India perceives Bhutan’s democratic movement as one that has a strong ethnic character. In the adjacent area, the Gorkhas of Darjeeling hills have long been struggling to carve out a separate state for themselves. Neighboring Nepal is not easy on matters of national interests, like Bhutan. A resurgent Nepali speaking population in neighboring Bhutan could further catalyze that movement in Darjeeling and other parts of India. In its view, if properly unchecked, this population can transform the entire Himalayan politics to India’s disadvantage. No doubt, the government of the West Bengal state of India has been fighting hard to deny the Gorkhas of Darjeeling, their demand for a separate land.

When human rights and democracy itself are at stake, any government should step up into action in favor of these universal values. India, obviously has been missing that lesson. So, India cannot be a conduit for the resolution of the problem in the true interest of the Bhutanese people. Even though, India played the instrumental role in brokering peace and chasing out King Gyanendra from Narayanhiti, its approach in Bhutan’s case has remained just the opposite. India heavily favors the Bhutanese regime in place of the democratic forces, which has been a cause of apprehension for the Bhutanese democratic forces. India stands as a big stumbling block to their efforts to return to Bhutan. The Bhutanese dissidents feel that they have been betrayed both by their own country and by India.  In fact, they suspect, any mediation navigated by India could be counter productive to their inherent interests in Bhutan and for their movement. Therefore, neither the government of Nepal nor the Bhutanese political leaders in exile should desire India’s involvement in the process of resolving the Bhutanese imbroglio.

Some Bhutanese dissidents charge that the Bhutanese were first repressed by their own country Bhutan and secondly by India. The Indian police forces have arrested, jailed, tortured and shot the Bhutanese democratic activists in the Indian soil, while trying to cross to Bhutan. Surprisingly, they were ‘unnoticed’ when they crossed into Nepal in hordes but when they attempt to return to Bhutan, the Indian government intercepts even a single individual and either locks them up or deports them back to the refugee camps.

The ordeal of the Bhutanese refugees from the oppression from their own government has been matched only by a few autocratic countries. This writer is a witness to both.

Here is an example. On the morning of June 2nd 1999, I led a group of about 101 refugees from the various refugee camps in Nepal to Bhutan. By 8.00 am we were inside Phuntsholing town. Our plan was to put up a protest demonstration. We took out our party banners and started rallying. Before we could walk about 300 yards, the Royal Bhutan Police arrested all of us and walked us back to the building used for booking bus tickets. There, we were confined within the iron chains of building for a couple of hours. A few hours later, we were moved to a different building in the other side of the town, where we were again confined until 12.00 midnight within its iron chains. While inside the chained building we were manipulated, coerced and insulted.  At 12.00 midnight, two Indian state buses arrived and we were led into the buses forcefully. I was seated in the front seat, close to the driver with four alert, Bhutanese policemen guarding me with automatic guns. The bus swiftly moved. When it arrived at Jaigaon, the adjoining Indian town, local Indian authorities greeted and welcomed the Bhutanese team. The Indians took charge and we were driven towards Nepal during the night. Each bus was secured by convoy vehicles of the Indian police force.

By morning we were brought to Panitanki, a small town near the Nepal India border. Then the Indian policemen lined us up and escorted us for about half a kilometer through the tea gardens and finally we reached a steep slope from where we could see the Mechi river. Then, we were ordered to climb down the slope, cross the river and walk into Nepal, while the Indian police men stood on the top pointing guns at us. They did not want us to walk over the Mechi bridge which connects Nepal and India.

Such incidences and even more serious ones repeated every time the Bhutanese democratic forces attempted to return home. The arrest and incarceration of Rongthong Kuenley Dorji in New Delhi is a clear example of how Indian government uses each and every opportunity to punish Bhutanese leaders who oppose the Thimphu regime.

During my stay in lock up inside Bhutan, I have found out that Bhutan is looking for answers in easy places. My impression was that Bhutan government basically views this problem as an administrative issue. It does not in way see the need to solve the problem politically. And there lies the crux. As long as Bhutan does not feel this problem is a political one, needing a political solution, it will not be resolved. Thimphu sends its beaurocrats as emissaries to talk to dissident leaders when they protest inside Bhutan. The outcome of the bilateral talks would have been different if it was approached with a purest political sense.

Indian double standard has also been seen during Bhutan’s transition to ‘democracy’. Instead of lending its support to the struggling democratic forces, the Indian government sided with the  autocratic regime. Bhutan’s Constitutional development did not happen in the villages of Bhutan. Bhutan inherited its first Constitution as a gift from India. Only a few handpicked courtiers of the King were involved in drafting the Constitution. Unfortunately, the central government of India, which is a coalition government of several political parties did not foresee that the Constitution they gifted could kill pluralism in Bhutan.

