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LHOTSHAMPA SHOW SOME INITIATIVE
The Lhotshampa refugees from Bhutan in the camps of southeast Nepal have finally raised some dust. Having tarried for over five years on UN HCR dole, waiting for desultory talks between Thimphu and Kathmandu to bear fruit, some refugees finally decided that they wanted to go back home.
As they crossed the Indo-Nepal frontier at the Mechi bridge in mid-January on their way to Phuntsoling, the Bhutanese border town more than a hundred km away, the government of India was, for the first time, forced to show its hand. It slapped a prohibitory order (Sec 144 Cr.P.C.) on the rallyists and arrested many, some of whom remained behind bars in Siliguri more than a month later.