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Vol. 4, July 2017
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Editor SpeaksThe Question of Identity
A huge tree’s identity lies in the seed from which it sprouted to become so big. The fifty families invited to Bhutan under the friendship treaty between Bhutan’s theocratic ruler Shaddrung Nawang Namgyel and the Gorkha king Ram Shah are the seed of our identity. The year was 1824 and these Gurkha families were deployed to clear the malaria infested forest in south Bhutan where they eventually began cultivation and settled there. They paid their taxes, actively participated in the nation building, constructing roads, buildings and working in government run offices and schools. In the decades that followed hundreds of Nepali speaking people moved into Bhutan from India, Sikkim and Nepal. No wonder the Indian Viceroy, Lord Curzon, in his report to the Queen of England wrote ‘Bhutan is fast becoming a Gurkhali state.’
Our identity has always been intact. First we are ethnically Nepali and an ethnic group will identify with that ethnicity no matter which ever part of the world he or she is. We are Nepali speaking Bhutanese. During the early nineties when the Bhutanese authorities were hell bent on terming us as Nepalis from Nepal or illegal immigrants, the world human rights watch dog Amnesty International published its report wherein it said– Human Rights Violation Against the Nepali Speaking Population in the South. That was a fitting response to the misinformation campaign launched by the Bhutanese authorities misusing our identity. There are more than 200,000 Nepali speaking Bhutanese living in Bhutan. But has their rights and fundamental freedom been secured and guaranteed? How long should the culture of subjugation and living life akin to captives and slaves go on? Do the national symbols represent their identity? With what level of patriotism will they bow down before the nation’s flag which is purely a symbol of the Drukpa Kagyupa sect? It is not secular. It only represents the aspiration of one group of people – the ruling class. It is very important that we live the life in reality and not in the imaginary world which will bring nothing but hallucination. It is an irony that the land which likes to call itself a Buddhist monarchy and worships the Buddha has been shamelessly suppressing the very brethren of the Buddha himself. Because Buddha is born in Nepal, we are rightfully the descendants of his generation. Let us be fair enough to ourselves and say we are Nepali speaking Bhutanese. Those of us who are citizens of the United States can proudly say we are Nepali Bhutanese American. This is the identity with which we live and hopefully for many times in the future. The idea of a nation must encompass unity in diversity with a sense of tolerance and goodwill for one another. This feeling must be allowed to blossom not crush it in the bud. There has been a concept afloat about an inclusive government which takes into account representation from different groupings of people that inhabit a nation. This is the most scientific approach for ideal governance. No one is going to lose by that. The nation is going to win. Nations are taking steps to change their national anthem or other symbols and declare secularism in order to tune it the present time and expectations. Therefore, it is time the authorities in Bhutan adhere to these dictates of reason and wisdom and pave way for a vibrant nation called Bhutan where democracy will be an art of thinking independently together with freedom sans fear. - Dilip Bishwo |
Suspension of 'Dinner with BCI'Dinner with BCI, a fundraising program, has been suspended for now owing to minimal guest participation and less probability of more participation in the future. This program has been organized in the last Friday of every month for two months. It was marked with series of program including speeches, cultural dances and of course the Indo-Nepali delicacies served. It is unfortunate that that we have to suspend this program because this was also a medium to let the American public know about the pains and tragedy of the Nepali Speaking Bhutanese that drove them out of the country to the United States. It is hoped that this program will come back again in the future with renewed vigor and planning. |
Message from our Supporter
Sgt. Doua Lor # 4898 Asian outreach resource officer Des Moines Police Department 25 E 1st Street, Des Moines, IA 50309 |
Mr. Tilak Bahadur Gurung:
First of all, I want thank you to you and the BCI Board for having me on board as one of your Board Advisory and be a part of your community. I do regret very much for missed your open ceremony a couple months ago. I want to congratulate to you and all of the BCI Boards along with your community for form Bhutanese Community in Iowa organization (BCI) to serve your community and built relationship with other entity in the State of Iowa. As a newly refugee to this country, I know sometime life can be scary due language barrier. I was a refugee myself from Laos back in the late 1970 and I feel it. I want to share something with you and your community. Always, remember that this country is about opportunity. Opportunity to educate yourself, your children and getting a good job to raise your family. However, opportunity had to come with hard work to succeed on what you have dream or passion to do. I want to let you know that your boards had done exceptional job for servicing your community since day one that I have meet with a couple of you for the past couple years. I want to encourage you and your boards to continue your passion to serve your community no matter what obstacle is in your way. Following your dream and do what is right for the people that you love and for the unfortunate one. Lastly, a very simple reminder to you and your boards that it will take a lot of people to build a strong foundation and once it built, you must keep it going to benefit the 99 percent people that believe in you. Once again, congratulation to all of you for job well done to benefit your community and other. With Respect, Sgt. Doua Lor, Asian Outreach Resource Officer |
BCI Projects & Services at a glance
