Bhutan — the so-called land of happiness — was the root of countless miseries endured by my people in refugee camps. The population of Bhutan was once roughly split between the Lhotshampa (ethnic Nepali) and the Drukpa (ethnic Bhutanese) communities. And with the growing Lhotshampa population, equal participation in governance was becoming a likely outcome. We were placed in refugee camps — fragile bamboo and mud houses with thatched roofs that barely held against the weather. This fear silenced the remaining Lhotshampa population in Bhutan.