Bhutan News Service |
| Posted: 31 Oct 2010 04:55 PM PDT The four forester officials from the Paro division based in Haa have been suspended from service on Thursday following a two-month investigation into the illegal timber racket in Haa. According to Kuensel, a member of the investigating team said that they found that permits for 1,000 cubic feet (cft) as a truckload of timber had been issued, when a truck could carry only about 300 to 400 cft. The forestry rules state that detailed measurement of timber has to be issued on the rural timber transit permit (RTTP). During the investigation, it was found that these details were not given for timber from the harvest site and issued only after the timber was sawn. It was further revealed to the investigating team that, while there were no rural timber transit permit issued on logs, but the sawn timber had the permit, which indicates manipulation. The joint director, Gopal Mahat said the foresters had not followed silviculture and allowed clear felling of trees. Besides suspending four officials, the team also penalized 12 sawmill owners in the dzongkhag and levied more than Nu 900,000 in fines. The Kuensel quoted the director Karma Dukpa that detailed investigations are still being carried out. |
| Posted: 31 Oct 2010 03:48 PM PDT In December 2006, in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the then ruling King, 51 years old Jigme Singye Wangchuk announced that he would abdicate his throne, setting the country to a path toward parliamentary democracy. Earlier in 1991 too, he had made similar type of announcement stating, "If the problem in south is not solved positively, I will abdicate my throne." It was with the students of Sherubtse college, then only one in the country. He took the time frame of three years to do the job. But surprisingly in 2006, without hinting a bit of solution to the problem; without mending the fences for democratic setup of government, he just passed over his absolute, autocratic post to his son in the name of 'abdication.' He actually gave way to so-called parliamentary, by-party system of 'democracy graced by an almighty king'. He and the palace have been just irrigating their vested inner desires through the channel of this fake parliamentary system called 'Democracy'. The rigid royal followers are just utilizing the newfound democracy as a weapon to embark on others instead of making it rooted in the hands of Bhutanese people in real sense. Anyone can say that the heart of Bhutan's parliamentary democracy is plugged on to Jigme Singye's remote brain. What a abdication he chose, when his own kind of kingship is taken over by the young Jigme Khesar? Learned in Oxford with palace luxury, Khesar does not have proven experience of leading the constitutional monarchy with the basic tenets of traditional politics changed. That's why he is just going as his father's obedient pupil in ethno-politics. As a guardian of Bhutanese constitution, he seems less bothered about the refugee problem in general as well as the functioning of democratic organs that can ensure a good governance which Bhutanese people want in real sense and not a illusion. Very desperately, we have to say that mainly India and the western world persuaded king Jigme assuming his steps as sacrifice to the people of Bhutan. The western world might have taken king Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as a role model. But, king Jigme and Bhutan can't be compared with such a Middle East power block in politico-economic terms. Bhutan remained aloof for dozen of decades from the outer world and so was the political structure, economic activities, civic life and issues of government-citizen relations. For decades, the kingdom home to only six hundred thousand people, has been the adobe of interest by social scientists, independent journalists and even the natural scientists. Unfortunately, a large chunk of the internal revenue and external grants from the donors went to the palace and its vicinity including the stagnant army. The country was kept off-limits to the world influence by means of restricting television and internet to the public until 1999. A few foreigners who traveled to Bhutan have always been the special guests and taken on a guided tour to some hinterlands of northern Bhutan, away from the human settlement, to view the chhortens, monasteries or dzongs having cultural value. Even some of them are told about the 'insecurity' in southern part, if they wish to go some tourist destinations other than the guided ones. Until these days, in so-called parliamentary democratic system, Bhutan has no precise legal and constitutional provisions protecting freedom of speech, expression, association, and exhibiting dissidence incase of impeachment of fundamental rights of citizens. The forceful use of traditional dress code to