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The Bhutanese people were by the rise of the Wangchuks a distinct people from the Tibetans and were known as the Ngalop people. Despite this they were still a people tied closely to the mountains in which they lived. This was fine, British encroachment meant that Bhutan was now almost entirely mountainous.
Almost.
There exists along the southern border of Bhutan a thin green line of jungle that quickly gives way to the foothills of the Himalayas. Not the most hospitable place to westerners, but it still pales in comparison to the high Himalayas. This region is reasonably fertile, yet it remained unsettled. Why?
Simply put this land probably had been settled at some point in history, if humans can survive somewhere we most often will go there. But when Bhutan and Britain resolved their border disputes this area simply fell onto the wrong side of the border. All the work was in India and so the workers went to India. The Bhutanese Government, still reeling from civil war, had better things to do then fund settlement in a land not suited to their culture.
So this land, this fertile land, remained open.
In 1620 the first Nepali craftsmen was brought into Bhutan. Nepali immigrants would continue searching for work in Bhutan for a long time, often settling in the southern areas, but their number began to rise in the interwar period as Bhutan began building roads and schools. By the late 1930s Nepali migrants were, now a majority in the south.
When India took on the mantle of Bhutan’s protector they paid millions of rupees to improve Bhutan’s infrastructure, but more labor was needed. And Nepali labor was a viable source. The Bhutanese government was skeptical of allowing yet more foreigners into the country yet India was insistent.
In 1950 Communist China occupied Tibet. Despite the historical animosity between Bhutan and Tibet this was not well received in Bhutan. It was seen as an aggressive move, especially once Red China asserted claims on Bhutanese territory (although, unlike Tibet, they did not claim control over all of Bhutan). India, which had previously supported Bhutan more as a formality inherited from the Raj began to see Bhutan as an important buffer state between them and China. They demanded that Bhutan from its own army to defend itself. Gone were the days of the dzong guards being the only army in Bhutan, as the Royal Bhutan Army came into existence, although it was a weak force and would be of little use in any regional war. Other reforms soon followed, a judiciary was formed that was nominally independent from the king, although just how independent is not exactly clear.
In 1952 the third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ascended to the throne following the death of his father and he faced a growing discontent with absolutist rule. Some came from the Ngalop majority, but many came from the Nepali migrant community. They had by now been given the Ngalop name Lhotshampa, literally “southerner”. This term applied to all Nepali migrants, even through said migrants came from a diverse set of Nepali groups, not just one. They arrived in Bhutan looking for work, and to be fair they found it. But they also found themselves in a society where while their labor was needed, they were not wanted. Their differing race and religion (they were mostly Hindu) made the government suspicious of them, and they faced discrimination wherever they turned. Although the work they were doing was all around the country they were forbidden from moving north of the Himalayan foothills, essentially quarantining them in one place. There was no legal process for Bhutanese citizenship, so they could be deported at any time. This meant that the labor contracts signed were often hideously lopsided, if they were even signed at all. In this scenario it should not be surprising to anyone that opposition groups formed.
In 1952 the Bhutan State Congress was formed by exiled rabble rousers in the state of Assam in India. Assam was near to Bhutan and had a large Nepali population of its own, a good place to start an exile movement. Yet, for all the injustices the Lhotshampa faced, the State Congress could not get any traction.
In 1953 Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the Tshogdu, a national legislature for Bhutan. Its members served for 3-year terms. 10 members were appointed by the monks, 24 by the government (who for now would be appointed by the king), 10 would be permanently appointed by the crown. Then a whopping 106 members were elected by village constituency. Lhotshampa were legally allowed to vote and serve, but they were still a minority and many of their own settlements were not properly recognized as villages limiting suffrage. Nearly a third of the Tshogdu was controlled by conservative forces, and the first elections returned a majority that was not the most welcoming to the Lhotshampa.
Despite this token representation calmed the fears of the Lhotshampa, for whom any representation was a new right. In addition, most Lhotshampa were desperately trying to get by and were well aware of how precarious their situation was, much better to keep your head down rather then risk exile. And so fear and minor concessions ended the cause of the Bhutan State Congress for now.
In our timeline this was the end of the road for the brief Bhutan State Congress. It withered and died. When later outrages against the Lhotshampa came, and believe me they came, new organizations would rise.
And they will rise in this timeline as well. But in this timeline, by some miracle of luck, the Bhutan State Congress will survive. It will be withered and comatose, still living only by the graces of some committed souls working out of a hole in the wall in Assam. Occasionally they will spit out press statements to be read by Lhotshampa and then forgotten. But when they time comes and the search for a true opposition begins it will roar back to life. It will face rivals for the crown of the resistance, but it will be a player. It’s founders, who worked so hard to keep it alive during the lean years, will be swept aside for new blood. Yet their work will remain in the form of a longstanding Lhotshama rights group, ready to oppose the injustices yet to be brought upon their people.
