Persecution
The crisis began when the government, mostly Northern Bhutanese of Tibetan /Buddhist lineage passed a new Citizenship Act, which was discriminatory. The subsequent census in 1988 which was carried out only in the Nepali speaking southern districts revoked their right to nationality in a large number who otherwise had lived in harmony as bona-fide Bhutanese citizens for generations.
Distress among Southern Bhutanese
further grew in 1989 when they were
forced to adopt the culture and etiquette
characteristic of Northern Bhutanese
(of Tibetan Origin) under threat of
punishment/torture/imprisonment.
In the early 1990s tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalese were arbitrarily deprived of their Bhutanese citizenship. Some were then expelled from Bhutan, while others fled the country to escape from a campaign of arbitrary arrest and detention directed against the ethnic Nepalese. Bhutan wanted to remain a pure race and culture.
As a result thousands of southern Bhutanese
people (now called Lhotshampas, or illegal
citizens) lost their homes, land and livelihood
within a short period of time.
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Nepali, the language of the Southern
Bhutanese was dropped from the school
curriculum.
The southern Bhutanese petitioned the
king to seek a review of the government
policies and the manner in which the
census was carried out, but all in vain.
Following a series arrest and imprisonment of human rights activists in September and October 1990, the southern 
Bhutanese organised peaceful public demonstrations in all the southern districts of the country demanding political reforms and respect for human rights.
The result was awfully tragic.
It ended in ruthless government
atrocities and forced evictions
of the southern Bhutanese.