Department Of South And Central Asian Studies

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://kr.cup.edu.in/handle/32116/97

Browse

Filters

20171

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Singh, BalinderHas files: Yes

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Politics and ethnic conflict in Bhutan: A nepalese perspective.
    (Central University of Punjab, 2017) Singh, Balinder; Singh, Bawa
    Driglam-Nam-Za, Gross National Happiness Bhutan is one of the most contemporary additions to the world's democracies. For over a century the nation had been run by kings of the Wangchuck dynasty. But, in 2001, a fundamental change was announced by the fourth king. Bhutanese society is multi-ethnic, being composed of several distinct communities whose differences rest on ethnicity, profession, social structure, beliefs, and values. The people consist of so-called indigenous groups as well as immigrants from neighbouring countries, namely Nepal, India, Myanmar (Burma) and Tibet (China). The Bhutanese people (Ngalong) have been imposing their own culture as the core value of the nation and also dominate the socioeconomic and political elite and decision-making institutions of the country. The King's family belongs to this ethnic group. Lhotshampa, an ethnic group of Nepalese origin, had been migrated to Bhutan since the 19th century. These people have been practising the Hinduism. This ethnic group has been facing discrimination from Bhutan's ruling class for decades. The ethnic crisis has been constitutionalized given the adoption of discriminatory policies such as one nation one people policy, one language policy, Citizenship Act (1985), assimilation of the culture, depriving of socio-economic opportunities for Lhotshampa ethnic group. The policy promoted the ruling class's language and religion Lamaistic Buddhism favouring the Ngalong Drukpa ethnic group over the ethnic group in question. As a result, the tension has risen between the native and ethnic groups led to a Bhutanese ethnic crisis. It left indelible imprints on the Bhutan-Nepal relations. Later on, these two countries engaged in diplomatic engagements to sort out the ethnic crisis. Now the current status of the Lhotshampa refugee has been sorted out. However, a small number of refugees are still a bone of contention between both the countries.