Yet the time has not yet come. What is yet to be has not been.
For now the Bhutan State Congress remains a husk laying dormant in the Indian rains.
Almost.
There exists along the southern border of Bhutan a thin green line of jungle that quickly gives way to the foothills of the Himalayas. Not the most hospitable place to westerners, but it still pales in comparison to the high Himalayas. This region is reasonably fertile, yet it remained unsettled. Why?
Simply put this land probably had been settled at some point in history, if humans can survive somewhere we most often will go there. But when Bhutan and Britain resolved their border disputes this area simply fell onto the wrong side of the border. All the work was in India and so the workers went to India. The Bhutanese Government, still reeling from civil war, had better things to do then fund settlement in a land not suited to their culture.
So this land, this fertile land, remained open.
In 1620 the first Nepali craftsmen was brought into Bhutan. Nepali immigrants would continue searching for work in Bhutan for a long time, often settling in the southern areas, but their number began to rise in the interwar period as Bhutan began building roads and schools. By the late 1930s Nepali migrants were, now a majority in the south.
When India took on the mantle of Bhutan’s protector they paid millions of rupees to improve Bhutan’s infrastructure, but more labor was needed. And Nepali labor was a viable source. The Bhutanese government was skeptical of allowing yet more foreigners into the country yet India was insistent.
In 1950 Communist China occupied Tibet. Despite the historical animosity between Bhutan and Tibet this was not well received in Bhutan. It was seen as an aggressive move, especially once Red China asserted claims on Bhutanese territory (although, unlike Tibet, they did not claim control over all of Bhutan). India, which had previously supported Bhutan more as a formality inherited from the Raj began to see Bhutan as an important buffer state between them and China. They demanded that Bhutan from its own army to defend itself. Gone were the days of the dzong guards being the only army in Bhutan, as the Royal Bhutan Army came into existence, although it was a weak force and would be of little use in any regional war. Other reforms soon followed, a judiciary was formed that was nominally independent from the king, although just how independent is not exactly clear.
In 1952 the third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ascended to the throne following the death of his father and he faced a growing discontent with absolutist rule. Some came from the Ngalop majority, but many came from the Nepali migrant community. They had by now been given the Ngalop name Lhotshampa, literally “southerner”. This term applied to all Nepali migrants, even through said migrants came from a diverse set of Nepali groups, not just one. They arrived in Bhutan looking for work, and to be fair they found it. But they also found themselves in a society where while their labor was needed, they were not wanted. Their differing race and religion (they were mostly Hindu) made the government suspicious of them, and they faced discrimination wherever they turned. Although the work they were doing was all around the country they were forbidden from moving north of the Himalayan foothills, essentially quarantining them in one place. There was no legal process for Bhutanese citizenship, so they could be deported at any time. This meant that the labor contracts signed were often hideously lopsided, if they were even signed at all. In this scenario it should not be surprising to anyone that opposition groups formed.
In 1952 the Bhutan State Congress was formed by exiled rabble rousers in the state of Assam in India. Assam was near to Bhutan and had a large Nepali population of its own, a good place to start an exile movement. Yet, for all the injustices the Lhotshampa faced, the State Congress could not get any traction.
In 1953 Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the Tshogdu, a national legislature for Bhutan. Its members served for 3-year terms. 10 members were appointed by the monks, 24 by the government (who for now would be appointed by the king), 10 would be permanently appointed by the crown. Then a whopping 106 members were elected by village constituency. Lhotshampa were legally allowed to vote and serve, but they were still a minority and many of their own settlements were not properly recognized as villages limiting suffrage. Nearly a third of the Tshogdu was controlled by conservative forces, and the first elections returned a majority that was not the most welcoming to the Lhotshampa.
Despite this token representation calmed the fears of the Lhotshampa, for whom any representation was a new right. In addition, most Lhotshampa were desperately trying to get by and were well aware of how precarious their situation was, much better to keep your head down rather then risk exile. And so fear and minor concessions ended the cause of the Bhutan State Congress for now.
In our timeline this was the end of the road for the brief Bhutan State Congress. It withered and died. When later outrages against the Lhotshampa came, and believe me they came, new organizations would rise.
And they will rise in this timeline as well. But in this timeline, by some miracle of luck, the Bhutan State Congress will survive. It will be withered and comatose, still living only by the graces of some committed souls working out of a hole in the wall in Assam. Occasionally they will spit out press statements to be read by Lhotshampa and then forgotten. But when they time comes and the search for a true opposition begins it will roar back to life. It will face rivals for the crown of the resistance, but it will be a player. It’s founders, who worked so hard to keep it alive during the lean years, will be swept aside for new blood. Yet their work will remain in the form of a longstanding Lhotshama rights group, ready to oppose the injustices yet to be brought upon their people.
Yet the time has not yet come. What is yet to be has not been.
For now the Bhutan State Congress remains a husk laying dormant in the Indian rains.
- King of the Uzbeks
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