One more terrorist tag

After two years a document come to the public view that says a normal boy was charged for acts of terrorism and acting against the country and the government. And interestingly, this is the one whom family members said have gone mentally unsound for sometime.

The citizenship act of the country says, a mentally disordered person cannot obtain Bhutanese nationality. The presupposition and notion of the provision in the act was to mean such person cannot contribute to national building. For obvious reason, the country has not hospital to treat such illness.

Strangely, the government and the judiciary of the country have proved a mentally ill can do groundwork to overthrow the government or organize activities that are against the national interest. The story is not other then that of Shantiram Acharya, who worked with us for around six month before being mentally ill. Mental illness among young Bhutanese refugees, as many researchers and reporters found it, due to uncertain future and odd life in closed camps.

I need not say how government has turned a mentally ill person into a terrorist. For a Bhutanese regime, putting up the terrorist flag for anyone from Nepali speaking community is normal. There are few northerners and easterners who have come openly to counter the ethnocentric nature of Bhutanese dictatorship but they have not been listed under terrorist. All terrorist come from southern district – bear in mind if you are from this area.

There are no private attorneys in this country. All defendants have to hire a government lawyer who fears to speak against the case filed by government agencies in fear of being terminated from the service. Not a single attorney through the history of Bhutan said state allegations against southern citizens are baseless or not substantive enough. Additionally, they have never ever spoken for rule of law, need of constitution to run the country, an independent judiciary or that people have right to oppose or make a dissident group.

Because there are no law colleges in the country, these countable number of attorneys have been bookworm for few years in democratic nations, learnt the legal proceedings and rights of the defendants yet when they return their original setting, only motive for them is to secure a government job.

When I read through the verdict of a controlled high court in Thimphu, I could not stop laughing that Mr Acharya was given liberty to hire attorneys if he wished. The interesting aspect of the verdict is that Acharya was also briefed about the legal proceedings and court verdict in Nepali, the language government banned in 1990.

The only evidence for terrorist tag on Acharya is his acceptance to the charges by police. No astonishing that a normal guy who had not even faced a interrogation my school administration finds no way but to accept allegations on him while being interrogated in police custody – where those who oppose government are termed terrorists.

For the government to bear in mind – be not surprised, there would be more terrorists like Acharya in future to challenge your ethnic policy, your policy of seeing other ethnic groups to be burden of nation and anti-nationals.