Unbecoming Citizens
Culture, Nationhood, and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan
Published on 18. August 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
308 pages
978-0-19-567060-8 (ISBN)
Description
This book was prompted by the arrival in Nepal during the early 1990s of some 95,000 people of Nepal ethnic origin who claimed to be citizens of Bhutan (a Buddhist Himalayan kingdom with a population of less than a million) who had been wrongfully evicted from their country. Bhutan is popularly regarded as a Himalyan Shangri-la, and very few outside Nepal believed the refugees allegations in the early years of their exile. Even twelve years later, not a single refugee had returned to Bhutan.
The book is based on research conducted in Bhutan and Nepal during seven visits to the region between 1992 and 2001, and particularly on interview-based life history research in the refugee camps in Nepal. It reconstructs the history of the Nepali community in
Bhutan, from the first settlers migration to its southern belt in the late 19th century up to the exodus of many of their descendants to Nepal in the late 20th century. It analyses the new policies on citizenship, language, a nd dress which were adopted by the Bhutanese government in the 1980s, and the political resistance to these measures which led ultimately to the denationalisation and flight of many erstwhile citizens. As it describes these developments, the narrative also pauses at intervals to reflect on the relationship between national, cultural and ethnic identities, and on the ways in which history can be constructed and utilised to buttress competing claims. It deals with the specificities of the Bhutanese issue in detail and draws out its broader implications for a world awash with refugees.
The book is based on research conducted in Bhutan and Nepal during seven visits to the region between 1992 and 2001, and particularly on interview-based life history research in the refugee camps in Nepal. It reconstructs the history of the Nepali community in
Bhutan, from the first settlers migration to its southern belt in the late 19th century up to the exodus of many of their descendants to Nepal in the late 20th century. It analyses the new policies on citizenship, language, a nd dress which were adopted by the Bhutanese government in the 1980s, and the political resistance to these measures which led ultimately to the denationalisation and flight of many erstwhile citizens. As it describes these developments, the narrative also pauses at intervals to reflect on the relationship between national, cultural and ethnic identities, and on the ways in which history can be constructed and utilised to buttress competing claims. It deals with the specificities of the Bhutanese issue in detail and draws out its broader implications for a world awash with refugees.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Delhi
India
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
2 maps, numerous halftones and colour plates
Dimensions
Height: 217 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-567060-8 (9780195670608)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
HUTT, MICHAEL
Content
PREFACE; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION; CONTEXTS: LAND ON A RIM, BHUTAN AND THE BHUTANESE, AUTHENTICITY AND HISTORICAL TRUTH, UNBECOMIGN CITIZENS; MATTERS OF HISTORY; THE HISTORY OF UMBHO, NEPALI MIGRATION: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, SINCE THE TIME OF THE SHABDRUNG, PRIESTS, AND PATRONS, TO PROTECT THE LAND OF BHARMADEVA; SOUTHERN BHUTAN IN EARLY BRITISH ACCOUNTS; EARLY ENCOUNTERS, A NARROW SLIP OF LAND, BHUTAN AND THE YOUNGHUSBAND MISSION, FIRST SIGHTINGS; THE LEGEND OF GARJAMAN GURUNG; PONLOPS AND THEKADARS, D.B. GURUNG S MEMOIR, USING THE LEGEND, QUESTIONS OF HISTORICITY; THE SETTLEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SOUTH; A CHRONOLOGY OF NEPALI SETTLEMENT, THE ETHNIC BOUNDARY, THE ADMINSTRAION OF SOUTHERN BHUTAN, THE PARO PONLOP AND THE DORJES, THE MANDALS, LAND OWNERSHIP AND REGISTRATION, 5.7 THE PAYMENT OF TAXES, 5.8 REVENUE FROM BELOW, 5.9 THE CONTRIBUTION OF LABOUR; THE CHANGING BASES OF SUBJECTHOOD; CALKLING THE RAIYATS BACK HOME, THE CASE OF AKHAL SINGH; LHOTSHAMPA CULTURE; BH; UTANESE NEPALINESS, CASTE AND ETHNICITY, ASSUMED CHARACTERISTICS, ASCRIBED CHARACTERISTICS, THE ABSENCE OF NEPALI LITERATURE, OF PANDITS AND PATHSHALAS; THE FIRST ACTIVISTS; JAI GORKHA, THE DEATH OF MASUR CHETRI, THE BHUTAN STATE CONGRESS; COMING CLOSER TO THE KING; COMING DOWN FROM TONGA, POLITICAL REPRESENTATION, THE GRANTING OF CITIZENSHIP, OPENING THE SCHOOLS, BUILDING THE ROADS, MOVING EAST, A SENSE OF BELONGING; THE CONDITIONS FOR BELONGING; LEGISLATION ON CITIZENSHIP, CENSUES, THE 1988 CENSUS; 11. BECOMING THE SAME; A HOMOGENIZING NATIONALISM, DRIGLAM NAMZHA, A NATIONAL COSTUME, ENFORCING CULTURE, ANXIETIES AND DISSENT, A NATIONAL LANGUAGE, DEMOTING NEPALI, BHUTANIZING BUILDINGS; NOW WE WILL ALL BE CIRMINALS; NEPALI POLITICS IN INDIA, THE PETITION TO THE KING, EARLY LHOTSHAMPA DISSIDENCE, ARRESTS AND REPRISALS, DEMONSTRATIONS; THE NGOLOPS; THE CREATION OF THE NGOLOP, BECOMING AFRAID, THE CLOSURE OF SCHOOLS, VOLUNTARY EMIGRANTS, THE PUNISHMENT OF TEK NATH RIZAL; DIL MAYA: FRAGM; EN; TS OF A LIFE; REFUGEES AND LIFE HISTORIES, INTRODUCING DIL MAYA , DIL MAYA S LIFE, THE SPREAD OF FEAR, LEAVING BHUTAN, THE FUTURE, REFUGEES FROM SHANGRI-LA, A POSTSCRIPT, THE GAPS BETWEEN NATION-STATES, THE CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL CULTURES, A SMALL STATE, A SHANGRI-LA, REPAIRING THE TEAR IN THE FABRIC, SOME LEGAL PERSPECTIVES, THE BRAHMANS OF SHAMBHALA; APPENDIX; BIBLIOGRAPHY