Bhutan's Nepali immigrants Vs ruling elite
It has become long since Bhutan has an inconsistent situation emerged inside the country. Why did the Lhostampas fail in adjust in the northern Bhutanese culture? It is equally significant to know reasons behind the eviction of these people. Does Bhutan face a danger to its identity and integrity? These are some of the issues, which draw careful and a precise revision.
The ethnic diversities in Bhutan have emerged as a main confront to the social fabric and the political systems. A sudden explosion for democratic freedom due to continued ethnic suppression in the country has threatened, as the rulers say, its integrity and security. Long-standing co-existence between northerner and Lhotsampas has now developed strong undercurrents of tensions and conflicts owing to the professed hazard by the northerners to their culture, national identity and integrity. A sense of discrimination and deprivation on the part of the Lhotsampas in Bhutan is another big issue.
Lhotsampas of the southern belt
The history reveals that the Lhotsampa has emerged as a dominant ethnic group in the southern Bhutan. This region forms border with India and lies close to the Himalayan foothills in the Duars. Nearly a century ago southern division had hardly any cultivable land or settlement. This undeveloped region pushed back people of northern part not to prefer it for settlement. We can say it was a jungle where communicable diseases like malaria claimed lives. The present southern belt has undergone massive developments after the Nepali settlement.
On the other hand, economic transformations brought about in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong areas through the Nepali workers employed by the British in the tea gardens of Assam and Darjeeling encouraged the rulers of Bhutan to welcome the Nepalis in Bhutan as well. As new developmental activities were initiated in the southern region, the significance of the Nepalis was widely felt.
Migration of Nepalis to southern Bhutan started on a large scale after the signing of the Sinchula Treaty of 1865 between the British India and Bhutan, which brought an end to the Duar War.
The Nepalis took no time in clearing forests and start cultivating. It was a direct migration from Nepal as well as a step migration from Darjeeling and adjoining areas of India. This clearly shows that the present Bhutan would have never come to this state had Nepalis sat ideally.
Discrimination on Nepalis
Although attempts towards adjusting Nepalis into the national mainstream of Bhutan continued, a change in the attitude of ruling elite was discernible in the eighties. A number of policy measures were taken with a view to consolidating Bhutan's national identity and integrity and on the other hand discouraging Nepalis.
In 1988, the RGOB conducted a fresh census to implement the Citizenship Act strictly. The earlier census had included, as the government claims, a number of persons who were not bonafide Bhutanese nationals. But, consequently, the census was a measure adopted by the government in its effort to clear the southern Bhutan by evicting Nepali settlers.
Simultaneously, the government passed a dress and language etiquette called Driglam Namza. It stipulated a code of conduct as how to eat, how to sit, how to speak, how to bow before the authorities and how to dress. It appears that the basic idea behind the royal verdict was meant to strengthen the northern Bhutanese culture and developed it into a united public culture. However, it was an attempt towards Bhutanization of Lhotsampas, which they resented vigorously.
The ban of teaching Nepali language from the schools in southern Bhutan in February 1991 is yet excellent evidence to justify suppression of ruling elite over Nepalis. The beginning of 1990 was marked with the eruption of ethnic discrepancy in Bhutan.
Cultural and traditional diversity
The tradition and culture of northern Bhutanese society and those of the Lhotsampas are different. The former is a Lamaist Buddhist while the latter forms the Hindu cultural value system. The Nepalis have not been able to integrate themselves in the traditional social structure of Ngalongs. In fact, the Nepalis form a distinct cultural group and are proud of their own traditions. Hence, a cultural gap exists between the two communities, instigated by the RGOB to be so.
There is an emotional attachment of each community towards their own culture and is beyond doubt in their psyche. The Bhutanese ruling elite feels that with the Nepali influx in Bhutan, the Ngalong and other societies may face a cultural threat. The basic issue seems to be how to accommodate a different cultural group into the core culture of the country. This would require a prescriptive approach, which the Bhutanese ruling elite has lacked so far.
Political orientation
The Nepalis in Bhutan have a different political orientation. Among the Nepalis, there are persons who are politically active and they are trained in democratic or Marxist political values in India or Nepal and maintained close links with their counterparts in these countries. Their loyalty towards Bhutanese political system is suspect. Owing to their political orientation they are finding it difficult to adjust to the existing political structure of Bhutan. They have not failed to mobilize the northern Bhutanese society in their goodwill, seemingly on account of their diverse ethnic background and their alienation from the society.
Hence, the presence of Nepalis in Bhutanese politics is a source of threat to the traditional political structure of Bhutan. The revealing fact is that the democratic movement launched by Nepalis had not adequately incorporated the diverse ethnic communities existing in Bhutan.