Moinuddin Ahamed :
We, about 15 journalists both from electronic and print media, went to Bhutan in the second week of October to cover the news of AFC Asian Cup Selection Level Play-off-2 matches. My colleagues were Rokon Chowdhury, Reporter of BSS, Shafiqul Islam Shamim from Kriralok, Chief Photo Journalist of Inqilab Iqbal Hasan Nantu, BTV Sports Reporter Mahbub, Samon Hussain from Manob Jamin, Nawrose Photo Journalist Golam Mostafa, Reporter of Newsnet24.com Kabirul Islam, Chief Photo Journalist of Ekusher Kanta Jamir Hossen jamir and others. I had to face an unpleasant but wonderful experience while covering the Bangladesh-Bhutan Match in Thimphu.
Before the match-day on 10 October, there was a press-briefing session for the two teams. We were preparing for the session. As the journalists from Bangladesh had to stay at different hotels, therefore, we had to attend the briefing session on our own and it was mutually decided to dispatch the news to Bangladesh from our own hotel suits we were residing in Bhutan. The experience that I mentioned before happened just after the press meet when I was returning to my hotel. While I was just entering the hotel lobby leaving the taxi, I suddenly noticed that I had left my camera, passport and other traveling documents in a bag at the taxi. That was a chilling shock for me in a foreign land for the first time and I was sweating inside in tension though it was mildly cold in Bhutan then. I rushed for the taxi driver, but no sign of such taxi was in sight in the stand. I was looking in desperation for about half an hour and finally getting deeply disappointed, I approached to the nearby traffic police. He assured me of getting the bags back, if it had been seen by the driver. ‘But if it was in the hands of any other passenger by this time, then there was only a fifty-fifty chance of getting my bag back’, said the police man. He advised me to lodge a complain in the respective police station. I, along with my three other colleagues, rushed for the local police station in another taxi. On our way to Thana (Police Station), the driver told us that the Bhutanese are honest, and therefore, we should not to be worried much. But I was still not assured of whether I would really get back my belongings. The driver didn’t take the taxi fare even arguing that ‘we didn’t take any fare from the passengers who lost their way’. This made me more surprised.
Thimphu is a small city, nicely managed with sound discipline. The city dwellers are also like that. They are like the blooming flowers with soft smiling face while interacting with the foreigners. The police officer in the Thana again made me surprised. After registering the complain, he offered us to drop at the hotel where we were staying in. He also said, he might get the picture of the taxi from the CCTV footage of the hotel, and assured me that he could thus identify the taxi in which I left my baggage. But unfortunately, the taxi number was not clear in the hotel camera footage. The officer then proposed that we should go to the control room. The taxi number must have been more obvious and vividly identifiable in the CCTV footage of the police control room, and it happened really. Finally, the officer detected the taxi number. He instantly collected the mobile number and home address of the driver. He phoned the driver, but the driver was not available as he was not in the home. His wife received the call. The lady informed that her husband forgot to take the phone with him on the day. However, she was given a phone number and advised to inform her husband to contact with the police control room. Police then took us back to the hotel.
We were anxiously waiting. One hour had already gone by. My phoned rang and it was the police officer again who informed me the good news ‘Yes, the driver is coming with your baggage’. What a surprise! It was like that I got my life back. I opened the bag. Everything was as usual. Nothing was missing or messy. I thanked the driver and also the police officer. I wondered, what would have happened if it were the police of my country? I requested the police officer to take a snap with him while handing over the bag to me. But he declined saying ‘it needs permission of his higher authority to take such photo-shoots’. However, at last he agreed as we requested him persistently.
Thimphu is like a living picture without any waste or garbage. I didn’t see anybody begging on the streets. Bhutanese abide by the laws very humbly and thereby respect the police much. But police doesn’t carry any arm or even a stick in hand. The whole city is under CCTV surveillance. It is a crime there to cross the roads without zebra crossing or walking on the road away of footpaths. For such crime, if police want, make one punished with reparation. You cannot smoke openly or even covertly in a public place in Thimphu. Really, we have a lot to learn from Bhutan and its people. According to the Global Peace of Mind Index, Bhutanese top the list. I am sure, indices are generally computed with figures and not always tell the truth. But my personal experiences, as jolted down above, testify that Bhutan is a land of peace and people live there in peace.
