Bhuthan भुठान starts with Bishnu Bahadur KC played by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/dhuwa-smoke-telefilm,2671">Hari Bansha Acharya</a> on a call, requesting to speak to the visa officer. By this point, he had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-should-now-allow-visa-on-arrival">applied for a visa </a>to Bhutan 10 times, but was denied each time. KC was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-women-excel-in-sports-in-2024-z9ramyct">national football player </a>in Bhutan in 1988 before he and other Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people were forced out of the country in the 1990s as part of the Druk regime’s ‘One Nation One People’ campaign. Over 100,000 Bhutanese Nepalis were forced out, driven across India and dumped in Nepal where they lived in seven<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp"> refugee camps</a> supervised by the United Nations and other charities until they were resettled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries starting in 2007. In the fictional movie with the satirical English title The World’s Happiest Man, KC has resettled in the state of Ohio in the US but wishes to visit his home country once before he dies. Between flashbacks, we learn KC has died without having fulfilled his wish. &nbsp; The drama then focuses on KC’s two families from two marriages as they debate whether to cremate him as per <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/muslim-hindu,2996">Hindu rites </a>or give him a Christian burial. A mediator played by Hollywood actor Bruce Dern urges them to take a firm decision before it is too long.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="945" height="945" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  There are drawn out scenes of KC being baptised and when he is confronted by his first wife from Darjeeling played by Anuradha Majumdar, he says he changed his religion in the hope that he will be <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bhutan-s-refugees-between-hope-and-despair">allowed back in Bhutan</a>.&nbsp; We find out KC has a second wife, a Christian Nepali played by Puja Chand. Dayahang Rai as the younger son doesn’t have much screen time to flex his acting chops. &nbsp; Acharya competently portrays a man that is equal parts haunted by the memories of and longing for his home country. KC’s pain and loss is acute when he is teaching football to Gungun but between mid-scene, he freezes, perhaps lost in memories of being in Bhutan’s national team. &nbsp; In another scene, KC recalls his mother singing a lullaby in Dzongkha. He also has a box filled with medals, photographs and a football which he deflates with a knife in a powerful depiction of his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home?fb_comment_id=1506516030025634">complicated emotions about his homeland</a>. KC keeps checking his mailbox in the hopes that his <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4977">visa application</a> has been accepted. He says in Nepali: “If a tree that has already struck roots in one place is shifted to another, it will not survive.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34" data-rendition-name="original" width="1422" height="2048" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  Dern’s character says that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-s-transitional-justice-and-the-west-s-recalibration">western world</a> has become “lonely in pursuit of happiness”, another reference to Bhutan’s obsession with its Gross National Happiness index. Scenes shift quickly throughout making the story difficult to follow at times. The use of symbolism is a trite overdone. Nonetheless, भुठान is a nuanced depiction of raw pain and agony of losing one’s homeland. But one cannot help but leave the theatre feeling deflated. KC dies without having visited <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-bhutan-dreams-big">Bhutan</a>, but perhaps he does in his afterlife. It is up to the audience to create its own ending to this sad story of exile. भुठान Mad Monkey Films, 2025 Directed by Binod Paudel 102 minutes In cinemas in Nepal

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Bhutan, the movie

Bhutan is planning an ambitious urban development project at Gelephu bordering India. But some of that land belongs to people the Bhutan regime evicted 30 years ago, and they have land titles to prove it.
The new city called <a href="https://gmc.bt/" target="_blank">Gelephu Mindfulness City</a> is supposed to integrate development with sustainability and wellbeing, and is being proposed as a way for Bhutan to spur economic growth, create jobs and curb outmigration.
However, the city that is planned to accommodate more people than the present 790,000 population of Bhutan is being built in an area where Bhutan’s Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people used to farm and live.
Nearly 100,000 Lhotsampa <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/japan-award-for-bhutan-minister-opposed" target="_blank">were forced out of Bhutan</a> in 1990-92 (one-sixth of the population at the time), drive across India and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.YN1-Ny8RoWr" target="_blank">dumped in Nepal</a> where they have lived in seven refugee camps supervised by the United Nations and other charities.&nbsp;
By 2008, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121" target="_blank">refugee population</a> had swelled to 120,000 and with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) they were settled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-himalaya-to-holland" target="_blank">European countries</a>.
But about 6,577 stateless people from Bhutan <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone" target="_blank">still remain in eastern Nepal </a>where the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/hardships-multiply-older-refugees-amid-covid-19-pandemic" target="_blank">UNCHR</a> and World Food Programme (WFP) have withdrawn all support since 2016. At least 40% of them are said to be from Gelephu. Eleven of the households even have their land holding titles. About 2,000 of them do not have any refugee papers.
Many of the refugees <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp" target="_blank">who remain are elderly or infirm</a> who hope one day to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/real-refugees-want-to-go-back-to-bhutan" target="_blank">return too Bhutan</a>, or they missed out on the third-country settlement because they did not have registration papers.&nbsp;
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top" target="_blank">After a scandal last year</a> in which senior government officials were implicated in a scheme to cheat about 900 Nepalis to pay money for fake refugee papers for settlement in the US, the Nepal government has stopped issuing travel documents even to genuine refugees.
‘’These refugees have been deprived of education, healthcare, food and housing, they are left to fend for themselves engaging in menial work in the informal sector,’ the group <a href="https://www.devex.com/organizations/south-asians-for-human-rights-sahr-137163" target="_blank">South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR)</a> states after a monitoring visit to Jhapa district in eastern Nepal.
SAHR has called on the Nepal government to provide the refugees with ID cards and travel documents so they can visit family members settled abroad. It also wants the refugees to be allowed to work legally in Nepal, and grant citizenship to the children born in refugee camps.&nbsp;
A delegation from SAHR met Nepal government officials in Kathmandu this week, and were reportedly given assurances that the problems of the remaining refugees would be looked into.
Rights groups like Amnesty International and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/13/bhutan-free-long-term-political-prisoners" target="_blank">Human Rights Watch</a> have also drawn international attention to Lhotsampa political prisoners who have been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/political-prisoners-languish-in-bhutan-s-jails" target="_blank">languishing in Chemgang Jail in Bhutan</a>. A US Department of State report in 2016 had said 57 people had been detained under the National Security Act.
Many are those who protested in the early 1990s and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-country-for-dissent" target="_blank">have now been in prison for three decades</a>, while others were jailed after entering Bhutan to visit family members still there. One prisoner has spent 43 years behind bars at Chemgang.
The ICRC which had been allowed biannual visits to the prisons has not been given permission since the pandemic, and most news about those in jail and teir condition has been provided by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/prisoners-of-conscience-languish-in-bhutan-jails" target="_blank">prisoners recently released </a>because of poor health due to torture and inhumane conditions.
SAHR has called upon the Bhutan regime to release all political prisoners, allow ICRC visits, and also to take back its citizens who want to return. It has also called upon UNHCR and other international relief organisations to support the Nepal government in providing facilities for remaining refugees.
SAHR was founded in 2000 by former Indian Prime Minister I K Gujral, and is currently headed by Sri Lankan activist Radhika Coomaraswamy.

