The Bhutanese Nepali Community of Scranton (BNCS), Pennsylvania organized a cultural show at the Scranton High School Auditorium Scranton, Pennsylvania on Sunday.
The president of BNCS Narad Pokhrel, Joint Secretary Kedar Kafley and Tek Pandey presented a brief history of Bhutanese refugee problem, the third country resettlement program, among others.
The different cultural presentations such as the group and solo dance and solo patriotic song by Bhutanese children and guests, traditional fashion show by small children, music presentation and the different varieties of Bhutanese cultural foods were the major attractions of the this program.
Christopher Doherty, the mayor of the Scranton city, Sonya Sarner, Program Supervisor, Catholic Social Services, Sushma Barakoti from Nepalese Women Organization in USA and representatives from Migrant Education Program, local schools, College and University, assured their continued support to the Bhutanese community in its every effort along the way of integration, assimilation and empowerment in a new environment and society of cultural diversity.
Meanwhile, the president of BNCS acknowledged the moral, financial and material support of Catholic Social Services of Lackawanna County, CSIU/NE Migrant Education Program, Scranton School District, Shalom Scranton and Shiva Shakti Indian Food Mart and the community members and volunteers.
The Bhutanese Nepali Community Scranton was formed in 2010 with an objective of empowering and advancing the Bhutanese community in the area through education, job skills and facilitating social services.
A report received late says that the community in Georgia has offered honor and appreciations to the high school graduates (2008-2011) on Saturday amidst a special function.
A temporarily formed Bhutanese Honor Society, which comprised the community leaders, among others, extended sincere appreciations to younger generation for successfully graduating from the high schools.
So far an estimated 50 Bhutanese have graduated from the six different high schools in Atlanta, GA beginning 2008.
High school graduates pose to camera after receiving appreciation letter. Photo courtesy/Mahendra Dahal.
BM Rai, one of the honor organizing committee members informed BNS over telephone that the main motive of the program was to encourage younger generation Bhutanese to explore more opportunities.
“It is the community’s responsibility, in general, to encourage younger generation folks to continue with the western education and explore more opportunities in future,” said Rai, adding—“we just initiated here in Georgia and this short of encouraging function is worth organizing in other regions where community folks live.”
According to Rai, at least 35 high school graduates, including Ram Siwakoti, recipient of the Gates Scholarship Award program, which will pay for his needs until he finishes the Ph.D. in any colleges in the US, attended the function.
The honor society also provided appreciation letters along with khada to the high school graduates. Meanwhile, the community leaders, addressing the function, encouraged students to continue with the modern education.
The local artists from the Bhutanese Artists of Georgia had rocked the floor with various presentations. The community also tasked Raman Dahal, a long time teacher back in Nepal, with the responsibility of working closely with younger generation students in Atlanta to help them explore further opportunities.
Hardly anyone can believe that finally he made it after traveling nearly 2,000 miles from Denmark to Norway. The problem, though sounded tough initially, yielded fruitful upshot, which has made the entire Bhutanese diasporic community feel proud of one’s culture and tradition.
Deepak Chhetri in Alta, Northern Norway, was stock-still when he heard that his father passed away in Khudunabari refugee camp. He was more haunted by the fact of having no any Purohit (Hindu priest) in the country. Chhetri, however, did not give up the hope to perform the last rituals for his deceased father in accordance with his long-practiced tradition.
Chhetri couple prays for the deceased. Photo/Dinesh Subba
The will saw a way—inviting a pundit (Hindu priest) from Denmark to Norway, which gradually turned possible. From the seventh holy day, Deepak started performing rituals with the help of the pundit in the name of the deceased though he experienced a severe gravity of the death of his father, who—if it hadn’t gone other way—would have been resettled in the States in a couple of months.
“Summer celebration in Europe was a boon to me. The pundit could make his northward journey possible since he had a summer break from his language classes,” Deepak smiled in a video conference call over the Skype with the writer. He did not forget to mention his gratitude to Alta Kommune (Alta Municipality) that paid for the two-way tickets for the pundit.
“I am equally obliged to all the Bhutanese who remained together sharing my sorrows both morally and financially,” Deepak hinted to the support he received from his fellow countrymen.
Deepak seemed happy in a way that he could embarrass sympathy from all sides, which was most meaningful and supplementary for this holy performance.
