Reminding History to Bhutanese Champion
Dr. Bhampa Rai
The Prime Minister (PM) of Bhutan, Jigmi Y Thinley, labeled all the Bhutanese refugees as illegal immigrants during an exclusive interview with 101 East at Aljazeera on July 8, could be either he was then having no knowledge about the history of all immigrated people of Bhutan or intentionally lied to Aljazeera. Thinley explained that people in the camps in Nepal are the victims of humanitarian situations caused by demographic explosion, ecological disaster and economic depreciation. He even mentioned that eviction of people has been misinterpreted in several ways.
Undebatable truth exists that Bhutan is a country of immigrants of different ethnic in different periods of time. No question of other, even the only historical figure of Bhutan, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal also immigrated to this area, today’s Bhutan from Ralung, of Central Tibet in 1616. During the reign of Zhabdrung and the second king of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchuk, many people of Nepalese ethnicity were officially taken to Bhutan to settle them permanently in the southern parts of Bhutan. By then India was under British rulers.
Later, the descendants of those officially settled southern Bhutanese were also included in the total population of Bhutan when Bhutan reflected its total population to be 1.2 million, in United Nations Organization in 1971. Many people falling in this group were evicted and now they are in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal. So labeling them as illegal immigrants is a serious crime.
Unfortunately, since early eighties the Government of Bhutan (GoN) adapted discriminatory and suppressive policies mainly targeting to the Southern Bhutanese and started applying martial laws to evict this ethnic group on different pretexts. The citizens were intimidated, arbitrarily arrested, tortured in jails, many were killed in the process of torture in jails, numbers of women were raped and their houses wee ablazed by the government’s mercenaries prior to eviction. The ethnic cleansing attitude of the govt. of Bhutan is still as clear as mirror. But, in the interview, Thinley claimed that the Bhutanese refugee issue should never be interpreted in terms of ethnic cleansing program. Thinley presented himself so boldly to cheat billion of the television spectators that Bhutan should never be branded as perpetrator of human right’s violation. The idea of ethnic cleansing program in Bhutan was hatched up by only few rulers of Bhutan and not by the citizens of Bhutan. That is why numbers of Bhutanese from Drukpa community too, in support of their exile country fellow mates are in the Bhutanese refugees camps in eastern Nepal.
The Bhutanese refugees in the camps in eastern Nepal are the victims of political and human rights situation caused by the ethnic cleansing policy of the GoB. But still the Prime Minister Thinley is trying to confuse the international community with this present refugee issue by bringing up the issue of eviction of the laborers, those who entered Bhutan to work in the country’s first installed Chuka Hydroelectric Project’s plant, after political agreement with the Government of India in mid eighties.
Before labeling Bhutanese refugees as illegal immigrants, Thinley must not forget that Bhutan did accept the fact that there are Bhutanese citizens in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal and subsequently categorized them in 1994 and verified them in 2001 along with Nepali officials. He must acknowledge that the majority of the Bhutanese refugees were proven to be bona-fide Bhutanese during verification conducted on them by the Joint Verification Team of Bhutan and Nepal.
Such irrelevant statement of the Bhutanese PM was vividly aimed at demoralizing the exile Bhutanese, who have waited for repatriation to their homesteads for two decades and now are compelled to opt for third country resettlement at the cost of their nation and nationality. Luckily, due to the blessings of international community and big giants the perpetrators of human rights in Bhutan are still surviving as champions! And, the PM Thinley is one of them.
(The writer Dr. Rai chairs Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee and can be reached at brrrc1998@yahoo.com)
The Prime Minister (PM) of Bhutan, Jigmi Y Thinley, labeled all the Bhutanese refugees as illegal immigrants during an exclusive interview with 101 East at Aljazeera on July 8, could be either he was then having no knowledge about the history of all immigrated people of Bhutan or intentionally lied to Aljazeera. Thinley explained that people in the camps in Nepal are the victims of humanitarian situations caused by demographic explosion, ecological disaster and economic depreciation. He even mentioned that eviction of people has been misinterpreted in several ways.
Undebatable truth exists that Bhutan is a country of immigrants of different ethnic in different periods of time. No question of other, even the only historical figure of Bhutan, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal also immigrated to this area, today’s Bhutan from Ralung, of Central Tibet in 1616. During the reign of Zhabdrung and the second king of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchuk, many people of Nepalese ethnicity were officially taken to Bhutan to settle them permanently in the southern parts of Bhutan. By then India was under British rulers.
Later, the descendants of those officially settled southern Bhutanese were also included in the total population of Bhutan when Bhutan reflected its total population to be 1.2 million, in United Nations Organization in 1971. Many people falling in this group were evicted and now they are in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal. So labeling them as illegal immigrants is a serious crime.
Unfortunately, since early eighties the Government of Bhutan (GoN) adapted
- Thinely in Aljazeera interview/Aljazeera.net
discriminatory and suppressive policies mainly targeting to the Southern Bhutanese and started applying martial laws to evict this ethnic group on different pretexts. The citizens were intimidated, arbitrarily arrested, tortured in jails, many were killed in the process of torture in jails, numbers of women were raped and their houses wee ablazed by the government’s mercenaries prior to eviction. The ethnic cleansing attitude of the govt. of Bhutan is still as clear as mirror. But, in the interview, Thinley claimed that the Bhutanese refugee issue should never be interpreted in terms of ethnic cleansing program. Thinley presented himself so boldly to cheat billion of the television spectators that Bhutan should never be branded as perpetrator of human right’s violation. The idea of ethnic cleansing program in Bhutan was hatched up by only few rulers of Bhutan and not by the citizens of Bhutan. That is why numbers of Bhutanese from Drukpa community too, in support of their exile country fellow mates are in the Bhutanese refugees camps in eastern Nepal.