Mindfulness about Bhutan’s refugees

A man who served 30 years in a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/bhutan" target="_blank">Bhutanese</a> prison for distributing political pamphlets has said that political detainees like him are surviving on meagre rations and are reduced to using rice sacks for clothing and bedding. Human Rights Watch called on the Bhutan government to immediately free its remaining <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/13/bhutan-free-long-term-political-prisoners" target="_blank">political prisoners</a>, who it said are kept in appalling conditions and serving lengthy sentences following unfair trials and torture. Ram Bahadur Rai, 66, spoke with Human Rights Watch after he was released and deported after completing his sentence on 5 July. At least 34 other political <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-country-for-dissent" target="_blank">prisoners are still in Bhutan’s prisons</a> and most of them are Nepali-speaking citizens from ethnic groups of which <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/gross-national-reconciliation-in-bhutan" target="_blank">100,000 were expelled</a> in the 1990s and lived in refugee camps in Nepal. The tiny Himalayan kingdom has been a multi-party democracy since 2008, but it continues to hold prisoners accused of being opponents of the former autocratic system. “Bhutan’s government cultivates an enlightened international image by propounding the theory of <a href="https://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/news/bhutan-gross-national-happiness-index-shows-increase-2015-despite-pandemic" target="_blank">gross national happiness</a>, but the blatantly abusive treatment of these prisoners tells a different story,” said <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/meenakshi-ganguly" target="_blank">Meenakshi Ganguly</a>, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “While the Bhutanese government attempts to strengthen its ties with international partners, foreign governments and multilateral organisations should push for the release of political prisoners.” In 2023, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/13/bhutan-free-long-term-political-prisoners" target="_blank">Human Rights Watch documented</a> 37 inmates <a href="https://www.nab.gov.bt/assets/uploads/docs/acts/2014/Prison_Act_of_Bhutan,_2009eng3rd.pdf" target="_blank">classified by Bhutan’s government</a> as political prisoners, who were first detained between 1990 and 2008. Following the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/13/bhutan-freed-political-prisoner-describes-dire-conditions-0" target="_blank">release</a> of three people in the past year, at least 34 remain, many imprisoned for life without parole. Under Bhutan’s law, only King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck can commute a life sentence.&nbsp; Ram Bahadur Rai was among the 100,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutan people who were <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2003/05/03/we-dont-want-be-refugees-again" target="_blank">forced to flee the country</a> in 1991 after violence and persecution under the government at that time. He sneaked back into Bhutan in 1994 and was caught distrubuting pamphelts of the banned Bhutan People’s Party in the border town of Gelephu . He said he was accused to taking part in political violence, but had no defence lawyer during his trial. He was so severely tortured that he was hospitalised, only to be returned to jail and further tortured. By the time he was convicted and sentenced to 31 years and 10 months in prison, he said the torture had left him unable to write his own application for an appeal. The appeal was rejected, and he was warned that if he appealed again his sentence could be increased.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240713060756_328136fb3903d1d0c9fcc4bfe04b74d4a9a7004a8dc9d28bb89effa9767f0b30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20240713060756_328136fb3903d1d0c9fcc4bfe04b74d4a9a7004a8dc9d28bb89effa9767f0b30" data-rendition-name="original" width="946" height="1871" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese prisoners"> <figcaption>Ram Bahadur Rai</figcaption> </figure>  Rai said that since 2012, when the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stopped arranging family contact for national security prisoners in Bhutan, he had had no communication with his family. Upon his release, he sent a photograph to his four children “so they can know what their father looks like”. In Chemgang prison, near the capital, Thimphu, Rai was held in a block with 24 other ‘anti-national’ prisoners. “It’s a very painful situation. The facilities have almost halved since the Red Cross left ,” Rai said. Prisoners are obliged to buy their own medication if they fall sick and can wait up to eight months if they need to see a doctor, and frequently receive no treatment. Several are in very poor health, Rai said. Food rations have been reduced to half, prisoners get a poor quality blanket only every three years and a mattress every 18 months. Rai said the clothes they are provided are too small so prisoners wear rice sacks for clotheing and bedding.&nbsp; Rai said that the Bhutan Red Cross Society, which is supposed to have taken over the duties of the ICRC in supporting prisoners’ welfare, don’t do anything. Bhutan’s legal system is formally based on concepts in the Buddhist tradition such as compassion. The king, who is head of state while most government functions are the responsibility of an elected government, retains the power to grant ‘kidu’, or relief, including by commuting sentences. Said Ganguly. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/bhutan-king-must-free-political-prisoners" target="_blank">King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck</a> could end the unjust suffering of these prisoners and their families with a stroke of a pen, as both <a href="http://www.bhutannewsnetwork.com/2022/04/six-political-prisoners-released/" target="_blank">he</a> and <a href="https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1999/12/28/king-pardons-bhutan-prodemocracy-leader-after-10-years-in-prison&amp;post_id=15081" target="_blank">his father</a> have previously done in other cases. Sixteen years since Bhutan’s transition to democracy, all of the remaining political prisoners should finally be released.”

Prisoners of conscience languish in Bhutan jails

Unlike tens of thousands of refugees from Bhutan, Govinda Rijal had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/real-refugees-want-to-go-back-to-bhutan" target="_blank">no inclination to apply for third-country repatriation</a>. Even when his parents Chandra Lal and Devi Maya decided to join the 90,000 refugees resettled in the United States 15 years ago, he <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp" target="_blank">remained behind in Nepal.</a> He excelled in studies, went to Kyoto and the Philippines to get a PhD in rice research, and was a professor at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science at Tribhuvan University. Govinda’s parents arrived on the Nepal border in Indian trucks after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/japan-award-for-bhutan-minister-opposed" target="_blank">Bhutan regime drove out</a> nearly 100,000 Nepali-speaking citizens in 1992. The Lhotsampa, as the refugees were called, were consigned to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.YN1-Ny8RoWr" target="_blank">eight refugee camps in eastern Nepal</a>. Govinda stayed on in Bhutan, determined not to abandon his beloved homeland. But the persecution and threats became untenable, and at age 22 he himself left in February 1993 tracking his parents down to a bamboo hut in Beldangi refugee camp of Jhapa district.&nbsp; Outside his pleasant and relaxed exterior Govinda harboured a fierce fire for justice and human rights which he expressed in poetry and activism. He was involved in the Peace March in 1996 to walk to Thimphu, but was arrested by Indian police right after crossing the Mechi Bridge to be detained in Jalpaiguri Jail. After Bhutan, Nepal was Govinda’s second home — the land of his forebears. And it was here last week on 5 May that he was tragically killed at age 52 when a commuter bus overturned and careened into a sidewalk where he was standing.&nbsp; Govinda had just taken a selfie with his long-lost former college classmate Suman Bandhu Koirala with whom he used to organise nationwide Mathematics Olympiads. The two had not seen each other for 20 years after Suman Bandhu went for his PhD in the United States.&nbsp; Unlike other students who paid no heed to stateless classmates from Bhutan like Rijal, Koirala was different. &nbsp;The two had lost touch, but met again on Sunday, 5 May at the Tribhuvan University campus in Kirtipur.&nbsp; “We hadn’t met for such a long time, and chatted all day, reminiscing about our student days and planned to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/who-stands-with-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal" target="_blank">spread awareness about the Bhutan refugee</a> issue,” Suman Bandhu recalls, his voice breaking with emotion.&nbsp; It was just before 3PM and the two decided to take a selfie on the pavement in front of the Ayurved Hospital in Kirtipur. Just then, a scooter sped out of the parking lot into the main road, an approaching commuter bus that swerved to avoid it overturned, slithering sideways on the asphalt into people on the sidewalk.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240510040524_83e30321d778d5b8e7c609538a2b3f3eaccf1c6b7b9245cb1762e8700990e859.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240510040524_83e30321d778d5b8e7c609538a2b3f3eaccf1c6b7b9245cb1762e8700990e859" data-rendition-name="original" width="1998" height="1028" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese refugee freak accident"> <figcaption>The sidewalk outside the Ayurved Hospital at Kiritpur where the bus hit Govinda, killing him on 5 May. Photo courtesy: Nepal Khabar </figcaption> </figure>  Govinda was seriously injured, and died later in Kirtipur Hospital. “He took out his phone and had just taken a couple of selfies when we heard this terrible sound and saw an overturned bus coming towards us, I managed to get out of the way but Govinda was not quick enough,” Suman Bandhu recalls. The photos are still in Govinda’s mobile phone and perhaps one day we will be able to see the self-portrait he took an instant before he was hit.&nbsp; During the cremation at Pashupati the next day Govinda’s fellow refugees spoke of him as a generous friend who placed the interests of others before himself — a sensitive poet, committed activist, and an accomplished agriculture scientist.&nbsp; “He was one of the few among us refugees who was an intellectual and an academic,” said Tilak Rai, another refugee who stayed behind in Beldangi. “He attended every Literature Society of Bhutan event at camp or memorials to fellow refugees like the physician <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone" target="_blank">Bhampa Rai</a>.”&nbsp; Govinda got married to classmate Shanta Karki who is now a joint secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture in Kathmandu, and he has written about her in his 2018 book, A Pardesi in Paradise. In it, he ruminates about the concept of ‘homeland’, especially after his parents and ounger brother Shiva Lal opted for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/letter-to-my-kindergarten-daughter" target="_blank">resettlement in the US</a>.&nbsp; ‘America has not been the homeland my family expected. I got news that after my father lost his job and started losing his memory. Other relatives are working day and night to pay car and house loans. Other refugees are so stressed and depressed that they are under medication and need pills to sleep,’ he wrote. ‘That is why my dream, my goal and future are tied up here. Wherever I am, wherever I go I am always an outsider, but that is my Golden Land.’&nbsp; Tara Lal Shrestha, who edited the book, said: “Govinda moved around everywhere on his bicycle. He found Nepal to be unlike any other place because it was so welcoming of people seeking refuge. Nepal may have been his Golden Land, but it was not his final destination. He was in transit to heaven.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240510040524_aac8771f3b69cbc5a7ccc68fc2730aaf1055330bb0b2ad04b4dc9a7e191c820e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240510040524_aac8771f3b69cbc5a7ccc68fc2730aaf1055330bb0b2ad04b4dc9a7e191c820e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1221" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese refugee accident"> <figcaption>Govinda’s bicycle helmet and bicycle. Photos: Sanjiv Balami / Facebook</figcaption> </figure>  Govinda talked about Beldangi fondly, almost nostalgically, as a safe haven: “Despite its bamboo huts and clay plaster walls, the well water that smelled of iron, and the joy of getting hold of &nbsp;kerosene or rice after standing in line, Beldangi was a refuge. I want to write a book about this chapter in my life.” Last year, after Govinda heard that his parents were not well in America, he tried to get travel documents to see them for the last time. For six months he was given the run around by Nepali officialdom. As soon as those behind desks heard he was a refugee, they would ask “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/scapegoating-a-champion-of-democracy" target="_blank">Real or fake?</a>”&nbsp; At the Home Ministry in Kathmandu, they did not even want to look at him after he said he was a refugee. After the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/losing-our-moral-compass" target="_blank">fake refugee scandal </a>broke last year, Nepal has stopped issuing travel documents to Bhutan citizens in Nepal. Govinda was still trying to get his papers to see his parents when he was killed this week. Ailing parents in America who were waiting to see him one last time are now performing funeral rituals.&nbsp; Recently, he visited refugee leader <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bhutan-s-refugees-between-hope-and-despair" target="_blank">Teknath Rijal</a> while the Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience was still in detention after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-tragedy-of-tek-nath-rizal-2g4dahmr" target="_blank">being framed</a> for his involvement in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top" target="_blank">fake refugee scandal</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240510040524_761c6b03cc6e0f9dba9a4c76aec9803aba9682c8fe47952ab802c79e48fdebfc.png" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240510040524_761c6b03cc6e0f9dba9a4c76aec9803aba9682c8fe47952ab802c79e48fdebfc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1180" height="760" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese refugee freak accident"> <figcaption>Photo: Ashok Budathoki / Facebook</figcaption> </figure>  Govinda had arrived on his bicycle from his house in Tokha, and brought some avocado from his garden. He had started writing his book, Beldangi: A Refuge, and recited its beginning paragraphs in Nepali: ‘I arrived in a place called Beldangi after taking a bus from Damak Chok on the last day of February 1993, looking for the hut of my father Chandra Lal and mother Devi Maya. They had left Bhutan one year before me. At the bus stop and all around, I met fellow refugees. I used to see them in Bhutan and had always regarded them as proud citizens. But here, they were stateless nobodies. I had only seen the word ‘refugee’ in books, now I was one myself.&nbsp; People got on and off the bus as we travelled towards Beldangi camp. At the edge of a forest there was a row of bamboo and thatch huts. How do I find my parents here, I thought.’