Apparently, Bhutan’s much touted transition to democracy piloted by the king is a sham. The abdication of the throne and the election was a political gimmick. Monarchy is still the most powerful institution in Bhutan. Elections do not ensure the emergence of democracy, they do happen even in countries governed by authoritarian rulers. Bhutan’s ‘democracy’ did not provide any political space to the dissident groups functioning in exile. A third political party formed and operating inside the country was declined registration by the Royal Election Commission and therefore, could not participate in the polls. Neither, did it lift the ban on political parties struggling for the establishment of democracy and human rights in Bhutan.

The elected government has not imbibed a culture of political tolerance and respect for political pluralism. It feels revolted if anyone tries to genuinely criticize its malevolent actions and policies. The government still tortures political prisoners to extract information and to weaken the dissent. It still considers the refugees as ‘illegal immigrants.’  ‘Change’ has not really come to Bhutan in its true meaning.

One finds hard to reconcile how a Constitution devoid of a real Bhutanese flavor can represent the aspiration of the people. The constitution does not envisage a truly inclusive democracy for all the political minorities in the body politics of Bhutan. Approximately 30,000 southern Bhutanese who are related to the refugees but living inside Bhutan and 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in exile were disenfranchised in the general elections of 2008. Bhutan has not learned lessons from recent political developments Nepal.

Conclusion:
Despite India’s cynicism, it is clear that Bhutan’s democratic movement will continue to grow. There is a large section of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and India who would favor repatriation to Bhutan in the first place. Those refugees who have accepted resettlement may not fight anymore to return to Bhutan, but they will still continue to love Bhutan. They will continue to speak out in favor of democracy and human rights. For many of them, the desire to sustain and stay the course of the struggle for democracy in Bhutan is a core mission of life. The resettlement program has reshaped the general landscape of the Bhutanese movement. In fact, it has triggered an ambitious international campaign on the part of the refugees to lobby favorable parties and governments in favor of the Bhutanese movement for democracy and human rights.

If India continues to nurse its own agenda of coaxing the King, she may lose her own credibility in the international arena. The Bhutanese haven taken stories of Indian paranoia to every country of settlement. India should clearly stay away from an active involvement in cooking a solution to the Bhutanese problem. But it would be a big help if they could educate the Bhutanese government on the long term benefits of instituting an inclusive democracy, rule of law and allowing the dignified return of willing citizens from exile to Bhutan.

Bhutan Media Society (BMS) called upon leaders from diverse background on Friday in Kathmandu to put up their view on role of India in resolving the issues of exiled Bhutanese, who have spent decades in Nepal and are flying beyond seven seas in search of better days.

Speaking at the interactions, chairman of the Indo Bhutan Friendship Society (IBFS) Prof. Anand Kumar, who is also the chairman of the South Asian Citizens’ Initiative for Democracy, said his organization is set to launch various activities that would pressure on Bhutan for repatriation of exiled Bhutanese who wish to go back.

He said, the peaceful means are the only best measures for securing rights and democracy. “IBFS will dedicate the year 2010 for democratic struggle in Bhutan and rightful repatriation of those who wish to go back,” he added.

Leader of UCPN (Maoist) C. P. Gajurel however, said the only option for oppressed Bhutanese to get justice is to take up arms. “For years, you waited for peaceful means to get justice but ultimately it was resettlement that you were offered against your interest to go back.”

He added, since the issue is of political nature, seeking solution on humanitarian ground would not give a justifiable solution of the crisis.

He expressed his party’s readiness to extend any form of solidarity and support for struggle inside Bhutan.

Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal said he is optimistic of positive roles from India in resolving the issues. He said, pressure on Bhutan to liberalize the politics, withdrawal of travel restriction clamped on Rongthong Kuenley Dorji are some of the latest hints that India has given in favor of oppressed Bhutanese citizens. “The process should continue to new heights,” he added.

Chairman of Bhutan People’s Party Balaram Poudel urged the government of Nepal to clarify its stand on bilateral issue. “Unless Nepal withdraws from bilateral process, India will not engaged in this process,” he said.

Other Bhutanese leader R. P. Subba said even after two decades, India’s attitude on the Bhutanese movement remains cold and questionable.

He added, “If India continues to nurse its own agenda of coaxing the King, she may lose her own credibility in the international arena. The Bhutanese haven taken stories of Indian paranoia to every country of settlement. India should clearly stay away from an active involvement in cooking a solution to the Bhutanese problem.”

