From: bhattas@athena.mit.edu (Saurav D Bhatta)
Subject: Re:    News from Nepal
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 15:15:57 GMT

In article <92252.182642ASRPA@ASUACAD.BITNET>, <ASRPA@ASUACAD.BITNET> included a
the following piece from the LA Times. I have no idea whether this is the
normal standard of fair reporting that this newspaper maintains. But it certainly
looks more like a propoganda piece from the Bhutanese government, than a report
by a qualified reporter. Anyway, I found the tone and contents of this article
ridiculous enough to warrent some sort of response. I am going going to include
excerpts (these will be in quotes) from a report by a mission organized in MAY, 1992 qby th Informal SEctor Service
Center (INSEC) and the International Center For Law in Development (ICLD) to
invesitigate the situation in Bhutan. These agencies have an ongoing program to
investigate human right abuses in SAARC countries.
||> 
|> 				ETHNIC DISCORD;
|> 		CLASH OF CULTURES IN BHUTAN SPURS EMIGRATION;
|> 	THOUSANDS OF NEPALESE RESIDENTS HAVE LEFT, CHARGING PREJUDICE.
|> 	  BUT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS MANY WERE LIVING THERE ILLEGALLY.
|>           _________________________________________________________
|> 
|>                                        By K. E. S. KIRBY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
|> 
|> DAGANA, Bhutan, September 1, 1992 (Los Angeles Times):
|> 
|> ...
|> ...
|>    Carefully, the 43-year-old farmer affixed his fingerprint to thick documents
|> permitting him to sell eight acres in the steep Himalayan foothills to the
|> Bhutanese government. A few minutes later, under the glare of a videocam team's
|> lights, he pocketed his payment -- the equivalent of nearly $10,000.
" ... Mr Kaphley and several others in Chiengmari reported to us a new ruse being
adopted by the Bhutan Security Forces in their District in Bhutan. For the last
four years all land transfers had been stopped in Bhutan, Now they have been
restarted. Officials call upon the residents at midnight and threaten to serve
with eviction (read "deportation") notices. They then offer them modest sums of
Indian currency if they will sign documentation that they are voluntarily selling
their lands and are leaving under their own volition. The "sale" is captured on
video tape, presumably to be offered as part of the government's case that they
are not forcing South Bhutanese to leave. ... "

|> 
|>    Mongar now was legally free to leave his lifelong home, and he, his wife and
|> his five children were heading out shortly for southeastern  Nepal  to join
|> relatives in Jhapa. But this was no ordinary family reunion: In Jhapa, they had
|> heard, food and lodging are free -- at a place that some see as a refugee camp
|> and that others call a refuge for traitors.
i guess this Kirby guy feels that it is a previledge to be "legally free" to leave
one's home and head for a wonderful life in squalid refugee camps. and of course
the lure of free food and lodging must have been tempting enough to inpire them to
leave their homes with smily faces. according to WFP (UN World Food Program),
" at least 250 persons are entering Nepal every day. the number of registered
regugees has increased fom 10,000 last December to the present level of 35,000".
the number could be as high as 70000 (according to unofficial estimates). severe
lack of food has caused many children to suffer from malnutrition. the camps have
long since become overcrowded and serious public health problems are evident.
> 
|>    "I'm going to take anything I can carry," Mongar vowed as thick fog curled
|> around the courthouse during a monsoon downpour. "Everyone else is taking all of
|> their things too."
i guess every southern bhutanese owns nothing more than he/she can carry (that's
how regugees have been arriving in the camps in Nepal and India). 

|> 
|>    Personal, not political, reasons prompted Budhi Man Mongar's decision. But
|> his departure -- and that of tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalese like him --
|> worries the government of Bhutan. Indeed, the tiny nation faces perhaps its
|> gravest challenge ever: massive emigration from its southern crescent, the
|> latest development in a political crisis that has brought assassination and deep
|> suspicion to a formerly peaceable kingdom.
I am sure the Bhutanes governmet is indeed very worried and perhaps even saddened
by this large scale volunary movement of ethnic Nepalis. this worry is clearly
shown by its refusal to admit that there are any bhutanese regugees anywhere in
the world, and its refusal allow these people to come back.
and yes, the crisis has brought assasination and suspicion to this kingdom-
assasination of ethinic nepalis.
|> 
|>    Some Nepalese contend that emigration represents a last-ditch move to
|> maintain their cultural identity -- although for many, it simply means keeping
|> their families together. For the Bhutanese, however, it represents a significant
|> threat to another kind of "family" -- the one that King Jigme Singye Wangchuck
|> has attempted to forge for all of his subjects through a common national
|> identity transcending ethnic, cultural and religious differences.
|> 
yes Jigme's "family" does indeed trancends ethnic, cultural and religious
differences. in his family a Southern Bhutanese may not speak his/her mother
tongue, may not celebrate traditional festivals, may not wear the clothes he/she
desires (this, by the way was enforced on all Bhutanese),  may not maintain a
cultural identity and may not practice his/her religion. acoording to INSCE & ICLD
report, the regugees stated that "even funeral rites could not be performed".