other ethnic groups against their will is the violation of civil rights. It only shows the fake nationality superimposed by one ruling ethnic group to other ethnic groups. The direct interference of the home authority on practice of Nyngmapa sect of Buddhism by Sarchhop community is yet another violation of freedom to religion which the Bhutanese delegates to human rights forums have been promising every time. Instead of promoting western notions like gross national product, gross individual earnings and its productive use, Jigme has created a hazy concept called 'gross national happiness' influenced in part by Buddhism, which is limited to the Royal elites. Bhutan's rural and urban pictures are distantly different. In rural areas, Bhutan remained almost unaffected by the passage of time. Dzongs, the massive fortress and monasteries consisting of white stone citadels with imposing pagoda-roofs-towered over the landscape, pristine marvels compared to the ruined regions of Nepal, Tibet and northern India, much of which are scarred by logging and industry. Inside the dzong prayer halls, red robed novice monks chanted sutras and burnt smoky butter lamps in front of imposing statues of local deities. In the plains around the dzongs, men threshed rice by hand and cut new fields with small trowels, while local women shooed cows, boars and wooly yaks along the footpaths. But, in Thimpu, the capital, there can be found that gross national happiness didn’t always live up to its advertising. Frustrated by the lack of economic opportunity, seeing the relative modernity of India on Indian TV broadcasts and chafing at restrictions on dress and speech, young Bhutanese have begun to lash out. In recent years once-sleepy Thimpu has witnessed a crime wave and one study showed that a significant number of young Bhutanese watch TV twelve hours a day. In downtown Thimpu, young class shucked their traditional Gho-checked, bathrobe-like outfits cut off at the knees-for jeans, T-shirts and mobile phone holsters at night. They prowled in bunches and mock-brawled in city squares, mimicking the American professional wrestling shown on TV. Adolescents have also developed major drinking problems- there can be seen young Thimpu residents spending evenings sucking down drugs and cough syrup and then fighting in the streets for real. One night, a few years ago a tourist saw two young men bloodying each other on the icy main drag. Like audiences of a film, referees waiting for combatants to fall on the ice, a small crowd let them fight until they hit the ground and then separated the boys. Bhutan’s supposed uniqueness has also attracted upscale Western travelers who have brought on the very change Bhutan supposedly resisted. High-end hoteliers have set up shops in Bhutan, building luxurious resorts complete with Yoga classes, masseuses imported from Thailand, and pan-Asian cuisine that could have come straight from Bali (Indonesia). Celebrities have been decamping onto tiny Thimpu. One day, a tourist went hiking with a local Bhutanese guide, Ugyen. He hurried him up a mountain and when the tourist reached the top, Ugyen told him,”We’re making pretty good time…May be if we get to space 34 [ a local night club] early we’ll see Cameroon Diaz”. “Cameroon Diaz?” the tourist asked, befuddled. The idea of seeing a Charlie’s Angel in a place where some of the countries still lacked electricity seemed at the least, far-fetched. “Yeah, she was here recently”, Ugyen said to the tourist, ” She was on the dance floor all night at space 34, dancing real sexy with a group of people…..I think she had some rapper with her, too. You know that guy-Redman?” (The tourist later found out she was actually shooting an MTV show on the environment in Bhutan). A depressing tale, perhaps-just another traditional culture that could not stand up to modernity, indeed when there are many Westerners in Bhutan who’d come to see the gross national happiness and left disappointed by Bhutan’s nightclubs, parties and cell phones. Except that in recent years the king had made propaganda that he himself apparently decided to grace his people that his subjects could embrace elements of the modern world without losing their unique identity. Now, having known all these realities can’t we say Bhutan’s new hazarded parliamentary democracy is cornered in Thimpu, and it is unknown to the real Bhutanese people? |