In transit to the Golden Land

For the past month, Nepal has been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/losing-our-moral-compass">rocked by a scandal</a> involving former ministers and officials who swindled hundreds of people offering to take them to the US posing as refugees from Bhutan. But real refugees who have lived in camps in eastern Nepal for over three decades say they are still pining to return to their homeland. More than 100,000 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gross-national-reconciliation-in-bhutan">Nepali-speaking Bhutanese</a> were evicted from the land of their birth by the Thimpu regime 1990-92, transported across India and dumped in eastern Nepal. Most have been resettled in seven western countries with the United States taking the majority.&nbsp; About 5,000 elderly refugees still remain in the camps, and say that they want to see their children one last time, and be allowed to die in their homeland. &nbsp;&nbsp; “I want to go back to Bhutan, but Bhutan doesn't let us,” says Sanmaya Gurung, 82, who, like many Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, called Lhotshampa, has been living in a refugee camp in Nepal since 1990. “I don’t know how much longer I will live, but I want to die in my motherland.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230531120544_5c0e71aeb17036a4fdb91a40eff2b1c3c34dfc6aa672feb8d5da9acd46e82543.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230531120544_5c0e71aeb17036a4fdb91a40eff2b1c3c34dfc6aa672feb8d5da9acd46e82543" data-rendition-name="original" width="1205" height="1306" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese refugees"> <figcaption>Sanmaya Gurung</figcaption> </figure>  Sanmaya’s family was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/who-stands-with-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal">evicted by the Bhutanese regime</a> for being ethnic Nepali, but her children and relatives have been resettled overseas. Dal Bahadur Karki was born and raised in a farm in Gelephu in Bhutan, but was thrown out in 1992. He has been living in Goldhap refugee camp of &nbsp;Jhapa district in Nepal. His four sons and four daughters have all been resettled in the US. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone">No one ot care for the doctor who cared for everyone</a>, Om Astha Rai Karki reaches into his pocket to show a phone and says, "They have given me this mobile. But what's the point? It’s just their voice, they don't come here in person.” Karki’s wife died recently in the camp, and he made a pavilion in her memory, naming it after her. "When my time comes, I hope my sons come to Nepal to remember me,” adds Karki. “But I also want to see the country where I was born and touch its soil one last time.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230531120548_2c7347224269940ac08dffa7a4aba1835f1118d4b8f7e9fa709dd2a81d1bde56.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230531120548_2c7347224269940ac08dffa7a4aba1835f1118d4b8f7e9fa709dd2a81d1bde56" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1205" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese refugees"> <figcaption>Dal Bahadur Karki</figcaption> </figure>  According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 113,500 Bhutanese refugees were resettled in eight countries, including in the US, Australia, Canada, and European nations. The Lhotshampa were denied citizenship over restrictions imposed by the dominant Drukpa community that rules Bhutan. Unlike many others, Karki and Sanmaya refused <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/resettled-former-Bhutanese-refugee-hold-on-to-their-roots,3043">third country resettlement</a> because they still hoped to return to Bhutan some day. So did 72-year-old Nilamaya Rai who waits by her mobile phone to talk to her two sons in the US, but they rarely call. Occasionally, the younger son sends money which supports Nilamaya and her husband. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/far-from-home">Far from home</a> “Ever since I refused to be resettled overseas, and said I wanted to go back to Bhutan, my sons refused to talk to me,” explains Nilamaya. "When I die, neither of my sons will be with me, nor will it be in my own country."  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230531120548_96e8759d55cba41516aebd9e86ac3eb34a5ffd8c90c2300e739bda1433fc58d8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230531120548_96e8759d55cba41516aebd9e86ac3eb34a5ffd8c90c2300e739bda1433fc58d8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1409" height="1061" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutanese refugees"> <figcaption>Nilamaya Rai</figcaption> </figure>  With only elderly people left at the camps, and after the third-country resettlement program was closed in 2016, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121">support for the camps has been cut</a>. UNHCR which had been operating in Jhapa for 28 years closed in 2020. T. B. Rai, secretary at the Beldangi Refugee Camp tells us: “For the remaining refugees to have proper food, they either need to receive money from abroad or break rocks in the Ratua River. Most do not have enough to eat.” The scandal involving hundreds of Nepalis paying hefty sums to senior government officials to get <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/in-a-federal-kleptocratic-republic-of-nepal">fake refugee certification to be resettled in the US</a> has enraged the real refugees about what both Bhutan and Nepal have done to them.&nbsp; Around the refugee camp, there is talk of some genuine Bhutanese refugees who sold their documents to Nepalis. Some say many Nepalis posing as refugees went to the US and other countries when the resettlement started in 2007 to <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/resettled-former-Bhutanese-refugee-hold-on-to-their-roots,3043" target="_blank">the United States</a>, Canada, Australia, <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17868#.Wk3SKlWWbIU" target="_blank">New Zealand</a>, Denmark, Norway, <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-in-united-kingdom-find-stability,1585" target="_blank">the UK</a> and the Netherlands.&nbsp; The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">Beldangi camp in Jhapa</a> still houses 4,966 Bhutanese refugees, 2,688 men and 2,278 women. Only 2,004 renewed their refugee identity cards this year. Translated by Shrijan Pandey from the Nepali original published in <a href="http://himalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">himalkhabar.com</a>

