Phuentsholing, May 05, 2009: Indian authorities arrested 26 Bhutanese citizens on allegations that they cast their votes in neighboring cities in India.
They were arrested on April 30 and May 1 while returning from India but were released after interrogation. The authorities have not proven whether they had cast their votes or were just clamped allegations.
The arrested people were reported to be residents of Samtse and Chhukha districts.
However, reports also say that these people bear citizenship from both the countries though Bhutanese laws do not permit such conditions.
May 9th, 2009 at 11:48 am
It is sad that there are reports of these people having citizenship of both Bhutan and India though Bhutanese law does not permit dual citizenship. My guess is that thoses Bhutanese who voted in Indian election(if they actually did) must have done out of desparation as Bhutan continues to defranchise many of its people claiming that they are not genuine Bhutanese. So long as this problem remains unresolved with as many as 7 categories under its citizenship rules, the affected people will try all means for a citizenship if not in Bhutan, somewhere else. And this would be another excuse for the government not to give citizenship to such people so that it can continue to reduce its Lhotshampa population.
As an outside observer and a former aid worker in Bhutan, the new democratic government must resolve this problem soon through national consensus for long term peace and prosperity of his enchanting nation.