In a statement issued by Druk National Congress on the occasion said the party wants the process of repatriation start alongside resettlement process. The party said, since there are some thousands of exiled Bhutanese willing to get repatriated, the process must start at the earliest possible.

Writer with his 96-year-old grandfather

The same day we were registered at the Centrelink- a government body that provides income support to newly resettled refugees from different countries of the world. The first ever payment I was provided with was the Crisis Payment of Australian dollars 200 on the vary day of my arrival. Then, we were registered at Medicare which covers a most part of medical expanses of refugees. Next, were taken to our new home at Elizabeth. Now we at least have a place to call ‘home’ which we had been longing for.

New home

My new home in Australia is entirely different from the houses I lived in for decades back in Nepal. From a bamboo slum in refugee camp to a concrete building in Kathmandu where I was a tenant for years never belonged to me. My three bed room house at Elizabeth is more than that. Surrounded by brick walls I found heart inside it made up of my family and a sense of possessing it. There was all I needed, from snacks to vegetables and rice. There was a refrigerator, a washing machine and utensils. In a nutshell, there was everything my family required then, as well as, for future.

A dawn of freedom

Often in life we travel through many ups and downs. A moment of happiness makes us forget years of suffering. A pebble in a river gets its shape by continuous crushing and getting rubbed against hard surfaces. In the same way, I have stumbled over many potential obstacles and got sharpened by passing through harsh situation before I finally reached here.

In Adelaide, the third week of June was celebrated as refugee week and the volunteers supporting refugees to resettle in South Australia were well applauded. It made me recall seven years of my volunteer service for my community in Nepal where I worked for news paper and radio. However, my selfless service was eventually rewarded by manhandling me in public at Beldangi I on May 5, 2008 and subsequently threatened to take my life by cadres of Birat-led faction of Communist Party of Bhutan, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist.  As a journalist I had to speak up on behalf of fellow refugees who had no voices that made me target of this group and also those earning from forgery. Those days in which my brother had to shield the bamboo wall near his bed with an old wooden plank to avoid possible attracts from fellow refugees is just a memory left behind.

Now I do not have to serve an official or bribe him to get my work done. Warmth of human touch is sensational to blend me meaningfully in the magnificent mixture of South Australian culture. We have freedom from prejudice, conspiracy, nepotism and threats. Flooded by turbulent river for more than a quarter of my life from one bank to the other and through falls and underlying rocks, I am now in calm water free from fear. A dawn of freedom has just begun and I am looking at the eastern sky towards my motherland to brighten for the day so that the faces of my countrymen   would curve into smile that is longed for century.

Beginning new life

With Phagu Sautal from Khudunabari camp

It was nearly two years ago my family was chosen by Australian Government to settle in its land. Two years of crazy wait in camp has taught me enough patience that I needed most to assimilate easily in Australia. Eventually, we are in the land of our dream. It’s the greatness of the people and the government of Australia that opened door for my bright future.

Australia is a great country to live in. This is a safe heaven for entire mankind. There are playing rooms for children, prayer rooms for people following different religions and walking aid for disabled and senior citizens in most of the offices, hospitals, universities and business houses. Virgin nature brings spring blossom and Australians welcome refugees every year to share its fragrance and to rejoice.

Wild birds are not scared when you go past them. A caravan of deer let you a way through the road like cattle when you go for a trip to the village. People move freely until late night. The Torrens River passing through Adelaide city is clean and calm. At the beaches both man and water birds swim and fish together. The environment is least encroached by human activities. Almost all products we use are made in Australia that makes every Australian a proud resident of this great land.

Government access

In Australia what I like most is the government access to the citizens and migrants. There is a government employee to cut grass at your yard. Drinking water is supplied for free. Postal service is so simplified that one would receive letters in a box at the compound of his house, unexpectedly in a very short time.

All financial activities of a humanitarian entrant are done by Centrelink.  It also records of all transactions we make including our earning from a job, expanses and saving. The Australian government encourages resettled refugees to work for self reliance while it also provides income supports while working depending on their income and expenditure. Here, one has to enroll in Adult Migrant English Program within three months of arrival. However, if his language skill is of higher standard to the course taught, he doesn’t need to enroll for it.

There is Technical and Further Education which provides technical and job oriented education for certain hours in a week free of cost and some of the world’s best universities.

For now, there is a government house to live in on lease for six months, first month being exempted from housing expenses like electricity, gas and rent. After six months we are expected to vacate this house for a new arrival. However, government   assists to look for new one and settle in.