Real refugees want to go back to Bhutan

The fake refugee scandal that is rocking the government is only the latest outrage that Nepalis have witnessed. Indeed, they are so inured to corruption in high places that most have taken it as a given.&nbsp;
But even by the standards of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/in-a-federal-kleptocratic-republic-of-nepal">Nepal’s kleptocracy</a>, this one is blatant in its planning and execution, implicating the very ministries entrusted with internal security, and one that has tainted Nepal’s global standing. It is proof that Nepal’s ruling class has lost its moral compass.
For the moment we can only take some comfort from the fact that Nepal’s independent media is taking its check and balance role seriously at a time when the three other pillars of our democracy are tottering. The Police has also so far been conducting their investigations diligently.
Because of the intense scrutiny by the media, civil society and individual Nepalis on social media platforms, any attempt to prevent the prosecution of the culprits will now be seen as an even bigger crime than the scam itself.
In so many ways, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top">fake Bhutanese refugee scam</a> is a reflection of everything that is wrong with the people who have ruled Nepal since 1991, and they tend to be the same people and parties.
Read on: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top">Rot at the top</a>, Shristi Karki
The attempt to trick desperate Nepalis to pay up hefty sums to go to America when third country resettlement of Bhutanese was closed seven years ago itself speaks to the brazenness of the crime.
As Nepal’s newest MP, Swarmin Wagle of the RSP, put it during a discussion in Kathmandu this week: this is fraud, corruption, human trafficking, transnational organised crime, and sedition, all rolled into one.
“There has been a meticulous legalisation of corruption through amendments in Parliament. So we seem to be creating a corruption-friendly regime,” said Wagle. “Our legal system needs to be able to catch up with those who are corrupt.”
The scam was possible in the first place because Nepal’s legal system allows it. Our Parliament is a farce, the judiciary is guilty of abetting the guilty, and impunity prevails upon the land.&nbsp;
Despite widespread concern, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-s-transitional-justice-and-the-west-s-recalibration">Transitional Justice Bill</a> which allows war criminals to literally get away with murder was rushed through Parliament. It gave a clean chit to Maoists and state-side perpetrators of conflict-era atrocities. The Bill even made the disingenuous distinction between ‘murder’ and ‘extreme murder’.
In 2020, then communication minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/alpha-males">Gokul Baskota</a> was caught on tape soliciting a Rs700 million bribe for a security printing press. Less than two years later in the 2022 November federal elections, Baskota was voted to Parliament from Kavre-2.
There are scandals involving Maoist leaders pocketing compensation money meant for their guerrillas, kickbacks on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/aborted-landing-in-nijgad">international airport deals</a>, payoffs for hydropower licenses. The list is so long it will exceed the word length for this Editorial.
Despite all these elephants in the room, Nepal’s conservative male politicians are obsessed about what RSP MP Sumana Shrestha wears in Parliament. The fact that her t-shirt and Chino was even a topic for discussion exposes not just blatant misogyny, but also a collective inability to discern our priorities and address the real issues affecting Nepalis. The contrast to a male MP who dared disrobe on the floor of the House not being an issue could not have been more stark.
Read on: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/in-a-federal-kleptocratic-republic-of-nepal">In a Federal Kleptocratic Republic of Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki
When impunity is rife and morals become elastic, we cannot fault desperate Nepalis attempting to break the law by trying to make fake refugee documents. 
 The scandals are coming thick and fast. A respected 75-year-old agriculture expert in Khotang is caught in a Setopati exposé abusing girls in a school he founded.&nbsp;
Elsewhere, rapper Balen Shah who campaigned as the voice of the impoverished has since started upsetting the apple cart of street vendors in the name of cleaning up the streets. What happened to his election promise of segregating <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-still-mixing-garbage-with-politics">Kathmandu’s garbage</a> at source?
The media also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/investigation-introspection-and-investment-in-media">needs to self-reflect</a>. Although it was the relentless pursuit of the story <a href="https://ekantipur.com/news/2023/03/27/167988439341418193.html">by Kantipur</a> and other media that the fake refugee scam is throwing up more high profile guilty, the proof of the pudding will be in the persecution of the guilty.
The media cannot be an island of integrity when society has been hollowed out by corruption and wrongdoing. Journalists need to be even more careful to be objective, and not become mouthpieces for the highest bidders. This is even more crucial at a time when populism and ultranationalist sentiments have permeated all sectors of the state.
Sonia Awale

Losing our moral compass

Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck must release Nepali-speaking political prisoners imprisoned for decades for ‘offences against the king, country and people’, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said on Friday. At least 37 prisoners have been detained in Bhutan for decades, with the longest-serving prisoner having been sentenced to life in 1990.&nbsp; 32 of the detainees are Nepali speakers from the Lhotshampa community and were arrested following accusations of opposing discrimination and human rights violations against the Nepali-speaking community. &nbsp;Meanwhile, five prisoners are from the Sharchop community, jailed for their alleged ties to the Druk National Congress party formed in Nepal in 1994 by exiled Bhutanese pro-democracy figures. Amnesty International’s South Asia director Dinushika Dissanayake said that the continued detention of the political prisoners was antithetical to the image of an enlightened and happy kingdom that Bhutan had cultivated globally.&nbsp; “Under Bhutan’s constitution, only King Jigme has the power to grant early release and he should do so without further delay, to end the suffering of these prisoners and their families,” said Dissanayake ahead of King Jigme Khesar’s visit to London to attend the coronation of King Charles III.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/political-prisoners-languish-in-bhutan-s-jails">Political prisoners languish in Bhutan’s jails</a>, Devendra Bhattarai  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230507140528_fa9366a8f42b010cf204b75781bd58b1d1e2157e40356e901138df3143799e8c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230507140528_fa9366a8f42b010cf204b75781bd58b1d1e2157e40356e901138df3143799e8c" data-rendition-name="original" width="494" height="711" loading="lazy" alt="King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan"> <figcaption>King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan. Photo: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS</figcaption> </figure>  Indeed, Bhutan’s constitution allows for its monarch to grant kidu (relief) as well as amnesty, pardon and reduction of sentences. In 1999, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King Jigme Khesar’s father and predecessor, granted amnesty to 40 political prisoners.&nbsp; King Jigme Khesar was born in Nepal and became Bhutan’s monarch at 26 years old in 2006. Last year, he granted amnesty to another prisoner who had been serving a life sentence. Many of the prisoners— who are serving life without parole— were denied due process including their right to legal representation, and were not allowed visits from loved ones.&nbsp; Moreover, former prisoners as well as their family members have recounted prisoners being subjected to torture during their arrest and subsequent trial. They add that prisoners are forced to serve out their sentences without adequate food or accommodation to withstand extreme temperatures. “They [Bhutanese soldiers] arrested us … and for 20 days they treated us mercilessly,” one prisoner recounted to Human Rights Watch. “After that, they prepared a statement as per their own wish and thoughts, not based on what we said.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bhutan-s-refugees-between-hope-and-despair">Bhutan’s refugees between hope and despair</a>, Tek Nath Rizal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230507140528_8ca981c9086244d1818832a0e566c2c5ecedd3a3f1e31bb2835a64c69069e142.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230507140528_8ca981c9086244d1818832a0e566c2c5ecedd3a3f1e31bb2835a64c69069e142" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Former Bhutanese prisoners"> <figcaption>Butanese citizens who were formerly incarcerated at the Chemgang Prison near Thimpu. At least 37 more political prisoners are serving life sentences in Bhutan.</figcaption> </figure>  The prisoners gave their own written statements to a judge upon questioning once they were presented before the district court, but their submissions were disregarded in favour of the ones falsified by the Bhutanese military, the prisoner added. The sister of another prisoner— who has been jailed since 2008— said that her brother was beaten and burned regularly. “When I met him, he was very sad, his eyes were full of tears,” she said. The Bhutan government evicted some 100,000 of Bhutan’s Nepali-speaking citizens in 1991 following the escalation of protests against the Bhutan government’s discriminatory policies in late 1989. Many were subsequently arrested by the Bhutanese authorities when they went back to see relatives left behind. Most of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal were resettled in the US, Netherlands, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and other Western countries. But more than 6,000 Bhutan refugees still remain in Nepal’s refugee camps—some because they want to ultimately return to their homeland, others because they do not have proper documentation and those who were absent from the camps during a refugee census. Experts from the UN in 2019 concluded that although some of the prisoners had been convicted of terrorism, the accusations levelled against them seemed to be unrelated to the charges. The experts added that the prisoners had no possibility of being released unless they were pardoned, recommending for their cases be reviewed for any violations of due process. Said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch: “Bhutan has undergone democratic reforms and made efforts to modernize its legal system since 2008, but these political prisoners received unfair trials that condemned them to spend their lives in prison. The king should close this chapter, show compassion, and free these prisoners now.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">Elderly left in Bhutan refugee camp</a>

