Bhutan: For A Democracy

The propaganda on Gross National Happiness yielded by Jigmi and promulgated by Jigme has been gradually coming into reality of claiming how happy are the Bhutanese people with the authoritarian regime. 

The unemployment problem has been rising raising frustration among the young population while the employed have been dissatisfied with their jobs.

Paro College of Education lecturer Rinchen Dorji in his survey recently concluded that only three percent of the teachers in the country are satisfied with their job. What makes them frustrated? Does the wangchuk regime lend it attention? Never, never and never. What matters them when teachers are frustrated, unsatisfied.

Once it was acclaimed that Bhutan tops the Asia in case of happiness among the people. The Jigmis’s organization Centre for Bhutan Studies had earlier found the happiness among the people had dropped to less than 60 percent. Drastically, now the happy people are 3 out of 100.

The teachers ‘expressed frustration, dissatisfaction and low morale and motivation,’ low morale kuensel also said.

The environment for the job in the country is not encouraging because the tyrants have been enforcing the people to strictly follow what they direct. For years, they have not been allowed, even to this day, to suggest the corrective measures to create encourating environment. Rather, the royalists and their followers, who sometimes are illiterate dictators, charge the suggestion people as speaking against the king, country and the people.

Dorji has said he found the younger generation people are more frustrated for lacking appropriate environment in their work field. His finding shows that the younger generation teachers have not been able to fit with the dictatorial environment of the wangchuk regime.

While talking about the teaching profession, I recall my days in school where a Dzongkha teacher, not received formal education, used to teach us. His general method of teaching was to tell us students to go through the text and say the whole text in front of the class without looking the text book. He didn’t bother what the text meant to say. Upon failing to tell the whole text, I had found a good measure to avoid his beating. I used to start praying the national anthem and this used to compel the teacher remain unmoved, helping me escape from his beating.

The wangchuks had raised the salary for the teachers earlier to encourage them say that dictators are doing well. Now when the dictators realized their share for entertainment and luxury has been decreasing, it chopped off the salary and incentives.

The nature of the wangchuk to include their nears and dears in the job has also been revealed by this study.

I think, the questions raised in this blog regarding the authenticity that people are becoming frustrated with the wangchucks are getting answers gradually.

The independency of the kingdom has been talked the highest while the wangchuk government steps in to suppress the people. For Jigmes, sovereignty was the propaganda material just to safeguard the throne for their decedents.

The first wangchuk surrendered before the white people in 1865 and signed an agreement to loose the land of 18,000 square miles in Bengal and Assam Duars. Now the fighters in the Assam get shelter in wangchuk administration.

Most of the high places in northern side have been ceded to China, the rulers kept quite. No sounds, no opposition. The latest instance, I have already wrote in earlier piece.

I had also mentioned earlier that Bhutan government remained quiet with the Oxfor dictionary giving meaning of Bhutan as ‘protectorate of the republic of India’.

There have been several attempts to demolish Dzongkha language from northern side after the occupation of Tibet by bigger dragon. The smaller dragon seems gradually making hay with the bigger in its efforts to strengthen wangchuk sovereignty.

In October 2005, an internal Microsoft memorandum barred the term “Dzongkha” from all company software and promotional material. The US company, however, substituted the term as “Tibetan – Bhutan” instead.

This was done at the request of the mainland Chinese government, who insisted the name “Dzongkha” implied an affiliation with the Dalai Lama, and hence, with Tibetan independence movement.

There have been no reactions from the wangchuk administration to this Chinese influx, the advancing communist. Now, it has raised its eyebrows with the beginning of communist insurgency. Hopefully, the smaller dragon will fail to curb the upsurge of the bigger dragon, crawling slowly in the international politics with the ‘low profile and secure position’ policy of its leader Deng.

After a news portal made public the arrest of some citizens from west-southern district in last week of May, fear spread among the democratic enthusiasts in Thimphu that they may also face similar consequences. However, after police announced that the people were linked with some communist group formed by Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, the suffocation among the people flexed. Yet the fear has not cleared for the spies of the wangchuks run around the Thimphu looking after people having link with these people called communists.

At the same time, I heard of some rumours that the wangchuk government has finalised the plans to crash some more citizens and that the plans would begin to be executed from south-eastern districts.

