NO COUNTRY ONLY CONSTITUTION

Bhutanese refugees formulate draft constitution


Bhutanese refugees have publicized their draft constitution amidst a function in Kakarvitta Jhapa on Monday, on the occasion of the International Day for Justice.
The main features of the draft constitution are Tek Nath Rizal (File Photo) constitutional monarchy, multi-party democracy, guarantee of people's sovereignty, executive power in the elected government, independent judiciary and guarantee of fundamental human rights.
Copies of the proposed constitution were sent to the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck and chief justice of Bhutan on the same day.
In March 2005, Bhutan made public it first draft constitution for public debate. The leaders in exile have strongly criticized the content of the constitution which basically encircled power in the Druk regime himself. The king had constituted the constitution drafting committee under the leadership on an Indian legal expert in 1999. The Bhutan king then announced to quit the throne by 2008 and hand over democratic Bhutan to crown prince Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck

Tek Nath Rizal said they proposed a new draft of the constitution for Bhutan as the constitution drafted by the committee formed by king did not include the demands raised by southern and eastern Bhutanese.
Thinley Penjor, vice chairman of the Bhutanese Movement Coordination Committee said the constitution will be made available to all readers worldwide very soon at apfanews.com
The drafting of constitution by the political parties, human rights organizations and legal experts in exile had begun soon after the Bhutanese government made public its draft.
Indian security forces were deployed in the middle of the Mechi Bridge during the function to unveil the draft constitution.
In the meantime, Bhutanese refugees who have been continuing their sit-in strike in front of the UN House in Pulchowk, Lalitpur since June 2, met the European parliament delegation in Nepal visit on Monday and handed over memorandum to delegation chief Neena Gill urging the EU's support for their early repatriation. Rizal said Gill has given her word to support their repatriation efforts to Bhutan. nepalnews.com ia July 18 06

SOME WEBSITES FOR REFERENCES

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=bhutan

REFUGEE INTERNATIONAL: http://www.refintl.org

MOST WONDERFUL REPORT OF THE WORLD

THIS IS THE 133 PAGES LONG REPORT BY ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN ON

"BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
REPORT 2005
THE CHALLANGE OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT"

IT CONTAINS FANTASTIC STATISTICS ON ALL THE QUIRIES YOU CAN THINK OF (GDP, GNP, MIGRATION, POVERTYLEVEL, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT.... AND WHAT NOT )
EXCEPT ONE

NO WHERE YOU CAN FIND THE TOTAL POPULATION.

IT IS A MATHEMATICAL WONDER .HOW SO MANY PERCENTAGES COULD BE CALCULATED SO PRECISELY WITHOUT TOTAL POPULATION

BROWSE IT IT YOU NEED STATISTICS:

http://www.bt.undp.org/ref/nhdr05_full.pdf

Bhutan king smokes well

Bhutan king keeps on smoking despite kingdom's tobacco sales ban

Jan 29, 2005 198 words, 0 images
Click image to magnify
NEW DELHI (AFP) — The king of the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, which outlawed tobacco sales last month, says he plans to keep on smoking but is trying to light up less.
"I am a smoker. I am trying to cut down on cigarettes," King Jigme Singye Wangchuck told reporters in New Delhi as he wound up a six-day official visit to India, media reports Saturday said.
The king declined to tell reporters how many cigarettes he puffed daily.
"I don't want to tell you," he said
http://www.topix.net/world/bhutan/keepmedia

No plans to join the southern districts by roads,

Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006, @ 04:36:30 EDT

National Assembly:

