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There is news at the beginning followed by report on cyber cafes and money transfers in camps by Jagen Gautam and Ichha Poudel presents Bhutan coverage. The second part features conversation with Dr. Lakshmi Dhakal.
This episode is based on International Children Day 2010 celebrations in camp. Tulasa Ghimire reads out news, Tilak Niraula presents a report on children day celebrations followed by Saranarthi Vitraka Saranarthi by Lok Bahadur Mahara. The second part has Bidesi Chautari of Ramesh Gautam from Norway where he talks with a few children.
Lakpa Mokthang presents a report on shooting of a documentary film – Playboy followed by a conversation with Chief District Officer of Jhapa, Sashi Shekhar Shrestha. The second part has a conversation with Dr. Lakshmi Dhakal, President of the Bhutanese Community in the Netherlands.
I am quite certain that most of us are well aware of the Bhutanese refugee problem and deteriorating human rights situation inside Bhutan. Violation of human rights in Bhutan from the state authority started becoming more rampant since 1988. As a result of this, almost one-third of Bhutan’s population was forcefully evicted out of country in 1990s. Following massive pressures from rights organizations and others around the globe, the then King of Bhutan, Jigme Singey Wangchuck, played a drama in the name of change in 2008, but just aimed at blindfolding the international community by abdicating the throne to his son, Jigme Kheshar, who is the King at present. Even, the first general election was held to trumpet so-called democracy in Bhutan.
Considering the degree of suppressions on the innocent people who raised their voices for democracy and changes, the regime-gifted democracy is nothing but just the same autocratic kingship as it has excluded those who suffered for centuries to get their rights respected. The Bhutanese democracy at present is never true in its real sense as it has failed to address the issue of political prisoners who have been spending their hard lives in various jails since years. How can we accept it as democracy when it was given without releasing those political prisoners and not expressing interest to resolve the refugee problem?
In such an occasion, Bhutan failed to include the refugee community by calling them back home. Besides doing this, unfortunately the so-called democratic Government of Bhutan doesn’t have to be answerable to any sorts of human rights violations in the country. That was why it took a leap by successfully hosting the 16th SAARC summit in Thimphu this year. Presence of SAARC leaders in the summit was, indeed, an indirect gesture of support to the Bhutanese regime.
Bhutan is not responding to global queries raised against the stories of human rights violations in the country. It is simply using its own tactics to promote the art of lying through various means. Similar tone was observed when the government was made to respond to recommendations it received for its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR), during the 13th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on March this year. The government had reiterated its commitment to finding a sustainable solution of the long-standing refugee issue through a bilateral process with Nepal, but nothing has been initiated so far. If no rigorous pressure from the international community is created against Bhutan, it is certain that the regime will table the similar assurances next year as well thereby fading the call for justice and freedom.
Bhutan is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country. Though Bhutan is a tiny kingdom as regard to its geographical parameters, 22 languages are spoken by various ethnic groups in the country. Unfortunately, the government has imposed ‘One Language and One Religion’ policy which has victimized ethnic languages. This policy accepts Dzongkha as medium of communications and Kagyurpa sect of Buddhism as a State religion. Basically, Hindu, Nyingmapa sect of Buddhism Christianity and Muslim are suppressed.
Current situation inside Bhutan
When we have gathered here to discuss the human rights situations of the South Asia, I must use this forum to inform all the delegates that a district court of Bhutan recently slapped a jail term of three and half years to one of the Nepali-speaking citizens accusing him of showing Christian film in some localities. Further, two of his innocent Christian friends are being hunted. I have heard that the duo has gone out of their family contact to avoid their arrest. Through this esteemed forum I want to urge the international community, resettlement countries and Bhutan’s donors to speak on behalf of the Bhutanese Christians and pressurize the government to immediately release the arrested citizen. Also, I regard that it is a moral obligation of all powerful nations and human rights defenders to ask the Government of Bhutan to find out the whereabouts of those two who have left their village for safety. How can a person be sent to jail for practicing the religion of his choice in the 21st century, that also in
a country which trumpets that it has a well-defined democratic system and good governmence?
