The newly elected Central Committee members of The Bhutanese Community in The Netherlands (BCN), formed by the 4th general convention of the BCN 6th December 2015 with Mr. D.P. Mainali as its President, organized a New Year Celebration and get together program on 2nd January 2016 in a
community hall in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Coordinator of BCN Mr. Gopal Gurung opened the program requesting everybody to observe one minute silence in the memory of all those Netherlands based Bhutanese community members who died in their new homes. He also deliberated on the program’s details to the audience present.
BCN General Secretary Mr. Ram Bahadur Chhetri welcomed everybody in the program and briefly highlighted the objectives and background of BCN formation in 2009. He further stated the importance of BCN to promote and preserve Bhutanese culture and to unite Bhutanese community members under one umbrella. Elaborating on some of the basic problems (like citizenship to the elderly members and conducting rituals of Hindus) faced by the Bhutanese community, he expressed his confidence that BCN can solve such problems in near future. He concluded his speech by wishing best wishes and prosperous new year 2016.
Coordinator Mr. Gopal Gurung invited all the elected executive members and introduced to the audience.
The five hours long program which featured various Nepali songs, dances, jokes, poem recitations, speeches, felicitation, presentations and others was chaired by BCN President D.P.Mainali with Chief Guest Shashi Poudyal, a prominent Nepali figure and Chairman of Netherlands based Nepal Development Academy.
Recognizing his valuable contribution to the Bhutanese Community members since their landing in the Netherlands and also for his continuous support to BCN, Chief Guest Mr. Shashi Poudyal was felicitated with a shawl and a framed photo Paro Takshang Monastery (Buddhist temple in Bhutan). BCN President D P Mainali handed the felicitation gift along with other team members.
Likewise all the participants and volunteers in the programs were handed over the appreciation certificates jointly by BCN President D.P Mainali, BCN Vice President Nawaraj Gazmere and Chief Guest Sashi Poudyal.
Accepting the honor Chief Guest Mr. Poudyal expressed his happiness to receive such love and affection from BCN on behalf of all the Bhutanese living in The Netherlands and promised that he will keep such love always in his heart.He further stressed the need and importance of BCN to bind all the Bhutanese of Nepali origin in The Netherlands. “Nobody will take care of our cultural heritages in the society if we don’t do it by ourselves’’ said Poudyal. He further said that Bhutanese youths can contribute a lot in the promotion and preservation of Lhotshampa culture if they are properly guided and trained by BCN. He told the audience that he will do everything possible to help BCN to further their goal of promoting community welfare in all spheres.
Outgoing BCN President Chhatra Rai was honored with the Certificate of Appreciation jointly by Mainali and Poudyal on the occasion. The certificate was received by his two brothers in his absence.
The program was coordinated and hosted by BCN executives Gopal Gurung (coordinator), Bishnu Ghimire (Youth and Student Coordinator) and Mr. Pralhad Chhetri (Treasurer).
With additional inputs from Ram Karki, The Nethelands