26 June 2006- The Assembly has directed the works and human settlement, finance and foreign ministries to study the possibilities of building a highway from Phuentsholing to Dewathang in the 10th Plan.The Trashiyangtse chimi, Chorten, had submitted that a highway from Dewathang to the commercial hub of the country would benefit the people and the business community of the eastern and central dzongkhags.
“Travelling via the Indian highway through the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal to reach western Bhutan is difficult because at times we get harassed, then there are strikes and other obstructions,” he said. “At times it takes days to complete the one day journey.”
The works and human settlement minister, Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji, said that it would cost about Nu. 3,065 million to build the highway and the government did not have that kind of money. He informed the Assembly that according to the Vision 2020 document, the second trans-national highway was to be completed by 2017, which falls at the end of the 11th Plan.
“To achieve the Vision 2020 construction of least 200 kilometres of the east-west highway should be taken up in the 10th Plan,” said the minister.
The minister added that if enough funds were available the construction of the highway would be given the highest priority.
Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji said that at present the ministry was finalising the 10th Plan programmes and it would try to include as much as possible the construction of the Dewathang-Phuentsholing highway. The Assembly also resolved that project Dantak would continue maintaining the Trashigang Samdrup Jongkhar highway and the government would take over the highway if it had enough budget and other resources to do so.


By Demamiss_tara2004@yahoo.com

Teknath Rizals words on Exiled subjects

Our movement aims to establish the rule of law in Bhutan

Tek Nath Rizal

As the new chairman of the Bhutanese Refugee Representatives Repatriation Committee (BRRRC), veteran Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal has the daunting task of uniting the Bhutanese refugee movement and ensure their early and dignified repatriation. He spoke to Nepalnews on the protracted refugee stalemate and his plans to give momentum to the refugee movement. Excerpts:

What is the progress made so far towards repatriation of Bhutanese refugees back to their homeland?

There has been no satisfying progress. Bhutanese refugee community and its leadership have agreed to launch a joint movement. Human rights groups, political parties and other social organization finally felt the need for a common forum to jointly launch repatriation efforts. A steering committee has been instituted under my leadership which will be a forum for debate and discussion to chart out strategies to further the movement.
We are in regular contact with the political leaders and human rights defenders in Nepal and abroad. They have given us words of support and commitment to advocate in favour of the Bhutanese refugees. South Asian Forum for Human Rights (SAFHUR), led by former Indian prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, has decided to invigorate the campaign for repatriation of Bhutanese refugees. I hope this would be of great support in exerting pressure on Indian government to change its earlier stand that the problem was of Nepal and Bhutan only.

Recently you visited the refugee camps in eastern Nepal for the first time. How did you find the situation there?

Youths have no guidance. They have not been given opportunities to study. They have no source of earning. In such a situation, I cannot say that they would not be instigated to join an armed rebellion.
Really, I don't have words to describe this appalling condition of humanity. They live in small tents made of plastics and bamboo. Scorching heat of sun from the top and hot air due to barren-rocky land below itch refugees. I found huts to be like tents near railway stations in India where slumdwellers live. The huts do not have protective roofs, no walls.. Snakes and frogs make their homes under the beds. On the other hand, the donors have closed the supply of kerosene, clothes, mosquito nets, utensils, vegetables and other essential goods. It has been announced that there will be no more facilities for construction of huts and no replacement of roofs. The situation of infrastructure is such that it may not last by the end of this monsoon. At the same time, the refugees are not allowed to work outside the camp. This has exhausted completely the economic status of the refugees. I think they don't have even five rupees to donate for their movement.
I could not recognize my childhood friends. They cried when they tried to talk to me. I had hard time to counsel them. Many people, who knew the history of Bhutan, can describe the atrocities of Bhutan government and who have worked in high positions in the government services have died. Many of such potential personalities have become so old that they cannot express their feelings in words. Youths have no guidance. They have not been given opportunities to study. Those who have been able to complete school level education have not been able to attend colleges. Few who have been able to complete college education have been forced to remain idle. They have no source of earning. In such a situation, I cannot say that they would not be instigated to join an armed rebellion. I cannot define whether these people should be called refugees or people confined within four walls.

So, what needs to be done?

Guarantee their nationality, give them identity. They want the end of this sorrowful life. If they are forced to live in a similar condition for prolonged time, the situation would be uncontrollable. Young people have been growing up with their rages. The unreasonable eviction of their parents by the Bhutanese regime, no support from Nepal government and getting no justice from international community, who advocate promotion of right to live and end discrimination and inhuman behaviour, have enraged the younger generation. The democratic nations and the UN should find a place for them to live and involve them in fruitful activities. I appeal on their part to give them future, give them life to live as a dignified human being, enshrined and guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Otherwise, this will be a great sin against humanity on the part of the international community, especially the UN.

