यो वर्षको झकास पुरस्कार भारतीय साहित्यकार राईलाई

पुरस्कार ग्रहर्ण गर्दै साहित्यकार राई (सौजन्य: प्रकाश आङ्दाम्बे)

साहित्यप्रेमी भूटानी युवाहरूबाट गठित झकास समूहले वार्षिक रूपमा प्रदान गर्दै आएको यो वर्षको ‘झकास अन्तराष्ट्रिय पुरस्कार’ भारतीय साहित्यकार विमल राईलाई प्रदान गरेको छ ।

पुरस्कार गत आइतबार झापाको दमकमा आयोजना गरिएको एउटा कार्यक्रममाझ साहित्यकार गणेश रसिक, संगीतकार मणीकमल क्षेत्री र गीतकार एलपी जोसीबाट संयुक्त रूपमा साहित्यकार राईलाई प्रदान गरिएको हो ।

ताम्रपत्र र १६ हजार रूपैयाँको सो पुरस्कार सन् २०१० बाट झकास समूहले प्रदान गर्दै आएको छ । उक्त पुरस्कारबाट साहित्यकारहरू याम थुलुङ र प्रकाश आङ्दाम्वे क्रमश सन् २०१० र २०११ मा सम्मानित भइसकेका छन् ।
“तपाईहरूको माया मात्र भए पुग्छ, मलाई नगद रकमको कुनै आवश्यकता छैन,” भन्दै राईले आफूले पाएको १६ हजार रूपैयाँ सृजनशील कामका लागि झकास समूहलाई नै फिर्ता गरेका थिए ।

Source:BNS.com

Electricity still banned in refugee camps

By: HK Dahal

Since there is no any written international law to prohibit refugees to get access of electricity, but also Bhutanese refugees in Beldangi are totally prohibited to get access of such infrastructure of development.

As exiled Bhutanese students are studying in school that for appropriate development there should be the adequate Education, health, transportation, communication and electricity facilities. Slightly our exiled Bhutanese people are getting access of education, health, communication, transportation but mainly electricity is totally prohibited here in camp. No Bhutanese knows what is the main reason behind that.

Before some months, hardly exiled Bhutanese connected electricity from host community but within few months Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) of Damak disconnected and seized all the connecting cables and meter box forcefully.
As exiled Bhutanese were not using it in free, they used to pay Rs.20 per Unit as local consumers only pay Rs.9 per Unit. Last time local consumers had collected Rs.5000 from each exiled Bhutanese consumers, which they haven’t returned till now.

Mainly the lack of electricity, exiled Bhutanese students are forced to study in dark at night in absence of proper light as there is no any other light facilities.

Fire safety awareness rally(Photo Collection)

An  awareness rally on fire safety was organized on the inauguration day of Eastern Regional Volleyball Tournament. Dozens from camp school, camp management committee, representatives from various agencies, children forum and Armed Police Force (APF), among others took part in a rally held to inform the exiled community about safety measures of fire and its disasters.

Third edition of TRH published

Front view of third edition

The third edition of Bhutanese refugee based English newspaper “The Refugee Herald” (TRH) is published and circulating in camp.

If you want to read this newspaper online click here to download.

The first edition of TRH is published on 14 January, under the private circulation of Bhutanese refugee students under parenting of Chief Editor: Vidhyapati Mishra and Managing Editor: Mona Rath Pokhrel.

TRH is one and only English newspaper left that is alive in Bhutanese refugee camp.

Over 5,000 people resettled in lands owned by exiled citizens

Altogether 5,088 people from various other districts have been resettled in farms and lands, which were previously owned by Southern Bhutanese in exile, between 1997 and 2008.

Of this, Samtse suffered the largest resettlement as the National Land Commission (NLC) offered lands to 2,194 individuals, offering five acres of land for each resettled.

Likewise, 1,585 people were offered lands in Sarpang followed by 859 persons in Tshirang. Dagana received the least number of 450 resettlers, according to NLC.

The resettlers are mostly Sarchops from the East. However, the Commission has issued lands to landless citizens from other parts of the country as well.

Meanwhile, the Commission last week notified all resettlers that if they failed to occupy or cultivate the allotted land it would not be registered.

It has also warned of nullifying the registration of those who have stopped cultivating the farms offered to them.

11th SAARC Secy from Maldives appointed

The 11th Secretary General of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) has been appointed.