“Can you believe that I got 15 days off from my job?” His happiness measured no bounds. “I am indebted to my sjef (boss) who duly understood me when I revealed about my culture. I will cover the nonattendance from the job working some extra days during my vacation.” Deepak explains how he managed to remain home for these many days.
When asked if similar could be the case for others, Deepak lamented, “I am not very hopeful that there will be always coincidence like it happened to me. We should surely see for an alternative to this.”
When this writer got connected to the apartment of Tek Bahadur Baniya in Alta upon hearing that several holy performances were underway in the residences of Bhutanese there, Bhagawat bachan (reciting of holy Bhagawat), sounds of sankha (conch) and ghanta (holy bell) and murmuring of the attendees distinctly vibrated on the ears.
Pandit Adhikari performs the rituals. Photo/Dinesh Subba
It was amazing to see that the feast was being performed in exactly the similar ways it used to be. This amazement, however, could mean very little in some of the States of the USA or Australia where these sorts of performances are scheduled in a routine. But in a place like Northern Norway, where Asian commodities are transported by every month by business trucks, managing everything is not an easy task. Furthermore, having not even a purohit from within the community is another heart-biting matter for many.
It is for the same reason that Bhutanese residents of Alta hurriedly utilized the presence and the time of Pandit Bhola Nath Adhikari who arrived to Alta to perform final rituals for Deepak’s father. Dinesh Subba, who reached Alta from Western Norway, enthusiastically informed that about a dozen of such arrangements are scheduled in Alta and a near-by municipality until the Pundit’s stay.
But how did it feel like getting transformed from a dense human populace to this situation and still performing the rituals bound with strict norms? “It was live,” Adhikari says. “Most importantly, we can possibly do many things if the wish be,” he adds. And the practice of koro-dhikuro (special confinement during mourning and a special place for performing the rituals), bedi (altar) and homadi (burning of holy rice during the performance) are in verge of extinction (?). Adhikari says that there can be some compromises as per the impulse of the time and place but a total change is yet not amicable.
Well, it could no longer remain debatable that keeping up with the tradition is uncomplicated; this gusto of Bhutanese in Norway is surely a praiseworthy effort in trying to work out a solution to an obligatory ritual such as the ‘after-death performance’ by the kith and kin of the deceased.
The result of the twist and turn drive of our rich culture and tradition, especially after resettlement, however, is yet to be defined. At least until today, there are enough rooms to believe that the major obligatory norms of our culture and tradition can be well preserved wherever we dwell.
The Government of Bhutan successfully conducted elections to the local governments on June 27, 2011. A total of 2,185 candidates contested and 1,104 candidates were elected to the offices of Gups, Mangmis, Tshogpas, Thromde Thuemis. Overall voter turnout was recorded at 56 percent.
Democracy was instituted in Bhutan with the promulgation of the Constitution on July 18, 2008. The newly formed Government declared that local government elections would be held immediately. But the “immediately” elections to the local governments took over three years.
One of the objectives of the Druk National Congress was to introduce democracy at the grassroots level, to educate, bring awareness and ingrain in each and every citizen of the country, the policies that affects their lives. My arrest in India in 1997 restricted my “active” involvement in the grassroots democracy education and at the same time presented different priorities for my party colleagues during this period. DNC is satisfied and happy to witness the local government elections.
Prior to the elections, we have raised genuine concerns over the delimitation of the districts for the local government elections. There was an imbalanced distribution of gewogs/gups in the districts, in proportion to their size and population. For example, according to electorate statistics of 2008, Wangdue Phodrang in the west with an electorate population of 14,807 has been delimited for 15 gups/gewogs, while Samtse in the south with an electorate population of 34,958 also has 15 gups/gewogs. Trashigang in the east, with an electorate population of 29,080, has 15 gups as well. We are apprehensive that development activities in larger districts could be handicapped, if funds are allocated to districts based merely on the number of gewogs under it. Our concerns were not heeded; we but expect that the Government will address these concerns in due course of time. The Government must also review the remuneration of local leaders. They shoulder heavy responsibility and remuneration must reflect their responsibilities.
The formation of local governments is one of the important features of democratization. People at the grass root get to understand their role in a democratic society. Now, people at local level will get to know more closely of Government policies, besides their involvement in the decision making process. In spite of optimism, it could be end up being a red herring. Last three year of “democracy” warns us that decisions and policies are still initiated at top rather than bottom. Majority of the Bhutanese are still unaware of the changes taking place in polity of the country and citizens are still unable to come out of their fear-psychosis shell. To expect an overnight shift in Government policies under the prevailing situation will be naïve. I however hope that the recently elected grassroots leaders will be resolute and firm in their stand in discharging their democratic duties.