The regime has illegally jailed an exiled journalist Shanti Ram Acharya associated with The Bhutan Reporter, published by Bhutan Media Society, when he has gone to Bhutan to meet some of his relatives. A young journalist of 22 years old is currently serving a jail term of 7 and half years. Though his friends and organizations have been advocating for his release globally, I urge this forum to create pressure on Bhutan to recognize his journalistic status and free unconditionally.
Further the role of Bhutanese media in exile has not been recognized by international media organizations. The Bhutanese refugee community is proud of the media activism in exile. Probably, no refugees have done the work of what our young journalists in exile are doing. Thus, encouragement and supports for them are essential since we cannot depend on the totally censored media operating inside the country.
During the time of the first so-called general election in 2008, around 80,000 Nepali-speaking citizens, who have been dwelling in Bhutan for centuries, were denied voting rights. They have been leading the life of slaves as they are without any legal documents which all citizens of a country require to live as dignified human beings. Their children are not admitted in schools.
The next thing is the regime’s decision to set a minimum education level of Bachelor’s degree as the required criteria for those who wish to file their candidacies in the election. This prevented several capable ones from filing their nominations. The next restriction was requirement of speaking Dzongkha language by the candidate.
I am very sad to mention here that even during the court procedures, every citizen is required to use Dzongkha as medium of communications. So, those who can’t speak Dzongkha are deprived of justice. Those who are to seek justice and unable to communicate in Dzongkha will have to hire government officials as their interpreters. So, the justice depends on their interpretations. Even judges are without legal backgrounds and mostly appointed by the King. Contrary to the Constitution provisions, the Chief Justice and Justices of Bhutanese Supreme Court are without legal background.
The Election Commission allowed registration of only two parties in Bhutan. These parties are formed by relatives and closed allies of the royal family. At the time of general election, even Nepali-speaking citizens of the south were asked to file their candidacy seeking membership from those parties. However, none of them were entertained at the end citing various reasons to prove their inability for involvement. So, leaders of these parties played on their innocent sentiments treating them as jokers. I must not miss here to mention that those who had active role in suppressing and evicting the southern Bhutanese in 1990s were issued the party’s membership. Thus, those who were supposed to be in jails at present for suppressing thousands of innocent citizens are currently serving the regime as ministers and lawmakers. They are travelling freely around the world, and the world knows who they are and what inhuman treatment they have committed to their fellow citizen behaviors they have been doing to their fellow citizens.
Most of the schools which were closed during 90s as they were used as detention centers for torturing innocent people are not yet resumed in the southern Bhutan. The situations are compelling even in those which are under operations. All Hindu students are forced to eat everything they are offered including meat of cows which all Hindus worship as holy creatures and use for milk. In case of their denial, such students are immediately expelled from their schools and are never accepted for enrollment. As teaching of Nepali language is officially banned, citizens are deprived from getting education in their mother tongue.
Celebrations of Hindus festivals are limited within the house as the security is always vigil to stop those celebrations. Even the authority forces some members of the same community to file their secret reports of such activities if any.
Though I have spoken about the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese citizens, I should inform you that thousands of fellow-countrymen from the eastern Bhutan have also been treated inhumanly as Nepali-speaking southern Bhutanese, and some of them have faced even bitter fate.
So far not a single Human Rights organization is registered in Bhutan. There are even no unregistered groups working to promote human rights. This is why no reports of human rights violations are reported outside. Thus, I must appeal the SAHR to initiate its regional office inside Bhutan to monitor the issues of human rights violations.
Whatever policies and acts the government has been formulating, all are aimed at issuing clean chit for its deep-rooted irregularities and misconducts which have been in practice since very long time.