Charm of Adelaide

Although major part of Australia is desert, there is greenery all around ensuring healthy air in Adelaide. There are parks and soccer playgrounds at close vicinity. There are public busses and trains connecting cities to its suburbs while trams and some busses ply free of charge within the city. In all transports, there is discount on fare for refugees and humanitarian entrants.

Most of the vehicles are equipped with special seats for elderly, children and physically challenged ones. There are also shops, departmental stores and markets at different parts of the suburbs. The price varies from place to place and from time to time like in other places.

All health related services are provided by Medicare Australia at great discount for us.  It is illegal to buy or sell medicine- even a pain killer without doctor’s prescription. Hospitals provide homely care for the patients.  If you are sick, all you should do is to call ambulance and get admitted in the hospital and clear the bill.     Keeping attendant is discouraged.

Going through life lane

Born in a middle class family in a remote village of Samchi district of Bhutan, I had never expected to travel such a long distance in life. My dream to study high school virtually turned into asses when my school was torched by an unknown gang at midnight in early 1990. I would be a good cowboy if not a priest had I remained in Bhutan. It is because schools are open for the children of government officials, national security personnel and of course elite groups.

I was a small fish in pond chased away by a big fish into the sea. Now, I have greater freedom to move and also there are many who will listen to the cause of my flight. Here, I have enough time to learn to live. With long breath I am planning for future, nothing to hurry for. We are welcome as immigrants like million others to settle in this great land and build up ourselves and the country.

Interestingly, my 96 year old grand father is an honored resident of this country and will be citizen after few years. He was not recognized as a citizen of Bhutan where he was born and even served the government for over forty years. I am reborn in a right place. I thank the people of Australia who funded me and my family, especially my grand father to settle in their land.

(This is the writer’s personal account and does not necessarily carry the view of the government or the service providers of Australia)

Re-settlement no doubt, offers a great excitement to the Bhutanese refugees. The number of refugees declaring interest for resettlement speaks of this reality. The UNHCR and other agencies involved in the process are trying to capitalise on their initial success, to encourage more refugees to opt for the resettlement program. The resettlement process will continue and during the ensuing months and years, most of the refugees living in the camps will journey into different directions and make new homes in different parts of the developed world.

When we say ‘Bhutanese refugees’, we understand a ‘community’ that now spreads into a vast Diaspora across different lands. Here is a ‘community’ that is changing roots. ‘Transition’ refers to the adjustment they are undergoing and ‘transformation’ speaks of the need on their part to accept some vital changes during and after this transition. ‘Vision’ refers to a collective need, which will map the direction this ‘community’ will grow. The ‘community’ no doubt is going through a rapid ‘transition’, one which requires ‘transformation’ and a proper ‘vision’ for the future.

Community
People primarily identify themselves through communities. The natural grouping is inevitable, powerful, durable, desirable and more effective. It is possible to grow, rebuild and preserve common values when people live in communities. Commonly shared characteristics such as religious belief, ethnic origin, language, past history and social values have always been the basis of social cohesion among us. These values foster ‘we’ feelings in ‘us’ and makes us part of the same ‘community’. A community is not a human but must be humane.

The moral test of any community lies in how it helps for the development of its future generations. A good community enables and encourages its members to do their best.

Participants at the convention. Photo source: ABA

The Bhutanese refugee community has lost its political roots today. After resettlement in different continents, they have to root themselves new. Going forward is not easy, but we have come absolutely prepared for the journey. The good thing is that we already have a vibrant ‘community’ in place. We just have to rediscover ourselves in this new setting and move on. The key is to understand the value of social networking and display that inter-connectedness as much as possible.

Social networking unlocks our potentials and drives us to growth collectively. Collectivity creates synergy, strength, power and possibility in addition to individual efforts. Our social leaders, rights activists, intellectuals, journalists, writers, poets, artists, singers and community elders should realize that the concerns, hopes and aspirations of this community to grow – socially, politically and economically – are larger than the physical separation that divide us. They should understand the situation that brought us here, is not just an inventory of personal tragedies; it is a collection of hopes and aspiration for our future. They should act accordingly and leave some of their creations for the future generations to simulate.

Transition/Transformation
Life is basically designed to be transformational in nature. It is desirable that a community in a rapid state of transition like our’s should be strongly transformative. We ‘transcend’ from one reality to another in the process of transformation. Transformation is a leap forward; it is changing into new, going ‘beyond’. Literally, currently we are going through this experience, we are experiencing a new existence, a new way of living. Resettlement has made that transformation almost mandatory. It has also fundamentally altered the rules of engagement in our community. The role of the village head man, the priest and the temple in our lives, perhaps will never be the same.

