JINX STILL THERE

The Nepali speaking southern Bhutanese has to find solace by cursing own fate for being born in Bhutan and blame the ancestors for settling in the country because of which one has to bear the wrath of their follies. Suppose to be the land of Buddhists that propagates peace, harmony, fraternity and believe in principle that hatred does not cease by hatred but ceases by love has inflicted untold sufferings to a section of ethnic-Lhotsampas. Today more than 100000 southern Bhutanese are far flung and proscribed and declared non-Bhutanese arbitrarily and made to suffer. Somehow, the suffering as refugee for last 20 years in Nepal is being mitigated by resettlement though justice has not yet prevailed.

Albeit, at back home in Bhutan, the jinx of being southern Bhutanese is not dispelled. The relatives of refugees are constantly on the monitoring screen of the government. They are not allowed to receive any thing including monetary help from the relatives resettled and question the relatives if heard sending a gift or any parcel to refugee relatives. Not only that, even relative cannot perform funeral rites of dead resettled relatives which is required according to ones tradition and culture and belief that the departed soul cannot find eternal peace and the spirit hover around causing harm and disturbance if the family and relatives had not performed proper rites. So lest is to say to have chance to meet with resettled relatives in the future.

The Bhutan government wants the people inside completely severe the bond so that there will not be any communication and sharing of information and become total alien. Such an extreme step of Bhutan government has been bolstered by the compassionate consideration of the International community on its villainous action of uprooting the southern Bhutanese and resettling the people. The international community has given the unconditional and laissez-faire certificate of right of wrong and therefore it will go on carrying on its ethnic cleansing programme. On the other hand, the same international body makes so much of hue and cry of human rights violation and not complying with the International conventions and covenants if there exists their interest. And even send their soldiers to kill the people of other side in the name of establishing peace and democracy and securely protect the despots. In the case of Bhutanese regime too, the International community has favoured the perpetrator, the king Jigme Singye Wangchuk for compromising with his velvet face to relent for constitutional monarchy and usher in vibrant democracy and treat every Bhutanese irrespective of ethnicity or race with equity and justice. Had any one looked in retrospective if the king Jigme Singye Wangchuk or his heir lived up to their words? If so why then there are about 80000 southern Bhutanese, allegedly the relatives of refugees, status less and deprived of taking part in the so called ever held democratic vote in 2008 and are still people of neither here nor there. In addition, there are other cases of census problem particularly, the sarchops who took part in the 1997 demonstration for demand of democracy, human and religious rights and those who have married southern Bhutanese girl/boy.

In the land of ” Sangrila” the bastion of Buddhism, smoke screened by GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS (GNH)propagation, no one knows how much people are suffering of injustice and inequality. The gullible International Community is mesmerized and blinded by the hypocritical philosophy where the proponent himself (Jigme Singye Wangchuk) is unable to enjoy own concept in reality. It is so absurd to presume Gross National Happiness when part of a subjects are expiated for no fault of theirs and others are living in trepidation with uncertain future and majority of the people depends on cultivation and mercy of the nature. The unhappiness of the majority cannot be grossed with the happiness of few and market to the International community that buys the abstract without value judgment.

The International community without deeply delving into the impact of the Bhutanese refugee resettlements on the lives of the relatives still living in Bhutan whose uncertainty of future loom large, started resettlement without any under taking of guarantee of their nationality and citizenship. They believed in the hypo critic insidious assurance of the king and his cohorts and jeopardized and let the future of all southern Bhutanese in limbo and to live on the mercy of the regime. The International community also just gave lip service of assurance to the refugee leaders that the repatriation would start for those who do not accept resettlement and willingly to go back to own country-Bhutan. The resettlement started in 2007 and up till now about 33000 refugees have resettled in various Bhutanese refugee core countries, maximum being in USA but no single refugee could repatriate to Bhutan. Instead of urging Bhutan government to repatriate the Bhutanese who are holding firm stand to return, the international community, UNHCR and its agents are motivating and mobilizing such refugees to opt for resettlement and in some instant even Nepal security base in the camps are questioning them that why they are not opting for resettlement. The International community has condoned off the Bhutanese regime of all mischief and wrongs perpetrated on the southern Bhutanese and left the refugees to fight a lone war for justice.

S.B.Subba

Chairman

Human Rights Organization of Bhutan (HUROB).