Kuensel Report
From Bhutannica
This is a reprint of the Kuensel article that first reported on the outbreak of violence in southern Bhutan in September 1990.
KUENSEL
Bhutan's National Newspaper
Saturday, September 29, 1990
Nu.2
Anti-nationals in open revolt
The anti-national movement against the royal government turned into an open revolt last week when several thousand demonstrators, many of them armed, entered the kingdom at nine different places along the Indo-Bhutanese border.
The demonstrations, between
September 19 and 23, were ann-
nounced as peaceful demonstra-
tions, but became violent in several
places when armed militants at-
tacked Bhutanese security person-
nel, leaving one policeman dead and
12 others - including three officers -
injured. Two policemen were also
kidnapped from Kalikhola and
Geylegphug.
According to reports from towns
along the southern border, the armed
young men in camouflage uniforms
marched across the border with
women and children in front, form-
ing a human shield. The groups
usually began with a few hundred
people, but grew in size as they
marched through the Bhutanese vii-
ages, with about 10 to 15 fully
armed young men in camouflage
uniforms going ahead from house to
house forcing people to join the
march.
The dzongkhag officials at each
entry point attempted peaceful dia-
ogue with the group leaders, but
several officials and security per-
onnel were attacked with home-
made bombs and khukuris when the
demonstrators grew violent.
While the demonstrators carried a
range of weapons from khukuris,
bows and arrows to guns, bombs,
and explosives, Bhutanese security
personnel, right across the border,
were under firm written orders from
the royal government not to resort to
direct shooting. According to local
officials in the districts, all the inju-
ries sustained by the security men,
several of them critical, were a result
of the fact that they had not been
permitted to use their weapons.
In Bhangtar, a few thousand dem-
onstrators were prevented from
advancing to Samdrupionkhar after
a suspension bridge was cut by the
security forces; in Samrang, the
eastern-most point of entry, a few
thousand demonstrators took over
the school compound.
In Geylegphug, about 4,000
people approached the dzong from
four directions and took over the
zonal and dungkhag offices. When
the local officials and security
forces attempted to talk to them, one
police officer was grievously in-
jured and inflicted with a serious
head wound and three southern
Bhutanese policemen and two man-
dais were severely beaten up and
injured. The mob attacked the
dungpa’s office and destroyed all
the documents and records of the
dzongkhag. The government staff in
the dzong were made to strip and
join the procession after their ghos
were burned. The mob also placed
the BPP (Bhutan Peop1e’s Party)
flag in front of the dzorig. The de-
manded that all government offices,
schools and shops were to be closed
down and vehicle movements
stopped until the government re-
sponded to their demands.
Another 4,000 demonstrators
approached the Sarbhang Dzong
from two directions, met the
Dzongda, and left on September 21
after he took the demand letter. They
returned the next day in a more vio-
lent mood, demanding that the town
be shut down, but were stopped by
security forces.
In both Sarbhang and Gey-
legphung, so as to prevent injuries to
the demonstrators, the Dzongda and
the Zonal Admimstrator, on the in-
structions of the royal government,
had agreed to take over the demand
letters from the mobs and forward
them to Thimphu.
In Phuntsholing, about five
hundred demonstrators came in two
groups and sat outside the dungpa’s
office where they were surrounded
by security forces and eventually
dispersed the next morning. The
groups came in from Pasakha and
broke several barricades and forced
themselves past the Kharbandi
checkpost.
One policeman was killed and
two others - including one officer -
were severely injured in Pagli where
more than 1,000 people demon-
strated. The police officer suffered
from multiple knife wounds during
a mob attack on the police post. The
two constables had been captured by
the militants and taken to their camp.
The body of the one killed had been
cut up and badly mutilated. The
other constable had the fingers of
both his hands cut off and multiple
cuts and stabs had been inflicted all
over his body. He had been left at the
border in his mutilated state to in-
timidate and warn the security
forces.
In Samchi about 3,000 demon-
strators, with women and children in
front, vehicles in the middle, and
fully armed camouflaged men at the
back, marched towards the Samchi
dzongkhag headquarters. In order to
avoid any injuries and bloodshed,
the mob had been allowed to pass
through Ghumauney, Chengmari
and the police checkpost at
Kuenphen (Daina) bridge. To pre-
vent them from advancing further
towards the dzongkhag headquar-
ters, the security forces who num-
bered 20 people, as a last resort, had
blocked the Dumzang bridge with a
road excavator. When the Dzongda
crossed the bridge with the Police
Superintendant and a constable to
talk to the crowd and offer to take
their demand letter, the demonstra-
tors not only refused to listen to him,
but threw a bomb which injured the
Police Superintendent and con-
stable. While covering their retreat
from the violent demonstrators,
Police Major Sonam Dhondup fired
10 rounds at the excavator. Eyewit-
nesses have said that one of the men
who had climbed on top of the exca-
vator was hit and may have been
killed. The only other casualty
among the mob was an ex postmas-
ter who was shot from behind and
killed by the militants when they
opened fire on the security forces.
(Continued On page 2)
(Continued from page 1)
His body was taken to Samchi hos- pital for inspection by the doctors and thereafter handed over to the family members.
The crowd, which spent the night at the Dumzang bridge, was dispersed late the next morning by 30 members of the security forces which included reinforcements from Samchi. They carried out a bayonet charge to avoid shooting in their efforts to disperse the mob.
Six khanduwas, one shotgun, one .303 rifle, several bombs and explo- sivcs and an army-issue hand gre- nade were recovered from the mili- tants wha fled the scene. Further west in Sibsoo a few thousand dem onstrators, who had assembled out- side the Dungpa’s office, were dis- persed after three days. One police- man was later injured by a shot fired by the militants from outside Bhutan’s border. During the past week the security forces have captured 18 militants dressed in camouflage uni- forms while dispersing the mobs.
On September 25 several thou- sand demonstrators entered the zonal administration and dzongkhag offices in Chirang and stripped the staff of their ghos. The Dagana Dzongda, who was in Chirang, was also caught and stripped. He was then made to holdupan antinational flag and shout slogans. The group sent out trucks to villages to bring the rural population into Chirang and held a mass meet- ing. They only dispersed the next day after the dzongkhag officials agreed to take the demand letter and forward it to Thimphu. Before dis- persing they placed the BPP flag in front of the dzong which they threat- ened to burn down if the government did not respond to their demands by October 4.
Emergency security measures have now been taken along the southern border, according to a senior police officer, and members of the Royal Bhutan Army have been deployed with the police to protect the general public and the government establish- ments, industries, and other projects in the disturbed areas.