Budding Democracy and Expectations
If media reports from Thimphu are true then Bhutan is all set for general elections in 2008. Recently mock elections were conducted by the Election Commission in Thimphu for dzongkhag officials and representatives. It is also reported that the electoral list of adult Bhutanese citizens eligible to exercise their franchise has already been prepared.
These are all good steps for any effort towards making people sovereign and positive steps for political transformation. A democratic Bhutan can occupy its rightful place in the big forum of democracies in the world. This would also pave the way for raising economic status of the poverty-hit Bhutanese masses and open the country for people to people interaction with the outside world. So far, this has been kept as a privilege of the government.
The people of Bhutan hitherto have to be treated as free citizens of an independent nation. They have been deprived of their civil and political rights including their right to govern upon themselves.
Political opposition and dissident voices were brutally crushed as acts of treachery, disloyalty, sedition and threat to the absolute rule. Dissidents were branded as terrorists, criminals, illegal immigrants and Ngolops or anti-nationals and all unjust and illegal actions were taken against them to silence their voices.
It is unfortunate that the government is yet to scrap many of its anti-human rights laws that directly infringe upon citizen's fundamental rights. Their continuation does not cast good intention on the true spirit and aim of the written constitution declared by His Majesty King Singye Wangchuck in March last year.
The Bhutanese monarch stunned the world and set a new example by deciding to give up his power in favor of a popular rule. Such a gesture and magnanimity is rare in the recent history of mankind which is found soaked in the blood of innocent people at the hands of kings and queens.
The declaration of a written constitution and promise of democracy by the king has heralded a new era that the country is ready for a transition from autocracy to democracy, from absolutism to openness and from fear to freedom.
Many Bhutan watchers, however, opine it is too early to guess anything about true enjoyment of rights and freedoms by the Bhutanese people as the government continues the ban on dress, language and culture imposed on certain sections of the Bhutanese society.
Though there has been extensive media propaganda about establishment of democracy and granting of freedoms in Bhutan, no efforts have been made to introduce political parties, pro-democracy groups and organizations so far and the fate of political parties and other organizations operating in exile remains undecided.
Bhutan is yet to announce its formal decision on the fate of over 105,000 exiled Bhutanese in Nepal even if the debate has been continuing for a durable solution. UNHCR alone cannot take any decision on the matter. It must seek the formal approval of both the Bhutan and Nepal governments.
The election exercise and achievement of democracy will remain incomplete without the participation of these tens of thousands of Bhutanese citizens. Most of the exiled Bhutanese have been found to hold documents to prove Bhutanese citizens as per the verification results of Khudunabari camp undertaken jointly by Bhutan and Nepal.
The fate and future of Bhutanese exiles depend on the decision of the government of Bhutan and Nepal, not to forget the role of India as well. So far the present government has played down with this great humanitarian problem citing threat to its unique culture, traditions and existence, an argument which many Bhutan watchers do not agree with. They argue if there were no threats to Bhutanese culture, traditions and existence by its myriad ethnicities in history how is it threatening now? They believe these arguments were brought forward simply to defend their inconsistent and wrong policies.
Democracy implies inculcation of qualities of tolerance, mutual respect and co-existence of different groups of people and cultures as a single political entity. It basically means recognition and granting of an individual's rights and freedom to enable him or her to live in dignity and enjoy all human rights without any state interference, better getting state protection on individual rights.
Too much obsession with religion, culture and tradition will lead to fundamentalism which interfere the rights and freedoms of individuals. The Bhutan state must realize this fundamental aspect of democracy and avoid measures that will result into fundamentalism. The world has already suffered a lot due to fundamentalism and extremism and such a path should be avoided from the beginning of any new political transition.
In fact, democracy means an end to any imposition, discrimination, domination or mistreatment. It implies rule of law and not the law of the ruler or the ruling group. In a heterogeneous nation like Bhutan any attempt to undermine the existence of different ethnic groups will ultimately lead to political unrest and instability. A true democracy must respect the rights and freedoms of all diverse cultural and ethnic groups.
It is hoped that the government will find a solution of the exiled Bhutanese citizens before the beginning of the democracy in Bhutan and protect their rights to cast vote in the first historic election.
(Pradhan is secretary general of Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Development (PFHRD) Bhutan. Email: [email protected])