Don’t be frog of a pond.
Very recently, Gopilal Acharya sent me a invitation to see and submit Bhutanese blogs for a new site that probably be created by himself bhutanblogs.com. It was an interesting initiative to access the real strength of current Bhutanese generation on telling their personal experiences to the world.
The most amazing fact that he presented on the blog is what Bhutan and Bhutanese means? So far he has mentioned only one blog from the dissident groups and his presentation for this seems he still lives in the bogey Bhotey rulers created years ago.
I know, Bhutan has not changed and those living under strict surveillance of the absolute regime still fear talking about the refugee issue. I don’t know if Acharya has his relatives in camps or in resettled countries but Nepalis in Bhutan have and it has already been boon to seek financial assistance from their resettled relatives abroad though their tone to blame these refugees as instruments of greater Nepal has not net faded out. Acharya has that tone too.
Greater Nepal is hallucination created by Indian intelligence since many years, but it surfaced most importantly after Gorkhaland movement in late 1980s. While demand for cultural and linguistic rights in Bhutan became a mission of greater Nepal in Bhutan, its fearful to talk about greater India even when India controls the Bhutanese military, stations over 100,000 army personnel in Bhutan, directly interferes into national affairs, indirectly controls national economy and natural resources and the foreign policy. It doesn’t become greater India mission when Indian edition of oxford dictionary says Bhutan is a protectorate of India.
If a journalist who influences national debate on critical issues survives on the illusion created by tyrants, it takes another few decades for Bhutanese to get out of the rulers’ grip and enjoy real freedom. I am aware that people who really understand the refugee issue still fear talking about it. Even those who have gone overseas for studies fear talking about that. However, they must by now know that they are far from attaining freedom in real sense should they continue with the cliché they learned under direct command of Wangchuks.
While bhutanblogs says it includes all blogs that tell stories about Bhutan, the list mostly speaks about blogs created by Bhoteys. Acharya, to abide by journalistic ethics of impartiality, must understand that it is not only the Bhoteys who tell stories of Bhutan. He must understand what exactly Bhutanese means and what it covers. The world has recognized, even the JVT in Khudunabari for instance, that what they call people in the camps are Bhutanese.
Don’t be frog of a pond.