Refugee Situation
The life of refugees who have been dwelling in their ramshackle huts over two decades is getting more complicated and horrible each year. The situation is alarming after the start of the third country resettlement program in 2007. The condition of camp is such as people have started leaving the camp without any proper plans. As the educated refugees were granted the first priority, schools in camps are getting closed in absence of teachers. This has added burden to students.
The refugees are not getting their basic health facilities. They are made to suffer even while getting a treatment for a minor disease. The security inside the camp is feeble. There are series of killings inside the camp, one after the other and no culprits are punished. This has motivated such elements to operate bigger crimes inside the camps.
Some of the political prisoners who were recently set free by the regime of Bhutan have come to camps as their relatives are here. However, they have not been granted refugee status due to which they are not supplied with ration. So, they are suffocating in hunger. A significant number of refugees whose registration was completed have been waiting for their refugee identity cards as they don’t qualify to get their ration without the identity card. We owe heartfelt gratitude to the Government of Nepal for providing support and shelter to a lakh Bhutanese refugee, so it will be a kind gesture on part of the Government once again if it could verify and grant registration to those unregistered refugee at earliest. I also appeal the SAHR delegates to create environment for human rights leaders in exile to open an office to promote human rights education and monitor human rights situations inside the country.
The refugees have been compelled to stay in their leaking huts which have not been maintained since years as no construction material are supplied by the concerned agencies.
There are fraud games being played in the name of resettlement in the camps. Even, some unwanted means are applied to motivate refugees to opt resettlement forcefully. There are rumours about internal understanding with the Government of Nepal to issue the citizenship to those refugees who decide to remain in camp. If this is true, I don’t think that this will leave a positive impact to Nepal in the long run. And, I want to present here that we are not going to accept such a decision. Families of those who were killed inside the camps and in Mechi Bridge were assured of proper compensations. However, such assurances have not yet been materialized.
Third Country Resettlement
Tired of spending useless life in the camp for almost 20 years, refugees are currently in the process of getting relocated to various third countries. The program which has been termed as major breakthrough in resolving the long-standing refugee issue has created several problems. People are getting lost in search of their identity. When they are far from their religious practices, culture and society, some of them even decided to kill their self. As there are no assurances for their repatriation, they are almost certain to spend their remaining life with uncertainty. Some of the refugees in camp claim that their friends and relatives resettled in various countries have been used as cheap labour force.
Refugees including the resettled ones have been finding hard to decide upon their properties looted by the Bhutanese government. When their rights to property restitution are not accepted and Bhutan doesn’t become ready to compensate for the loss, these innocent refugees will remain disheartened forever.
Conclusion
We are the people of the same horizon. However, due to geographical boundaries, we the Bhutanese have been living with different status. We are compelled to lead a life of a slave due to bigger nations as they have failed to understand our real sentiments. Due to a single person like the King, nearly one-sixth of Bhutan’s population is in exile.
Bhutanese citizens enjoy the free movement in India according to Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty. But India police officials are helping the Bhutanese security officials in re-arresting such Bhutanese citizens who are released on bail by the Indian courts and whisking them illegally to Bhutan. Such action will have negative image to Indian’s democratic credentials. I therefore expect that India will hereafter uphold the democratic culture.
SAHR has organized several conferences and published material on Bhutanese refugee issues. I want SAHR to take up the issues of Bhutanese refugee with Bhutanese Government and Indian Government in finding resolution to Bhutanese refugee issues. I have mentioned Indian government because she has greater influence over Bhutan. I hope India will assist in the repatriation of Bhutanese refugee in honour and dignity.
As a victim of torture, I want to expose to this forum that Bhutan has been using mind controlling devices, which were banned by the United Nations several years back. I have authored a book Torture Killing Me Softly on this subject and request you to read the book to visualize the degree of torture the innocent Bhutanese are forced to bear in Bhutan.