Bhutan king must free political prisoners

Political prisoners languish in Bhutan’s jails

<figure><img width="1496" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141136/636cfe809c7e80680e0a0c40jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: T P Mishra</figcaption></figure>Dear छोरी, Congratulations on starting a long and exciting journey by beginning kindergarten today. It was lovely to see you so excited when we dropped you off at school this morning.  My own excitement is a bit subdued due to my concern about the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGMzZWmvE980EZTI4OmEgKzYj2Lxw">Covid-19 pandemic</a> surge in America. I know you will feel uncomfortable wearing that mask all day, but it is necessary to help reduce the risk for yourself and those around you. The environment and circumstances of my school days back in Bhutan were so different from your first day at school today. I was only six in 1990 when I and one of my six siblings were enrolled in the Dokap Primary School near our remote village of Indrachok in Bhutan.  My eldest brother, who never had the chance to go to school himself, carried me on his shoulders during the monsoon when the trails were slippery — 30 minutes downhill and 45 minutes uphill.  I would hold on tight with my hands wrapped around his head as he pushed his way through shrubs and bushes. I would arrive in class bleeding with leeches on my head. I had to pluck them off by sprinkling salt on them. During the monsoon, we always carried pouches of salt in our school backpacks.  At home, we did not have a table, and sat on the floor to eat. I was the youngest, and my job was to feed the family dog, टिके. Thankfully, you have an air-conditioned school bus that pulls up outside our home, ready to take you to your school, which is within easy walking distance here in North Carolina <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHMt0z8b27M2Z1ug7TSEf8x_LJFAQ">where we are now settled.</a> In elementary school, some of the Bhutanese teachers treated me harshly. They used to beat me with sticks because I struggled to learn Dzongkha, the national language. Sometimes they made me stand on one foot with the other foot crossed over the knee.  Classmates were encouraged to laugh at me. I am glad you will be studying in a supportive environment without any such childhood trauma. In 1991, when the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/who-stands-with-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/who-stands-with-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFwujDTI2sbF39yVH4le1KSHDgOrA">Bhutanese regime evicted the Lhjotsampa</a>, my family along with thousands of others were taken by trucks across India and forced into Nepal.  Our refugee camp was on the banks of the holy Kankai River in Jhapa where we spent the next 20 years. Many Bhutanese refugees lost their lives over the years to malaria and other diseases. Two members of our own family died, and I will tell you about them when you grow older. Later, we were moved to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home-for-bhutan-refugees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home-for-bhutan-refugees/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEkuK3F_5c0lAvmbn_XEib0ZK-nvQ">Beldangi-II refugee camp</a> and we could attend school again. The classes were out in the open, in the shade of a large tree. Once, during a storm, a branch fell on my head and I had to rush to the health post for treatment. Corporal punishment was a part of everyday life in the classroom. The intention of the teachers towards students was not bad, it was just the way schools functioned in those days in Bhutan and in the <a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/bhutan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/bhutan/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFFLz8IUijatuHD4noHwATnxLrYYA">refugee camp in Nepal</a>. Our large family lived in a bamboo hut, the roof leaked, and did not have electricity in the refugee camp. We did our homework on the floor next to kerosene lamps.  We used to have lots of homework. We had to memorise long paragraphs at home and then recite them when we were in the classroom the following day.  As a refugee child, I did not have shoes. My parents could not afford them, so I wore flip-flops to school.  Always remember that it is not what you wear on your feet that allows you to take steps in life, it is your inner determination. As a new American, you have a place to call home. You should always be grateful to this country where you were born. The United States gave your parents a chance to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/nyregion/25bhutan.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/nyregion/25bhutan.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHbGYOU59ClcTzQu1BBVTD4I_QUbw">build new lives</a> so that you, too, can enjoy the freedom and citizenship that was denied to us, and to many other peoples around the world today.  Freedom does not mean that you are free from obligations and responsibilities. Never take your freedom for granted. Unlike your parents when they were your age, you will have a roof over your head, you will always have enough food, health care and a sense of belonging. There may be classmates who may be having a hard time, who cannot afford lunch, or who are from refugee families trying to heal from the trauma of war. Your compassion and love will help them as they struggle to make a life in a new place. Share what you have, but do not humiliate others with pity.  Now that you are outside the home, you will probably see things from a different perspective. That is completely normal. I hope you will soon learn to take a stand if you or your friends face bullies. Be kind and generous to others.  Never discriminate against those around you because of the colour of their skin, ethnicity, creed, or any physical difference that sets them apart.  You are starting school even as the people of Afghanistan, especially women there, fear for their lives and are under threat of losing their fundamental rights. I hope you will grow up learning to become the voice of those who cannot speak up for themselves. Culturally, we in Bhutan treat teachers as our second parents. I hope you will carry on that tradition here in the US. We will continue to abide by the language rule: Nepali at home and English at school. As you grow older, I hope the situation will change in our <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFEbjEGZ5Dy0FSpiip7OVuAKH1cXA">motherland Bhutan</a>, so we can go back to trace our ancestral history in the forested mountains of Dagana. When we fled, I hid a plastic bag with my school supplies inside our house because my mother promised we would return home soon. Thirty years have passed, and while we were in the refugee camp in Nepal we learnt that the regime had burnt down our home in Bhutan. That plastic bag with my books must have turned into ashes.  I am sharing these stories from our past for one reason alone — I want you to know where you come from, so that you will make the best of the opportunity that has come your way.  "I will be fine," you assured us right before we dropped you off at your school today. Keep rolling, girl. We cannot wait for you to come home and tell us all about your first day at school.  With unconditional love,  Your बाबा <a href="https://www.bhutannewsservice.org/author/tpmishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bhutannewsservice.org/author/tpmishra/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFYa5h2v_Lg2Seh4UEFLFfQnXbMWA">T P Mishra</a> is the Executive Editor at the <a href="http://www.bhutannewsservice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.bhutannewsservice.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH2qDv01UkeJzPUlTt_GNgWLC-Iyg">Bhutan News Service</a> and is one of the 90,000 Bhutanese refugees resettled in the United States. This article first appeared in <a href="https://letsrethinkthis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://letsrethinkthis.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630465642874000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGALLJGlN2QKRLwavOKHbqh9gQ-Jw">Let’s Rethink This</a>, and is excerpted with permission. <img width="73" height="109" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141136/636cfe839c7e80680e0a0c41jpeg.jpg" alt="">Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp/">Elderly left in Bhutan refugee camp</a>, Mukesh Pokharel

