Twelve years ago, eastern Bhutan was closed to trap and kill the rebels who raised voice against the autocratic regime in Thimphu. At least one hundred and fifty eastern Bhutanese were arrested and tortured to coerce them to confess being the supporters of Rongthong Kunley Dorji of Druk National Congress (DNC) and United Front for Democracy (UFD). A hundred families fled to Arunachal Pradesh in India and some even reached Nepal seeking protection. At least 120 people were sentenced to life imprisonment. The Nyingmapa (a sect of Mahayana Buddhism) monks were their first targets. A teacher of Buddhism, Thinley Oezer was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. Amnesty International report says his trial had fallen short of international fair trial standards.
Most of the arrested people were farmers and Buddhist monks. Women, including pregnant ones, were arrested and taken into hostage in lieu of their husbands. The arrested were kept in differents prisons and tortured. Those detained in Tashiyangtse were made naked and treated in ice cold water in winter for several days. Detainees in Pemagatsel district were held in shackles and flogged daily several times a day. Buddhist Pastor (Gomchhen) Karma of Gomdar village in Samdrup Jonkhar district was killed in police custody in Korila in Mongar district. The government admitted that he was shot dead by the district administrator. Following the incident and condemnation from the international community, the fourth monarch shied himself from the rank of the head of the government and gave his position to Jigmi Yeshe Thinley, a minister from eastern Bhutan, who had supported him in crushing the movement in south in 1990 and in the east in 1997. The international objection was loud and critical of the government. The government in turn sealed the border from three directions north, east and south to prevent the news leak out. For a decade, no development reached the eastern districts. It was accessible only to the army and the Thimphu’s patriot civil servants.
Thereafter the eastern Bhutan has remained closed to the outsider. Good land and places of the eastern Bhutan are occupied by the Thimphu’s patriots. Besides those close to the regime in Thimphu, there is no permission to others to enter this part of the country.
In the 2008 election, only the regime supporters from the east were made candidates for the parties. Today, 40 percent of the ministers in the 10 member cabinet are from the east. However, none of the ministers and the MPs belongs to the group who spoke for democracy even once. All those people who were against democracy are burdened to carry out the duty as democrats.
After the clamp down in the east since 1997, limited entry of the local journalists began only after the declaration of democracy. Some degree of news from the east came out during the election time when local news reporters could visit there.
Two step mothers
Unfortunately, in line with the government’s attitude even the nature showed its step motherly treatment on the east. Before the wounds from boots could form scars, two major earthquakes shook the east that brought almost all the traditional houses and old structures to the ground. The major earthquakes made hundreds of children orphans; parents became childless and thousands of people lost their homes to the disaster. The support from the government was too less and too late, if at all. Instead of requesting the international support to quickly aid the victims, government in the democratic clothing resorted to news black out. Even the local media reporters are banned from covering the news on earthquake victims. The sole aim of the government is to hide the actual situation in eastern Bhutan from the international eyes. Thimphu regime had been propagating happiness across the country. Should the outside world see the situation in the forbidden east, they will know the reality behind the façade of the happy government. The Thimphu regime had been presenting eight districts around the capital as the happy Bhutan. Unless other twelve districts are opened, Thimphu will keep lying to the outside world.
Royal balm
The eastern Bhutanese began to confront against the atrocities of the government, which constitutes more than forty percent Eastern Bhutanese The government sees no resort but to impose another martial law over the earth quake victims. They want to keep the trouble under blanket. They are not in a position to provide immediate rescue. They are reluctant to invite external support. They have no relief ready and no compensation to hand out. When the people began to defy the law and disobey the district administration, young king paid a visit to convince the people but returned frightened. Then the former king, the fourth monarch visited the earthquake hit eastern districts. His mere presence in the east adds insult to the injury.
Adding insult to the injury
In 1991 the fourth monarch declared in the parliament that should he fail to solve the problem in south that started in 1990 within three years he would abdicate from the throne. Instead, five years later, he resorted to another massacre in the east. After the five southern districts, Trashigang and Trashiyangtse are the worst affected districts, hit by Thimphu regime’s catch and kill or kick strategy.
On December 16, 2005 some elderly yak herders, who were kept under hostage in Tashiyangtse to attend the mass meeting for the king had quizzed him. They asked him what he did for the welfare of the people of Trashiyangtse and other eastern districts in his three decade long rule. They even questioned the need for the people to attend his meetings when the government does not respect their religion and care about the development. The next day, coinciding with the 98th anniversary of the establishment of the monarchy in Bhutan, the quiz-failed king declared his abdication from the throne. Since then, he had never returned to the eastern districts. His son, the king in waiting, was deputed to discuss the constitution with the people in Trashiyangtse. Today, after four years, the royal family is in the east to paint the shame with false courtesy and show deceiving prophesies to the disaster victims.