The effects of such measures applied on me have been persistent. I tried to get treatment in Canada, Holland and America, but noting came out to be fruitful. This is something which only a few can believe. But, I know two Canadians who have also made similar claim like me. Even, CVICT Nepal has the record of four other similar cases from our community. So, I doubt if the regime has been applying such devices only to its innocent citizens or even to some visiting foreign guests or journalists.
Lastly, I want to express my utmost hope that experts, freedom fighters and human right defenders like you will be continuously supporting our cause and keep on putting pressure on Bhutan to resolve the Bhutanese refugee issue at the earliest and protect the citizens’ human rights. I hope, one day we will fly like a bird in the sky!
(Rizal delivered this speech at the three-day conference entitled “Challenges For South Asia: Human Rights and Democracy’ hosted by South Asian for Human Rights in Kathmandu on November 27, 2010)
The Supreme Court (SC) of Nepal issued a stay order to the government regarding withdrawal of the case filed against murder-accused Bhutanese citizens who killed former president of Bhutan People’s Party, RK Budathoki, in 2001.
Following a hearing conducted on Thursday on a writ petition filed by the party President, Balaram Poudyel, a single bench of Justice Prakash Osti ordered the government authorities not to implement the decision until the writ petition is finalized.
President Poudyel had filed the petition on Wednesday seeking the stay order on the government decision to withdraw the murder case.
The government had decided to withdraw the case until the main-accused offender at large comes in contact.
Meanwhile, Poudyel informed Bhutan News Service that he has been receiving threats over phones and SMS regarding his writ petition.
“I will notify the government regarding the threats I am getting from some of the murder-suspects,” Poudyel told BNS.
Stating that the regime will continue human rights violations until a powerful human rights body starts monitoring the situation, exiled human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal asked the South Asian for Human Rights (SAHR) to coordinate for its branch office in Bhutan.
According to Rizal, SAHR has organized several conferences and published material on Bhutanese refugee issues, and must try its best to lobby with the government seeking permission to open a branch office to monitor the issues of human rights violations.
Presenting a paper at a three-day regional conference, ‘The Challenges FOR SOUTH Asia: Human Rights and Democracy’ ongoing in Kathmandu since Saturday, leader Rizal said, “Bhutan has been blindfolding the international community in the name of democracy and human rights.”
According to leader Rizal, 80,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, who have been dwelling in the countries for centuries, were denied voting rights during the time of the first general election in 2008.
Lauds media initiative
Leader Rizal said that the role of Bhutanese media in exile has not been recognized by international media organizations.
“The Bhutanese refugee community is proud of the media activism in exile,” he said, “Probably, no refugees have done the work of what our young journalists in exile are doing.”
According to him, encouragement and support for media activism in exile are essential. “We cannot depend on the totally censored media operating inside the country.”
He also asked the forum to pressurize the government to release exiled journalist, Shanti Ram Acharya. “Though his friends and organizations have been advocating for his release globally, I urge this forum to create pressure on Bhutan to recognize his journalistic status and free unconditionally.”
‘Protect citizens’ right to religion‘
In another context, Rizal said that it is a moral obligation of all powerful nations and human rights defenders to ask the government to find out the whereabouts of two Christian Bhutanese who have left their village for safety as they have been hunted by the security.
He also urged the international community, resettlement countries and Bhutan’s donors to speak on behalf of the Bhutanese Christians and pressurize the government to immediately release Prem Sigh Gurung, who was slapped a three years jail term by Gelephug District court charging him for showing film of Jesus to his village.
He further said, “The government has imposed ‘One Language and One Religion’ policy which has victimized ethnic languages. This policy accepts Dzongkha as medium of communications and Kagyurpa sect of Buddhism as a State religion.”
‘Need of HR Commission’
Chief Commissioner of Nepal Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Kedar Nath Upadhya, opined there must be national level human rights commissions in each country of the South Asia in order to promote democracy and human rights in the region.
