SARBHANG

Written by M.B. Subba, Gelephu    

Mar 23, 2009; With the rise in militant activities recently, the lives and properties of people of Sarpang are increasingly at stake even as the villagers have been patrolling their villages for about a decade.

The attack on the car on 15 March in Dekiling was the latest incident. Two incidents of militant attacks claimed five lives, in the four major attacks in Sarpang in the last three months.

An Indian national was shot dead at Leopani on 2 February. Four armed men threatened to kill a family at Dulunggang village on 31 December. The inhuman killing of the three foresters and RBA personnel in Singye gewog was the incident that rocked the country on 30 December 2008.

Police suspect that the attacks were carried by the militants from across the camps in eastern district of Jhapa in Nepal. 

Concerns were expressed over the security of villagers and the fear that the village voluntary village patrol team might be targeted by the militants.

“Armed militants might shoot us, even kidnap us in groups as we do not carry any weapon. And when we are away from our house, militants might attack our family,” said a resident of Dekiling.

However, a household with only one man is exempted from the patrolling duty according to the Dekiling gup, Gomchen.  The patrolling team goes around the village from 6 to 11pm, according to Gomchen. 

Sarpang dzongkhag has a strong military base with three wings of Royal Bhutan Army. One can see heavy presence of armed forces patrolling Gelephu town. “But what about the security of the villages where the militants have been active?” residents are asking.

“Its time that government mobilize security personnel for village patrol,” the gup said. “Our voluntary patrol teams just carry a stick each, so what can they do if they encounter armed militants?” he asked. 

The volunteers are empowered to inform the nearest police station or apprehend and hand over the suspect to them. But no genuine suspect has been captured by the villagers till now. Many a times, incidents have been reported where a resident of one village was being held by a village patrolling team of another because of mistaken identity.