Letter to my kindergarten daughter

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbc69c7e80680e0a0b4fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="808"/><figcaption>Elderly refugees from Bhutan left behind in Nepal by families who have been resettled abroad (from left to right) at Beldangi camp last week: Liladhar Acharya, Dhamala Adhikari, Man Bahadur Rai, and Mekh Tamang. All photos: MUKESH POKHREL</figcaption></figure>Thirty years after they were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/japan-award-for-bhutan-minister-opposed/">driven out of Bhutan</a>, and after spending all that time in camps in eastern Nepal, elderly refugees are by themselves and hope to see their homeland one last time.Dambar Kumari Khatiwada and her husband Kharka Bahadur wait away their days at the Sanischare Refugee Camp just as they have for the past three decades in the same bamboo shed, but now without their two daughters and a son who have been resettled in the United States.“Our children are in the US, but we did not want to go and adapt to a completely new culture again, we want to see our motherland one last time before we die,” says Dambar Kumari. “But we did not realise how difficult it would be for the family to be separated like this.”The couple are among more than 100,000 Nepali-speakers who were <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.YN1-Ny8RoWr">driven out of Bhutan </a>in 1990-91, transported across India and driven into Nepal. Most of them were <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/">resettled in eight countries</a> around the world, nearly <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/camps-for-Bhutanese-refugees-are-emptying-but-some-want-to-return-home,2748">96,000 of them</a> in the United States. But there are still <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/">7,000 refugees left in two camps</a> in Nepal, most of them elderly.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbc99c7e80680e0a0b50jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="686"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Liladhar Acharya is now 75 and all by himself in Beldangi Refugee Camp in Jhapa after his two sons, five daughters and wife all took up the offer to be resettled in America five years ago.“It would have been good if at least one of them had stayed behind, and they tried to convince me to also leave, but I am not going anywhere. Bhutan threw us out, but I still love my country, and I am waiting to go back,” says Acharya, who has preserved receipts of property tax his father and grandfathers paid to the Bhutanese state as proof of citizenship.Dhamala Prasad Adhikari was 40 when his family was forced out of its homestead in southern Bhutan in 1990. His wife, two sons and two daughters also decided to resettle in the US. To stave off loneliness and depression, Adhikari keeps himself busy tending a small garden outside his hut in Beldangi Camp.“I keep myself busy so thoughts don’t play in my head,” he says. “It is a tragedy that our family is on different continents.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbcc9c7e80680e0a0b51jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="462"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Of the 1,400 families still in Beldangi, many are elderly refugees whose families have left. They all complain of loneliness and mental stress, but say that it is most difficult when they fall ill and the family is not around to take care of them.Last year, when 58-year-old Mekh Tamang got sick, he was too weak to even cook for himself, and went hungry for days. His wife, two sons and a daughter are in America, and another son in Canada.“This is the life in the camps, everyone is gone, and even if you fall sick you are by yourself,” Tamang says.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbce9c7e80680e0a0b52jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="811"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>One of them is Bhim Bahadur Gurung, whose mother, father, brother, sister, wife and children are all in the US. He is 50, and we found him bed-ridden on the porch of his hut in the humid heat of the Tarai. “There is no one to even bring me water,” he sighed. “If I die, there will be no one at my funeral.”Bhim Poudel and his handicapped son are the only two members of another family still in camp. Both were infected with Covid-19, Poudel is in intensive care at the BP Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan. His son died last week, but he has not been told yet. There was no one at his son’s cremation.Many of the elderly complain that their families abroad have forgotten them. They have their own lives now, and most of them rarely call. Families blame their elderly relatives for refusing to leave the refugee camps with them.“They never phone, and even when I call they rarely pick up,” says Bhim Gurung. “Maybe they are all busy.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbd19c7e80680e0a0b53jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="682"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Now that support from the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2020/10/5f757f054/hardships-multiply-older-refugees-amid-covid-19-pandemic.html">United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)</a> and others are winding down, the fate of the remaining refugees hangs in the balance. Bhutan has shown no interest in taking them back, the Nepal government has also abandoned them, and they depend on charities.The International Welfare and Support Foundation of America has built a senior citizen home in Sanischare which is already caring for 95 elderly refugees, and another is being set up in Beldangi.“We are registering them, and will take care of the seniors who do not have family here,” says Ram Baniya of the Foundation. “At least they will have each other when they spend time together at the shelters.”

Elderly left in Bhutan refugee camp

Architecture can be a powerful agent of change, shaping not just spaces but the way people live, connect, and experience the world.&nbsp; For Nepal, which is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">gifted by nature</a> and rich in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ambassador-fund-cultural-preservation-nepal,2092">cultural heritage</a>, &nbsp;reviving rural architecture with modern amenities could hold the key to more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">sustainable tourism </a>that benefits local people more. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/bayalpata-hospital-in-nepal-wins-global-design-award">Design and architecture</a> are amazing tools to create a unique experience for visitors,” says Spanish architect Tomeu Esteva of Esteva i Esteva Architecture Studio. “Difficult destinations have beautiful hotels with design and comfort.” Esteva was in Kathmandu with his colleagues at an event organised by the Spanish Honorary Consulate at Dwarika’s Hotel last week to showcase buildings which Nepali architects can adapt with local material and design inputs.&nbsp; Rural architecture holds a unique significance: it is more than a shelter and must reflect <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/inking-an-idenity">local identity, culture</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-humla-from-heritage-loss">heritage</a>. An area’s natural and cultural harmony can be upset by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure?fbclid=IwAR1wK0MDFlFST_2EYb3f54LS4-fPt6rYfLG1DJ1JaQsU3w8-ezyXIxGOqzk">poorly planned development</a>, speakers at the event said, but the environment can be improved and revitalised by well-integrated structures.&nbsp; Another Spanish architect, Belen Moneo, has designed hotels at elevations of 3,700m in her home country Spain that supply natural spring water spas. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/lost-in-reconstruction">Creativity in construction</a> must be encouraged. Rural architecture always shows possibilities of what we can do better,” Moneo explains, adding that designs must enhance <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-healing-power-of-nature">the beauty of nature</a> and give a natural feel at a time when steel, glass and cement dominate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-kathmandu-after-the-1934-quake">urban design</a>.&nbsp; This is why the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/weaving-nature-into-craft">use of natural products</a> such as bamboo, local timber, straw and rammed earth are in demand from customers who want a fresh eco-friendly look encouraged in construction of rural architectural structures. The demand for boutique hotels has increased world over, with &nbsp;more and more tourists favouring aesthetics, experience and comfort over price. While creativity is an important part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/architecture-for-mountains">construction and architecture</a>, incentives to build and use <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Building,370">rural construction materials</a> still remain minimal, and Moneo emphasises the significance of design and execution.&nbsp; Esteva helped design the Vana Retreat in Dehradun that kept the natural environment in focus, with the structure giving an elaborate aesthetic experience to visitors. Another example is Hotel Las Mercedes in the Dominican Republic which was designed and constructed by Moneo and the company she co-founded Moneo Brock, respecting and revaluing the traditional architecture of the area. Hotels providing such experience could attract tourists and revenue. The Spanish ambassador to Nepal Juan Antonio March Pujol said, “The role of architecture and architects in developing tourism is crucial, not only in urban areas but rural settings as well.”&nbsp; The concept of rural boutique hotels gained traction in Spain during the 1990s, particularly in regions like Majorca with economic and environmental sustainability as the main focus. In Nepal <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/guiding-nepal-s-tourism-industry">the tourism industry</a> directly employs about 1 million people, and makes up about 8% of the country’s GDP. In Nepal, the stone homes of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/reviving-himalayan-vulture-and-culture">Mustang and Manang</a>, bamboo and mud structures of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai</a>, and the Kathmandu Valley’s terra cotta tile skylines, graceful temples, and tranquil bahal courtyards are all examples of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs">Nepal’s traditional architecture</a>.&nbsp; Nepali architect Sarosh Pradhan has been working for the past eight years on the Brakka Village project in Manang Valley north of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna">the Annapurnas</a>. Other examples of this kind of rural architecture for high-end tourism are the Shinta Mani Hotel in Mustang and Khumbu Lodge below <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a>. Says Pradhan, “There are places in Nepal that radiate purity and embrace simplicity. Creating projects in such settings require deep reflection and thoughtful planning.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f" data-rendition-name="original" width="4608" height="2184" loading="lazy" alt="A new architecture for Nepal's tourism"> </figure>  Rural architecture is not easy, and sometimes more expensive. Inflation, energy efficiency, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/those-who-stay">the climate crisis</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">increased costs of living</a> pose obstacles to sustainable rural architecture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/forgotten-international-starchitects-in-nepal">Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal</a>, Anne Feenstra and Varun S Bapu Esteva says faith and trust between client and architect is necessary for any project to be successful. He adds that architects must practice being humble, the process of designing always involves learning and not imposing their ideas on clients. Nepal is uniquely positioned for the growth of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hiking-up-the-benefits-of-tourism">rural tourism</a> because of its stunning countryside as well as its internationally renowned traditions in holistic wellness. Creating infrastructure that is small, thoughtfully planned and that respects both tradition and contemporary hospitality standards is crucial. “Projects in Nepal can be made cost effective by using materials from houses that have been brought down,” says Esteva. “Pilot projects involving <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/local-government-by-the-people-for-the-people-of-the-people">local people </a>and simple designing also helps the process.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/vacant-homes-become-homestays-in-nepal">The growth of homestays in Nepal</a> is a step in the right direction, but they are still a bit too rustic for the international traveller who also wants comfort and is willing to pay extra for it. Upgrading the facilities in homestays and ensuring that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-archive-of-nepali-heritage">architectural heritage</a> of the locality is preserved using locally sourced building material could allow owners to charge more. Says Sangita Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotel, “Our effort is to build upon rural architecture by empowering local communities and using what is available locally. We can fine tune and encourage indigenous design and training.” The vision goes beyond just boosting the economy, it is about building a future where tourism helps villages grow in a healthy and lasting way. Instead of using up resources, it gives back to the land and the people. It supports local communities by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/staying-in-nepal-to-create-jobs"> creating jobs</a>, improving infrastructure, and protecting natural beauty. When done right, tourism can be a tool for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/progress-and-or-preservation">preserving culture and nature</a>, not harming them. Architects must therefore see their work as more than just designing buildings, they also need to care deeply about people and places, especially in rural areas that can benefit the most.&nbsp; With global interest in sustainable and off-the-beaten-path travel increasing, Nepal stands at the cusp of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">tourism transformation</a> that values community-driven, eco-conscious hospitality. A mix of modern ideas and traditional knowledge could transform rural tourism in Nepal. Says Shrestha, “Young architects should spend time with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/the-unsung-heroes-of-conservation">local and indigenous communities</a>, listen to their stories, and learn from their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/life-and-livelihood-in-remote-nepal">ways of living</a>. These communities have deep knowledge about the land, materials, and climate. If this wisdom is used in new designs, it can help create tourism spaces that truly benefit everyone.” &nbsp;