Speaking at the seminar, chief commissioner expressed, “The citizens of Bhutan and Pakistan are at greater risk of facing human rights abuses as these countries lack human rights commissions.”
Meanwhile noted Nepali political analyst and writer CK Lal expressed that Bhutan must be understood as the “land ethnic cleansing”.
He further said, “This country has strange existence South Asia,” he said, “The refugee voice should be given high priority in South Asian human rights discourse.”
Druk National Congress – Democratic (DNC-D) issuing a press release today has decided to re-organize its wing organizations including the Druk National Youth Congress– Democratic (DNYC-D) which was formed on July 5, 1998, after a meeting held recently in its exile working office.
It also appointed Karma Chojey as a new president of the organization with 11 Central Committee members.
“The other CC Members will take the oath of office within an appropriate and stipulated time and launch its peaceful programs and activities inside the country,” the release reads.
Meanwhile, the party also said to continue in its efforts for materializing the right to repatriation of all Bhutanese refugees to their homestead with safe and dignity.
The statement furtehr said that the DNC-D is working towards strengthening its organisational base both in and outside the country. “In the process, the Party had several rounds of meeting with its senior members from inside Bhutan, who are not happy and benefited by the introduction of the so-called democracy, and looking forward working more collectively, vigorously and consistently aiming to usher in true, vibrant and inclusive democracy, which is to fulfil the
expectations and aspirations of all the citizenries of Bhutan, adds the release.
“The DNC-D looks forward working cohesively with all the parties, organizations and individuals for achieving a comprehensive solution to the prolonged political, human rights and humanitarian problems in Bhutan”, adds the statement.
Syracuse, NY — The Subedi family’s first Thanksgiving in America slipped by in the bustle of arriving in a new country just two weeks before the holiday in 2008. Someone gave the family a turkey for that first Thanksgiving dinner, but they didn’t tell the Bhutanese-Nepali refugees how to cook it.
“It was hard, we couldn’t break it. It was a great time for us to break that turkey,” said Jai Subedi. Eventually they boiled the bird and cut it into small pieces to eat, he said. Learning how to roast a turkey is just one of the adjustments the Subedi family has made in the two years they’ve been in Syracuse.
They’ve experienced their first snow. Their first Thanksgiving. They’ve added a daughter to their family, and everyone who is an adult has a job.
There is no “Thanksgiving” holiday in Bhutan or Nepal that is similar to the American tradition, Subedi said. Even so, he said the family is thankful to be living in their new country where they can freely practice their culture and religion, and have economic opportunities.
One morning this month, Subedi and his family spoke about their first Thanksgiving in America and what it means to them to be here after years of living as refugees. Their second-floor North Side apartment is small, but was gaily decorated with twinkling colored lights for the Hindu festival of Diwali.
The Subedis among the 785 Bhutanese-Nepali refugees who have resettled in Syracuse since 2008. The group is the largest concentration of Bhutanese-Nepalis in New York, according to the U.S. State Department. The State Department has told New York to expect 150 to 200 more Bhutanese-Nepalis to resettle in Syracuse in federal fiscal year 2011, which ends Sept. 30.
When Subedi, his wife, and parents arrived at JFK Airport from Nepal on Nov. 14, 2008, they were scheduled to settle in Texas. They refused to go, insisting instead that they be settled in Syracuse to be near Subedi’s 90-year-old grandmother, uncle and his family.
“We have a culture where the family doesn’t want to be separated from each other. Everyone tries to come to where their relatives are already settled. That’s why there are more people seen here,” Subedi said.
One of the first things the Subedis encountered after their arrival was Syracuse’s snow. Although they could see the Himalayans from the refugee camps, they were in the plains and there was never any snow, Subedi said. “The day after I came, the snow was at knee level. It was my first time with snow. I enjoyed it,” he said.
His mother, Lachhi Subedi, 50, is not so impressed. “It’s no good,” she said.
