At the time when the mainstream media and social networking sites are vehemently spewing out the attempted or accomplished malice of land and property acquisition by the former ministers, Thakur S Powdyel has refuted the allegation. The Bhutanomics.com, a bandit site, posted the image of Thakur Singh as a liar on June 23. The nursery rhymes posted alongside his photo is probably not what he taught while he was a teacher for three decades, but that apparently hit hard on his back.
The Bhutanese also published a story his wife Bhakti Maya Powdyel having acquired 50 decimal of land near the coveted education city site in its June 21st issue.
Thakur Singh Powdyel is not happy about what is going on against his “dedicated service to the nation.” Here is the reproduction of press release he issued and posted in facebook:
PRESS RELEASE
Date: 24 June 2013
Thakur S Powdyel
Candidate, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa
Dophuchen-Tading Constituency
I did NOT lie to the Nation…
My dear old student-turned PDP candidate from the Dophuchen-Tading Constituency, Mr Tek Bahadur Subba, was primed to ask me a specific question, during the public debate on June 20, 2013, as to whether any of the former ministers or I owned land inside the Education City. I said neither the other former ministers nor I owned any property in the City. AND IT IS THE TRUTH.
Even before that, some of my friends and former students called me to warn that a certain social media site had alleged that I owned land inside the city and asked me to clarify on the issue. To me, that was a figment of the lowest, meanest and most farcical order and decided it didn’t even merit giving a thought let alone responding. Predictably, the Bhutanese subsequently decided to undertake an “investigation” to declare to the nation that I lied!
I am pushed, against my will, to say that in my 31 years of dedicated service as an educator, I don’t remember telling a lie to a single soul, let alone to the nation. I have always lived and stood up for service with honesty, integrity and truth. All my former students and colleagues would know me for who I am.
As to the 50 decimals of plot that is attributed to my wife, insinuated by the Bhutanese to be ill-gotten, we do not have the ownership to it. Only a partial advance was paid. In fact, we are wondering from where and how we shall pay the remaining amount if we now decide to continue the acquisition process. I have never been to the site nor have I met the owner. I do not know the distance between the property and the Education City. In over three decades of serving the nation, I have not engaged in any activities to gain any personal benefit even though my family has no home to call our own nor do we have the kind of fortune some PDP supporters have been going around telling the people in my constituency I have – eight crores worth of property at Babesa and five acres of land in Paro!
All I can say in my family’s and my own defense is that at least one of the parents will have to think of the children as I think of the future of the country’s children. So, if my wife tries to fend for the family by shouldering a responsibility in which I have not been particularly successful, I cannot blame her. And as a citizen, she has a right to own property anywhere in the country if her means allow it even though for public servants like me, any place now seems to be out of bounds. However, irrespective of our domestic situation, my wife is ready to dispense with whatever negotiation she has had with the owner of the land and be rid of this politically motivated crucifixion.
I must place on record here that my wife initiated the process to buy the property only in April 2012 after turning down several offers. What is shocking is that when Mr. Lamsang called me, he said he had “investigated” and verified and found that I did not own any land inside the Education City. He made it sound like a routine call to ascertain the truth…only to come up with this bombshell! In fact, the so-called “investigation” cited by Mr. Tenzing Lamsang also involved ambushing my wife over phone and only later in the course of the conversation revealing his identity. To cap it all, members of the entourage of PDP President were seen distributing free copies of “the Bhutanese”, 22nd June 2013 issue, in Dophuchen-Tading constituency the following day on 23rd June. All this leads me to believe that the “investigation” is nothing but malicious and politically-motivated reporting of the cheapest type by Mr. Tenzing Lamsang or the people for whom he is working to arrive at a premeditated conclusion to serve their own nefarious interests at this critical time.
We rest the case with the people of Bhutan.
Thakur S Powdyel.