How do you see the recently concluded UN Human Rights Commission?

We did have great expectations but sadly we could not attend it. My colleague, Hari Bangale, was in Geneva to attend a human rights training but unfortunately he had to return before the session started due to expiry of his visa. We could not work so much to present the world session because I was totally focused into unifying the refugee leadership and bring so many organisations under an umbrella. Of course, we have told our friends abroad, refugee support groups and other international organizations to support us by raising our issue during the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council. We had repeatedly appealed the Commission about our plight in the past. I am sure the world leaders and human rights defenders have understood the cries of Bhutanese refugees. During the first session of UN Human Rights Council that will be held in June, we want our friends and supporters to gather in Geneva and demand inclusion of the Bhutanese refugee problem as one of the agenda in the Council meeting.
The present situation in southern Bhutan is pathetic. Children are not given admission in schools. Many were expelled in the middle of the session alleging that their relatives have joined the forces in exile. Lhotsampas have been terminated from government jobs. Human rights situation in eastern Bhutan is deteriorating due to presence of ULFA and Bodo militants. These issues have to be addressed during the forthcoming session of the Human Rights council.


You have been chosen as the 'top leader' to shoulder the responsibilities of Bhutanese movement for human rights and repatriation of refugees. What are your programmes?

It is, hence, clear that the present king (of Bhutan) passed his whole life as an autocratic and tyrant ruler. The draft constitution is not complete and is a mere means to protect the power of king and his courtiers through new tactics
This is a starting point. We have many bridges to cross before we enter into mass movement in Bhutan. I have been chosen as the chairman of BRRRC. A steering committee has been orgnanised to lead the movement. I am not here to use veto power simply because I have been shouldered responsibilities to lead the movement. I cannot say this is my programme because this has to be decided by the forum itself representing all organizations in exile. What I can make sure is that the issue of human rights in Bhutan would be the top agenda of our movement. We shall concentrate on right to repatriation and right to nationality. Justice can be guaranteed with the restoration of human rights and cancellation of the Bhutanese government policies promoting ethnic differences in society. Politics is broader subject in our case. It would be sensible to fight for political rights and democracy after repatriation. The new phase of movement will surely be a big challenge to the Bhutanese king and his government who has been lying the international community through various elements about the plight of the southern Bhutanese. I tell the writers and visitors, who go to Bhutan to come to us, study the situation of refugees in camps, listen to their stories and visit southern Bhutan where new people have been settled in the land of Lhotsampas. I appeal them not to tell the stories of Bhutan just by sitting on red carpets spread by king and his allies. There are no rights, no right to speak, no right to write and no right to association and assembly. The king finally has realized that people should be empowered after we cried for 17 years. If the situation of human rights in Bhutan was alright, then why was the king forced to draft a new constitution? The king himself has announced that Bhutan would be a 'constitutional monarchy' after the promulgation the constitution in 2008. It is, hence, clear that the present king passed his whole life as an autocratic and tyrant ruler. The draft constitution is not complete and is a mere means to protect the power of king and his courtiers through new tactics. Our movement will end all these discrepancies to establish the rule of law in Bhutan, guarantee the right to freedom of expression and right to association and assembly, among others.

nepalnews.com Indra Adhikari Mar 31 06
(How do you find this interview? Please send your comments to http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/others/five_questions/feb/feedback@mos.com.np--Ed.)

KINGS AND COMMUNISTS IN 21ST CENTURY

Bhutanese refugee students launch anti-Monarchy protests

Kathmandu, June 26:

