Archive for March, 2011
It was 7:22 am when fire broke out in one of the houses in Goldhap. The blowing wind carried the flame from hut to hut. The fire became uncontrollable. In ninety minutes, 512 huts out of 605 were reduced to ashes. Fire brigade was called. They moved into action and yet they could not arrest the fast spreading fire. Along with the huts our Child Play Centre and Youth Friendly Centre were totally consumed by fire and nothing could be salvaged.All the materials in our Palliative Care Centre were burnt out. The fire also engulfed the Health Centre run by Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) Nepal.
The Caritas/JRS Nepal team was the first to reach Goldhap and be with the victims of fire. As our school has brick wall and tin sheet roofing, it was not affected. Hence it has become now the shelter for about 3,800 people displaced by fire […]
The day was March 22. It is hard to believe that two fire accidents could take place on the same day in two refugee camps. From all information collected in both the camps, it was accidental and not purposely done. It was 7:22 am when fire broke out in one of the houses in Goldhap. […]
The journey for the third day was mainly a steep downhill slope, and with a significantly heavy bag-pack, it wasn’t easy to balance ourselves. We knew we were closer to our destination comparatively, but because we were from different villages, quite far apart, our route had to bifurcate at some point. The point, still at a distant, we were convinced that we would not reach there in the day light. From the day we penetrated into the forest, we never encountered a human being, but at least now, we started seeing some cattle graze in the pastures […]
BY DHRUVA MISHRA: Political discrimination and ethnic victimization by the Bhutanese feudal system is not new. In fact, the rulers so cleverly formulate the laws and statutes that criticism of government policies is automatically prohibited. The rise of people’s voice has always given them fear and insecurity and put their ambitions at stake. From the arrest of Tek Nath Rizal in 1988, to the recent arrest and imprisonment of Prem Singh Gurung, a Christian activist; incidences of arrests and inhuman treatment to the minorities in Bhutan, on the basis of political or religious beliefs, has remained routine. Gurung was arrested for screening movies on Christianity and has been sentenced to three years’ in prison by a District Court; on charges of attempting to promote a civil unrest […]
I feel greatly honored and privileged to stand in front of you all today and say a few words about the Bhutanese and their struggle for existence in the third countries. Bhutan, a tiny country, situated between the emerging superpowers of India and China, hailed by some as ‘the last Shangri-La’, has generated one of […]
The Supreme Court has ruled that the government violated the Constitution by raising taxes without seeking the Parliament’s approval. This is a landmark verdict. But the verdict should not be seen as a loss for the government. Nor should it be seen as a win for the opposition party. In fact it should be seen, […]
As per an open request posted in his blog by Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay on February 14, a person called Kinley Shering has started “amend the tobacco control act” in one of the most powerful media, the facebook. As of Sunday, the group has 244 members, including the OL and executive director of Bhutan Media […]
The government on Tuesday ruled out the immediate possibility of dissolving. Addressing a press gathering in the capital yesterday, Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley asked people to remain assured that his government would not leave in the middle. PM Thinley, who criticized courts that ruled against the government move on taxation last month, said he […]
The first constitutional case, which dragged on for months, served as a litmus to all the democratic institutions. It was no exception for the Bhutanese media, or so Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley said. During the press conference yesterday, where he declared the government will stay on, Lyonchhoen said the media should go beyond the […]
BY JIGMI Y THINLEY: The Tobacco Control Act and the sentencing of former monk, Sonam Tshering, have been blown out of proportion. I sympathize with the sentiments of the people who are affected by the severity of the sentence and believe that it is important to provide a clear perspective on the issue.
What has been overlooked by the media and some sections of the Bhutanese population is that the Tobacco Control Act, introduced in the National Council (NC) by the Ministry of Health, debated in both the NC and the National Assembly (NA) was enacted by parliament with all members of the NC having voted in […]
