Dasho Tshering Dorji's Answer

Dasho Tshering Dorji is a National Council Member from Haa. People in my village have high regards for him for his numerous visits and meetings with them. I almost got a chance to meet him in my village after the earthquake last year but missed by some hours. The only place we ever get to meet is on a Facebook group called Haap Dorros, where he presents his works, progress and achievements. We haaps have created our own forum for regional discussions, where he participates a great deal and I thank him for that.

But yesterday some Haap Wangchuk posted the following:

Haap Wangchuk

As this is the page for Haap Dhoros, that did our elected Members bought any changes in your area.Did they helped you when you were in trouble.Did they fulfilled their promises they made. For me i will say they are neutral. What ever the decisions taken by the Dzongkhag administration and gewog administration is final. They dont even have guts to justify the complaints made by victims.

I have never seen or head of them correcting the errors made by Dzongkhag and gewog Administrations.

And before anyone could write any comment Dasho Tshering Dorji replied as follows:

Tshering Dorji 

Haap Wangchuk, Before you shoot your mouth, as a responsible citizen, you also have the responsibility to consider the following 1. Please go through the constitution and and the NC and NA acts and also the recently passed Local Government Act to understand and comprehend the role of NA, NC and the local government. 2. As a haap yourself please find time to come and attend the public meeting(zomdu) that I conduct after every session as mandated by the law or atleast make an effort to call up your local leaders-gups, mangmi, tshogpa or elderly people from your village to find out as to what I as an elected representative been doing within my constitutionally provided responsibilty as a parliamentarian in general and in specific to the recent earthquake event. You must also understand as a good citizen that while there is tremendous temptation to overstep our feet on the toes of the local administration due to misunderstood, personalized and politicized pressure such as one that you are giving, it is also in the larger interest of this nation and people to be reminded of the Constitution and do whatever I can within the legal bound. However, you will only know this only if you are still in touch with the ground reality and genuinely concerned with the overall welfare of all the Haap victims. However, you have a lot of guts in publicly criticizing us and the public institutions that we represent based on your ill-informed imagination. As per the section 317 and 320 of the Penal code of Bhutan, what you have posted in the public media in nothing less than the offense of defamation and Libel since you are intentionally trying to causes damage to the reputation of another person or a legal person by communicating
false or distorted information about that person's action, motive, character, or reputation in writing. However, you are right, I dont have guts to take the matter further but if I do please also consider what could happen to you. Fellow Wangchuk, please remember that democracy does not mean going beyond the rule of law but it means fulfilling the nation's and people aspiration within the rule of law. Freedom of speech and expression does not mean speaking recklessly or mindlessly, you never know where a slip of your tongue will land you up. So think twice before you shoot your mouth irresponsibly.false or distorted information about that person's action, motive, character, or reputation in writing. However, you are right, I dont have guts to take the matter further but if I do please also consider what could happen to you. Fellow Wangchuk, please remember that democracy does not mean going beyond the rule of law but it means fulfilling the nation's and people aspiration within the rule of law. Freedom of speech and expression does not mean speaking recklessly or mindlessly, you never know where a slip of your tongue will land you up. So think twice before you shoot your mouth irresponsibly.

I didn’t find anything “publicly criticizing” in what Haap Wangchuk wrote for Dasho to narrate whole law on defamation with section number in the Penal code of Bhutan. He was just asking a few questions to his fellow haaps like anyone of us would do. He was also presenting his opinion as “neutral” since he seems to have some grievance, which if possible Dasho could have ask and clarified. But the threatening reply confused me totally- aren’t we allowed to question about the work of our representatives?

27 Years in Teaching and Divided From Family- My Aunt's Story

One Saturday, during my regular weekend visit to my aunty at Punakha she showed me a certificate from 1990. It was awarded to her for successful completion of NAPE course then. What is surprising is that the certificate was wrongly addressed and she just got it from her contemporary after 20 years. The paper was neatly kept and looks as fresh as it was delivered this morning, though in these many years my aunty has become grandmother to two granddaughters. Perhaps now you can guess how many years she served as teacher.

She is new in Punakha and houses in Kuruthang are not at all welcoming. She has lost some weight over the week climbing to the tiny room beneath the roof. We scanned the whole town with all the relatives we have around in search of a decent house, and this is what we had to agree with; a three unit attic with lights coming in only through the transparent roof. The new place and the tiny house have stolen away my aunt’s soul. She looked defeated and depressed, and that’s why I always find time to give her company with my family.

Twenty five years ago, or ten years ago if she was posted to Punakha it would have been very usual and she would have taken it with joy. At this age when joints start paining it is hard for her to believe that she has to move out of Thimphu on compulsory transfer. It is a policy well thought over by the ministry when it comes to making it fair for the system but what about the humane side?

Many of her mates are directors and secretaries, a few are even ministers now, sad but true some have passed away but she is still living and teaching. Recently she tells me that even her students are there among directors and secretaries, sadly they won't remember her because she taught them in PP. Young teachers have new system in place whereby there is a strong career ladder. If it was there during her time by now she would be reigning somewhere on the top. But since 1985 she has only grown horizontally. She has no complains. She knew her service is delivered and therefore would be acknowledged. Not in her wildest dream did she see herself being punished for 25 years of service.