The Local Government Act stipulated that candidates must be apolitical. As of now only the elections have concluded. The real challenge lies ahead. The apolitical credentials of local leaders will be put to the test in the 2013 General Elections. There we will have our answer.
Democracy in Bhutan is young. The institutionalization of a vibrant democracy takes time. I hope the people’s whole hearty participation in democracy at the grassroots level will educate and ingrain a democratic culture in our citizens. It is however, sad that a large majority of Bhutanese exiles were not able to participate in the election. We hope it will be different in 2013.
The writer is President of Druk National Congress.
It was far from their country. Life is mechanical and people rarely get time to talk in their language. Still, love and affection to mother tongue remain alive among Nepali speaking community in Adelaide, Australia.
Enthusiasm seen during the 198th Bhanu Jayanti celebration here vividly reflected this affection among Nepalese and Bhutanese community in Australia. And in majority, subject matter of the creations was their land of birth.
The celebration was jointly organised by Bhutanese Association in South Australia (BASA) and International Nepali Literary Society (INLS) Australia chapter. This was the first time two community joined hands to remember the first poet of Nepali literature – the string to bind them together.
Over 60 people from the two communities attended the function and 16 people recited their creations. Raju Upadhyaya’s poem was judged the top among them. Upadhyaya now will be participating in the international Nepali poem recitation competition later this month hosted by the INLS Headquarter coinciding with the second international literary festival in London.
Narayan Bhattarai was judged second and Indukesh Pandey as third. Sagarmatha restaurant, run by Deepak Bista, sponsored prizes for the winners. All participating members were awarded with certificates.
Young and old all participated the celebration. The gathering not only saw literature lovers but political and human rights activists as well. Additionally, two awards announced on the occasion. Mahabir INLS Award carrying NRs 10,000 and Adhikari Sahitya Puraskar carrying cash prize of NRs 7,500 will be awarded on Laxmi Janati to books and articles published by Nepalis living outside of Nepal.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office said it confirmed the identification of three dead bodies found inside an Acura car in the Spokane River.
The Hospital authority confirmed Krishna Dhital, Krishna Dhakal, and Dilli Ram Bhattarai died of accidental drowning in a submerged motor vehicle, wrote www.krem.com from Washington.
“It is directly across from where the youngest victim lived in an apartment complex that prompted the helicopter search. There are also indications that the car hit some rocks which lead police to believe it entered at high speeds,” said the report.
According to the report, investigators believe the car headed north towards Riverton Avenue.
“They believe it hit some gravel along the road and entered the water near Sinto Avenue. The current then took the car downstream where it sat underwater for almost a month.”
Bhutan has completed the preliminary procedure to open its first ever medical college next year in July.
Bhutan Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS), which is the institution to hold the MBBS course has been backed by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which has promised to send its professors to Bhutan if needed.
A high level Indian delegation, led by Prof Ramesh C Deka,Director and chief executive officer of (AIIMS) and Bhutan’s Health Minister, Zangley Dukpa discussed the possibility of opening BIMS which, according to the Health Minister is expected to not only produce doctors but also to improve service delivery.
He further added that the sketch for BIMS that will be built on 23 acres of land in Serbithang, has been completed while the curriculum is due to complete soon.
By the mid of July next year, 50 Bhutanese students will be starting their medical degree at the old Thimphu referral hospital.
Bhutanese Community Resource Center (BCRC) has confirmed that the dead bodies recovered from Spokane River on Wednesday are of the three Bhutanese youths.
From left Bhattarai, Dhikal and Dhital
Releasing a press statement today, BCRC, on behalf of the families of the deceased, has expressed appreciation to the Spokane police and other personnel for their efforts in the search. Hospital authorities are yet to confirm that the dead are of the missing Bhutanese youths.
Spokane police located the vehicle driven by one of the missing youths on Wednesday and subsequently discovered three dead bodies in the vehicle.
BCRC has asked the authorities for further investigations. “BCRC further requests the authorities to investigate into the matter to find out the reasons that could have played role for this mishap”, reads the press statement signed by Tanka Dhital, Chairman of BCRC.
