Buddhi

"The village in Bhutan where I spent my childhood and our forefathers spent the whole of their lives has a Dzong to the northern side, a monastery to the east and snow-clad mountains to the far side. Our Hindu temple was on the southern side of our house and was burnt before our eyes in 1989. We were told to worship Lord Buddha in their monasteries.

A spy who was a neighbour led the Bhutanese army to our house and they arrested my father. He was taken to prison and ordered to eat the meat of cows and do Buddhist religious ceremonies.

He was told to stop praying to Hindu gods and goddesses and to always wear the national dress. If we did not do this we had to leave the country. My father did not obey and they kept him in prison for six months were he was severely punished.

When they freed my father they burned our house in front of his eyes. No human likes to see their home burn and we cried but no one was there to help us. Our cries were in vain. So we left our animals, our burnt house and everything else and fled towards Jhapa in Eastern Nepal for safety."