Kesang Kinlay Namgyal

(Ed. note: Mr. Kesang Kinlay Namgyal is the general secretary of the Druk Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Organisation. The following is an abridged version of his address to the 16th session of the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 27-31 July 1998.)

Bhutan is a small landlocked kingdom nestling in between two Asian giants, India and China. It has an approximate land area of 48,000 square kilometres. Its population stands at about 600,000. The country remained in isolation until 1960s and is still considered as one of the least developed and remote country in the world.

Bhutan consists of three major ethnic groups. The Ngalongs of Tibetan Mongoloid origin inhabit the north-western part of the country. They speak Dzongkha, an offshoot of Tibetan, and constitute about 16 to 20 per cent of population. The indigenous people of Bhutan, Tshangla-speaking Sharchhop of Indo-Burmese ethnic group, constitute about 40 to 50 per cent of the population and are the largest ethnic group who live in the eastern part of the country. The Lhotshampa-Nepali-speaking people of Indo-Aryan origin who constitute about 30 to 35 per cent live in the southern part of the country.

In today’s modern world, when more and more nations around the globe are strengthening their commitment towards the United Nations, joining hands to make progress and to create a new world order for the betterment of mankind, Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan Buddhist kingdom, even as a member of the United Nations, has been blatantly violating the very purposes and principles of the august body. Even though Bhutan became a member of the United Nations in 1971 and by doing so had accepted the principles enshrined in the U.N. Charter, the regime has made no efforts to educate the population on the purposes and the principles of the United Nations.

Bhutan, the kingdom known to the world as the last remaining Shangri-la, has become a nation of oppressed people who live in servitude and terror. Cheated of their basic rights, bereft of that basic human dignity and yet unable to express their suffering and pain fearful of dire consequences. Voices raised in protest or just to beg for a better life are stifled so ruthlessly and murdered, even their families, next of kins and friends are victimised in similar fashion. And the regime takes every precaution in such manner to ensure that there is a show of outward calm. Opinions critical of it cannot find their way out from the country. Thus, the world outside hears and sees nothing untoward happening in Bhutan.

Language and Education Used as Tools to Oppress

Bhutan is a multi-lingual country, but Dzongkha spoken by the Ngalong community, which is less than 20 per cent population, an offshoot of Tibetan, was made the national language of Bhutan, disregarding Tshangla spoken by nearly 50 per cent population of the country. Similarly, Nepali, which is spoken in southern Bhutan and had been in the school curriculum for more than three decades, was discontinued in 1998. The government created a special cell to create vocabulary and to promote Dzongkha as national language, whereas Tshangla has been relegated to a daily half-hour radio broadcast. No books, posters, newsletters or any other items are printed in the language that is spoken by nearly 50 per cent population of the country. People have to depend on either English or Dzongkha to disseminate any written information.

Similarly, in education, the government in the pretext of extending quality education has created a system of checks on the students. State-sponsored Board Examinations are conducted in class six and then again in class eight. To most of the students from the farming and the village community it is an obstacle and is difficult to hurdle over. However, the children of influential people, civil servants and those have relations with the royal family somehow manage to secure the best results, thus ensuing their continued educational advancement. Those who cannot get through the Board Exams will have to opt for service in the lower cadre of the bureaucracy, the army and the police. On completion of the studies, the government conducts a civil service examination for induction into the government service. It has been noticed that in spite of Dzongkha being compulsory, candidates with influential family background, who have never studied the national language, have almost always topped the exam. Thus, Bhutan has furthered education not for quality learning and promotion but has used it as a tool to create a semi-literate subservient workforce and a population which cannot be influenced and corrupted by the print media.

In Bhutan, this government-imposed education and language has made our people the most oppressed lot even at the end of the second millennium.

Sham of Regime

The state of our villages and the interiors is still the same as it was centuries ago. And, those few who have been able to visit the villages of Bhutan might have seen with their own eyes. Hardly any development has taken place on the ground in spite of the input made. Public funds are being used to suppress the same people who are to benefit, and to provide relief. Compulsory conscription of forced labour still continues, even children are not spared, and defaulters are fined or imprisoned. Unbearable rural taxes are imposed on the poor population. It is difficult for the common people to compete in business, jobs, services, facilities, etc, and as a result there is a complete disparity in the living conditions. There is rampant forced labour, suppression and fear, torture and death for all those who try and defy the royalty and the government. The list of suffering and misery is endless. The regime has totally oppressed the peoples’ right to live in human dignity and the freedom of opinion and expression, which is the basic aspiration of any human being.

The present Bhutanese crisis has developed because the people are now unable to bear the heavy yoke of the repressive policies. The exodus of Bhutanese of all ethnicity, fleeing their country for the last half a century or so to different parts of India, like Arunachal Pradesh, and to Nepal, has reached startling proportions over the last few years. This is the testimony to the alarming fact that something is seriously wrong. Few outsiders can comprehend the pain of those who silently suffer within the country.

The government has always hyped itself as the protector of Buddhism. However, the abominable sham of the royal regime was exposed on 22 October 1997 when the administrator, Lhakpa Dorji, of Mongar district killed Gomchen Karma of Dramitsi Nyingma religious institute in cold blood. This followed the government-decreed closure of 13 Shedras (religious institutions/schools). The chief abbot, Khenpo Thinley Woezer, along with 132 other Sharchhops were arrested and imprisoned, and still remain in jail. The district administrator of Mongar, Lhakpa Dorji, was rewarded for killing the innocent people. Similar, inhuman tactics were used by the government to drive out nearly one-sixth of its population out of the country, who now live as refugees in Nepal.

I, on behalf of the oppressed people of Bhutan, appeal to our global family, the advocates of justice and champions of human rights to urge the government of Bhutan to uphold the principles and purposes of the United Nations in the true spirit of a member nation. I strongly believe that it is through you the world at large will come forward to support the call to bring about the respect of human rights in Bhutan.

(Source: The Bhutan Observer, Vol.1, Issue 26, November 1998.)