|>    More than 60,000 Nepalese now are living in camps near Jhapa -- and with them
|> they have brought charges of ingrained ethnic prejudice and forced eviction from
|> Bhutan. Still, camp residents appear a confusing mix, with many reportedly
|> coming from northeastern India or other parts of  Nepal  to take advantage of
|> refugee aid. Despite the rumors that "everything is free," independent observers
|> label camp conditions abysmal.
here are some facts. but the rest of the article seeks to stress that these
refugees (note that this word is not used) are there because they want to be there.

|> 
|>    For its part, the Bhutanese government is acutely aware that few monarchies
|> survive in this era -- much less are understood. And, seeking to protect its
|> longstanding reputation for forward-looking policies, Bhutan does not want to be
|> made into an international scapegoat.
and what might bhutan's longstanding reputation for forward-looking policies be?

|>    "They want to take over," one official lamented, referring to the idea that
|> Nepalese should forge a common political entity. "They want Bhutan to be part of
|> a Greater  Nepal. "
This a ridiculous statement. There has never been any Nepali party or government
which has advocated the creation of Greater Nepal. this concept was coined by the
Indians when they had to face the Gorkhaland crisis. and now the bhutanese
government seems to be convniently using its master's words.

|>    (Bhutan's population previously had been reported as well over 1 million, but
|> recently the official figures were revised sharply downward.)
why do you think the figures were revised? a very large percentage of the
population  
|> 
|>    Ethnic Bhutanese, mindful that Nepalese migrants already control neighboring
|> Sikkim, fear their Drukpa culture could be swept away. And they are not alone in
|> their concerns about the influx: In the last two years, India has "pushed back"
|> 25,000 Nepalese who were illegally living in Assam and other northeastern
|> states.
Correction- there were around 100,000 refugees from Meghalaya alone. and they were
not "pushed back" becase of their illegal status. there is no such thing as an
^^^ illegal Nepali resident in india (the nature of the relationship between two
countries allows Nepalis to live there if they want to). the disaster occurred due
to racism on the part of the indians.
|>    The flash point for the Bhutanese crisis came in 1988, when the government
|> decided to adopt a firm immigration policy. Launching the nation's first
|> detailed census, it reclassified as illegal about 100,000 Nepalese who had
|> arrived after 1958, many of whom had been falsely registered for years as
|> "southern Bhutanese" citizens.
form the report "... the exact method of driving them away varied. at first it was
intimidation. later, it was denial of citizenship rights and confiscation of
documents proving citezenship. More recently, it is the harsh ^^^^^^^^^^^and
discriminatory implementation of a law that  authorizes forced labor. Our Mission
witnessed proof of the first technique (intimidation) in the destroyed houses we
saw in the south bhutan village bodering Chiengmari and in the testimonies of the
rape victims in the Nepal refugee camps. ... Proof of the second technique (denial
of citizenship and confiscation of documents proving citizenship) was offered to
us by numerous bhutan refugees who had the foresight to copy their citizenship
identity card before handing it to the authorities who promised to issue new
replacements but, instead, merely confiscated the existing ones. ... moreever, in
one case, a refugee produced both his citizenship id card and the order of the
bhutan authorities classifying him as F-7 and therefore to be evicted. proof of
the third technique was repeatedly reported to us by bhutanese refugees--
especially those who had left recently. Our mission is unable to discredit their
reports unless a visit to bhutan and actual observation of "compulsory labor"
indicaties otherwise. "
not surprisingly bhutanese officials have been very resistant to the idea of
allowing human rights groups to investigate the situation. 
|> 
|>    Nepalese alarm was deepened by the simultaneous renewal of emphasis on
|> Bhutanese culture, including the teaching in all schools of Dzongkha, the
|> national language, and the required wearing of distinctive Bhutanese dress by
|> all ethnic groups.
the problem was not in having to learn Dongkha, but in not being allowed to speak
their mother-tongues. regarding dress, i am sure people would have had no problems
if the requirement for wearing the bhutanese dress was limited to government
offices and national functions- but i would doubt that even ethic bhutanese like
the idea of being forced to wear a particular kind of dress any time they venture
out of their houses.
|>    As discontent grew, it led to formation of the opposition Bhutan People's
|> Party, an almost exclusively Nepalese group that characterizes itself as
|> pro-democracy but that has been sharply condemned by the government. It is,
|> charges Foreign Minister Dawa Tsering, "an out-and-out terrorist organization."
does dawa tsering explain why it is a terrorist organization? the only terror
being committed is by the bhutanese government. 
|
|>    In September, 1990, the ideological differences climaxed with an organized
|> uprising along the border by more than 15,000 "anti-nationals," as the
|> government calls its opponents. Officials and schoolchildren alike were stripped
|> of their national dress, and government facilities were destroyed by the
|> Nepalese.
the demonstration of Sept 22, 1990 was a peaceful one, despite the claims to the
contray by the bhutanese government. around 150 people were arrested, and 45 were
jailed (and regularly beaten up) without ever being brought to court. some of them
are still in jail.  a lot of people suspected of participating in the
demonstrations were forced to leave bhutan after being classified as
"anti-nationals' and "non-citizens".
|> 
|>    Although there have been no further mass demonstrations, the violence has
|> continued, with reports of murder, burglary, beating and rape received virtually
|> every week -- mostly against Nepalese believed to be government loyalists. 
                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
here this guy implies that most of the cases of murder, rape, etc are a result of
Nepali on Nepali violence. clearly, he wants to make the Southern Bhutanese the bad
guys. he also mentions that " the violence has continued". as there was no
violence during the sept demonstrations, what exactly does he mean?
|
|>    In the most notorious recent incident, the victim was not Nepalese but a
|> young Drukpa official. A group of gunmen last May assassinated Chimi Dorji, the
|> deputy district administrator in Geylegphug, then fled across the border.
|> 
|>    "The attack shocked everyone in the country," said Yeshey Dorji, who is no
|> relation to the slain man. "We never thought matters would come to this."
|> 
yes it is the poor Drukpas that are suffering. 

