re Bhutan, Burma, and India

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For Burma Watchers, in India or elsewhere, it is interesting to observe 
and follow the development of Indo-Burmese relations, the increasing ties 
between Burma and the Indian Government, now racked with million dollar 
bribery scandals nearly forcing the Indian Prime Minister to resign  
before upcoming national elections, but not at the cost of overlooking 
the plight of the Bhutanese refugees, now languishing in Indian jails. 
Some of their key  leaders were hosted by George Fernandez at the Delhi 
Convention for the Restoration of Democracy in Delhi last January, and 
their cause is a just one, for freedom, human rights and democracy in 
Bhutan - a country Daw Aung San Suu Kyi knows very well and to which she 
harbors much love and compassion.

India?s recent deal with Bhutan over a multi-million dollar power plant 
comes only months after the World Bank killed the  billion dollar ARUN 
hydro-electric project in bordering Nepal. Kathmandu knows that Bhutan's 
foreign policy is under the heel of Delhi. So why doesn?t doesn't PM 
Rao's goverment deal more fairly with the Bhutanese people and the 
refugee problem on its border now with these people languishing in jails 
where human rights are neglected, instead of rewarding the King with a 
super power deal. 

Thousands  of people of  Burmese origin and descent living now living in 
Nepal and Bhutan are waiting for the Bhutanese King to open up his 
country and liberalise its autocratic institutions. It would do India, as 
the world?s largest democracy, well not to barter with human rights only 
to please the Bhutan King, at the cost of development and justice in the 
region. Helping the Bhutanese refugees and their leaders would also send 
a clearer signal to Rangoun not to violate human rights in Burma. 
Anything less is sheer hypocrisy of a double-standard that denouces 
agression abroad while harboring it  within its borders and prisons.

Here is some update on the background news. Try to follow it in the press 
if you can. Email here for updates if you are interested to know more, or 
for http sites. Dawn Star

Wed, 13 Mar 96 by Sukhjinder S Bajwa : India arrests 183 Bhutanese 
refugees
   KATMANDU, March 13 (UPI) -- Police in the Indian state of West Bengal
have arrested 183 Bhutanese refugees trying to pass through Indian
territory on their way to Thimpu, a refugee spokesman said Wednesday.
 The marchers had hoped to appeal to the Bhutanese monarch to allow them
to return to their homes in BhutanMore than 100,000 refugees of ethnic 
Nepali origins
 have been living inUnited Nations-administered camps in eastern Nepal 
since they were pushed
out of Bhutan six years ago.

   Since January, the exiles have staged a series of marches aimed at
reaching Thimpu and drawing attention to their plight, but Indian
authorities have repeatedly stopped them at the border when they try to
cross into India from Nepal.
   Hundreds of Bhutanese refugees now remain in Indian jails because they
refuse to pay bail for their release.
   New Delhi, which has friendly relations with Thimpu, has said it will
not permit any anti-Bhutanese movement on its soil.
   Bhutanese refugees say they were forcibly evicted from their homes
because they are Hindus and members of the ethnic Nepali minority. 
However,
Bhutan claims the refugees are illegal immigrants who were expelled in
accordance with international law.
   Nepal, which is keen to see the refugees return to Bhutan, has tried 
to
draw India into trilateral talks over the issue, but New Delhi has 
refused.
   "India is involved as it is the first country of asylum for the
refugees," Nepali Foreign Minister Prakash Lohini said. "India must show
official or unofficial participation to resolve the issue as the problem
has assumed a trilateral form."

BPP condemns King Jigme?s statement, Kathmandu Post Reporter
KATHMANDU , March 10 - The Bhutan People?s Party (BPP) has condemned a 
statement by the king of 
Bhutan  Jigme Singye Wangchuck, which claimed 99 percent of the refugees 
currently camped in eastern 
Nepal are not Bhutanese nationals . The King Jigme of Bhutan made the 
statement in an interview with on 
Indian newspaper during his recent New Delhi visit.  It reveals that the 
king has lately revoked his adamant 
stand of crushing the voices of dissent after having successfully 
maneuvered New Delhi, a BPP press release 
received here today said.
 The BPP regrets to understand that India which holds the key to foreign 
policy and political stability of 
Bhutan is well informed of the Bhutanese regime?s mania, however, 
continues to state that the Bhutanese 
people?s democratic movement and the refuges crisis in Nepal is a 
bilateral issue. The BPP said that New 
Delhi cannot simply absolve itself of its responsibility and boost the 
morality of the regime by rendering all 
possible assistance.
King Jigme must realise that the Bhutanese people are much concerned of 
the future of Bhutan and demand 
that he cannot drive rough shod over the sentiments of the people. 
In the name of  national development he cannot mortgage the country to 
perpetuate his absolute, obsolete, 
and undemocratic regime, the press release further said.
More than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees are currently living in the refugee 
camps in eastern Nepal after 
fleeing government repression in Bhutan.
Talks between Nepal and Bhutan to solve the refugee problem have ended in 
stalemate with Bhutan insisting 
it will take back only those  whom it considers genuine citizens.
 A recent attempts by a group several hundred refugees to go to Bhutan 
via  India to press their case met 
with failure when Indian border officials arrested them at the Mechi 
bridge
The refugees, totalling about 1/6 of the 600,000 people populating 
Bhutan,
 were forced to leave the country in the early 1990's after a "One 
Nation/
 One People" policy effectively rendered them stateless.  The 
international
 community has been thus far ineffective in resolving their plight.  
Bhutan
 has the largest percentage of its people living as refugees in the 
world.

Bhutanese King starts three-day visit to India

    NEW DELHI, March 4 (Reuter) - King Jigme Singye Wanghchuk of Bhutan
began a three-day visit to India on Monday, the Press Trust of India 
said.
The monarch of the Himalayan kingdom was met by Indian government
officials led by Information and Broadcasting Minister P.A. Sangma, the
news agency reported.King Wanghchuk will meet Prime Minister Narasimha 
Rao over the next
two days. Apart from talks on bilateral relations, the king is expected 
to discuss issues relating to the South Asia Association of Regional 
Cooperation.


India to help build $400 mln dam project in Bhutan

NEW DELHI, March 6 (Reuter) - India and Bhutan have agreed to build a
14-billion rupee ($400 million) hydroelectric project in Bhutan and
initiated talks on an extradition treaty to combat cross-border rebel
activity, officials said on Wednesday.
     An agreement for the 1,020-megawatt dam and power project in the
Wangchu river basin of the Himalayan kingdom was signed by the two
countries during a three-day visit to India by King Jigme Singye Wangchuk
that began on Monday.
     Surplus power from the project would be sold to India, which would
finance 60 percent of the cost through a grant and 40 percent through a
loan, a statement from the Bhutanese government said.
     The dam would be handed over to the Bhutanese government two years
after its completion, it said.
     "The two governments agreed to work together to combat and eliminate
terrorist and criminal activities on each other's territories affecting
their security and stability," the statement said.
     "Discussions towards this end have been initiated by the concerned
officials of the two governments with a view to an early conclusion of an
extradition agreement between the two countries."

     India faces trouble from anti-government rebels in its northeastern
states running for cover in Bhutan, which is near the Chinese border.
     Bhutan and India also decided to set up a 3.0 billion rupee ($85
million) cement plant with a capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes per 
annum,
the statement said.
     India would build a road linking the project site, Nganglam in 
eastern
Bhutan, with the nearest highway, the statement said.
     "I have had a very successful visit to Delhi and I have also had 
good
discussions with the Prime Minister (P.V. Narasimha Rao) and other
government officials," the statement quoted the king as saying.