Her children suggested her to resign and take rest because she has already shown sign of wearing of her lung and vocal cord from quarter century of shouting with little children. Money has never been their problem and will not be, now that uncle earns triple his old salary with the new job and their daughter is in job. It is about dedication to work. With her degree of perseverance and experience I would be expecting a medal of honor from the ministry and not punishment.

Why am I calling it a punishment? My aunty and uncle are all by themselves far from the crowd of Thimphu. They planned the cottage on their own to spend their old age. Uncle is in late fifties and worse he is a bad cook. Tears welled in my eyes when he started learning how to cook last winter after aunt’s transfer was confirmed. Their three children are away on job and studies. Uncle may be used to staying alone from his lifelong experience in arm force but not hungry. If he falls sick there is nobody around to offer him a cup of water.

On the other side of Dochula my aunty, who has always lived in crowd of children, has to sleep with TV still on, she is a good cook but with her husband surviving on Maggie she can hardly enjoy a meal. She is overweight and very much vulnerable to sudden illness. But if she wishes to lose weight now, her wish is granted already. I have never been old so far, therefore I don’t know how true it is when old people say they feel lonely. If it is true I feel sorry for them that the system has made it worse.

Writer’s Note: With this article I don’t mean to question the policy because I know any policy is bound to hurt some people. It must look at the majority, for even God himself couldn’t create something that could please everybody. I only wrote it in sympathy and love for my aunty.

Why would they want to “kill” the paper(Bhutan Times) they made!

BHUTAN TIMES

This very team walking out today has given Bhutan Times its wings. Who could love the paper more than them? Not at least a man who joined just some days ago. It is a big story now. Of all Business Bhutan must find it ironic to see how their entrance has coincided with an almost-exit of BT. Anyway they got a hot news to print on a cold autumn morning.

I waited outside the shop that sells BT to see if there would be an issue last Sunday. I was playing with a strange probability in my mind; if there is the issue this week then it shall be a history, if there isn’t then it shall really be a history.

The opposition leader Tshering Tobgay is more excited than judgmental about the issue in his blog, “Volume III, Issue 50 of the Bhutan Times could hit the newsstands on 25 October 2009. If it does, treasure it. That issue could mean that private media is much more vibrant than we realize. And that fact is worth celebrating, regardless of who is right – journalists or management.”

The second page is full of scanned copies of letters; from employees to the company, from BICMA to company, from CEO to BICMA. The one letter that caught my tail is Wangcha Sangay writing back to BICMA; I (Mr.) Passang Tshering of Haa Yangthang is thoroughly surprised by the degree of confidence and aggression of (Mr.) Sangey of Haa Wangcha. There is no doubt that this senior citizen of 57 (with a track record of proven capabilities and established credentials- look who is saying this) will rescue the company (from what?). However the letter is anything but official. He condemns the move of the team as “shameful” and BICMA’s interference as “threat”. Many lines are as if directly translated from a furious villager’s tongue.

The news is everywhere; criticism is blown in the wind.  Everybody is talking about how bad it was of the seven people to walk out on their company when it needed them so much. They are of the opinion that they left the company because the company is broke. There are plenty of stories from one side and from the other we have just this phrase “editorial interference by management”. What does it mean? What went wrong inside their office that made these seven people give up their jobs? There must be something bigger than a-cup-of-free-tea wrong and nobody is daring enough to speak it up.

As I read this blog “WE ARE NO WRITERS...” there seems to be a matter connected to that solidarity walk, which gave many oldies the fever of their lives, “It seems like some people have never come to terms with the ‘solidarity walk’. They dig shit. The stink returns. If there is any political reason to it…“ However I am far from understanding anything related to this but my concern is rather than condemning these seven people without even listening to their story, we should urge to know what they really meant by “editorial interference by management”? Thimphu is short of jobs, still why did they have to leave theirs, if not for a big reason? For the good of democracy we the normal citizens demand to know the fact of the matter.

25^th October Issue of Bhutan Times must have sold the most, for everybody wanted to know what would be in it. Not so bad as we feared. There are many new names of which “Sangey of Ha Wangcha” out stood all the other, not in the style of writing but in the style of writing the name.

Hope we get to know who is right.

Blogging: the freedom of expression...

I am extremely pleased to read a full page coverage on the rising popularity of Bhutanese blogger in the "techno" page of Bhutan Times. Screen shots of four blogs are presented there and surprisingly all four of them are in my blog roll; why was I left out? Ha ha ha, just being funny. The story covers a lot of aspects through interviews with many blogger, some of them were blogging since 2007; it's sad they didn't know I was blogging since 2006 and not body called me up to get an interview.
The story is all pleasing and could draw new people into the techno-hobby. I didn't know Barack Obama was so positive about it but our opposition leader makes the best use of it to get public opinion on his views. Even companies with big websites are resorting to creating blog version of their websites to dash with the popularity of blogs.

The whole world is into it now, there is no greater gift of democracy. Bhutanese are finally learning to accept the gift from the Constitution of Kingdom of Bhutan- the freedom of expression, with clear vision of limit though. But the closing section of the article talks about "Regulating online content?" and I am shocked by some comments there, which are threatening to question the freedom of expression.