A new architecture for Nepal's tourism

Extract from an addendum to Nepal's Two Wars, Chapter 2 in the updated edition of Essays on Nepal: Past and Present by Sam Cowan, a retired British Army general with a long association with the Gurkhas. The book was first published in 2018, and republished earlier this month by FinePrint exclusively on Amazon. The addendum details a one-to-one conversation the author had in the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8884">Royal Palace </a>with the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">King Gyanendra</a> in November 2002 just after he had taken his initial steps on the road that ultimately led to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14681">the abolition of the monarchy</a> in Nepal in 2008. In the early evening of September 16, 2002, in my role as Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas, I had my second and last official audience with King Gyanendra to give him an update on the Brigade’s activities over the previous 12 months. I had some 6 or 7 such audiences with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home">King Birendra</a>.&nbsp; These were official affairs with the British ambassador of the day present, along with key <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12233">palace officials</a> and a representative from Nepal's Foreign Ministry. The two monarchs were very different in character and temperament, but both treated me with the utmost civility and made the audiences as relaxed and easy for me as possible.&nbsp; It is, however, worth recording that when the official business had been covered, King Birendra, with a twinkle in his eye, often ended by asking, “Now General, what’s the gossip in London?” The second audience with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8026">King Gyanendra </a>was my last official act in uniform. We came back to Kathmandu in the first week of November (after treks) to stay for a few nights with our Defence Attaché before heading back to the UK. Waiting for me was a message from the Palace saying that King Gyanendra would like to meet me informally: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6933">no uniform</a> and no ambassador.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="2406" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra crowned page 1"> <figcaption>Nepali Times Special Edition of 6-14 June 2001 with enthronement of Gyanendra. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1857" loading="lazy" alt="Royal massacre"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 22-29 June 2001 covering the royal massacre after which Gyanendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  Although I had no idea what the purpose of the meeting might be, events in Kathmandu since I last saw the king put me on edge. On October 4, 2002, Gyanendra had dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, allegedly for failing to hold <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-goes-on-in-nepal-s-elections">elections</a>. He had put in place a new prime minister and a cabinet personally selected by him. When I heard the news on my travels, the people I met were generally supportive of the king’s actions. There was a general view that something had to be done, the country was going nowhere, and the king deserved his chance, not least to solve<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/14-years-after-conflict-no-closure-in-nepal"> the Maoist </a>problem. Back in Kathmandu, views were not so sanguine. The chosen prime minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, was a relic from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mob-movement-and-mayhem">the Panchayat period</a> whose party had failed to win a single seat in the last elections held in 1999. Some of the chosen cabinet ministers had, to put it mildly, dubious reputations, and others had no record of proven competence in any field. There was a fear that the king’s real motive in dismissing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement">Deuba</a> was to start to reverse the democratic gains made since 1990. I informed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-britain-mark-centenary-of-1923-treaty">the British ambassador</a> about the invitation. He was strongly against accepting it, which was probably the clinching reason for my decision to do the polite thing and accept it. On the evening of November 7, 2002, I presented myself at the royal palace, alone and in civilian attire.&nbsp; As in the past, the Military Secretary, Major General Vivek Shah, met and escorted me into the presence of the monarch. This time, however, he was politely asked to leave the room and shut the door behind him. King Gyanendra greeted me warmly and invited me to sit down.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal"> The ghost of monarchy returns to haunt Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="993" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra coup"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 4-10 February 2005 after king Gyanendra's coup imposed media censorship. anendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  I had wondered, and to be truthful, had worried, not just about the purpose of the meeting, but about how the conversation might start and develop. I reduced my resolve to two points: be polite but speak candidly. The latter resolve was quickly put to the test with the king’s opening words: “Sam, [in previous meetings it had been ‘General’, you walk the highways and byways of this land more than most, tell me what the common man is thinking?” &nbsp;“Your Majesty, I have no idea what they are thinking, but they are waiting.” “Waiting?” “Yes, Your Majesty, they are waiting to see whether what you did some weeks ago in appointing your own prime minister and cabinet ministers is going to make any difference to their lives or whether it is just going to be more Kathmandu hot air.” “Everything is going to be difficult and is going to take time, a lot of time.” “Your Majesty, time is the one thing you don’t have. You must act quickly and decisively to take advantage of the opportunity you have created. Everyone knows that you have appointed these new ministers. Why don’t you get them in here one by one and tell them that they have three months to deliver a programme in their area of responsibility that is going to make a difference to people’s lives? Most will fail to do so. Sack them! It will be a powerful signal of your strong intent to deliver real change.” I can express the opening of our conversation in this way because just about every word is still etched in my mind. The king’s response to my last quoted words was to challenge me to give an example of something that could be delivered quickly. I can give a verbatim record of what I said in response to this unexpected challenge: “Health posts, Your Majesty, there is no shortage of them throughout the country as building them has been one of the sources of local corruption, but very few have any medicine to issue at present or have skilled people to assess and meet medical needs. Your Majesty, children are dying for lack of a few pills. Given the right priority, over a period, say of six months, every health post could be fully stocked with medicine and manned with trained people. This is something I could help to lead for you as I know it would have strong international backing. At last, people would know that you mean business.” As I warmed to the theme, I could see no sign of the king having any enthusiasm for the idea, and I quickly disengaged as it dawned on me, as it had clearly dawned on the king, that the reason for the deficiencies in health posts was to prevent any Maoist combatant from gaining access to any <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/tech-away/nepal-s-health-tech-industry-is-here-to-stay">medical support</a>, and if this meant people suffering, so be it. The subject of the Maoist insurgency inevitably came up, and I took the opportunity to elaborate on what is written in the final four paragraphs of the article above. I advised King Gyanendra that, self-evidently, since there were three parties in the conflict—him, the Maoists, and the political parties—it was imperative that he form an alliance with one of them, preferably the political parties; otherwise, he would find himself isolated, as the other two parties would inevitably, at some stage, form their own alliance. However, it quickly became apparent that the king’s mind was on a totally different track. On the Maoists, he told me that he had channels open to them, but he was scathing about the political party leaders. He made it clear that they would be waiting for a very long time before he gave any power back to them, and that is a polite way of expressing the actual words he used, but “crawling through the door” is a phrase which has stuck in my mind.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1317" loading="lazy" alt="fall of monarchy"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 28 April-3 May 2005 with cover image by Ajay Joshi of jubilant protesters after street demonstrations sidelined king Gyanendra, paving the way for a ceasfire and restoration of democracy. </figcaption> </figure>  As the conversation developed, it became ever clearer that King Gyanendra had decided to go in alone, relying on the misleading assurances he was constantly receiving from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14954">the army</a>, and no doubt his close advisers, that the Maoists could and would be quickly defeated militarily, and taken out of the equation. This would obviate the need for him to do any deal with the political parties.&nbsp; Thus, the way would be clear for him to establish a version of his father’s Panchayat system, under a constitution that would be granted to the people by him, their sovereign, as his father and brother had done in 1962 and 1990. As in those constitutions, ultimate power would have remained in the sovereign’s hands. This proposed direction of travel was very clear from what the king said to me. In sum, King Gyanendra was motivated by a desire to emulate his immediate predecessors by granting his people a constitution that would restore his father’s Panchayat system in a modern form and give him a central role in decision-making. What was particularly dispiriting was that beyond this single objective he had no plan worthy of the name, nor demonstrably did he have the people with the skills to implement an appropriate plan even if one had existed. Crucially and depressingly, there was little or no indication from the king that he realised that such a course of action could put Nepal’s monarchy into serious jeopardy, as indeed proved to be the case. <h2>King Twice</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="632" loading="lazy" alt="“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”"> </figure>  <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah has been king twice</a>. In 1950 he was enthroned briefly as a child king (left, above) by the Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher when his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, fled to exile in India. In 2001 he was crowned king again after the massacre in the royal palace in which his brother King Birendra and nine other members of his family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra.&nbsp; During his second reign, Gyanendra gradually asserted power by sacking Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002, and then taking full control after the 1 February 2005 coup. He was sidelined after the ceasefire in April 2006, and became a commoner after the Constituent Assembly finally <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Ftnp-abolishing,624">abolished the monarchy in 2008</a>. In the past year, Gyanendra has tried to exploit public dissatisfaction with the political parties to restore the monarchy.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788.jpg" data-media-id="editor_22" data-image-id="20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Essays on Nepal by Sam Cowen"> </figure>

