Rastrapati: All those reasons are the reasons to call ourselves Nepali, not Nepalese. In the current literature treating the subject of people of Nepali origin, Nepalese means the citizens of Nepal (your Maithilis, Taraibasis, Biharis all are Nepalese). Nepali, when applied to a people, means people of Nepali origin(language, culture, heritage) but not citizens of Nepal. Sajha's tagline is "Bringing Together Nepali Communities," not only Nepalese communities, that is why we hang out in Sajha sometimes.

"Now give me some reasons, how you call yourself as Bhutanese"

"Bhutanese" is not an ethnic or racial term. Like "American" it is a term that denotes nationality/citizenship. By being born in Bhutan, by being citizens of Bhutan, the people under discussion here are Bhutanese. There are Ngalong Bhutanese, there are Sarchhops Bhutanese and there are Nepali Bhutanese.

The refugee status these folks have in the US and elsewhere flows directly from their being Bhuatanese rather than their being of Nepali origin. Note that there are Bhutanese refugees of other ethnicity currently resident in the United States. If we have some aspects of common herigate with the Nepalis around the world, we also have some aspects of common identity with Bhutanese of other ethnicity. Thus the urge to preserve that link. That should not have to come at the cost of our Nepali-ness. But Nepalese (citizens of Nepal) we are not. We are Nepalis, of the Nepali diaspora, just like those of Darjeeling are.

When we become American citizens, we may prefer to call ourselves Bhutanese Americans, rather than Nepalese Americans, because the latter, we are not. We have established our organizations (of Bhutanese Americans) in the United States. While loving you all from Nepal, and being grateful for all your help in our intial integration into the American life, we maintain our separate identity too. However, my point to Albino is we should not get all riled up and angry when someone mistakes us for Nepalese. It is normal.

If we "Never go with these fu***ng jaat-paat, bhes-bhusaa, ethnicity, nationaility thigs..," then we would neither be Bhutanese, nor Nepalis or Nepalese. Of these, jat-paat is something that needs its ass kicked (reform, and ideally, abolition, required, and where the Nepalis of Bhutan have made significant progress). Bhes Bhusa, language, heritage, traditions, festivals need to remain, be conserved and be celebrated.

Now to answer Phatte's question: the idea was never to kick Jigme's regime out of the country. Jigme et al are Bhutanese too and have as much right to be in Bhutan as anyone else. Perhaps we need to look around at the Nepali population that have been evicted from various places: from Burma, from north-east India, and how they disappeared into Nepal. There is a Burmese Tole in Kakarvitta to this day! The Nepalis from Bhutan at least had the perseverance and endurance to forge a struggle, persist, despite suffering, and raise the issue and force the international community, the Nepali govt, the Indian govt and the Bhutanese govt to take notice. So, comparatively, as opposed to many who wax eloquent about the need to fight for their freedom, I guess the Nepalis from Bhutan have done and continue to do their part. YES, we will continue to fight, and we are fighting even now, if you have failed to notice.  It would be a lot easier if those opposed to us could not point consistently towards Nepal's democracy and say: that is what Nepali folks do with democracy and freedom. The internal situation in Nepal makes our fight that much harder. But that is another story.

Do we have guts? Yes, but not guts enough to go ahead and slaughter thousands of our own fellow countrymen for the sake of an outdated, archaic, abstract idea. We have the guts to persistently fight a peaceful fight, and we will win eventually, and it will be a win for all kinds of Bhutanese (Nepali and others) as well as for the regime we have been victims of. This peaceful fight is a little tougher than mobilizing illiterate farmers and going on a kllling spree after brainwashing them. So, thank you very much for the exortation, but no thanks.

Chor: I agree with you. Many Nepalese organizations and individuals have been great friends of the Bhutanese refugees and never let us forget that we are BHUTANESE. We also have our own organizations now, that are set up to assist the newcomers, of course in collaboration with other community organizations including those of Nepalese.

All in all, it is fine for Nepalese to think the Bhutanese are fellow Nepalese like them. It is fine for Bhutanese to make sure their Nepalese friends understand where we stand about our social, community and political identity. Get riled up when they laugh at you when you make that point. Until then, explain, as long as you need to, and accept that their version has some amount of social and cultural rationale, if not political legitimacy.