Resettlement thousands of miles across, in countries with various political make and models and in societies; complex and hitherto unknown, could be full of new realities and challenges. Our own life experiences and norms of life sharply contradict with the norms of the technologically driven societies we are resettled in. In America, life revolves round the clock and the hours you make working, but we come from a culture that values social norm, traditions and rituals more than work. Our festivals come every month and we celebrate some of them for weeks. We know manual work not mechanization. We know the plough and the field, the crops, orchards, cattle, the villages, the rivers and rivulets, temples, monasteries, dzongs, foot trails, extended families, the ritualistic life, traditions, festivals and celebrations – none of these will be part of our social life any more. It can put a test on our families, faith and culture.

The west works, learns and communicates through technology. The centrally heated houses, bath showers, the western toilet system, air filters, smoke alarms, vacuums, dish washers, micro waves, barbecue grills, washing machines, dryers, home computers, online payment systems, traffic rules, riding a public bus system and trains, paying by credit cards, lifts and escalators, drug bottles with child lock systems, assembling ready-made (packed) furniture, child seats, seat belts, pumping gas, school admissions, tax filing, vending machines, cell phones or registers at work – for the Bhutanese people everything is an absolutely new experience. From food habits to work habits, from customs to culture, from ways of life to personal habits and etiquette – the need for change is absolutely pervasive and ubiquitous.

The westerner, whose life centers around these basic, routine experiences, is often shocked to discover that for many of us these devices are a first time experience. Some have expressed wonders knowing that some of our people had not known soda in their lives before. What seems so obvious to them is very complex to us. Often at times, they may be perturbed by our simple questions. Often, they have failed to understand this background of the refugees with any sympathy. It seems so obvious, that lack of technological know-how is a great impediment in this transition.

Many have not figured out how to use the shower for many months, and many have not used a vending machine. For a population whose roots are deeply embedded in an agrarian life and village traditions; and in whose lives a routine set of cultural values have always played a dominant role – this transiton is not as seamless as it has been generally thought of.

It is important to learn how America works. It is important to learn the mainstream culture and the English language. Even for those of us who speak English, American spellings, pronunciation and usage could be a problem. For instance, gastroenteritis is heart burn, petroleum is gas. Soft drinks are sodas. Half pants are shorts. Weight is measured in pounds, liquids in gallon; distance is measured in miles etc. The cultural gap is staggering.

Though, all Bhutanese resettling abroad are equally new to the west, those who are English educated and have an urban life experience will enjoy a higher leverage. For the elderly people with a rural background, the technological and cultural adjustment will be more challenging. They have to put a little more effort at learning new things and creating new interests.

The problem is that we cannot ‘transform’ you. We can only inform you. This is a bottleneck in this transformation. We can disseminate information that helps in your transformation. But information is only a tool; you are the actual role player. This transition may look arduous but it is just trivial and temporary. The real challenge is to root us deep into this society and start growing. The adjustment is going to be hard and dynamic. If you have transformed well during this transition, your integration into the American society is easy. At the end, it is all about choice – we can choose to do well or we can deteriorate. Choose to transform in the ways you think, feel, idealize and perceive – as individuals and as a community and achieve a bigger milestone or choose to ignore it and lament. Choice itself is a challenge. Studies have shown that people who have transformed quickly and integrated well have achieved more than those who chose not to.

Developing a vision
A vision should be written only in a few words or sentences. How can a vision be seven pages long? A vision may not even need to be written, a vision needs to be visualized. I am just trying to set up a broad parameter for that vision development and explaining the need and urgency of having one.

How can we shape our ‘tomorrow’ by making rational decisions today? What positive assumptions and expectations do we share for writing that vision? Are we in control of our future as a community? Visualizing what our community would look like in fifty years and beyond has been my fantasy. Developing an image of our own future is a motivating factor and could be in the interest of our community. From the vision we lay down today, our future generations can gain inspiration and draw a frame of reference of the times we are living. Above all, visioning stimulates the notion of change, which in turn will determine how a community may sustain its future or shape the direction to which it will progress. On the contrary, an absence of a proper vision could give birth to the emergence of some toxic cultures, which can infect the whole community. Developing a vision for our community seems to be the right thing to do.

Where does vision come from? A vision comes from ‘us’ and all of us. Remember, ‘none of us is as smart as all of us’. We alone are the best and the most reliable ‘infrastructure’ in the development of that vision. A vision is thinking about the next level, so it must be adopted only after understanding the new realities and its associated environments more intimately. It needs to be developed in tandem with the shared experiences, expectations and aspiration held by all community members. It should be intelligible and inclusive of the significant views and aspirations held by the community for their future. And lastly, it needs to be generated, articulated, owned and supported by members of the community who design it.

