The Bhutanese rebuts DPT’s accusations

Posted On June 25, 2013

The Bhutanese would also like to rebut some misleading clarifications given by DPT leaders with regard to the Education City Story.

The first is by the Ex-Education Minister who alleged that the Editor-in-Chief of the paper had told him that the minister did not own any land. It is true that the Editor told the former minister that he did not own five acres there as alleged by an anonymous website. But the Editor did inform him that his wife had bought 50 decimals of land there. The ex-minister’s response on this is mentioned in the original story. The paper as part of its normal procedure on sensitive stories had recorded the conversation for accuracy, evidence and record keeping. Now given the allegations by the ex-minister the tape will be open for public examination.

The ex-minister alleged that his wife had been ambushed on the phone by The Editor who revealed his identity “only later in the course of the conversation”. This again is untrue as the recorded conversation is for around 6 minutes. As per the tape the Editor revealed his identity within the first 20 seconds of the conversation. This tape will also be open to the public domain.

The same tape will also reveal the former-Education minister’s wife saying that the ex-minister did know of the land transaction and in fact went to get the Nu 500,000 loan for it. It also says that a legal agreement has been signed selling the land.

On alleged party supporters distributing The Bhutanese for free it is not the concern of the paper who buys our papers and distributes it as long as it is legally sold. The Bhutanese has in fact received information that supporters of another party have been buying the paper in bulk from outlets to prevent it being seen by other readers. We appeal to both parties to let consumers make their own choice.

The DPT has also said that the Education City site was identified by the Royal Education Council and it had no role in its selection. The Bhutanese has formal and recorded interviews with staff from DHI Infra saying that DHI during the tenure of the DPT government had looked at various options across Bhutan which were presented to the Empowered Group headed by the former MoWHS minister. It is also mentioned in the tape that a site in Khotokha in Wangdue Phodrang was also a viable option. This lengthy tape too is open for public examination.

The basis for saying that Ex-Prime Minister, Ex-Speaker and also Ex-MoWHS Minister’s wife has land near and around the Education city is based on documentary evidence like the 2008 General Election Asset declaration by candidates that were printed in Kuensel, Bhutan Times and Bhutan Observer in mid March 2008. These documents will also be released into the public domain. Further confirmation on the land’s latest status can be taken from the National Land Commission land records and the upcoming Asset declaration of candidates. The story already mentions that except for the Ex-Education Minister the PM and Speaker’s land was bought in 1978 and Ex- MoWHS minister’s wife’s land was inherited.

The Bhutanese would like to clarify once and for all that it not affiliated with any party in anyway and none of its owners are related to or support any politician. The Bhutanese and its Editor-in-Chief has done numerous stories both against PDP supporters and DPT. The Bhutanese as mentioned in its Editorial Policy and recent Editorial will treat any other party that comes into power now or in the future with the same yardstick.

The Bhutanese also does not have any links with anonymous social media sites and appeals to the DPT to stop popularizing and giving credibility to such sites by constantly mentioning them and comparing it to established newspapers.

It is a matter of concern that a prospective future Prime Minister cannot distinguish between a credible newspaper that deals in facts and evidence and an anonymous website. The Bhutanese in fact instead of corroborating the anonymous website said that most of the website’s information on Education City was not true and was exaggerated thereby clearing the name of many other DPT leaders and supporters.

The Bhutanese would like to point out that the paper has always done stories based on facts like Gyelpozhing which have been proven true both by ACC and the High Court despite similar denials.

The Bhutanese has nothing against DPT and its members and appeals to them to stop dragging a paper that has proved its credibility time and again into dirty politics. The paper otherwise will be forced to take up much tougher and longer lasting legal measures against everybody involved.