| Posted: 31 Oct 2010 03:40 PM PDT In 1989, when Peoples Forum for Human Rights in Bhutan started to campaign for restoration of fundamental human rights in the country, I along with some friends went to meet the leaders living in exile. Few days later, after I returned to Bhutan, a Police Officer came to my house and spoke to me for a long while. Soon, a rumour began to float around about my arrest. I fled for safety to Assam, the bordering state of India. Five months later when I returned home, I found most of my friends arrested and imprisoned. For safety reasons, I continued to stay in India. While staying in India, I had arranged a meeting with the then Governor of Assam. I went to discuss about this meeting with my friends inside Bhutan. On 26th January 1991, as we were proceeding to India for the meeting, our vehicle broke down. Suddenly, the police force led by Captain Tandin and Captain Ugey Sonam arrived at the spot and arrested four of us. We were taken to Lodrai Central Jail, 7 km away from Gelephu. In the prison, Captain Tandin and Captain Ugey took away all my clothing and started charging ruthlessly with wooden baton. Next, they started to beat on the soles of my feet. At first, I screamed in agony. Due to nonstop beating, I began to lose the sense of touch. My entire body started swelling up and nerves began to numb. Slowly, I began to lose my sense of place and time. They stopped beating. One of the officers leaned towards me and said, "Tomorrow, I am meeting the King and what do you think I should tell him for the resolution of the problem?" I replied in fractured and faint voice, "Remove the ban on Bhutanese Nepalese culture; withdraw the implementation of Green Belt along southern Bhutan bordering India and promote national harmony". After that I was taken into a room and kept in solitary confinement.  Ghaley. On the second day, they began to torture me again. I was punched on my face several times. With their knees, they would hit on my abdomen. Beatings became routine. I was always beaten during the night and interrogated during the day. On the fourth day, Captain Ugey Sonam and Captain Rinzin again interrogated me. After that interrogation, 20 inches long heavy iron rod was clamped on my leg as shackle. On the 23rd day, I was allowed to wash my face. Still my eyes, skull, forehead, jaw-bones and cheeks were all bruised and swollen up. My vision had been badly damaged. Shortly afterwards, police Major Kipchu Namgyal, [present Chief of Police in Bhutan] came to Lodrai Jail. He started to interrogate me. He asked me similar questions, what other officers were asking so far. And in reply I gave him the same answers what I was giving to others. He got infuriated and yelled at me – "I don't want to hear your Mahabharat [a Hindu Epic]. Answer what I ask". In pain and frustration, I would retort – "Instead of treating me like this, why don't you kill me?" He would grin sarcastically and say – "If I killed you here, the King will thank me. He will never ask what happened to you. And no one will question either." As interrogation advanced, I was made to sit on the ground with my back on the wall. A long log of wood was slipped below my calves. Another log was kept atop my shin. Policeman stood on each end of the log atop my shin and began to roll and crush my bones. Another policeman took a wooden baton and started to hit on my soles. While Kipchu continued asking questions, the three policemen kept on crushing my shin and hitting my soles. After awhile, they removed the log beneath my legs and continued to press with the upper one. Still later, they started to clamp my thighs. The policemen stood atop the clamp and began jumping. The pain was excruciating and I felt that my thighs were flattening out. Blood drained from my legs and spread across the concrete. I wailed. I yelled. I begged them to shoot and kill me instead of inflicting such pain. Nobody listen to my plea. They continued with interrogation and torture. When they stopped, they asked me to get up – but my legs did not move. They dragged me into a room. Later on, my friends said that I had been beaten continuously for eleven hours. A doctor was called to see me. When he asked what happened to you? I pointed at Kipchu and said – He tortured me. Kipchu almost jumped over me. He was restrained by his fellow officers. After that my days of solitary confinement began. Due to torture, I could not move my jaw properly and my teeth were aching. I couldn't eat the food provided by the prison guards. There was a Dimpen, a junior officer, who I knew from my days in the Forest Department. He came to my rescue showing genuine sympathy. He ordered his constables to make chapatti. I could eat only one piece. He sent one person to massage my body. Since my arrest on 26 January 1991, I was kept incommunicado. My family was not informed about my arrest and detention. The Police instead went to my house and harassed my family. They asked my wife about my whereabouts, while I was being detained by them. She was beaten by the police on several occasions. Once she was hit by a police with the butt of his rifle. In December 1991, I was transferred to the building that housed National Institute of Family Planning in Gelephu. The institute then had been converted into a prison and around 