“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”

“It's Kathmandu.” Just as the family was sitting down for one of its extended lunches, that jubilant cry was from François Driard’s grandfather announcing the next posting for his diplomat parents.&nbsp; Driard (pictured) was 18 in the summer of 1996,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/suburban-tales/chasing-a-nomad"> a bit of a hippie</a> already, and his life was about to change forever with the magical word “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu</a>”. “I was awed with that information from my grandfather, nothing else mattered … In France <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/tales-of-courage-and-suffering-cx95f89e">in the 1990s</a>, Kathmandu had a mythical aura,” Driard recalls. He came to Kathmandu for Christmas that year to visit his stepfather, the French Ambassador Michel Lummaux. It was to be the first of many visits during school holidays, before he decided to permanently settle down in Nepal. “Kathmandu, and Nepal, were very different then, it was magical, I liked the nature, the people, civilisation, temples, trees,” says Driard, who explored the country sitting on the top of buses. “Visitors talk about the crazy <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">urbanisation</a>, traffic jams today, and all that is true. But Kathmandu has not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/loss-of-soul-and-soil">lost its soul</a>.” After his stepfather’s tenure in Nepal ended, Driard worked as a business reporter for international publications but decided he did not want to be anyone’s employee anymore. In 2007 he landed in Kathmandu with €20,000 in savings to invest.&nbsp; He knew a few crucial things about himself: he liked food and nature, which is very much tied up with his upbringing--full of lively conversations during lunch and dinner at the family table between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-yak-cheese-is-on-world-map">abundant cheese, wine and cigars</a>. So he decided it would be cheese, and registered Himalayan French Cheese and went to the French Alps for a month to learn how to make Tomme de Savoie. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-story-of-langtang-cheese">Cheese making is such an ancient craft </a>and so I thought I won’t need much money or studying which I hated and indeed, if you have a tamako bhado and fire you are set,” explains Driard. But Nepal’s temperature and humidity were not ideal, even at higher altitudes. The first customers for his cheese were the Hyatt Regency and Nina and Hager. But he needed to create a market for cheese in a country which only knew hard churpi in the north and soft paneer in the south. He started selling his cheeses at the Summit Hotel weekend market, expanding to his own 1905 Farmer’s Market which later moved to Le Sherpa in Maharajganj, where it is now, and also a market at Labim Mall in Pulchok. He had cow dairies in Nuwakot and Dhulikhel, and finally a yak cheese unit at 3,379m in Ramechhap. It was the yak blue cheese from here that went on to win a Gold Medal in France, putting Nepal’s French cheese on the world map. “People come and try our cheese at the market, they ask questions. There is a lot of education to be done about cheese,” adds Driard, who also has three cheese shops in the Valley. Driard now makes 25 types of cheese. The products are being noticed and every year he has French students coming to Nepal to learn the art of yak cheese making. “In France, one family or company makes one kind of cheese for generations. In that I’m very unique as a cheese artisan,” he says. “The students come in to learn but I tell them to also teach us something too, add another cheese to my collection.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/langtang-after-10-years">Langtang after 10 years</a>, Sonia Awale Being a foodie, Driard is now also dabbling in meat with his own charcuterie at Meatini with bacon, ham, sausage and pâtés. All of this is now served at his Emilio’s Pizza, a leafy hideaway in Lazimpat. His South Side in Moksh is probably the smallest wine bar in the world. “I call the process sublime,” says Driard of his ventures, which have grown organically. “You need the same temperature and humidity of 12°C and 80% for cheese, meat and wine.” Emilio’s speciality is the eight-cheese pizza (which has eight types of cheeses), and a pizza with bhutan topping (not the country but fried intestines and organs Nepali-style). He has opened a small branch at Courtyard in Pokhara.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="8 cheese pizza"> <figcaption>Eight-cheese pizza</figcaption> </figure>  With two artisanal cheese units, two farmers’ markets, a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-meat-of-the-story">meat processing unit</a>, a bakery, and wine bar he now envisions a vineyard so he can add Nepali wine to his repertoire. Another future plan is to start up an agri-tourism business where customers can drink, eat and work in peace. In the past 20 years in Nepal, Driard has not always succeeded in his ventures but this hasn’t curbed his enthusiasm. He is learning as he goes, and like an old wine, Nepal is growing on him. Its slowness suits his French art de vivre with eating slowly outdoors, having conversation, importing less.&nbsp; “I have proven that with even a little money you can do a lot of things in Nepal,” adds Driard. “In the West, they easily invest half a million euros on a cheese factory, I invested 10 times less.”&nbsp;

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