General Secretary

According to the SAARC Secretariat, Ahmed Saleem of Maldives has succeeded Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed. The outgoing Secretary General was also from Maldives.

He joined the Maldivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1968 and served for over 26 years. He served at the High Commission of Maldives in Sri Lanka and the Permanent Mission of Maldives in New York, according to the Secretariat.

Saleem is also said to have served as the Maldivian Government’s first Alternative Governor for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

OL irked at PM’s remarks on repatriation

Tshering Tobgay, a Member of Parliament representing Sombaykha Constituency in Haa and the Leader of the Opposition party in the National Assembly, has criticized Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley for speaking on the favor of exiled Bhutanese.

Tshering Tobgay

Just a few days after the Prime Minister reiterated the government’s position in accepting “genuine citizens” for repatriation, OL Tobgayflayed PM’s statement.

“I fail to see the logic in the prime minister’s statement. How can he commit to repatriate people if we now don’t have any basis of even identifying whether a person is a genuine Bhutanese or not?” Tobgay, who is also a top ranking blogger in the country, wrote in his blog Tuesday.

However, his explanation on bringing the longstanding refugee imbroglio to a logical conclusion has clearly depicted his “childish political ideology”. Indeed, a few comments posted on his post did explain his “political maturity level”.

According to his claim, repatriation is no longer possible stating that acceptance of some citizens was a genuine possibility 10 years ago, but even then, only if the verification process was honest and complete.

“That didn’t happen. Now it’s more than 20 years since people settled in the camps, plus most of them have opted to resettle in third countries. If repatriation was not possible 10 years ago, in spite of the best efforts of the governments of Bhutan and Nepal, I don’t see how the prime minister can even talk about it as a possibility now,” he wrote.

Without accepting the responsibility of his People’s Democratic Party in pressurizing the House to resolve the refugee crisis in a moral ground, Tobgay, however, thanked the international community for accepting exiled Bhutanese for resettlement.

He also remembered to accuse citizens in exile of preferring to resettle in the third countries.

Those fulfilling set criteria will be accepted back home : PM Thinley

Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley on Thursday told media persons in Thimphu that his government was positive about solving the long running problems of “people in camps in Nepal” that has persisted over two decades.

PM Thinley

He told that the government serious to find a solution to the problem of people in the camps in Nepal that has often been blamed for taking Bhutan-Nepal relations into ransom, reports from inside said.

The Prime Minister expressed the government’s concerns over the people in the camps being one of the biggest problems, which continue to threaten the peace and stability of the country.

“Presently the position of the government is, we will take back anybody who fulfills the criteria agreed upon between Nepal and Bhutan in the bilateral discussion,” online edition of the Business Bhutan quoted the PM as saying.

He also reinstated that the bilateral talks on the repatriation between the governments of Nepal and Bhutan were stalled after a Bhutanese delegation was assaulted by the mob in the camps.

However, during the press meet, the PM also claimed that Bhutan is interested to initiate bilateral talks with the Nepal government soon.

“We need to resolve the issue quickly but a solution has not been easy to find as the two countries have struggled to find a solution for many years,” he said adding,” Almost a decade after the two governments broke talks on repatriation of people in the camps.”

fire continues array in forest

Forest fire continues to rage in the four eastern Dzongkhags of Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, Lhuentse and Mongar in Bhutan.

 

Nursing student ends life after boyfriend’s ‘betrayal’

One 22-year-old resettled girl, Hari Thapa, who was a nursing student in Southern Tasmania, was said to have taken her own life in what her brother described as the most terrible tragedy to have occurred in his family, Friday. She was resettled in Australia some 17 months ago.

Hari Thapa updated this picture in her Facebook on Thursday

Dozens of her fans were shocked to watch the last 7-minute long video post  in the Facebook before she hanged herself early this morning.

Betrayed by her boyfriend, which is well understood from the video she posted, she had breathed her last before her family members came into notice today, it is learnt.

Her brother Chhatra Thapa, the only family member yet to be resettled from Beldangi-II refugee camp, described her sister as a very wonderful, friendly, hardworking and smart girl.

“The investigation into the suicide is underway in Australia. However, the cause must be a broken-heart that she developed when her boyfriend betrayed her,” he told Bhutan News Service.