|>    "Short of literally going down on my knees with folded hands, I have tried
|> everything possible to resolve the serious problem we have today in southern
|> Bhutan," Wangchuck was reported by the national newspaper, Kuensel, as telling
|> the families. "I can now only hope and pray that you will stay back so that we
|> can all live together like members of one household."
|> 
|>    His plea went unheeded, however -- and the departing families allegedly
|> looted or destroyed more than two dozen district facilities on their way out.
|> Investigators found more than $80,000 in damages at schools, health units and
|> other sites that had been stripped of equipment and declared baseless the
|> charges that the assassinated man's successor had pressured the Nepalese
|> families to leave.
yes wangchuck is a benevolent soul. that is why he refuses to allow all those
refugees to come back. and i guess those Nepalis who stripped the schools and
health units made a big profit by selling those items in india and nepal and are
now living quite well. people are being forced to leave taking only what they can
carry (most do not seem to have any belongings at all, according to the report),  
and this guy echos the bhutanese govenment version of whats happening. 

Let me also mention that one of the main reasons for the continuation of
atrocities and evictions in bhutan is the indian government's refusal to pressure
the bhutanese goverment. as a matter of fact the indian government refuses
(as of May, 1992 according to the INSEC & ICLD report) to instruct the UNHCR to
accord refugee status to the refugees in india or give them any help. the West
Bengal government is not giving any help either. 

the problem in bhutan is of great concern to all nepalis, not just because ethnic
nepalis are being persecuted there, but also because the refugee problem has a
directo impact on nepal itself. the help that is coming in from international
sources is far from adequate, and the nepali government does not seem to be doing
much to alleviate the suffering of the refugees. plus, as the economy is not doing
well at all, the locals are rapidly losing sympathy for the refugees, and starting
to blame them for various ill in the society. i do hope that this sad episode in
bhutan's history will come to an end soon (but with wangchuck around, and india
holding his hand, the future does not look too bright).

saurav dev bhatta
(bhattas@dft.mit.edu)