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(File Photo)
Bhutanese monarch, Jigme Singye Wangchuk |
A Bhutanese human rights group has appealed the government of India to exert pressure upon Bhutanese King, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, when he visits Delhi to grace the function of Indian Republic Day as its chief guest later this month.
In a statement issued Tuesday, People’s Forum for Human Rights and Development (PFHRD), a Kathmandu-based Bhutanese rights group, said it is high time that the government of India takes up the issue with the visiting King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck on January 26, 2005 to resolve an issue that keeps on denying the right to return to over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees and the right to governance to the Bhutanese people living inside the country.
“The largest democracy in the world should not hesitate to take up the issue with the Bhutanese monarch as democracy in Bhutan is certain to strengthen democracy in India and elsewhere in the world. When it comes to the question of freedom and democracy India having fought itself for freedom and democracy led by Gandhi and Nehru against the British should rise above all other considerations to extend support to people in peril,” the organisation said.
The rights group further said the unconditional and free aid from India without any regard to the plight of the Bhutanese refugees and to the situation of human rights inside Bhutan is not only highly objectionable but also constitutes a violation of international human rights agreement that requires tying of foreign aid to the situation of human rights in a country.
The stand of the government of India that the issue be resolved bilaterally between Nepal and Bhutan is not going to produce any result as has been amply demonstrated by 15 rounds of bilateral talks spread over a period of the last 12 years, the organisation said.
“Until and unless India intervenes the issue will remain unresolved. Only India can exert a viable pressure on Bhutan being the largest donor and the next -door neighbor,” said S. K. Pradhan, general secretary of the PFHRD, in the statement.
The statement by the PFHRD has come at a time when reports said the Nepal government was considering a proposal to grant permission to the Bhutanese refugees to settle abroad. Most of the refugee groups have, however, said it is their fundamental right to return to their homeland.
The refugee leaders have also asked the international community to pressurize the governments of Bhutan and Nepal to ensure early and dignified repatriation of the refugee community. nepalnews.com by Jan 18 05 |