(Transcribed by Farrukh Khosru)
We, about 15 journalists both from electronic and print media, went to Bhutan in the second week of October to cover the news of AFC Asian Cup Selection Level Play-off-2 matches. My colleagues were Rokon Chowdhury, Reporter of BSS, Shafiqul Islam Shamim from Kriralok, Chief Photo Journalist of Inqilab Iqbal Hasan Nantu, BTV Sports Reporter Mahbub, Samon Hussain from Manob Jamin, Nawrose Photo Journalist Golam Mostafa, Reporter of Newsnet24.com Kabirul Islam, Chief Photo Journalist of Ekusher Kanta Jamir Hossen jamir and others. I had to face an unpleasant but wonderful experience while covering the Bangladesh-Bhutan Match in Thimphu.
Before the match-day on 10 October, there was a press-briefing session for the two teams. We were preparing for the session. As the journalists from Bangladesh had to stay at different hotels, therefore, we had to attend the briefing session on our own and it was mutually decided to dispatch the news to Bangladesh from our own hotel suits we were residing in Bhutan. The experience that I mentioned before happened just after the press meet when I was returning to my hotel. While I was just entering the hotel lobby leaving the taxi, I suddenly noticed that I had left my camera, passport and other traveling documents in a bag at the taxi. That was a chilling shock for me in a foreign land for the first time and I was sweating inside in tension though it was mildly cold in Bhutan then. I rushed for the taxi driver, but no sign of such taxi was in sight in the stand. I was looking in desperation for about half an hour and finally getting deeply disappointed, I approached to the nearby traffic police. He assured me of getting the bags back, if it had been seen by the driver. ‘But if it was in the hands of any other passenger by this time, then there was only a fifty-fifty chance of getting my bag back’, said the police man. He advised me to lodge a complain in the respective police station. I, along with my three other colleagues, rushed for the local police station in another taxi. On our way to Thana (Police Station), the driver told us that the Bhutanese are honest, and therefore, we should not to be worried much. But I was still not assured of whether I would really get back my belongings. The driver didn’t take the taxi fare even arguing that ‘we didn’t take any fare from the passengers who lost their way’. This made me more surprised.
Thimphu is a small city, nicely managed with sound discipline. The city dwellers are also like that. They are like the blooming flowers with soft smiling face while interacting with the foreigners. The police officer in the Thana again made me surprised. After registering the complain, he offered us to drop at the hotel where we were staying in. He also said, he might get the picture of the taxi from the CCTV footage of the hotel, and assured me that he could thus identify the taxi in which I left my baggage. But unfortunately, the taxi number was not clear in the hotel camera footage. The officer then proposed that we should go to the control room. The taxi number must have been more obvious and vividly identifiable in the CCTV footage of the police control room, and it happened really. Finally, the officer detected the taxi number. He instantly collected the mobile number and home address of the driver. He phoned the driver, but the driver was not available as he was not in the home. His wife received the call. The lady informed that her husband forgot to take the phone with him on the day. However, she was given a phone number and advised to inform her husband to contact with the police control room. Police then took us back to the hotel.
We were anxiously waiting. One hour had already gone by. My phoned rang and it was the police officer again who informed me the good news ‘Yes, the driver is coming with your baggage’. What a surprise! It was like that I got my life back. I opened the bag. Everything was as usual. Nothing was missing or messy. I thanked the driver and also the police officer. I wondered, what would have happened if it were the police of my country? I requested the police officer to take a snap with him while handing over the bag to me. But he declined saying ‘it needs permission of his higher authority to take such photo-shoots’. However, at last he agreed as we requested him persistently.
Thimphu is like a living picture without any waste or garbage. I didn’t see anybody begging on the streets. Bhutanese abide by the laws very humbly and thereby respect the police much. But police doesn’t carry any arm or even a stick in hand. The whole city is under CCTV surveillance. It is a crime there to cross the roads without zebra crossing or walking on the road away of footpaths. For such crime, if police want, make one punished with reparation. You cannot smoke openly or even covertly in a public place in Thimphu. Really, we have a lot to learn from Bhutan and its people. According to the Global Peace of Mind Index, Bhutanese top the list. I am sure, indices are generally computed with figures and not always tell the truth. But my personal experiences, as jolted down above, testify that Bhutan is a land of peace and people live there in peace.
(Transcribed by Farrukh Khosru)