A vision paper should provide a proper vision rationale, but need not be too radical. For the first time, we cannot blame it on Jigme Singye, if things did not go right. We are on our own and the responsibility to do something is inescapable, excuses or no excuses.  Above all, we cannot let the future happen to us. The purpose of this paper is to begin that discourse and facilitate a discussion to that end. It wants the community members to think what possibilities and challenges exist in this adjustment and how can we make the best out of it. It wants to explore what is an acceptable model of growing our community and how can we achieve it?

That said; let’s welcome you to the future!  Imagine the Bhutanese Diaspora in the next fifty years and beyond. The 60,000 Bhutanese refugees who will resettle in the US will expand demographically. A whole generation of Non-Resident Bhutanese (NRBs) is in the making. The picture looks very good and welcoming.

Will the younger generations continue to relate and acquaint with other Bhutanese people in the Diaspora? Will they retain and protect their Bhutanese identity, heritage and history or be proud of their past origin? Will they read or even know the history we have gone through? Will they epitomize the lessons learned from the Jewish community, and not shred off their moral responsibility towards Bhutan? Will they survive the ‘melting pot’? Will they be threaded like one community, will communication flow among them?

The answers to these querries are definitely not simple. Time alone is the greatest tool which will test, how this community will move forward. It is hard to predict that future with any authority now. And we cannot simply hope, it will be better. Hope is not a strategy. We must try and do things worth doing to move our community in the direction we desire.

What can we do?

I. Self-Education: Read, Read, Read; Write, Write, Write
Education has two basic parameters – formal and non-formal. The Bhutanese people take formal education seriously, but the society has not quite learned how to continue education in a non-formal setting. They believe that education is complete when they write the last paper in their graduation final. Self-study habits have not developed as a culture.

Self-study is an important aspect of continued learning and enhancing knowledge. It replenishes ideas that are not available through formal institutions of learning. Nothing surpasses the power of education and organization in empowering people. A community grows proportionately to the number of bright and learned people it has. Educated Bhutanese should be willing to share time, writing both in online forums and regular papers. Our habits so far suggest that we Bhutanese are least interested in reading or writing anything. This habit needs to improve, if not drastically. As for any trade, there is one particular secret to improving our learning, and that is  “Read, Read, Read; Write, Write, Write”.

Make sure your children get a very good education. In America, education is free up high school. Grants, loans and scholarships are available to students quite easily to continue or complete higher studies. We should make the best out of these arrangements. Having reached a foreign country without any assets or money, we have to understand that a good education is the only key to our children’s future. It will be their greatest resource and the only best tool. Our hopes really lie in the next generation but we should never lose sight of the urge to succeed socially and economically, even during this transition itself.

II. Culture continuity
The ‘Resettlement’ program need not end in the ‘melting pot’. It is possible to continue existing as a discrete, culturally separate entity. It is important not to lose cultural values as it forms a continuum between us and the next generation. To this generation, the need to retain, preserve, practice, transmit and walk our youngsters through our history and cultural values really comes as the next burden.

That responsibility can be fulfilled only if we can compile, retrieve, repackage and re-use our own stories and pass them on to our younger ones. These stories should be durable, accessible, discoverable, affordable, transferable, portable and available to all, especially the younger generation. This is the new way of guiding, coaching and leading our community. And this probably is the single most important responsibility; our generation can take on.

We must achieve this in synchronization with the more important objective of integrating into the American society – politically, socially and economically. No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive. Striking a balance between the cultural ‘melting pot’ and a full integration into the American mainstream can offer a very complex blend of opportunities and challenges. We must ‘think outside the box’ not losing sight of the fact that integrating into the American society should be our main objective.

III. Leverage your position
Leverage is the power to control a lot with just a little. Big doors swing on little hinges. Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever, long enough and a place to stand and I will move the entire earth”.

Living in the Diaspora is a blessing in disguise. Very often, Diasporas have the luxury of operating quite independently from their home state or host countries. Self-identified Diasporas exert significant pressure in the politics of their home states by engaging directly with third party states and international organizations.

We need a platform to responsibly leverage our aspirations. For those of us who live in the Diaspora, ABA could be a good start but it needs to do more. We must also not forget that our community in Bhutan hope on us to speak for their freedom. Today, we are ‘free’ to speak for the ‘freedom’ of others. We must use this freedom to rally the same hope and aspirations for other Bhutanese who are still living under authoritarian rule. We must now expand outwards and speak for those who are going through similar situations, we once went through.

