Group Origins: Bhutan is located in the Himalayan Mountains between India and China (Figure 1). The ethnically- Nepali, Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, or Lhotsampas (“People of the south”), are a largely Hindu people who moved from Nepal to Bhutan. They lived peacefully in Bhutan until the mid-1980s when Bhutan’s king and the ruling Druk majority feared that their population could overrun the majority group and dilute the traditional Buddhist culture of the Druk Bhutanese [1]. A cultural campaign known as “One country, one people,” or “Bhutanization” was initiated in order to forge a Bhutanese national identity. The policies forced the Druk dress code, religious practices, and language on all Bhutanese regardless of heritage. These adopted policies alienated the Lhotsampas by attempting to forcibly integrate them into the majority culture [1]. Difficult requirements for proving citizenship were also imposed on the Lhotsampa people, and even those who could provide documentation were usually denied citizenship [1]. Human rights violations were commonplace and by the early 1990s, the “One country, one people” campaign had precipitated a humanitarian emergency. By 1993, more than 100,000 Lhotsampa Bhutanese had fled or were forced out of Bhutan and resettled in southeastern Nepal.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 19:02:54 +0000
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