Bhutan: Mocking Democracy
Written byNeha Viswanathan
Bhutan: For a Democracy on mocking democracy. “Thousands of people from the east have been denied citizenship and right to vote in the upcoming mockeries. People may not like voting to legitimise the terrorism of the Jigmes but our concern is they need to be treated as citizens.”
Written byNeha Viswanathan
48 comments
yeah i agree with the editor that every story has two sides, but the problem would have been solved long ago if nepal gov really wanted to solve it….rather they were always playing dirty politics….it is now evident to international observer that nepal gov even don’t want to send refugee to western countries cuz they know they are going to lose hefty fund they get in the name of refugee …. you all watch and see again nepali gov come with some strategy so that this porcess of taking refugee will be stop…..in the meantime i pity those people in the camps…i am sure some of them are inocents….it happend just coz of some disgruntled people ……
Do you think people working in the human rights groups like UNHCR and others alike really know and understand what is all about human rights and democracy?? well I very much doubt they do.. I guess they know more about their employment, their salary, their benefits etc.. than the human rights and democracy.
These human rights activists are the ones who have been speaking for the so called refugees, the people in the camps in Nepal without knowing the crux of the matter about Bhutan. First of all they (human rights groups)should know that the people in the camps claiming to be Bhutanese are 95 % Nepalese except for few 5 % real Bhutanese who joined with them due to criminal records and some other reasons. It is high time that these international organizations change their attitudes and inform the world with true reports based on facts and findings – not just base their reports on Nepalese medias and someone who tells them the story.
How can any one claim for human rights if things are all wrong. I mean the people in the camps are all wrong people, who are Nepalese claiming to be citizens of Bhutan. Nepal government is trying its best to resettle Nepalese to Bhutan like they did in Sikkim because it cannot afford to feed its own citizen there in its own country. Their government is busy fighting each other for power and calling for frequent elections, political turmoil and continuously mocking the citizens of Nepal. Nepal is complecating the situations of the people in the camps in the name of human rights, religion and democracy. The camps in Japa are the designs of the Koiralla and his government and nothing else. It does not make any sense for Bhutan to give them a happy ride.
Bhutan does not need to be taught by Nepal or the human rights groups on how democracy should be brought to Bhutan and to the Bhutanese. Bhutanese are borne democrats. Bhutanese know and value of human rights, because buddhism is all about freedom, all about human rights and all about democracy being Bhutan a Buddhist country. Bhutanese people practise democracy and human rights 24 hrs x 7.
Bhutan being rulled by a king does not mean that there is no human rights, no democratic principles applied in our rules and laws of our country. People who think that way are mislead by the Nepalese media who keep on writing against Bhutan. Nepal very much envey Bhutan on our properous economic life styles and well being of our people, our effecient development plans and policies, our dynamic leadership of our king unlike Nepal. Nepal is talking shit and will remain shit fighting each other and breeding terrorists hub in the SAARC region.
This is confusing. Who is the other Sonam? Anyhow, like the editor said yes there are 100’s of questions to be asked.
i) What does ethnic cleansing mean?
when you try and wipe out people from the face of the earth like the nazis did the jews, like what the serbs were subjected to. Can you compare youself in any of these categories?
ii) How did the problem start?
Yes the Bhutanese govt came up with some silly rule that everyone had to wear the gho and kira everywhere (which even I as a Bhutantese didnt like and was even arressted once in Phuentsholing) but their reason for doing it was to preserve the tradition. The irony of the dress is that people who didnt like the rule and other things about Bhutan burnt the gho and kira and left for the camps and there they had to wear it every day to differentiate themselves from the others (many Nepalis who now came to the camps for the UNHCR benefits) GOD Works in mysterious ways.
There was also a census being conducted at around that time and the govt got wind that some students at Sherubtse were getting very political and radical. The people without papers were asked to leave then people like Tek Nath, Ratan Gazmer (taught me Biology) and others instigated the innocent people who were citizens – if our brothers and sister are asked to leave we should also leave. They disguised their struggle as a fight for Democracy, led these people to the camps and then because of their karma, nothing worked after that. I feel sorry for those people who were DUPED by these leaders but what to do la. They left and now it is extremely difficult coming back. Bhutan’s future is uncertain now without our wonderful king so they might as well go to the US or Canada or any country that will take them rather than sitting in the camps.
iii)No country is a utopia – so is there any discrimination in Bhutan? YEs we have subtle forms of discrimination but NOTHING like what people in other countries have been subjected to. Sometimes people act like none of us are humans but Gods. Get real this world is not perfect and you can strive for it but live with reality and have some tolerance. Bhutan has never massacrred any Nepalese, even at the height of the southern problem I remember people were celebrating “DHOUSHOORAY”!
