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Bhutan Paramilitary
Militia
Historically, the government raised militia forces
during times
of crisis during the period of theocratic rule
(1616-1907). They
were commanded by a dapon (arrow chief in
Dzongkha). In
modern times, a 5,000-strong militia was raised in 1958 as
part of
the defensive strategy against China. Militia personnel
were
trained by army officers who had been trained at the
Indian
Military Academy. Their primary function was as a first
line of
defense along frontier areas with China. Following an
Indian
inspection tour in 1961, the government was advised to
step up
militia recruitment. In 1967 the militia was reorganized
on a
national basis, with compulsory military training being
given for
three months each year for three years to men twenty to
twenty-five
years of age. After the initial three-year training phase,
militia
personnel were placed on reserve status.
In a move said by the Druk Gyalpo to reinforce Bhutan's
security, new militia training was initiated in 1989. In
the early
1980s, weapons training for all male citizens between ages
sixteen
and sixty was considered, but, in view of national
security and
public works projects to which the army already was
committed, it
was postponed. In 1990 ninety-four students were enlisted
in a
program at the Tenchholing army camp. Candidates for
militia
training included individuals who had completed at least
the tenth
grade, new college graduates, and members of the civil
service.
Starting in l989, new male civil service entrants were
required to
take a three-week militia training course.
In reaction to the "prodemocracy" demonstrations by
ethnic
Nepalese in southern Bhutan in September 1990, the
government
announced that more than 1,000 citizens had volunteered to
join
militia groups. The army was to provide training for
around 500
militia members to assist the "badly under strength"
police in
dealing with mob attacks. Recruits were men and women from
among
civil servants and urban residents. Militia trainees
pledged to
give their "full support and loyalty" to tsawa sum
(country,
king, and people) and a total commitment to defend the
nation.
Data as of September 1991
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