The Bhutanese refugees in the camps in eastern Nepal are the victims of political and human rights situation caused by the ethnic cleansing policy of the GoB. But still the Prime Minister Thinley is trying to confuse the international community with this present refugee issue by bringing up the issue of eviction of the laborers, those who entered Bhutan to work in the country’s first installed Chuka Hydroelectric Project’s plant, after political agreement with the Government of India in mid eighties.
Before labeling Bhutanese refugees as illegal immigrants, Thinley must not forget that Bhutan did accept the fact that there are Bhutanese citizens in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal and subsequently categorized them in 1994 and verified them in 2001 along with Nepali officials. He must acknowledge that the majority of the Bhutanese refugees were proven to be bona-fide Bhutanese during verification conducted on them by the Joint Verification Team of Bhutan and Nepal.
Such irrelevant statement of the Bhutanese PM was vividly aimed at demoralizing the exile Bhutanese, who have waited for repatriation to their homesteads for two decades and now are compelled to opt for third country resettlement at the cost of their nation and nationality. Luckily, due to the blessings of international community and big giants the perpetrators of human rights in Bhutan are still surviving as champions! And, the PM Thinley is one of them.
(The writer Dr. Rai chairs Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee and can be reached at brrrc1998@yahoo.com)
Dear Dr. Rai,
Thanks for writing this rebuttal to Jigme Thinley’s attempt to sell glib lie as truth.They have systematically evicted the major land holders and prominent citizens from south Bhutan and resettled Military and Militia families from other ethnic communities. They are all in convenient denial of the truth. However Karmic judgment will certainly befall sooner or latter.
Well-argued Dr. Rai and you played your role of a responsible Bhutanese. Every Bhutanese should react on such version that needs immediate intervention at all level. Our leaders and activist must organize similar news interviews to counter it with facts and figures so that it can be digested. Ofcourse we may have resource constraints (both economic and human) but there is no alternative and if there is WILL, there is always a way.
Time and again the tyrant government tried to argue the refugee issue in terms of illegal immigration terms without understanding the human settlement process of southern Bhutan. In the initial phase, it used to term us as ‘terrorist’ when the world was heading for counter-terrorism movement in order to gain the international sympathy. Western world (except India) never listened their allegations and now they changed the tone. It lost its rhythm.
Bhutan’s southern foothills are the extensions of Indo-Gangetic plains which has rich alluvial soil and too fertile for cultivations. But the area remained unfit for human settlement due to killer disease malaria. During 1950s, World Health Organizations launched the malaria eradication programs on such infected zones, making fit for settlement and Bhutan too got the privileges. Concurrently with the malaria eradication program, new areas like Daifarm, Bhangtar, Gyelephu, etc. were opened for general public and turned into habitable zone.
The Nepali speaking masses had settled and were living at Chirang, Dagapela, Sibsoo, etc. such places were not prone to killer diseases and had moved to new places. No northern Bhutanese had the courage to challenge the emerging hardships in the newly cleared land. In order to get the land, people had to produce the authentic residency status documents than only the royal kasho (decree) would be allocated to the people. Everyone produced the documents and were benefited with the royal kindness. During the time of issuance of land title and ownership transfer, there was no question of immigration and all the undertakings went systematically as per the existing regulation, but when same mass had some clarifications regarding the harsh policies, such unto wanted allegation from responsible figures came on media. It really showed the caliber of Mr. Thinely and his value judgment.
This is a scientific age and if Bhutan is sincere enough to know the factual things, we can use archeological tools to figure out the dates of Lhotshampas settlement in Bhutan and clear the benefit of doubts. There are tangible and intangible artifacts that will table the misinterpretation. Nobody has the inventories in records but heritage do survive.
Other immature argument by Mr. Thinely is that still he cannot digest the ‘one nation one nation policy’ in terms of ethnicity.
The people should be given the chance to state and prove where they were before they joined the camp. They will also tell how they landed into that situation. That becomes the original fact. Any statements to defy the facts deny the truth and is the lie, and of the liar. The lying propaganda thus continues to deceive with false information. If such falsehood has rewards and promises, any group would stick to it to the end… It is so easy to deny as it eases from responsibility of serving the truth. It should be made more difficult by denying the authority of them ruling in denial!
I think the Minister is right.I dont know why Bhutanese refufees still keep talking about this past stuffs even though they are resettled in Much better country..Its like old nepali saying ”Sungur lai swarga janchas vanda..aachi huncha thaya” Vandejasto..
Thanks Dr. Rai for writing this piece. It is a shame for the democratically elected system to have so blatant a voice without the capacity to judge the fact. I think the Bhutanese system has become so oblivion of other people listening to what they say. When all available state resources are directed towards projecting a particular view of Bhutan to the world what can the ethnic minorities say. Perhaps Bhutan is forgetting that others also know about the status of Southern Bhutanese and the status of the refugees. The land and the property grabbed from the people who had toiled their whole life to create most be so beneficial for the new families who have settled in the illegally occupied lands belonging to the Southern Bhutanese. Perhaps the precepts of Buddhism teaches the Bhutanese not to worry about humanity and the human race. There seems to be no ethical conscience left in the Bhutanese political system.
Yo,perfect article,thanks for your share! and I wonder if i can use this text in my website if I place a link back to yours? Waiting for your reply!