Thus, the circumstances forced me to run to these places to see how the people have been living. I reached Samdrup Jongkhar with my secret plans.
I face shortage of my money to stay in hotels here, however, there are no relatives who can accommodate me. Finally, an Indian who runs small business turned to be a new friend, in need, indeed.

I looked through the districts and contacted some people around if the rumours spread in Thimphu was correct. I had concluded while in Thimphu that the rumours should have some facts behind because the government had already announced 80,000 illegal immigrants still living in the country.

And yes, the rumour was correct. After the arrest of the communist enthusiast in west, the local authorities, on assumption that these communists have been running training camps in eastern districts, asked some six families to leave the country immediately. I met four of these families and suggested not to obey the wangchuk promulgated orders and believe that in either way victory of the people, the suppressed voices, is certain. It takes time, have patience.

Yet the fear that dominated the psychology of these threatened families has so deepened that in the days ahead, they would not find alternatives than to leave the country.

Militarisation of eastern and southern districts has already begun in the name of catching the communist enthusiasts. The people in eastern districts have been living under state terror at this present situation. They are unaware what the wangchuk government would do now on.

Even then, the ire among the common people against the establishment has been increasing. Hopefully, the exasperation prevailing for a long period would come out once the wangchuks opens up the politics. The parties formed under the direction of the wangchuks would become a boomerang to topple the tyrants, people wait for the opportunities.

Kings find days difficult these days. There have not been enough politicians for them to mock the democracy at the same time so loyal to them to strengthen their powers within the palace. From the diverse field, the palace has been encouraging its nears and dears to plunge into the hells of mockery democracy.

For years, the regime suppressed the people and the intellectuals joining politics unless found hardcore supporter to the palace and the royal family. By the time, country needed a capable leader, there are no one coming ahead. Politics remain flat.

Doctors, from a total of 90 in the country plus few foreigners, so-called journalists, diplomats, bureaucrats, lecturers, lawyers announced to change their profession, for the shake of protecting last years of wangchuks.

In the sponsorship of wangchuks, a survey had said Bhutanese are the happiest of all Asians and now the survey by government body itself, created by inventor of GNH for Jigme’s sake, has revealed that only 60 people out of 100 are happy. Ironically, the mock survey asked 350 people in mass of 700,000.

One might not think, as the process not mentioned, that the respondents were not members of a family or relatives of those sent for collecting infos.

So, the bases are changing, the reality gradually comes up. As the king find difficulties in choosing a person for upcoming polls, the days will be even harder when those supporting the regimes become frustrated for bias treatment. The mockery in the upcoming general and national council election would put the figure of happy people to less than 50, thus paving a good way for eradication of the wangchuks.

The wangchuks have already bit their tail and it will never get separated rather the dragon die. The reason is simple, its not worthwhile to elaborate. Take a serpent, for example and put its tail to its mouth and observe. The result you get will apply to Bhutan. Takes time, be patient.

The bigger dragon is advancing from the north, another clumsy, glutton expansionist is grasping from the south. A potato in the middle, will become like bread when it cooks enough. It is cooking now.

After all the point to let other know that king rules with power in the center and all around him are just nothing but to do what has been told to do. The power prowlers around the palace and the royal family neglect what the nation needs rather concentrate what the king and his family needs.

The latest activities and behavior of one of the cabinet ministers has explicitly showed this. The mock election is a film story woven by Jigme Singye with his daughter’s made father Jigme Thinley.

Everything is being managed in New Delhi. To know what would happen in Thimphu please visit South Block what’s cooking for Bhutan.

I hope, it would rather be an Indian state that to tag as an independent country and run from a foreign capital. Because the oxford dictionary has already mentioned that Bhutan is a India protected.

The young tyrant recently sold the duars area to India in assurance to preserve him in the throne. In the north, the wangchuks have ceded over 9,000 sq km of land to China. If you have not known, please search the new map produced by the wangchuk government which states that the area of Bhutan is 38,000 sq km.

For centuries, we read the area of Bhutan was 46,500 sq km.

This all happened in hope that the throne for this wangchuks would remain preserved from both north and south.

But hope, the squeezing process would go on until Thimphu remains as a country where the wangchuks would still boost to have preserved the national sovereignty and independence of the country.

I suggest the wangchuks also to adopt the slogan ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’ (as I see in most trucks and vehicles passing through Jaigaon and Phuentsholing), for Bhutanese people as well.

Thanks