April 27,Demanding their issues to be raised on the 16th South Asian Association for Regional cooperation ( SAARC) submit going to be held in Bhutan on April 28 and 29, Bhutanese refugees has begun protest today.
Protest lead by Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation Support Group (BRRSG), Bhutanese Elderly Refugee Repatriative Committee (BERRC) is organized at Beldangi and Khudunabari refugee camps. Refugees sit-in demonstrate in front of Refugee coordination Unit, Nepal government‘s representative office in camp.
Coinciding the submit,support group has send a memorandum to Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh requesting to mediate refugee issue through Indian embassy Kathmandu today.
Similarly Bhutanese refugee leaders participated in a seminar on right to repatriation of Bhutanese refugees organized by south Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) and Bhutanese Elderly Refugee Repatriative Committee at Bitamode Jhapa.
Whereas, six leaders among eight has reached to capital today, when one and half day left for submit.The first one to arrive in Thimphu was Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse. Rajapakse, who reached here this Monday, remained busy like other leaders in bilateral meetings yesterday.
Meanwhile, the fifth regional meet of South Asia Free Media Association ended in Paro yesterday. Altogether 174 journalists from SAARC countries took part in the regional gathering.
Organizers responsible to provide logistics to media persons are finding tough to allocate seats for some 300 journalists since the media gallery in NA hall just contains 106 seats.
When no seats are available, journalists will be allowed to enter the hall only when their leaders address the summit.
Enough property, land and
prestigious life of Kadel family in Burma (Myanmar) were always a source of
jealous for his neighbors. Kewal R. Kadel’s mother was a self-learned spiritual
jumping doctor (a woman who treats patient by praying and playing with the
ghosts; believed in the conventional Nepali society). They earned a big cash
and metallic wealth like gold, silver, brass, etc by treating sick people in
their locality. This made kadel’s family miss the feeling of pains and
sufferings while in Burma
during 1940s.
But nobody can predict the future. History of Black days for
Nepali ehnic people started in Myanmar,
Burma.
Suppression on Nepali ehnic Burmese during 1940s led a large number of Burmese
leave their country. Kewal, his mother, elder brother and sister had to leave not
only their land and property but their identity too.
And who knows all happiness is looted in no seconds. Sudden
bomb blasts from the sky terrified the province people. Burma – Japan conflicts
were on the horizon. Army fighters both in the sky and land were bombing and
firing which marked a big question in the lives of thousands of Burmese people.
All the bridges and entry-exit ways of the country were sealed. Kewal Ram and
his family dug an ‘L’ shaped pit under the ground and stayed there for twelve
months. But no signal of war conclusion was sensed.
They freed all their animals and
fare welled all the home workers. They kept all their property under the
ground. Tela Kadel, wife to Kewal Ram says, “Kewal Ram used to say; if I get chance
to visit my birth place ever, I would take out all those properties”.
With no transportation, a five year old child Kewal
desperately joined a very long, painful and tiresome journey to India with his
family by foot. The earth and the grass, the green water on the lake, the trees
near and far off hills, and the rocks and mountains were their friends along
their journey. It was a long way walk of two months to reach India. Along
with the Kadel family, a large number of Nepali ehnic Burmese moved to somewhere,
where they were themselves unknown of their destination.
Everyone’s legs were heavy. “But…”, Kewal’s eldest son Devi
Charan says, “…my father used to say that they felt a sense of being together
in a group sharing each others’ sorrows”. They inhaled peace slowly putting
themselves together along their way.
However, there were, for Kewal, no other options to escape
or avoid the unbearable pains of sharp pebbles and thorns on their way.
After all pain and sufferings, Kadel and many other families
who arrived India
were in halfway house to decide their final destination. As days passed some
choosed to go to Assam,
some to Megalaya, some to Sikkim
and Manipur and many other states of India. Among them, a large group
entered Nepal.
Still a group of Burmese refugees are found in Kakarvitta, Jhapa Nepal.
During their six months stay in India, Kewal’s elder brother left
mother and sister with him and vanished in Assam, India. The then, he never met his
brother. “But.”, his eldest son Devi Charan stressed, “…he felt his brother’s
affection when he met his sister inlaw in Nepal.
Kewal’s family then decided to spend rest of their life in Bhutan, a tiny
Himalayan country in South East Asia. Again
the same pain repeated, it took almost one whole month for their foot to reach Bhutan. They
were relieved when they reached Dagana district in Bhutan; a place which they called
their HOME.
Monarch – Tyrannical rule again ended up Kadel’s stay in Bhutan after
five decades of their entry into Bhutan. Democratic movement in 1990
AD demanding Human Rights and democratic systems in the country led one lakh
Nepali ethnic southern Bhutanese (Lhotshampas) migrate to Southern
Nepal as refugees. Kewal Ram with his four sons and five daughters
had to leave their mother (died) and sister (married) in Bhutan itself.
Miracles of his life sometimes may be distrust for somebody.
When Kewal Ram’s family entered Timai refugee camp in Nepal, the
other Burmese refugees were in Kakarvitta. (These two refugees are
approximately in distance of 20 kilometers). With the flow of time Kewal and
many other who entered Nepal
had a number of sons and grandsons. He became old and was suffered by asthma
and was in bed for almost one and a half decade. It was in July 2004 that his
physical existence left the earth. He struggled throughout his life to have
HOME but couldn’t. This credit is now left on his son’s shoulders.
Kadel family lived for around two decades in exile as refugees
in Nepal.
Finally, through resettlement program Kewal’s eldest son Devi Charan with his
family immigrated to Richmond,
Virginia state of USA in June
2008 followed by his other brothers. Devi Charan says, “ this long journey of
migrating country to country for safe and home, will definitely end now because
USA is believed to be a safe country where every people has equal rights and
nobody suppresses no one”. After a long breath he again added, “We have a
dignified life here”.
Devi Charan’s words are some of many sorrowful stories of
refugees around the world struggling for a safe place called HOME where they
can stay permanently with no pressures.
After a moment of thought for the concluding lines Devi
Charan concludes, “…let no generations pass a refugee life as we did”.