Subedi has a bachelor’s degree in math and economics from Tribhuvan University in Nepal. After arriving in Syracuse he quickly found a job making sandwiches at a Subway restaurant. “It isn’t hard for the Bhutanese who are employable and have English to be employed in Syracuse,” Subedi said. “These people will be successful.”
After arriving in Syracuse, Subedi began volunteering to greet new arrivals at the airport, and help them move through the system in their new home. The Center for New Americans has since hired him as a refugee caseworker.
Every adult in the Subedi household has a job. His wife, Hari Subedi, 27, is a certified nursing assistant at the Iroquois Nursing Home. His mother folds curtains at Syracuse Scenery & Stage Lighting, and his father, Chuda Subedi, 52, works as a houseman at Springhill Suites.
The only one not working is Jessica, the daughter of Jai and Harir; she was born in Syracuse on Nov. 24 last year.
Subedi said his career plans reach beyond working at the refugee center. “My intention is to start my own business and settle permanently in America,” he said.
Subedi is working with Hari Adhikari, another refugee who is a caseworker at Catholic Charities. The two are working to establish a nonprofit Bhutanese-Nepali community center to preserve the culture, teach the language to children and English to adults, and to hold some religious activities, Subedi said.
The family had heard about the Christmas holiday from Christians in the camps in Nepal, but no one ever mentioned Thanksgiving, Subedi said.
This year, they plan to attend a program at the Nepali church at The Father’s Heart Ministries on the North Side, and they’ll have a traditional Thanksgiving meal, Subedi said. They’ll skip the boiled turkey, he said.
Courtesy : Syracuse.com
Whether it is the fourth Thursday of November in USA or the second Monday of October in Canada, people in these countries have a reason to celebrate. History has enough evidence to reveal that commemorations have more or less remained the same, be it with respect to their significance or the purpose with which they originated; but festivals have slightly changed their dynamics, their root of significance and their purpose over the time. Who among those pilgrims, would have thought that the little feast they enjoyed to thank god for their harvest, in the Plymouth Plantation (now in the state of Massachusetts) would eventually become a Thanks Giving day for all and declared a national holiday. Clearly, this is evidence that any good thing done for a common cause is written down in history. However, the meaning and purpose with which Thanks Giving originated have slightly changed with the passage of time. But this has happened to so many other festivals celebrated in the other parts of the world, and I believe it is the demand of time.
Whether to accept and adopt the western culture or to take the best things out of it to fit ours is a choice of ours that need to be made wisely. To make this decision, one needs to understand the etymology of “culture”. Culture is different from customs or traditions. In reality, cultures are created by those who live in them as we interact and then talk about what we do and how we do it. We formulate a set of shared values, habits, models and conditions or norms that work in a society whether we mean it or not. Sometimes we do this in an intentional and productive way and at other times we get hiccoughs – meaning setbacks. Appreciative inquiries and insightful analysis done by focusing on the strengths and capabilities of our people and organizations, and then on what might be even better, should be taken into consideration while making these choices. If I were to make a choice, I would choose to extract the best values out of a culture, be it western or eastern, and mix it with ours to make it richer. Let the readers not misunderstand me. I am in no way trying to say that we should “adopt” western culture and set aside ours. If the message be understood that way, I shall be guilty of spreading wrong information and you of selective listening. What I mean here is that there is a lot to learn from the meaning with which Thanks Giving is celebrated here.
Having talked about the culture of appreciation in my previous article, it is my quest to recognize and reward excellence; be it just in the form of a “Thank You” or any other gesture, for those people whose contribution(s) in various phases of our exiled life have been so worthy that we feel proud of whom we are. There cannot be a better occasion to thank them than this particular day. Not that they gave us as big a thing as an identity, but they made sure that we did not lose it. It will be a great injustice on my part not to thank the Government of Nepal who gave us the asylum, to begin with, and the final share, of course, should go to the resettling agencies, their governments and their volunteers. But more importantly, there are hundreds of other individuals, dozens of agencies and scores of other groups, who bravely stood up for us and made our life easier than it would have been otherwise. The list is non-exhaustive and at this time my intension is neither to embarrass anybody by listing nor to do an injustice by not listing. Be it of the size of a grain of rice or the size of an elephant, a positive contribution to the society deserves equal round of applauses, full of appreciation and gratitude. Let me take this opportunity, on behalf of all the Bhutanese community, to thank all those positive contributors of our society, for their effortless stunt and selfless dedication.
