Bhutan has placed itself in a very critical position by publishing false documents against its own population. The government claims that those people who had played a significant role in the demonstration absconded in May, 1991 for fear of being caught red-handed for the embezzlement of huge sums from the government funds. None of the people charge-sheeted with false accusation were involved in the so-called demonstrations, otherwise a peaceful rally, except for Late R.K. Budathoki who was an active member of the movement. When the silent move of the government to implement the immoral cultural designs of their tribe in Bhutan by force at gun points became known to the outside world, Bhutan was quick to respond with false documentation. As far as the embezzlement of funds are concerned; it is not the innocent victims who did it but the history is otherwise.
In 1987, His Majesty The King Jigme Singye Wangchuk nominated Mr. Rizal to head the Royal Audit Commission. The commission identified several Chief District Officers (Dzongdag) as embezzlers of public funds earmarked for developmental activities. Rizal's findings led the king to sack a number of Dzongdags from posts and to sentence them to long term imprisonment. Among those imprisoned was the brother of the Home Minister Dago Tshering, the Dzongdag of Thimphu. Since several of the corrupt Dzongdags, who were sacked and jailed, were kinsmen of ministers, they were released. Therefore, it can be assumed that it is a cover up of the government for its own fault.
The government charges that the Lhotsampas movement in Bhutan was for democracy and human rights and failed without mass support. The government failed in its allegation without knowing the essential ingredients for democracy and human rights. Of course, the movement spearheaded by Lhotsampas was for the basic human rights, this fact cannot be denied in totality. Mass is not required for democracy; only the will is essential. The glaring examples of our times is that two individuals Mikhail Gorbachov and Ronald Reagan brought about the fall of communism in former USSR ushering democracy. It is imperative to stress here that the movement in Bhutan then was not targeted at institutionalising democracy but over the years it has become a movement for multi-party democracy and human rights; a gift of the Bhutanese Government.
For fear of being bogged down by international pressure, the visible signs of disgruntlement in the kingdom over the mass eviction and human rights crimes, fear of eminent reprisal from the easterners particularly the Sharchops, the Defense Officers and the voluntary denouncement of the lucrative government services by the top class citizens sparked an absolute fear in Thimphu, thereby compelling the government to find a loop hole somewhere to save its own skin. It is true that the people who fled Bhutan during the census drive had formed and camped at Gairganda in the Jalpaiguri District of India. Had it been a Nepali movement for Pan-Nepali strategy in Bhutan, the so-called democratic movement to topple the regime could have been ignited from there as these regions comprise almost ten million Nepali-settlers, the figure which Bhutan acknowledges. They campaigned against census abuses and other malpractices by the census officials and military personnel from there but the so-called dissident groups never mobilised Indian citizens nor requested their assistance. In fact, the dissident groups wanted the situation in Bhutan to come to normalcy and prevent the society from further insult and fragmentation. Some of the dissidents used to enter Bhutan in the cover of darkness to meet their relatives. Unfortunately many used to be apprehended by the security forces and coerced into signing statements at gun points that they were terrorists or insurgents. The heinous crimes including rape and merciless murder committed by the security forces and the government officials were passed on to the unlucky victims.
Meanwhile the Bhutanese Government did not leave any stone unturned in implementing the draconian policy in theory and in practice. The Lhotsampa people came under severe government criticism and the government officials started labelling all the Lhotsampas in Bhutan as ngolops. People resented and opposed this move but in vain. Thus, many people started joining the dissident camps in Gairganda. Fearing, immediate reprisal from the dissident groups, the Royal Government of Bhutan started bribing the West-Bengal Police. In order to earn a quick buck, they went all out to apprehend the dissidents and hand them over to the Royal Bhutan Police. For one dissident, the Bhutanese Government used to pay Nu. five thousand to fifty thousand to the policemen and it still continues. Even the Indian people also earned a lot of hard currency from Bhutan in exchange for dissidents. Hence, to escape from harassment from India and Bhutan, they fled to Nepal. More-over, the headstrong The Communist Leader Mr. Jyoti Basu, The Chief Minister of West-Bengal, had reportedly assured King Jigme Singye Wangchuk that he would not let any activities directed against the government of Bhutan from the Indian territory. This tough political stand of Communist-Jyoti Basu compelled the Lhotsampas to land in a third country.