We can leverage support for the growth of free media inside Bhutan as well as in exile. We can also lobby or pressurize Bhutanese authorities to scrap laws that do not serve the democratic interests of the Bhutanese people. Asking the Bhutanese government to legislate laws to grant ‘dual citizenship’ to all Bhutanese settled abroad or persuading the Bhutanese government to open a full fledged Embassy of the United States in Thimphu and vice versa could also be in our agenda. In the long run, we can constitute investment teams of NRB entrepreneurs who will invest and own properties in Bhutan. Let’s have a vision that we can.

IV. Do not play the southern gallery
It is quite habitual that our people tend to relate the Bhutanese movement only in the context of the southern Bhutanese problem. As we mix and mingle with the people in the host countries, it may be wise not to play from the southern gallery. That has never been the spirit of the Bhutanese movement and it will be totally unfair to do so.

V. Our goals have post has not shifted
There was this notion that the Bhutanese ‘movement’ will naturally die down when some people leave the camps for resettlement. That is not true because all the people will not leave the camps, and not all people who leave the camps will leave the ‘movement’.

Let’s remember that our goal posts have not shifted, whether we are in Nepal or in America. Human rights, democracy, good governance, rule of law, right to expression, right to citizenship etc are the flesh and bones that kindle the spirit of the Bhutanese movement. Our lives resonate that reality as long as history can safely deliver that message to people, who are interested in truth. As permanent residents and citizens in America, we can still respect that movement and support it morally.

VI. Useful Media
The media, its content and its messages are powerful socializing agents, which can help or hurt our socialization process. Online media such as the internet can criss cross and thread every section of our community. As a tool for mass communication the internet can is useful for discovering each other, exchanging information, educating our people,  or exploring our history. Internet forums provide a platform where we can dialogue and reconcile views. We can meet, discuss, iron out differences and discover solutions to our problems. The nexus between the media and the community has always been very close.

In developing a vision for the community, the media’s role is crucial. It can generate ideas by initiating forum discussions or directly solicit ideas from people. There is no subject matter expert in this area, but together, we can always find great ideas to move our community forward.
(This is the paper Subba presented at the convention of the Association of Bhutanese in America on July 4, 2009. For direct communication with the writer, write him to: rpsubba@gmail.com)

In a statement issued Tuesday, the party said most significant is the continuing absence of an independent, impartial judiciary and the subsequent absence of a guarantee of fundamental human rights for the common people.

“Political prisoners who were imprisoned for demanding democracy are still incarcerated. They don’t have any means of seeking redressal. With the largely unchanged intrinsic policy of the “democratic” Government towards the democratization of Bhutan, their only hope of appeal rests with the Judiciary,” the statement reads.

DNC demands for immediate release of these political prisoners after the promulgation of the constitution to show that the government is democratic – what they had demanded was admittedly correct and the regime did go about ultimately “fulfilling” this demand. Failing to do this, DNC doubts about Bhutan’s democratic credentials and if Bhutan is truly working towards a democratic culture.

In addition, the Government is using both the Thrimzhung Chhenpo as well as Constitution at its convenience. Article 1(10) “…. the provisions of any law, whether made before or after the coming into force of this Constitution, which are inconsistent with this Constitution, shall be null and void”. All provisions of the Thrimzhung Chhenpo that are inconsistent with the Constitution or with any new laws enacted to replace provisions of the Thrimzhung Chhenpo, should be scrapped. Because of Government inaction, the people are more confused.

As in the past, the police and the security forces still have wide unconstitutional authority to harass the people, especially in the border regions, in the name of security. Members of Parliamentarians are witness to the police brutality and its unconstitutional authority. But they continue to keep mum. For the moment it seems that the MPs are beyond the reach of the police while innocent people are harassed and terrorized, but if left unchecked, a time will come when tables will inevitably turn. There are many such examples, some in not so very far neighbouring states, where unchecked security forces, exploited to the advantage of the leadership to exert control over the masses, evolves into an undesirably structured establishment with no moral reserve, and has turned on its own elected leaders.

It appears that the regime is also determined to control the leadership at the grassroots. To achieve this end, the elections to the Local Governments has been intentionally delayed for over two years to circumvent the time limit of erstwhile candidates to the Parliament, so that they can be drafted back to grassroots polity. The Bhutanese Election Act states, he or she will be eligible to participate in local election provided he/she has dissociated from the party for 12 months.

It is tragic that Lawmakers/Parliamentarian are assiduously working on how to increase their own perks and benefits, while issues related to democracy, human rights and democratic governance is hardly raised. Instead, Members of Parliamentarians are involved making hue and cry that democracy in Bhutan will fail if political parties do not get state funding and cease to exist. When the 2 political parties were established in 2007, the party presidents and members must have foreseen the financial viability. Otherwise, why plunge into politics? Why adopt the existing law governing the party finances?