Should the local and international journalist get an opportunity to cover eastern Bhutan today, they will find the people with anger and criticism against Thimphu. To prevent this from happening, and to show mimicry of happiness, the eastern districts are closed for now.
Kyoto Japan
oh i forgot..i do not know who the chief guest of Indian Republic Day was this year. Govinda Rizal predicted tht it would be someone from Bhutan.has it come true Govindaji
Yes the above article actual situation of we sarchhop and Kheng. On top of it we have many kokti of Dasho/ lhyompoo and royals. these people have raped all our young girls. Gup, Chhimi, Dzonkhag officials are the one who serve them with young girls.
There is NO any complains nor any one puts in any media, poor women just swallow with tears, can you feel the pain we all are human. It is another side of gross happiness. We thought southers will do some thing but they did alone and now they are side lined to western countries
I am always fascinated to read the articles by Govinda Bhai. May be he is hitting the right place at right time and facts base on truths.
The RGOB is grossly violating the rights of the people especially the southerners and the Easterners. The step motherly treatment is the gross violation of the Human Rights.
I think the Sarchops are also realizing the bitter truth and the inhuman treatment meted to them.
This time, I am happy to note that long time critics and the ardent supporter (appeared to be) of RGOB, truthfully came in open to flash some of the misdemeanors of RGOB. I welcome Wangmo in our democratic camp.
Thank you
DB Adhikari
Arizona, US
Wangmo is a pseudo name created by some fools who try to fool a dumb like you, Adhikariji. From the way she spelled some of the words show that she had been disconnected from Bhutan for a long time.
Read newspapers and online reports and see what other independent minds are saying. One of the world’s respected organizations recently reported their findings that Bhutan is the best place to live in Asia and 71 st in the world. What does that mean to you and the international community who had been following the developments in Bhutan and it’s neighborhood?.
I too read the articles by Gobinda ji but at some of the points i am not sure if he is hitting the right nails on the right places. Let me put it in a lay man´s sentence : More than emotions, as educated, we should look for basic facts and reflect both positives and negatives and JUST raise issues exactly as they are. Personally, i feel,most of the time, we are behaving in the same way some of our friends in Bhutan behave and biasedly talk nonsense.
Hi Pseudo,
Don’t level the people in your way and term. That is not the civilized way of criticizing people, and hence, u seemed to be the most uncivilized guy that appeared in the commenting column.
I very well know about the independent minds of the people, at the same time I also know the ground reality, how the people are suffering in Bhutan. It is a false paradise, nothing but a conglomerate of all the evil minds, they do nothing but harass and haunt the people and talk tall of GNH which is virtually non-existence.
DB Adhikari
USA
Watch this and see what true Bhutanese citizens of Neapli descends are sying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwVQczJsAlU
And Adhikari, is it the civilized way of criticising when you bash the country base on what you imagine? Is it civilized (for you)to think that the international communities are just fools; to think that they do not have access to any kind of information about Bhutan that just apfanews.com? Is it civilised to think that people who read articles, such as one above, cannot make educated and informed choice, reading between the lines, of what is right or wrong?
Now, it is not even civilised for you to think that the international community still dont know who is evil and God between refugee leaders and Bhutan.
I’ve become late to comment but I feel it necessary to put my opinion. Whoever wrote in the name of Pseudo is another violation with preoccupied mind setup. It is not that whatever king and Ngalung do for Bhutan is good or correct. It may be good for racist but there is not equality and universal brotherhood.
One who cannot safeguard its geographical territory is coward and proposing to sell the country is stupid. Jigme proposed to sell one of the southern district to India and there is no law to punish such traitor. Jigme’s government and JYT’s government couldn’t protect the northern boundary from China expansion. Is there any trial for such unnatural proposal and behavior?
To raise one’s suffering when other is exercising the power is fair enough. Afterall country is common property of it’s crew. Bhutan is not the creation of ‘Ngalung’ who were chased from Tibet and took the asylum at present state.
Had the reports published by RGOB been facts and genuine, there wouldn’t have been bilateral talks and UNHCR comprehension package to resolve the deadlocks.
There is a big political game played thinking that world would blindly accept what the government prints.
Government is a guardian for its citizens. When the people uprise for the change in policies, govt shouldn’t connote such phenomena into unmatched immigration. If it was a illegal immigration, why would some of the complete village had to be evacuated on evicted. Why do the government allowed those people to settle there having their land, houses and aboveall the citizenship card? Offical on duty or the accountable person has to proscucated. It has to be both way process and not the isothermic.
When the southerners pay the revenue and support the king, they have become the patroit son of Bhutan, but when some of the people opposed the faulty system and practice,then they are classified as ‘antinational’ and evicted from the country. With such occurance govt termed it as immigration issue. So to protect the criticism and to cover the whimky face, all such hype are termed by the ruler.
It is a foul play in the mind and life of innocent southern by demon ruler.