20-25 inmates each were kept in 6 different blocks. For the past eleven months, I had been handcuffed at the back. It was extremely difficult for me to take food with the handcuffs on. It was a big relief when they handcuffed me in the front. Even in the new location the beatings continued. I was taken to Gelephu Police station for taking my statement. I signed to the fact that whatever I had confessed on the second day of my arrest in Lodrai Central Jail was true. I saw Kipchu moving around the prison, which worried. Again, I was taken back to Lodra Jail. On 5th April 1992, twenty-eight of us were transferred to Chemgang prison, near Thimphu. At around 7 pm we reached Chemgang. As the tradition of the prison, we all were beaten by the policemen before entering the prison complex. Few days ago, large number of prisoners had been released due to lack of evidence. And we were taken to replace them to construct three new prisons. Early morning we had to get up and pray. We were given raw wheat flour with hot water as breakfast. They would order us to run up the hill and if we didn't, the police guards would start kicking randomly. During the working hour, one prisoner was watched by one policeman. If any inmate ever slowed down, even out of fatigue, they start to charge with sticks or begin to punch. They would yell at us and say – "You need to work like lightening". We had to carry stones; size them into a given measurement; make pebbles and make concrete. There were seven of us who were specifically assigned to make concrete out of the pebbles and cement. In a day, we used around 80 sacks of cement to make concrete. With heavy shackles in our legs, we toiled the whole day. As Tandin Wangdi came as the supervisor of Chemgang prison, beatings resumed. During day time we had to do ten hours of hard labour. And at midnight policemen would come in the cell and beat regularly. The food was horrible. Criminals were kept as prison cooks. We never got to eat vegetables. When the criminal inmates distributed food, they would give thin soup and few pieces of radish from the top to the inmates from southern Bhutan, while they served thick soup and potatoes to their friends from the north. In six months time, we completed the first prison house with the assistance of Bengali carpenters from India. The dimension of prison building was around 110 feet long and 30 feet wide and was very high. We partitioned it into 12-14 rooms on the sides and a corridor in between with an entrance gate. The very next day, 91 of us were transferred to the new prison. And we continued our work to build the next prison. Many died in Chemgang prison. Around 12 inmates disappeared in August 1992. Inmates like, Maden Budathoki, Man Bahadur Bhujel, Lal Bahadur, Man Bahadur Rai disappeared. We thought they went to refugee camps in Nepal, but they were never found alive again. In 1992, the old set of prison guards were sent away and was replaced by a new team. We were also provided with blankets. On 12th January 1993, they removed our shackles. From the 17th January onwards they stopped sending us to work. By then we had completed the construction of second prison and inmates had already been moved into it. On 20th January 1993 members of International Committee of Red Cross visited us in Chemgang for the first time. I got registered with ICRC with Reg. No. ICRC N BTN-000 107-01. After ICRC's visit, the prison conditions improved a little. However, beatings continued and we were again made to do hard labour. On one occasion, the ICRC members visited the prison and went back. Immediately, they returned to the prison and asked us to talk to them freely. Some inmates gathered courage and registered the complaints of continuing ill-treatment and torture. Incidents where police official urinated into the mouth of inmates, when they asked for water and other homosexual incidents were also reported. The complaints made impact. Prison officials were reprimanded. Nonetheless, after ICRC left, the police officers came around and scolded us, saying "Is the Red Cross your father that you need to complain to them?" With the visit of ICRC from time to time, medicine became accessible and medical treatment improved. It was also through ICRC that I came to learn about my father's death after 45days. On 26th December 1994, I was released after 3 years and 11 months incarceration. I eventually joined my family in the refugee camp in Nepal, who had fled from Bhutan in 1992. (As published in "Refugees from the Land of Gross National Happiness" by Bhutanese Advocacy Forum- Europe. Ghaley shared this story with Avishek Gazmere and Jogen Gazmere in South Australia.) - Editorial Team, BNS (editor@bhutannewsservice.com) |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Bhutan News Service To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |