Om Dhungel, Sydney, Australia
11 July 2024
“Namaskar hajur, I wish to have a short conversation with you.” This was one of the first communication that Dr Rizal sent me back in 2018 via Messenger. It was while he was finalising his book A Pardesi in Paradise. Since then, we had many such conversations mostly around the Bhutanese refugee issue and about out settlement here in Australia. He would often share with me his own writings as well as others relevant to the Bhutanese diaspora.
It goes without saying how keen Dr Rizal was about the Bhutanese issue and more importantly, always exploring how he could contribute to finding solution to the refugee problem, and more broadly about human rights in Bhutan. As one of the drivers of Bhutan Watch, he was always looking for ways to enhance its quality as well as expand its readership. I found him such a motivated and energetic person, always initiating new things, and contributing wherever he could.
An amazing individual who fought for justice in his own way, all his life. He travelled around the world yet he could not find a home. He embodies what being stateless means as he so aptly writes in A Pardesi in Paradise: “No country accepted me, and I had no country to seek justice and claim rights. I became stateless. I went around the world, lived in the paradises but fitted nowhere.”
“Daju I missed your message – I will call you tomorrow.” It was 31 March 2024, and that was the last we spoke. Destiny would take him so early – Why, we all ask? The Bhutanese diaspora has lost a leader, a friend, and a trusted colleague too early. We pray for the departed soul!