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Participation in our Projects in the month of June, 2017
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No. of Clients served in the month of June, 2017
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SERVICES: The regular services to the community are being provided as per need. They include Green card application, benefit application like food, Medicaid and SSI, Citizenship application, Job application, resume writing, translation and interpretation. The BCI invites all the members of our community to take advantage of these facilities free of cost. Please call the BCI office to set up an appointment. Ph. 515-418-9718
AcknowledgementBCI Receives Material Donations
The Bhutanese Community in Iowa gratefully received generous material donations from the following organizations and agencies : United Way of Central Iowa: Computers and chairs. IMPACT: Filing Cabinet Des Moines Public School: Stationery Heavenly Path: 15 Chairs World Financial Group: 15 Chairs Bhutanese Hindu in Iowa: 1 Desktop Computer BABSI: 1 Printer Ray of Hope Inc. : 1 Table Kirat Society in Iowa: 1 Rostrum Manav Dharma: 1 Steel Cupboard VNS Office : Cubical Office Set Up Kathmandu Restaurant: Internet Services Besides these, there are several other individuals who have supported us with donations in cash and kind. We'd like to take this time to acknowledge them for their generous support and contributions. |
Did you know...?The BCI has four sister organizations called faith groups and they have their representatives in the Board of Directors. These faith groups besides effectively carrying out their respective activities are also instrumental in carrying forward the aims and objectives of the umbrella organization the BCI. The great leaders in these groups are Bel Chhetri & Tika Bhandari in Bhutanese Hindu in Iowa, Hari Subba of Kirat Society of Iowa, Bhim Gurung & Kamal Gurung of Bhutanese American Buddhist Society of Iowa and Buddhiman Gajmer of Ray of Hope Inc.
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World Refugee Day celebration
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The World Refugee Day celebration, Des Moines, was held on June 10 at the Callanan Middle School between 10 am to 2:30 pm. The Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa [RACI] organized this colorful event with participation from most of the refugee originating countries in Africa and Asia. To name a few: Burma, Cambodia, South Sudan, Sudan, Bhutan, India, Iraq, Erithrea etc. The theme of the event was to highlight the situation of the refugees and to exchange and preserve the rich culture the refugees bring with them and support the new refugees coming in to the United States.
The program was marked with a country-wise display of their traditional dresses, cultural food and a display at the booth. The Bhutanese Community in Iowa displayed its cultural items through a booth and also exchanged food with the other groups present on the occasion. There was free food for all participants. The BCI also presented two cultural dance items. As an offshoot of the celebration, the RACI is organizing a demonstration with the soccer tournament on July 8 at Valley Community Center between 9 AM – 5 PM It is anticipated that a similar program, Refugee Summit, being organized in October this year, will allow for an opportunity to present the case of refugees. The BCI hopes that the summit will not only talk about the welfare of the refugees but also about the injustices they have undergone in the hands of authorities in Bhutan. |
VOICES OF VICTIMS: A SPECIMEN OF RACIST REPRESSION IN BHUTAN
My name is Bishnu Khanal. I hail from Samrang in south Bhutan. I lived with a six-member family owning four acres of agricultural land. We had thirty fruit-bearing arcanut trees besides twenty cattle. We had abundant food crops which we could even sell for our income. Formerly, we owned our landed property in Lamidara which was destroyed by flood and the government allotted us the land in Samrang.
My family lived in Khudunabari refugee camp in Sector E3 in Hut no. 1. Here in Iowa, we have our house in 5421 Porter Avenue, 26th Street.
I used to work as a cook in primary school, first in Samrang and then in Dalim. I resigned from Dalim School because of economic reasons. When I reached home I found out that here was movement going on. Army and police surrounded the village. There had already been unrest because of dropping off of Nepali language in schools, compulsion to wear the Drukpa dress and our daughters and sisters were forced to cut their hair short to show up to their ears.
My father was threatened to leave the country. They hatched out a conspiracy in my family. They did a census on us categorizing all others as F1 and my mother as F2 which means she is a foreigner. This implied my family cannot be together. In the meantime, there was acceleration of atrocities in the form of arrest, torture, rape and imprisonment. When we could no longer bear the situation, we fled out of country.
My family lived in Khudunabari refugee camp in Sector E3 in Hut no. 1. Here in Iowa, we have our house in 5421 Porter Avenue, 26th Street.
I used to work as a cook in primary school, first in Samrang and then in Dalim. I resigned from Dalim School because of economic reasons. When I reached home I found out that here was movement going on. Army and police surrounded the village. There had already been unrest because of dropping off of Nepali language in schools, compulsion to wear the Drukpa dress and our daughters and sisters were forced to cut their hair short to show up to their ears.
My father was threatened to leave the country. They hatched out a conspiracy in my family. They did a census on us categorizing all others as F1 and my mother as F2 which means she is a foreigner. This implied my family cannot be together. In the meantime, there was acceleration of atrocities in the form of arrest, torture, rape and imprisonment. When we could no longer bear the situation, we fled out of country.
Human rights educator
Article 19: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
The BCI Journal
Published by: The Bhutanese Community in Iowa (BCI) | 4121 SE 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50320 | bci@bhutaniowa.org
