An elected leader from Darjeeling has appealed to Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck to grant clemency to Nepali-speaking political prisoners, renewing calls for the release of detainees who have spent decades behind bars.
Ajoy Edwards, a member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabha and president of the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front, made the appeal through an open letter posted on social media on Wednesday. According to The Telegraph India, the letter came shortly after reports of the custodial death of Sh Bahadur Gurung.
Gurung was arrested in 1990 for allegedly participating in protests demanding rights for Bhutan’s Nepali-speaking minority community. Media reports say the chronically ill prisoner died on December 15, 2025, at the age of 65 inside a Bhutanese prison.
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“No family should lose a loved one when compassion is possible. A death like that of Sh Bahadur Gurung must never be repeated,” Edwards wrote.
He said he was writing “with deep respect, reflection and humility as an Indian Gorkha,” urging Bhutan to show mercy toward prisoners jailed for decades, “not for violence but for expressing dissent.”
Edwards also shared a report stating that Gurung spent the last 35 years of his life in Rabuna military prison. Reports indicate that at least 36 political prisoners remain detained in Rabuna and Chemgang prisons near the capital, Thimphu.
“Your Majesty, the constitutional authority to pardon or commute sentences rests solely with you. Such mercy will not weaken justice but strengthen Bhutan’s conscience and open the long-overdue path to reconciliation and healing,” the letter stated.
In the 1990s, Bhutan enforced strict citizenship laws requiring proof of residence prior to 1958, forcing more than 90,000 Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa residents to leave the country. They were initially sheltered in Nepal and later resettled in Western nations following international intervention, during a period when Bhutan also implemented its “One Nation, One People” policy.
The Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan welcomed Edwards’ initiative. Founder and international coordinator Ram Karki said support from an influential Indian political leader in the neighbouring region could increase pressure on Bhutan to act, especially as the issue gains wider attention in mainstream Indian media.
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