Source: Thimphu is teen turf | Kuenselonline
A passing phenomenon of the ‘90s has now grown to a menacing level
29 May, 2010 - A 16-year old student receives a call from his friend one evening. The voice on the other side, sounding rather agitated, informs him that his younger brother is being beaten up by a group of 15 young boys.
He quickly mobilises 12 of his toughest friends. They enter into the other’s turf, which means facing a gang, comprising a group of youth, who reside within the vicinity of the table tennis hall in lower Changangkha.
While the younger brother lies face down on the road, surrounded by some of the gang members, punches start flying among the boys. The 16-year old brother is hit with a beer bottle on the head from the rear. He remembers hearing one of the opponents shout, “Let’s run before the police arrive”.
“This is how gangs are formed,” the 16-year old student said, refusing to reveal the name of his group. “To save yourself you must have your own.”
They are not the only so called gangs that have emerged in Thimphu in the past year. Sources reveal the existence of about 13 groups in various localities of Thimphu, such as the MB Boys, Webs gang, White house boys, Norling boys, D boys, bacteria, virus, collar shirt boys, black house boys, Nigga Boys and the bazaar boys.
With members ranging from 20 to 300, their disputes are usually young territorial rivalry, police officials said. These ‘gangs’ are mostly made up of students between the ages of 13 and 19.
But what is worrying Thimphu residents is that these boys are getting more and more violent.
Just yesterday, a taxi driver was brought in paralysed at the Thimphu referral hospital after being attacked by, what he called, a gang. And on May 16, a 16-year old student was brought to the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), after he was knocked unconscious to the ground by a group of youth near the Zangdopelri shopping complex around 8 pm. He suffered multiple head injuries.
The police also point out that juvenile crime has reached an all time high. About 37 students have been brought to the police station this year alone for offences related to fights, possession of weapons and theft. The Thimphu hospital also sees two to three cases a week of victims of group violence.
Describing an incident on Doebum lam near the swimming pool area recently, an eyewitness called it “unusual and frightening”. Two men in their late 20s early 30s were being chased by a group of more than 30 boys, carrying knives, knuckledusters, bricks and iron rods.
The police also had to deploy additional force one night as there were close to 100 boys fighting, a source said.
Alarmed by the growing menace, the chief of police brigadier Kyipchu Namgyel convened a meeting on May 13 with all stakeholders, including the education secretary to discuss the issue.
“I’m seriously concerned and deeply disturbed,” the police chief said, adding that they have done a comprehensive research and submitted a report to the home ministry. “Since these people are young, we’ve worked out clear strategies and measures which I can’t reveal at the moment.”
The gang culture among Thimphu’s youth existed in the 1990s, with names such as Taktsang, peace rat gang and snake, involved in several gang fights and stabbing cases.
The same culture made a comeback, according to police, in late 2008 and early 2009 through a harmless free-style dance competition, where boys formed groups to learn and showcase their new moves at an open place, police officials said.
Most of the present groups have drawn inspiration from a Japanese action movie – The Crow – which is on the lips of not just the gang members but also every Bhutanese student in Thimphu. Police said such influences have resulted in a substantial increase in youth violence and drug abuse cases from late 2009 and early this year.
A health official said that most of these children involved in mass violence are under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs, such as N-ten and relipen tablets. A combination of both makes them aggressive and unruly, he said. The police arrested 392 people in 2009 for drug related offences, of which 122 were below the age of 18, and 65 were students. About 108 people were also arrested this year and 25 were minors.
But the gangs, then and now, have little resemblance, sources said. “The gang members are mostly schoolboys in their early teens, coming from various family backgrounds, and the number of members are huge, unlike in the 1990s,” a source in the police said. “A strength of a gang is determined by its numbers.”
The 16-year old student said that MB Boys, supposedly short for mass beating boys, has more than 300 members today. “Although the group was formed in Dechencholing, it’s now spread across Thimphu,” he said. “It sends at least 30 people to beat up two.”
Most gangs are constantly looking for new members and, to increase their strength, they team up with other gangs. They have oath taking sessions to protect the name of the gang at all times. Therefore, numerous incidents of harassment, fights and other unlawful activities go unreported and a series of battery cases remain unsolved.
A 13-year old gang member with his friends near the hongkong market area in Thimphu said that his parents knew nothing about his involvement. “You want some?” he asks, pointing at a bottle of coke and Rock-bee, local whisky. “I tell my parents that I’m going to the video game parlor, working on an assignment with friends, going to the teacher’s house for a class project.”
Although most of these violent incidents occur off school, education secretary Sangay Zam said schools are aware of the youth problems that have emerged in the recent years. “We’ll work together with all stakeholders before the problem gets bigger,” she said, adding that parents would have to monitor their children more carefully - who their friends are and what they are doing outside school.
On November 11, 2009, after the children’s day celebration, a group of primary school teachers were sitting among themselves and having the leftover snacks, when a group of boys ran across the school campus.
These students were on their way to settle a difference with another group, which had come to the school premises carrying knives, knuckle-dusters and several other weapons, a Thimphu teacher said.
“Some of our school boys went to the boy’s toilet and got their set of weapons,” she said. “We were shocked. Things have already gotten out of hand.”
The 16-year old student said that there are girls’ groups too. “Most of the fights are over dumb stuff like this member hates this member,” he said. “Sometimes, the fights are triggered by turf issues. They also beat up other kids for no reason.”
By Phuntsho Choden
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