Even having said so, my will to recognize the contributions of one particular group of people, whose repercussions are now reflected in the society, still puts them on the top of the list. Not that I want to overlook others, but to me, they stand out in the crowd. Even before the existence of any agencies, and while their counterparts were busy looking for a better opportunity to shape their lives, this group of noble people sat down in a corner of a small hut in Maidhar and started writing their mission. They knew nothing favored them, but they fought hard. Their dedication and unity paid them off. They accomplished their mission. I am talking about none other than the small group of people who started the education system in the refugee camp. It was long after the institution was set up that they were assured of some help by any agency. One can logically argue that education would have started anyway, and I agree, but would not have been possible until two years time from then. It is also not difficult to research and see how many refugee camps in the world have education facility. I do not know whether this event will be written down in History and the heroes be remembered, but certainly, them and their noble contribution will remain in My History forever.
“Whichever part of the world you live right now, I want you to accept my sincere salute and hopefully from those people who take my side. It is your teaching, your encouragement, your enduring lessons on unity, your positive attitude and your selfless act of will that is reflected in our society through the younger generation”.
Let’s all take a few private moments on this day of Thanks Giving to reflect upon those and make it a point to let them know that we are thankful for what they did to us. Let us not be like the hog that sits under a tree eating acorns but never bothers where the acorns came from. Our society, which was long been infected by skepticism, misunderstandings and ego problems is now looking more unified which is very encouraging. But we still need to forget the differences, as some of it can still be felt, and minimize the generation gap. Eventually, a time has to come when the older generation has to coordinate shoulder to shoulder with the younger generations to accomplish our long mission of struggle. It is not wise to wait for this time too long. We know we faced troubles in the past, but why not count the blessings rather than the troubles, and yet not become complacent. The past days are gone and gone forever. We also know that when problems seem insurmountable, quitting seems to be the only way out. But winners only get struck by the defeat, they don’t get destroyed. It is very important to remain persistent in our mission and not allow obstinacy to follow us. We have a long way to go and our experiences evidently speak that breaking of such a chain of unity is not uncommon within us. Yet again, let’s smell the roses. We will be disappointed because we know we will fail many times, but we will be doomed if we don’t try. We have sown the seed and the tree is going to grow. Let’s all make it so big that one day down the line, we all can sit under it and enjoy the shade in the scorching sun. Last but not the least I would like to quote what Robert Frost said in one of his famous poems, while riding on his horse in a deep forest, so much fascinated by the beauty of the forest, he never wished to come back. Yet he stopped in the middle and said:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep
(A Mathematician by profession, Mishra currently works as marketing manager in a Virginia-based IT company. He can be reached at: [email protected])
The Bhutanese Community in Arizona (BCA) conducted its election to the executive board on Monday seeing its three top positions undisputed.
Manorath Khanal got unanimously elected to the post of the organization’s president. Similarly, a three-member election committee headed by Dilip Mishra, declared Tara Nepal and Kedar Dhakal as Vice President and General Secretary respectively.
Two persons who filed their nominations for the post of president and vice-president pulled out their candidacies citing personal reasons. As per the organization’s bylaws, there various 13 positions in the executive board.
As per the election results, Ram Sanyasi was elected as Secretary, Nandita Khanal as Treasurer and Yam Bista as Games and Sports Coordinator. Other elected members included KB Chauhan (Religion and Culture), Ram Kr Thapa (Public Relation) and Hari Nepal (Women and Children).
