Buddhist nations, like northern Bhutan and southern Sri Lanka, have painful histories: American know-how teaches governments how to brainwash entire populations.
(Journeyman Pictures, May 1994) Since 1990, tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalese have been driven out of the tiny and secretive Himalayan (Naga) kingdom of Bhutan.
Bernays: the American "Assassin of Democracy"
Bhutan is ruled by a minority of Tibetan descent. Many have fled to refugee camps in Nepal where they tell a harrowing tale of Bhutan's attempts to clear the country of Nepalese-speaking people.
Young men are imprisoned and tortured and are freed only if they sign a "voluntarily leaving [the country]" certificate. The ethnic Nepalese make up 50 percent of Bhutan's population and some have lived there for many generations.
The Nepalese Prime Minister hopes that the people will one day be allowed to return.
We go as tourists to Bhutan, to glean further evidence of the way ethnic Nepalese are treated, and find a country trapped in time where even TV sets are illegal.
Sri Lanka's Ethnic Cleansing (Mahinda’s Xanadu)
"It is unbelievable that Sri Lanka -- which practices Buddhism mainly, the preaching of which is not to even cause hurt to an ant -- was united in its cry to annihilate a good proportion of its [Indian Tamil Hindu] population. And this is what we are celebrating today." How about this for a bon mot from the Daily News? “Simple, solemn ceremony marks President’s swearing-in: President Mahinda Rajapaksa took oaths yesterday for a second term as president before Chief Justice Asoka..."
