government of Bhutan did. It was a well thought out plan and equally implemented in entirety with aggressiveness since February, 1992. In order to balance the demographic equation Bhutan intends to bring down the Lhotsampa (Nepali-speaking) population down to between 15 and 20 percent of country's reduced population.
In many instances; the government resorted to harassment and use of physical force to make the people sign a "Voluntary Leaving Certificate" once they were declared illegal. The said certificate briefly stated that they are leaving on their own free will after being well compensated. The census team also used to make sure that they got their group photographs before they left for their undefined destiny. In some cases video recording or tape recording is done to extract verbal confirmation of their forced voluntary departure. A confidential report of a western bilateral development agency reports that "Individuals are held responsible for the deeds of the family members. Further more, there are no clear guidelines for the term "family members" and many have been forced to apply for emigration by signing the voluntary leaving certificates. Many of these families would have been early settlers (1890-1930), who fell well within the 1958 census criterion". In extreme cases, the people were evicted at gun points without any compensation. There are reports that the people had walked all the way to the refugee camps on foot begging alms. Most of the forcefully evicted southerners preferred death than to brand a new status and hence many committed suicide.
Amnesty International confirms that at least some of the allegations of violence by government opponents may be true. Its team of investigators in Bhutan interviewed victims and relatives of victims who "reported incidents of kidnapping, beheading, extortion, torture and other abuses by opposition groups which had occurred in the south mainly during 1990".
However, the Amnesty International report went on to conclude that it could not confirm government reports on the numbers allegedly killed or kidnapped by the opposition movement "while attacks on civilians in southern Bhutan are consistently attributed to 'anti-nationals', said the Amnesty report "it is not always clear that evidence exists to indicate the political motivation behind the acts".
The Southern Bhutan problem is not aimed for political superiority nor is a calculated move to destabilise the Bhutanese Society and create confusion. The government is solely responsible to accelerate the issue knowingly so that the Lhotsampa population are marginalized on ideological grounds and create a permanent fear within the Lhotsampa populace and divide them. The deep rooted aim of the government was to create a salvation where the Lhotsampa would raise arms against the Lhotsampas. The census was primarily carried out through-out Southern Bhutan in order to disintegrate the people from the same village and manipulate them. Till date the King has not conducted census in his own area. It is believed that none of the ethnic Ngalong would have documents to prove themselves as citizens of Bhutan. Secondly, in the south the census officials wanted to disintegrate members from the same joint family and create groupism with doubts and suspicion to each other. To a large extent, the result paid rich dividends to them as the Lhotsampas started to view even their neighbours, kith and kin and close relatives with utter disregard.
The census officials were delegated the power by the centre to do what they felt like. They went to such an extreme that their very sight frightened the villagers. The government officials, the security forces and even the recruited Lhotsampas by the government to favour their team work took undue advantage of the situation and found easy accesses to roam freely in the villages and terrorise the people at gun points threatening them with dire consequences. These combined team members resorted to worst form of abuses including gang rapes, plunder, loot and torture. Maximum human rights abuses were committed by these people and the blame was passed on to the innocents as terrorists or anti-nationals. The government officials targeted the select lot of village elders and representatives to identify the villagers as bonafide domiciles or non-residents. This in fact, created misunderstanding and hatred for each other. The census identification Lhotsampa representatives were given VIP treatment at government expenses and security protection. Hence, it is apparent that some of the census officials became the target of the villagers' wrath when they were declared non-nationals. Thus out of sheer revenge, some of the people became violent and resorted to violent acts. Most of the security forces mobilised in southern Bhutan was from other communities. When these forces landed in Southern Bhutan, they were amazed to see the rich settlers in the south and out of sheer greed and lust; they committed the heinous acts against the people. The security forces pocketed all they could find and when they returned back to their barracks, they became rich overnight. According to an officer of the Royal Bhutan Army now in exile, who desires to remain anonymous recalls that "In the early phase of Southern Bhutan Problem; I was the adjutant of an army centre. The commanding officer used to call me at night and instruct me to mobilise the soldiers in full combat fatigue with reserve ammunition and arms within an hour’s time to an unspecified places in the south that used to be daily routine". He further states that "the soldiers picked up for southern operation used to be mostly from communities other than the Lhotsampas and the commanding officers were always from Ngalong family.” They used to be selected days before and were kept at ‘stand to’, within few minutes of passing orders to these soldiers for mobilisation, they would excitedly ‘fall In’ and wait for the green signal to proceed. They knew that they were not going in a battle field but to get rich and wealthy. When the same soldiers were replaced by others after a month’s time, they used to return with all the goods ranging from school stationery, school uniforms, gold ornaments, kitchen hardware, electronic gadgets and costly volumes of library books. "I recall very clearly that when a platoon of soldiers from Dagapela was withdrawn to barracks in 1990, they had come with the loots from the Goshi Primary School, the villagers and the shops. They had brought cartoons full of goods and sufficient cash amount. The items were seized and sent to the Army Headquarters, but no action was even taken to the soldiers".
About 80 % of the Bhutanese soldiers are illiterate and this is the greatest advantage for Bhutan to keep them cut off from the political changes. The ignorance, politeness and the simplicity of the Bhutanese soldiers makes him the slave of his master. Maximum advantage has been taken to the Bhutanese soldiers due to the above simple factors.