DNC said through resignation National Council Vice Chairman Karma Ura intended to send message  that democracy is unhealthy for Bhutan.

It further said, the government’s prioritization of democratic reforms is at most embarrassingly inadequate. It is carrying on with business as usual, with, apart from the holding of elections and a new elected Parliament, nothing to really differentiate its functioning from the governments of the past. “If the essential ingredients and basis of democracy is not put into place, democratic governance will always remain a far off mirage. And this will be to no one’s advantage, and will in the end bring instability,” DNC president Rongthong Kuenley said.

Union Finance Minister of India Pranab Mukherjee presenting his union budget for the fiscal year 2009-10 at the Lok Sabha Monday when it is mentioned that grants for Bhutan this year have been increased by IRs 60 million.

This is part of the IRs 100 billion that India committed for Bhutan during the first address of the Indian Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh to the first elected parliament of Bhutan last year.

In 2008-9, Bhutan had received IR 5.54 billion grants and IRs 3 billion loan. Bhutan is at the top of the list among the countries to receive grants from India. Afghanistan and Nepal follow Bhutan in descending order.

In a new study conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Human Resources said efforts are to be made to overcome the mismatch between skills and employment opportunities. The report said the country needs more than 6800 elementary workers by 2013. There are around 37,000 Indian nationals, excluding GREF and IMTRAT, engaged in elementary occupations in the country today.

The ministry said Bhutanese job seekers may not face the dearth of employment at least for the next four years. “It’s still a very optimistic indication of the availability of jobs,” said Labor Minister Dorji Wangdi.

These jobs will be created only in 119 major establishments in the service, manufacturing and construction sectors but excluded hydropower and information technology, along with small or medium private and corporate establishments which are also likely to create jobs.

Stating that country severely lacks skilled manpower, the report recommends that formal education be combined with work-based training, by strengthening career and counseling programs in all educational institutions.

Ura is one the five appointee by King Jigme Khesar to the National Council following the election of the parliament in December 2007. He submitted resignation to King.

The king has accepted his resignation, of which information was passed on to NC chairman Namgue Penjore.

Ura is Director of Center for Bhutan Studies, founded by current prime minister Jigmi Thinley. His published books include The Hero With a Thousand Eyes (1995), The Ballad of Pemi Tshewang Tashi: A Wind Borne Feather (1996), Deities, Archers and Planners in the Era of Decentralization (2004), The Bhutanese Development Story, and numerous other books and articles on Bhutanese history, culture, and literature.

Rizal is one of the leaders opposing resettlement process and still advocates for repatriation of all exiled Bhutanese to their homesteads.

Rizal family entered the IOM exit camp in Kathmandu on Sunday morning, 24 hours before flying. IOM allows such entry to families of political and human rights leaders and few facing threats.

Rizal, when asked, denied saying that his sons and daughter-in-law are flying under resettlement.

Details will follow.

In a statement issued Thursday, it said the humane, science-based street dog management and rabies control program is a partnership between the government of Bhutan, HSI and the Bhutan Foundation.

The three to five year program will start by September and is expected to help spay/neuter and vaccinate close to 50,000 dogs across the country.

Rahul Sehgal, HSI India director, said, “I am so glad that the top officials of Bhutan have taken the time to discuss this issue at length and decide on a long-term, effective solution with the welfare of street dogs at its core.”

Overpopulation of free-roaming dogs has been a major problem in Bhutan. For this Buddhist nation, controlling their numbers using fatal methods was never an option. On their lists of items to pack, tourism agencies often include “ear plugs” in bold, capital letters to help visitors manage to sleep through the sounds of dogs barking and howling all night long in the city streets.

Before the new program was approved, HSI carried out a four-month long pilot program in Thimphu, and collected and presented data to help convince authorities that spay/neuter, along with education/awareness, strict licensing laws, and responsible pet ownership were the only ways to effectively manage the homeless dog population.

Fourteen staff from the HSI India office put together a successful project, carrying out a population census twice to collect comparative data of pre-and post-pilot scenarios. In total, 2,866 dogs were sterilized and vaccinated over the four-month period. About 15 percent of the dogs were pets.

The program will cost US$1 million, half of the cost borne by the Royal Government of Bhutan. HIS said it is hoping to raise the remainder from its supporters and create a workable model for others to follow.

“Ideally, this spay/neuter/vaccinate/return project will not only reduce the suffering of Bhutan’s street dogs, but help improve the lives of street dogs in developing countries worldwide,” HIS said.