पुस्तकालय स्थापनाका लागि बेरङ रङ

“जे नहोस भन्यो आखिर त्यही किन हुन्छ हामीमाथि
सिस्नुको झ्याङ किन उम्रन्छ हाम्रै छातीमाथि
यसरी आफन्तको लाशको पहाड चढेर कुन शिखर उक्लनु छ हामीले
आफु सारा हारेर के जित्छु छ हामीले”

माथिका हरफ नाटक बेरङ रङहरुको एउटा अंश हो। झापाको दमकमा रहेर पछिल्लो डेढ दशक देखि विभिन्न नाटकहरु प्रदर्शन गरिरहने गन्तव्य थिएटरले आफ्नो नयाँ प्रस्तुती नाटक बेरङ रङहरु दमकमा पुस्तकालय स्थापना सहयोगार्थ यहि फाल्गुन 28 र 29 गते प्रदर्शन गर्ने भएको छ। यस अघि दार्जेलिङ, भोजपूर र इलाममा राम्रो प्रतिक्रिया पाएको नाटक बेरङ रङहरु दमकमा इ–पुस्तकालय स्थापनार्थ प्रदर्शन हुने भएको हो। यो नाटक दर्जेलिङमा भोलियन्टर युथ एक्सन (भिवाइए) संस्थाले सामाजिक कामका लागि सहयोगार्थ र भोजपुरमा गजल प्रतिष्ठाज भोजपुरले साहित्यीक महोत्सव सहयोगार्थ मञ्चन गरिसकेको छ।
जाती, धर्म, सम्प्रदाय तथा अन्य कुरा भन्दा पनि पहिलो कुरा भनेको मानवता नै हो, भन्ने सन्देश बोकेको नाटक दमकमा मात्र नभएर निकट भविष्यमा नै काठमा48डौँ, भुटानी शरणर्थी शिविर र भारतको सिक्किम साथै सिलगुढीमा पनि प्रदर्शन हुने कुरा नाटकका व्यवस्थापक सुर्य लिम्बूले बताउनुभयो। साथमा उहाँ भन्नु हुन्छ, “दर्शकले अत्यान्तै माग गरेको र दमकमा सिर्जनशिल युवाहरुले इ–पुस्तकालयको बिचार उठाइरहेको बेला यो नाटक प्रदर्शन गर्न लागेका हौँ।” परिकल्पना तथा निर्देशक प्रकाश आङ्देम्वे भन्नुहुन्छ, “सिर्जनशिलल युवाहरुको राम्रो अभियानमा यो नाटक हाम्रो सहयोग हो।” साथमा उहाँ थप्नुहुन्छ, अहिले विश्वमा नाटक लेखिदैन नाटक खेलिन्छ, प्रयोग हुन्छ। त्यस्तै कम संवाद रहेको यो नाटकमा पनि हामीले सकेसम्म म्युजिक र लाइटको राम्रो प्रयोग गरेका छौँ। यस नाटक हामीले सिच्वेसन क्रिएट गर्दै त्यसलाई अभिनय गरेका छौँ, भन्नुहुन्छ नाटकका कलाकार भुटानी शरणार्थी दिलन समाल। पुर्णतः प्रयोगमा रहेको नाटकका कलाकारहरु मध्ये ४ जना भुटानी शरणार्थी शिविरबाट रहेका छन।

32nd Birthday of His Majesty King of Bhutan

His Majesty the King celebrated His 32nd birth anniversary in Gelephu with the people of Sarpang
Thousands of people from Sarpang  gathered in Gelephu to celebrate His Majesty’s 32nd birth anniversary. His Majesty joined the people for the festive games to mark the joyous occasion.

 

Royal Pardon vs Social Media

By Vidhyapati Mishra

Just a month after amendment of Tobacco Control Act 2010 by the Parliament, King Jigme Khesar has exercised a prerogative to release 16 persons convicted of tobacco smuggling.

The first convicted monk student Sonam Tshering

However, many have already started commenting that both government and the King must have understood the role of media and social network groups against tobacco law. Thanks to “Amend the Tobacco Control Act” group in the Facebook for leading the social protest.

Definitely, Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley and King Khesar got an opportunity to accept that no people can respect an act that has been termed as “draconian” by parliamentarians including the Opposition Leader (OL).

The so-called democratic constitution that has placed the King above it allows him to grant amnesty to prisoners under Article 2, Section 16 (C). This provision states, “The Druk Gyalpo, in exercise of His Royal prerogatives, may grant amnesty, pardon and reduction of sentences”.

The royal amnesty has also set the first convicted monk student Sonam Tshering free.