Bhutanese students housed in refugees camps in eastern Nepal have launched anti-Monarchy protests and demanded immediate repatriation of over one lakh refugees residing in the country. All Bhutan Revolutionary Students (ABRSU), affiliated with the bhutan Communist Party ML (BCP-ML) organised protests against Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in Goldhap Refugee Camp of Jhapa district yesterday, the Kathmandu Post reported. Thousands of refugees residing in the camp participated in the rally and shouted slogans against King Jigme, according to the daily. The BCP-ML is planning massive protests to end the Druk Monarchy in Bhutan, said Bikash Sharma, central member of the party. "Since there is no possibility of emancipation in Bhutan without launching an armed revolution, we have been carrying necessary preparation to end Monarchy," he said. In Kathmandu, over 50 refugees continued their sit-in protest at the main gate of the United Nations office and SAARC secretariat complex to draw the attention of the international community and to pressurise Bhutan's Druk government to resolve the refugee issue. Meanwhile, Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister K P Sharma Oli has said that the government would not stick to the previous agreement reached between Nepal and Bhutan governments to "categorise" the refugees in Nepal. "Nepal will change its stand on this agenda if the Bhutanese people here don't accept this provision for the sake of their rights," he told a delegation of Bhutanese refugees at his office yesterday.

Bureau Report
Zeenews

CROWN PRINCE AND HIS ADULTHOOD

DSI takes action over Jigme photograph

Wednesday, June 28,2006

THIMPHU: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced yesterday that it will take legal action against anyone distributing the controversial photograph of Crown Prince Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan and a mysterious woman over the internet.




At a seminar on internet crimes yesterday, Pol Col Yanpol Yangyuen, the director of DSI’s information and technology crime division, said that the picture was first posted on the popular website www.pantip.com.Since then, it has been published in many daily newspapers. DSI is now investigating the source of the image which, it believes, has been digitally altered.The DSI officer also expressed disapproval over the distribution of the picture, saying that it was inappropriate as the Bhutanese love and respect their royal family as much as Thais do theirs.“I would like to urge the public, especially people who are intending to redistribute the photo, to be considerate of the feelings of the Bhutanese people. If they persist in distributing the image, DSI has the right to press charges against them, without having to wait to be contacted by the Bhutanese government,” he said.He admitted that internet crimes are among the division’s most pressing worries. Fake pictures and rumors are always being posted on the worldwide web, but some internet surfers are unable to differentiate between the real and the fake, and it is hard to identify the senders. Moreover, Thai law is slower than technology and the bill on internet crime suppression has yet to be passed by the House. He conceded that, even if DSI can track down the computers used to distribute the image, taking legal action against the perpetrators is difficult.Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon urged the media to understand the delicacy of the issue before publishing the photograph, as it might affect the harmonious relations between Thailand and Bhutan.

DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF BHUTAN

THE DRAFT OF THE CONSTITUTION IS DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC AND DISCUSSED IN ALL OF THE 20 DISTRICTS. IT IS AWAITING REFERENDUM SOON. WITHOUT ANY PREJUDICE- IT HAS OPENED A WAY TO DEMOCRACY, IT IS REVOLUTIONARY IN SOME WAYS.A FEW NOTES TO TAKEN BEFORE OPENING IT. THE OPPOSITION TO THE GOVERNMENT WERE NOT REPRESENTED; NEITHER DURING DRAFTING NOR DURING DISCUSSION. THE OPPONENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT WERE/ARE KICKED OUT OF THE COUNTRY. 20 PERCENT OF THE CITIZEN ARE WAITING ROYAL COMMAND(KASO) TO RETURN TO HOMELAND (BHUTAN).
click here for the draft http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/constitution/draft_constitution_en.pdf

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS, GNH

Gross National Happiness

by Govinda Rizal

Gross national happiness, GNH, is a direct interpretation of the Buddhist philosophy which emphasizes that the mind is the source of happiness and obscurity. It is a good phrase to hear and a fantastic motion to debate as long as one is not obliged to follow it. Philosophically or spiritually contentment of mind is happiness. If laughing and smiling before a camera is a sign of happiness, government of Bhutan can make and had made people do that before camera even after snatching the their land and properties, after coercing them to fill up a voluntary migration form- a single letter of which they do not know, to leave the country and by giving money.
There are strong reasons and need for a country ruled by medieval systems of kings, with tributarily and distributarily extended royal families on the power and majority of the illiterate, malnourished subjects living in rural, rugged mountains, to invent such formula to keep the people happy with abstract development.
It is just a wonder when some TV channels in UK, the oldest democratic country,and a few other developed countries, pinpoint to people of Bhutan as the world’s happiest people. If the educated viewers of UK can digest the crazy idea then there is no difference between the learned Britons and the pony riders of Bhutan, who are obliged to nod to every statements served to them.
If any one wants to experience the Bhutanese peoples’ way of happiness, it is simple. Cut off all the electricity and cook food with wood collected from wood miles away. Drink the water that flows in the near by gutter.
Live in the house, with roofs that seldom keeps out the rain, with cattles and swines in the adjacent.
Do not send your children to school, if they insist, send them beyond border where they have to walk 5- 10 kilometers morning and evening. Do not use motors in distances less than 20 kilometers. If at all you are asked if you are happy, reply with a laugh that you are. Above all never complain.
Keep in mind the doctrines sold to you for free: the misery that you are facing now is due to your wrong deed in the past life, the wealth that has accumulated in others (officers) is due to their noble deeds in their past life. If you want to become one like them (not in this life but in the next) stop craving for the materialistic things and become happy. This is the principal of Gross national happiness propounded by the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck and Minister Lyenpo Jigme Yozer Thinley of Bhutan.
Are people of Bhutan happy?It depends on which people you meet, see their life or hear their words.
If you happen to meet the villagers (mostly in the east) who do not have enough to eat all through the year, the malnourished children who have never been to school or dropped before graduating from primary school owing to poverty in their family, the children, who are barred from going to school because their parents or some relatives criticized the government once, some decades back, the people in the refugee camps in Nepal, who were kicked out of their home in mid rainy season, who constitute one fifth of the population, no where you will find a ray of thread to trace happiness.
On the other hand if you happen to meet the Oxford or Harvard educated elites who are closely or even distantly related with the throne, who speak in English, with perfect native accent, on the formula of Gross national happiness instead of material product then it will be difficult not to believe.
Uncovering the Façade behind happiness
The first easiest way to find the truth is to visit the place in person. To visit Bhutan you need to get a tourist visa at high cost $220 per day through travel agent authorized by the king. They will accompany and guide you all through the tour and you will be taken to limited places where everything is fine and well made to prove the happiness. Nowhere you will be shown the worse sides and nowhere you will be left to yourself. So how can you come to a conclusion when you can visit limited places? The unexpected happiness are reserved for the diplomats, if you are one, you will encounter with people who will unfold a red carpet and serve you butter tea and toast a grand bouquet in your name. These and more you will find only in Thimphu, Paro and Punakha and think that is the entire nation.
King Wangchuck maintains that economic growth does not necessarily lead to contentment, and instead focuses on the four pillars of GNH: economic self-reliance, a pristine environment, the preservation and promotion of Bhutan’s culture, and good governance in the form of a democracy. Economic Self-reliance:
The government had been begging the international donors for the last 40 years in the name of two million citizens. The number, today stand out to be 0.6 million. Where has all the money gone?The revenue from hydroelectricity from within country goes to the state fund. But where goes the money that comes from the export of it?- direct to the royal pocket.
A Pristine Environment:
What are the measures adopted to check it? They claim 60 percent of the land is under forest. In fact is the rough measure of the unutilizable portion.
The Preservation and Promotion of Bhutan’s Culture:
Enforcing the Ngalong (Royal) culture as the culture of Bhutan and dominate and coerce to stop other cultural and ethnic identities. Other cultural, religious and ethnic minorities could never be identified as Bhutanese culture. Why don’t you let them restart teaching their mother language in South Bhutan. When will the Sharchops, Kheng and Kurteps will have their own scriptures to write? The government wants those ethnic people to forget their mother tongue.
Good Governance in the form of a Democracy: The people who raised voice for the democracy were kicked out of countries. Why are National parties like Druk National Congress, DNC, Bhutan State Congress, BSC, Bhutan peoples Party, BPP, Bhutan National Democratic Party BNDP, Bhutan Gurkha National Democratic front, BGNLF ... etc are banned. Does the democracy come only with the parties formed by the people chosen by the King? What use is a Constitution that does not recognize cultural, ethnic, religious diversity that exist in the country so prominently?

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