October 12, 2009: Only a year old, and in fabricated form, in multi-party practice, Bhutan leads a democracy dialogue in Asia with the beginning of a seminar in Paro today.
The three-day conference, attended by some foreign scholars, cabinet ministers and members of parliament from the SAARC and BIMSTEC region and representatives of civil society, media and UN development partners, was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley on Sunday evening.
The participants will, besides sharing lessons and experiences in strengthening, deepening and sustaining democratic culture and values in Asia, will also teach Bhutan how to behave in democratic manner.
It is irony that a country who claimed democracy as unstable and unwanted form of governance some years back, is now making efforts to talk on democracy with foreign scholars.
It is organized by the Centre for Bhutan Studies and with support form US system in Bhutan.
“For Bhutan, this conference is of special significance, a celebratory event indeed, as it is happening just a year after our country held its first parliamentary elections and enacted its Constitution to make it the youngest democracy in the world,” said Thinley at the inauguration ceremony.
He called for wider definition of democracy and claimed democracy in current form remains incomplete unless spirits and values enshrined by gross national happiness are incorporated.
The UN assistant secretary-general, UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific, Ajay Chhibber said the conference marks the smooth and peaceful democratic transition in Bhutan and signifies the completion of the democratic election processes in the whole of South Asia.
Read our special report produced on the occasion of this conference here.
Bhutanese were not at all for full fledged democracy. Bhutanese only expected to be protected by the Druk Gyalpo as his equal Subjects with guarantee of the minimal of Human Rights. But the voice of dissents against the change was taken offensively, not sincerely. Many untoward incidences and conflicts for a decade thereafter led to the present state that was neither wanted by the people nor desired by our rulers… What is happening? Who is losing and who is gaining?
We are after the stable form of Government on human dignity and values, not on communal politics of mass manipulation and unrest. Any individual or party near to this object should be held in honor and continue in perpetuity. God save Bhutan and the peace loving Bhutanese.
Request for the Royal Government of Bhutan
IF the government of Bhutan wants to make the country prosperous interested Bhutanese refugees of Jhapa should return to their country with fully respected and as the other Bhutanese rather than giving the oil less lecture on the name of bhutanese people and country
One day again all the bhutanese will unite and ruin the government
DC sharma
Unwelcome Statement
I am sad to note the statement of Mr Ajay Chhibber, UNDP regional Director of Asia and Pacific, that the “democratization process is complete in South Asia” with the establishment of democracy in Bhutan. Such big wigs of the united nations are right at the forefront to give stamp approval of legal ethnic cleansing in Bhutan and supporting a regime that practices coersive democracy. How could he dare to say this when more than 130,000 Bhutanese, almost one-fourth of the country’s population are denied participation in the democratic exercise? How can he say that the democratization process is complete in Bhutan when the poltical parties who were at the froefront of democratic campaign are not allowed to participate in the democratic election? Such an irreponsible statement is not contributing towards an amicable solution.
Dr Dhakal
Mr. Ajay Chhiber is right to his statement “democratization process is complete in South Asia” with the establishment of democracy in Bhutan.
Even the Public Representative can’t know what they are discussing in the parliment, as they are directed by someone to speak on the selected topics and to oppose as assigned. Everyone is in illusion even the ministers. Why not Ajay Chhiber, a dignitary who only visited to attened a conference.
Bhutan, a country with complex politics having driven it’s one-fourth population as refugees and declared democracy; and went for parliment election without participation of political parties and it’s one fourth population in exile.
Bi-party democratic Government of Bhutan is holding international conference without hesitation from this 11th October to teach the lesson of democracy for the whole Asia continent. Can the suppresser of democracy and dictator government teach democratic norms and values to other? Why this extreme shamefulness is being performed? In addition, why are the so-called intellectuals across the world( who can play the significant role to wipe out the root of dictatorship from Bhutan if they wish) going to learn the lesson of democracy on the lap of Bhutanese king? Universal democratic movements should not take it lightly for the incidence in which supporters of democracy step into the country where it has a mannequin government formed after the forceful eviction of one-sixth population according to the ethnic cleeansing policy. In this regards, we human rights activists had also organized interactive program few days before to condemn the conference. This program was widely covered by mass media revealing the the plan of INSEC president Subodh Raj Pyakurel, one of the invitees of the conference, to present himself strongly against Bhutan in the conference, Bhutan denied to give him a visa. This reflect the ill intension of Bhutan to organize the such cosmetic program.
Bhutan, which does not like to pronounce ‘human rights’, had signed the convention on Child Rights (CRC) and convention to eradicate all the discrimination against women (CEDAW) respectively in 1990 and 1981. However, Bhutan has been violating these two conventions depriving the fundamental rights including rights to education, health for not being able to make ‘No Objection Certificate’ especially for the Neplease speaking community. The clause 7 of the CRC convention clearly mention that member country must provide birth registration of every children who born in the country and give them citizenship after they reach the certain age. However, the children of the citizenship certificate-less parents who were born after 1990, who are now in the eligible age to obtain citizenship, are not provided citizenship and because of the reason, they are not enrolled in schools and universities. From these instances, it is apparent that Bhutan is mocking the international instruments of which it is a member country. Similarly, after signing CEDAW convention by Bhutan in 1981, woman married with Bhutanese and their children are treated as foreigners and therefore has been restricted for the rights to citizenship. This is the strong dishonor of the international human rights instruments. In this context we have taken seriously the extreme shamefull comment of UNDP regional Director of Asia and Pacific who claimed that the democratization process is complete in South Asia with the establishment of democracy in Bhutan.
Raju Thapa