The Royal Government of Bhutan, without actually assessing the plight of the people, simply blames the Lhotsampas as dissidents or insurgents. The Thimphu regime has embarrassed The Government of Nepal in many counts. They solely held Nepal to be responsible for the establishment of the refugee camps by helping with the congregation of ethnic Nepalis with the Bhutanese Lhotsampa population in the camps. Nepal is also blamed by Bhutan for imparting military training to the refugees and for stock piling of weapons to be used against Bhutan. This tough stand by Bhutan has no base as such activities are never carried in the camps and moreover, the world knows now that it is a false cover up of Bhutan just to draw international sympathy wave in the name of cultural preservation. The Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. Girja Prasad Koirala had also pledged to King Jigme that he would not allow any activities directed against the Government of Bhutan from the Nepalese territory. Thus, it is clear that Bhutan wants cheap popularity at the expense of the genuine cause of the people of Bhutan. The Government of Bhutan has also harmed its diplomatic reputation by crossing all the diplomatic limits and positioning Nepal in an awkward situation.
The dissidents are also charged with collecting and harbouring as many people in the camps from Nepal and India thereby giving them the ‘refugee’ status. Let it be clear to the Government of Bhutan that the dissident groups are not the one to do so but there are socially deputed agencies and organisations for it at Kakarvitta and in the camps. The Thimphu ruler has questioned the authentic authority and validity of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee and The Government of Nepal, when it doubts the genuinity of the refugees as Bhutanese citizens. Ex-Foreign Minister Dawa Tshering of Bhutan went to the extent of telling British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in March' 1992 that, most of the refugees in the camps were not really refugees. On the other hand the UNHCR and Govt. of Nepal have verified that the refugees are indeed Bhutanese citizens. Sub-Inspector Hom Jung Chauhan, Chief of the border post of Kakarvitta where all the refugees enter Nepal, has no doubts about the origin of the refugees. "The Bhutanese Lhotsampas speak of mandal (Village Headman) and Block (Units) words that Meghalaya Nepali would not know. They are also submissive and have peculiar formalities. When they realise that I represent authority, for examples, they bow in a very special Bhutanese way". Arno Coerner of the Luthern World Federation (LWF) refugee operations in Jhapa says, "all I can say is that 95 to 98 percent have lived their last year in Bhutan".
The specialised UN agencies; Govt. of Nepal and NGOs attending to the welfare and well-being of the refugees report that 98% of the refugees entering the camps have documentation showing citizenship card or for long-term residency in Bhutan. However, the Bhutanese government officials are firm in their insistence that the refugees are impostors. Further, when Govt. of Nepal officials at one meeting referred the presence of thousands of Bhutanese in the camps with citizenship identity cards, the counterpart said that their printers in Calcutta had proved to be crooks and were flooding the camps with false identity cards. When Nepal invited the Bhutanese to discreetly bring in forgery experts to check the authenticity of samples, there was no response from Thimphu. Veerapong Vangvarstoi, programme officer at UNHCR in Kathmandu, says it is unlikely that tens of thousands of people would be able to fake their identity. "If the documents are faked then everyone would have the same fake documents. Some have land deeds, others have tax receipts and still others have marriage certificates. It is not possible that so large number of people could claim to come from Bhutan when it isn't true". Thus the findings about the genuinity of the refugees as Bhutanese citizens by the refugee concerned groups cannot be simply taken as null and void. They have established the fact that Bhutan is totally at fault and is just feeding wrong information to the international community about the Lhotsampas being illegal immigrants in Bhutan. Further, its stand of Greater Nepal, issue is vague as no Lhotsampas within Bhutan have voiced for greater Nepal nor have they any political liaison with Nepalis dominated ethnic groups outside Bhutan. This bogus stand of Bhutan is raised just to embarrass Nepal and India. Carol Rose, while having a talk with a retired Bhutanese official, who generally refused to comment because he remains loyal to the king says that when the Government raises the issue of the threat to Bhutan from the Pan-Nepali Movement the official looked dead in the eyes and said, that's complete bull-shit.
The Bhutanese Government’s claim is that, the dissidents are no refugees but a portion of disgruntled lots trying to define Bhutanese identity for all the refugees does not hold any truth in it. This fact has been well established that they have made political victims out of false propaganda. In fact there are no dissident groups in the camps. They are all a part and partial of Bhutan and identify themselves with Bhutan only. As Hamish Mc Donald in the Far Eastern Economic Review points out that "the people in the camps do seem to display a deep familiarity with southern Bhutan and have consistent stories. The government's account, meanwhile are flawed by major inconsistency".
