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Kathmandu Saturday September 15, 2001 Bhadra 30, 2058.
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Punish the guilty
Bhutan’s senior most leader Tek Nath
Rizal has requested His Majesty’s Government of Nepal to probe the assassination of R
K Budhathoki thoroughly. Last Monday, R K Budhathoki, founding president of the
Bhutan’s People’s Party (BPP), was attacked just after he had met the BDP
students’ wing in Damak. Damak is where the Joint Verification Team (JVT), formed
last April to verify Bhutanese citizens, has been doing its work. JVT has been blamed for
too slow a pace in verifying the refugees. This appears to be deliberate tactics to deny
the Bhutanese refugees their right to return home. The Druk regime has time and again
questioned the authencity of the refugees, despite the documentary evidence in their
possession. Budhathoki had stood up against the Druk regime. This
could be one of the reasons he was murdered. The unidentified assailants, who attacked
Budhathoki, fled the scene of their crime. Some of them seem to have come from across the
border. However, the manner in which Budhathoki was murdered indicates that there should
have been some people among the refugees themselves who were behind the murder. Otherwise,
how could the assassination have taken place with such efficiency, and the perpetrators
gotten away so clean?
Budhathoki was the first Bhutanese citizen in
exile who ferociously fought against Bhutan’s tyranny. Before he formed the BPP, he
was a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance. Budhathoki had begun his political career
in June 1990. Until his death, he fought against the autocratic regime in Bhutan. His
death has not only brought a setback to refugee repatriation but is also a great loss to
the democratic movement in Bhutan. Besides, Budhathoki was close to Rizal, another
prominent leader who spent over eleven years in prison to champion democracy in Bhutan.
The Druk regime released Rizal only after the international community raised its voice
against the Druk tyranny. Bhutan has never recognised the rights of minorities and it did
not express its willingness to take back its refugees either. One strongly suspects the
hands of the Druk regime behind the murder.
Rizal’s appeal for investigation into the
murder should not be taken lightly. It was a brutal act to sabotage the democratic
movement in Bhutan. Nepal cannot remain uncaring of this incident when it has sheltered
over one hundred thousands refugees since 1992. This government must take the incident
seriously and begin the investigations promptly. And those responsible for this brutal act
should be brought to justice. Budhathoki was a man of principle who advocated democratic
values. The best tribute to him would be to bring his killers to justice.
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