The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Rajen Tamang, the owner of the building in Damphu town whose water and power were cut for using his karaoke hall for unauthorized gatherings, has filed a Constitutional case in the High Court over religious freedom.
His case is based on Article 7 Section 4 which states, “A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. No person shall be compelled to belong to another faith by means of coercion or inducement.”
Rajen wanted to file the case in the Dzongkhag Court along with his issues of water and power being cut by the Damphu Municipality and Nu 100,000 fine for a small wall built by him.
However, the Dzongkhag Court which took his water, power and wall case told him it cannot accept a Constitutional case on religion and instructed him to file the religious part of the case with the High Court, which he did on Thursday 29th November.
The High Court has called him back on Monday to let him know the status, and inform him whether the court will accept the case or not.
Rajen, in his application to the High Court, narrated how he had weekly small religious gatherings at his karaoke hall in the afternoon, but the Tsirang Dzongda on 11th July 2024 had warned him it was unauthorized gatherings, and when he went to seek permission, he alleged the Dzongda said he could not grant the permission as he was not the right authority, and the religion was not registered.
The Dzongda on 8th October then sent two letters. The first letter said that he was having unauthorized public gathering in the building which is not allowed, and it is also his duty, under the Local Government Act, to maintain law and order, and peace and harmony. It said that failure to abide by such an Act will mean being dealt by the existing law of the nation.
A second letter sent via the municipality took up the issue of the Karaoke Hall being used for other purposes than what it was authorized for, and said that water and power could be cut off. The Tsirang Dzongda is also the Chairman of the Municipality.
The Municipality had already cut off the water supply to the building on the morning of the 15th October 2024 and power was cut off on 28th October.
Rajen informed the High Court that due to the Dzongda not allowing his gatherings, it is impacting his religious freedom, especially so when the gathering is being held at his home.
In the meantime, the Dzongkhag Court heard Rajen’s side on 21st November, with Rajen appealing to the court to get the Dzongkhag to reconnect his power and water to his building, and also give him back the Nu 100,000 where he was fined for building a small wall to prevent water from entering his land.
He also requested the court for compensation caused by the actions of the Dzongkhag and the Municipality.
Rajen said he had to waive of Nu 170,000 in rent from 11 families in 11 units and 6 shops in the building for the month of October to compensate for the problems caused by cutting off water and power. He said his building loan, itself, is Nu 168,000 per month.
With the municipality water to his building cut, he had to buy 4 rolls of pipe worth Nu 12,000 in total to fix a private water line to his building. He is also spending Nu 15,000 a month in leasing a generator to power his building which consumes 12 liters of fuel in a day.
However, the power generated is too weak to power geysers and heaters, and he said Damphu gets cold in winter. He said these actions have not only impacted two pregnant women in the building, but also students who are preparing for their school exams.
The Dzongkhag Administration lawyer asked Rajen to withdraw the case and get back his power and water, however, Rajen declined to withdraw the case saying he wants compensation for the losses incurred to him.
The Dzongkhag Court asked the Dzongkhag Administration lawyer to reply on 26th November but the lawyer could not show up due to some health issue of a family member. The court wanted to fix 3rd December for the next hearing, but it clashes with when Rajen has to be in Thimphu to hear from the High Court.
Earlier, on 29th October, a day after the power was cut off, Rajen went to meet the Dzongda with a letter requesting to reconnect the water and power, saying the Karaoke will not be used for any public gathering or events and the set up is intended only for a small and personal group. He signed on a legal stamp with two witnesses also signing on the legal stamp.
Rajen alleged the Dzongda was not happy with the letter and drafted another one saying there would be no gatherings at all, and he would face legal consequences if he did so. Rajen said he signed the letter under duress.
On the same day, he had filed a case earlier in the day in the Dzongkhag court.
Rajen said after he signed what the Dzongda wanted under duress, and if the Dzongda had reconnected his water and power, he would have withdrawn the case, but it did not happen and so he decided to continue on with the case.
While the Tsirang Dzongkhag and Municipality is maintaining that it is a municipality and land usage issue, as well as one of unauthorized gatherings, what really seems to have sparked of such action is fears that Rajen is engaged in conversions. This is also in the context of the rapid spread of the particular religion in Tsirang.
Rajen has denied converting people, and he said he is ready to face legal prosecution if there is evidence, and he said he is instead serving people who are already in his faith by going for their events like marriages, deaths, etc.
Earlier, Rajen said that every Gewog in Tsirang holds gatherings like his every Sunday by different groups, but he asked, why is it that only he is being targeted?
Rajen said it would have been okay if the municipality cut water and power to the Karaoke Hall, but what was the need to cut water and power to the whole building and for so long.