People why don’t you read about the history of other cultures and learn what some people/ races have been subject to. What happened to some of the refugees (who came about without a war because it was an immigration issue) is nothing comparable to what has happened and is happening around the world. READ then you will realize that these things are a part of the world and the problems of the world and so you should just try and find the best solutions which have now come from the US and Canada. Yet, what is happening? Staynig true to some of the ignorant ways they are killing each other and threatening each other. Don’t you see that the people who are doing that are the ones who are nursing political ambitions and are the ones who want REVENGE (such negative emotions can never lead you to the right path).
To say that BHutanese don’t have a culture of writing is wrong. We have been writing throughout history but maybe not so in English.
Peace be with you
What bull crap is this?
Its no fault of Bhutan’s that those refugees are suffering, its the result of their own actions and choices.
They tried to topple the government and disturb peace. Their idea of democracy is a country like Nepal.
Look at it.
Thank you all so much for enriching this discussion. I have to agree with editor’s comments – we can only afterall link to online media – content that is not created by big media organisations. That said, I refuse to believe that there is such a thing as “no culture of writing”. The culture of expression, is – if anything – very universal.
But perhaps it takes time to get used to a certain medium, and more importantly, allow oneself to express one’s opinions. Even if a state does not explicitly state that free opinions aren’t allowed, one tends to indulge in self-censorship out of fear, of punitive measures by the state, or of being criticized by the more “dominant opinion”.
Over the last two years, it’s obvious that more people in Bhutan are taking to blogging – and in reality the only way of ensuring that the diversity of opinion “offline” gets representation online is to encourage people to articulate their opinions.
This isn’t about whether or not Bhutan is a perfect country. Every country has its issues. Every country has some trouble or the other. But perhaps what begs itself to be discussed is the means available to citizens to address those issues. And how democratic these means are.
It is baseless bringing in personalized issues in the forum and blaming one another. Don’t be so narrow and selfish, fucus yourself into the reality and make what you are presenting a worth reading.
Truth will take its own course and the reality will come out one day or the other.
Selfishness in this globalized world draging Bhutan into path of turmoil. Therefore fellow citizen concern not with weather King is good or Ngolops are bad, that time will tell. Being a concern citizen think whether we can live as Bhutanese for another decade or not.
Well Seems everyone is following up with this comment, i have nothing to say but to read the good blogs, why so hard on Bhutan when things are pretty much at good shape.
Tenzing Zangpo
if you are disgruntled, you should realize that this is not how you go about solving your problems. Like I said earlier, Bhutan is not utopia – though others who have travelled around the world and seen what it is like find it is the closest to one. And not without reason.
Bhutan is not perfect but it surely has been what people see as close to an idealistic country. Why? because we have had rulers who have been magnanimous, and people who have prioritized peace.
But that being said we are human and we have our problems. If we are not happy with things we as Bhutanese have to work together to solve these problems. You don’t go and turn on your country and become a “ngolop”.
There is a parable: A man went to god with complaints saying why did you give me so much problem and suffering in life. God said I am sorry, you can go that tree there and pick the perfect family you want and the perfect country you want to be in. The man went there and he saw war, saw hunger, saw racism -every imaginable horror. He saw families that were worse off than his, countries that created more suffering. He returned and said I think I will take the one you gave me.
the moral is – just be happy with what you have. If you are in the situation you are in it is because of your own doing. Have you ever heard of KARMA? If you are buddhist or Hindu you should know what it is and why life is the way it is.
Learn to make the best of what you have. All said and done blaming one person ; the fourth king of Bhutan is purely your perspective. While you think he is to blame for all the refugee problems, I think he has been one of the greatest rulers that walked this earth. All perspective.
An elderly Gorkhali war veterian narrating his war skills to a sardarji in Panjab:
Gorkhali: You know sardarji? we Gorkhalis are war veterians. We fought 1st world and 2nd world war and got many medals.
Sardarji: yah! bahoot achhey.. but for whom you fought wars for.. Nepal King?
Gorkhali: No..we fought for Queen Elijebeth of England.
Lets look at what Bhutan has achieved in the short span of time and let that answer the questions on governance and it’s effectiveness on uplifting the life of the people:
1. The GDP of the country is growing at the rate of 8% a year, that sure is a high percentage and people will agree that a country with good economic growth means that the policies are recieved well by the people.
2. Bhutan came 19th in the World Peace Index while the other countries in the region were languishing in the last 100 positions, that shows that there is peace in Bhutan, contrary to what some people would like to believe.
3. Bhutan came 19th in the Global Happiness Index, and again, the neighbours are in the last ranks…to show that people in Bhutan are pretty happy.
4. Bhutan is the only country in the world whose development philosophy is gross national happiness instead of rapid economic growth. You cannot give people happiness by harassing them. My point is, harassment has never been there to the extent expressed by few people in the forum.
5. We have a good government with dedicated civil servants, I would like to think of Bhutan as one of the last vestiges of heaven on earth.
Let Bhutan enjoy her peace and Happiness instead of criticising. For Neha, if u r an Indian, u can visit Bhutan any time without a visa and I would be glad to show you what true happiness is!