BCRC has expressed its gratefulness to the members of Faith Bible Church International Welcome Team, Spokane who have volunteered to help in the cremation of the dead bodies. The families have decided to cremate the dead bodies as per the Hindu traditions.
Three Bhutanese youths, Krishna Lal Dhital, Krishna Dhakal and Dilli Ram Bhattarai were missing from Spokane since June 11.
Lately, speaking on a radio talk with Ramesh Gautam of BNS from the accident venue, Tanka Dhital, Chairman of Bhutanese Community Resource Center has cautioned for safety in driving and has appealed individuals and communities to support the families of the deceased.
Click the audio icon below or follow the link to listen to the radio talk.
Reports coming from various local media confirmed that police have recovered the black Acura car driven by the three missing Bhutanese in the Spokane River. Police also recovered three dead bodies from the scene. However, their identity is not known by the time BNS filed this report.
The missing faces.
Spokane Police confirmed the number plate of the missing vehicle to the online edition of KHQ.
“Authorities tell KHQ that the plates match that of a vehicle that was reported missing in June linked to three Bhutanese refugees,” said the report.
There has been a fear that all three youths missing since June 11 from Washington have been dead. However, our reporter in WA and families of missing youths are yet to confirm the casualty independently.
Tanka Dhital from WA, who was heading towards the site following a call from police, was 100 miles away from the mishap area at the time of filing this report. “I am with the family members of missing youths and will reach the spot in some 90 minutes,” he told Bhutan News Service over phone.
According to Dhital, confirmation about the dead bodies would only be possible after the DNA-test.
The extensive search operation to find the missing youth – Krishna L Dhital (21), Dilli Ram Bhattarai (28) and Krishna Dhakal (17) – resettled in Washington have been underway.
Local leaders of the major three parties of Nepal – UCPN (Maoist), CPN-UML and Nepali Congress (NC) – expressed that unity among exiled leaders is a must to take forward the protracted refugee issue, Wednesday.
They claimed, the exiled leaders have been divided even on the main agenda – struggle to return home with dignity and honour.
According to them, leaders in exile should create environment to forge unity among themselves and even bar refugees from opting the ongoing resettlement program.
Refugee community, local leaders and various stakeholders of exiled Bhutanese during the discussion program at Damak
Speaking at an interaction program organised by various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at Damak of Jhapa, NC leader Sher Bahadur Bhattarai, UML leader Devendra Dahal and UCPN (Maoist) leader Durga Chapagain expressed such opinion.
“The third country resettlement process is undermining the struggle of Bhutanese refugees when the population of refugees in UN-monitored camps of Jhapa and Morang is reducing dramatically,” said Bhattarai.
According to his say, if refugee leaders really wanted their people to return to Bhutan they should be able to bar people from opting for resettlement.
While, UL leader Devendra Dahal said it is sad that the government side failed to give priority in exploring a permanent solution to the refugee issue.
Meanwhile, Maoist local leader Durga Chapagain opined that the whole resettlement scenario could take a u-turn if all refugee leaders and their organisations became ready to formulate programmes to pressurise the government of Bhutan to accept refugees back home.
They also expressed that they would try to influence their leadership in the respective party to extend all possible supports for the democratic struggle in Bhutan.
‘UNHCR ignoring repatriation issue’
Various exiled leaders and youths who presented their views at the program accused the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of ignoring the refugees’ right to return home.
Chairman of the Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee Dr Bhampa Rai said, the UNHCR and resettlement
Dr Rai presents his paper
countries were simply motivating refugees for resettlement, neglecting the pains they suffered in Bhutan.
Druk Nation Congress –Democratic Chairman Thinley Penjore highlighted it was wrong to address the general refugee population as “Nepali-speaking Bhutanese” stating that exiled citizens like Sarchops have been excluded.
According to Penjore, some exiled Bhutanese from eastern Bhutan are not able to reach their stakeholders in Nepal due to language problem.
Woman activist Jasoda Budathoki and right activist DP Kafle also expressed that UN and resettlement countries should pressurize Bhutan to accept citizens back home.
Meanwhile, youth leader Chabi Kharel mentioned that resettlement has been going against the morale of democratic struggle in Bhutan. He said, Nepal should be a proper place for the exiled Bhutanese to fight for democracy in Bhutan.
UNHCR has been motivating refugees by showing videos on good aspects of life after the resettlement, said he.”There were cases of suicides and attacks on resettled people and several stories of hardship. Why is the UNHCR silent on these issues?”
