Today is the auspicious day, when Ugen Wangchuck was crowned the first King of Bhutan. Long ago, when our country was plagued by wars, internal strife and poverty, it went through a very critical and difficult period of history. But, when Ugen Wangchuck came to the throne, there was for the first time unity, prosperity and happiness, and a new era of great peace and tranquility began. Hence, we celebrated this day as our National Day. Until this year, we have never celebrated our National Day in Southern Bhutan. It is because of this, that it gives me today a special happiness to celebrate the National Day here in Gaylephug with our people.
Our country’s national police is to consolidate our sovereignty to achieve economic self-reliance, prosperity and happiness for our country and people. Today, when our country is passing through a crucial stage of development, the most important things for the government and the people is to work hand in hand in all our country’s developmental efforts in order to achieve economic progress, attain self reliance and strengthen our national sovereignty. This is very important because some of our people must be thinking that large external aid and technical assistance are easily available.
There is, therefore, the temptation for us to stay idle and rely fully on external assistance to accomplish our objectives ad fulfill our national aspirations. It is important for us to understand that too much dependency on outside aid will only defeat our national goals and aspirations. Although we are small developing country, from the smallest development task the people and the government are today working together to accomplish and fulfill our cherished national aspiration of economic self-reliance. In this respect, I am very happy to tell you that even developed nations have praised such a policy as ours. I want you all to know that I am very proud of your deep sense of duty, dedication, loyalty, and the ability to sacrifice and show great determination in fulfilling our hopes and dreams for the future of our beloved country.
I have often heard that some of our Southern Bhutanese people do not consider themselves as true Bhutanese. Those of you, who think this cannot be true Bhutanese because our people of Southern Bhutanese are not people of Nepal nor are you Indians from Kalimpong and Darjeeling. But, there is a great difference and that difference is because you all are people of the Pelden Drukpa. All of us are like one family.
From tomorrow onwards we will be holding developmental meetings and I will be meeting your representatives and mandals. I would like you to know that as far as the development of Southern Bhutan is concerned in the field of animal husbandry, agriculture, schools, hospitals, cash crops and overall developments, I will myself personally look after them. It is our desire to start such development works which will be useful, beneficial and necessary to the people. As far as your individual problems and difficulties are concerns, I want you to know that they will be looked into personally by me and I will try to solve them as in one family.
Today for the future of our country, the most important thing is our people and the destiny of our country lies in our hands. I have full trust and confidence that, if today the people and the government can work hand in hand with determination, fidelity and unity, and if we can all together develop our country with our own efforts, then our country will march from strength to strength and enjoy eternal bliss.
I would once again like to say how happy I am to be here to celebrate our National Day in Gaylephug and I want you to know that it gives me great happiness to be able to see all the development works in Southern Bhutan and to be with our people. I wish all our brothers and sisters, Tashi Delek.
(Extracted from Our Beloved King, this is an unedited speech delivered by the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, during the National Day celebration in Gaylephug on December 17, 1978. The celebration was the first of its kind in the Southern Bhutan.)
Hey Editor,
The speech is fine.
Why do you insult an animal by writing such (From the horse’s mouth) infidel phrases?
The bamboo groves of autumn are beautiful. Each bamboo tree stands independently, growing straight and tall toward the sky. Yet in the ground, out of sight, their roots are interconnected. In the same way, patriotism towards our motherland irrespective of origin and race should own equally through self-reliant. How beautiful and happy would be the nation, if such understandings flourish.
King gave such an aspiring delivery through love and care of his citizen that explains the doubts but what made him to rethink of term ‘illegal immigrants’ is still hunting us. Term ‘anti-national’ is very huge allegation for people who considered king as omnipotent being. Neither had the people challenged the power nor did they disobey him. People played their role but the greedy officials misused/abuse their authority.
In every nerve and pint of blood, we are Bhutanese with our own specialty. Through evolution and natural adaptability we developed identity among the diversity. And the state during need identified and gratified them. Is not this delivery a proof of the true PALDEN DRUKPA?
The country oscillated the wave in the time-flow and undulation is obvious. The country will progress through national reconciliation that will bring the win-win situation. Time will balm the wound and hope the scar of ill by this time is over. I do hope the suffering of people might have touched the guardian. Bridging the gap is wise and solves the existing barrier. Let there be trust and understanding. Crops after the fire will yeild more and nation after some degree of opposition will progress and benefit more. Hatrage and negative feeling is afterall not the pillar of HAPPINESS.
Bhutan as a nation has to do many things to meet its ends. It needs lots of human and other resources. As the words from king himself, let’s work together for the good of Bhutan and Bhutanese people.
We don’t need anybody to tell us that we are Bhutanese, we were born and brought up in Bhutan, therefore, we are Bhutanese by heart and soul.
We were fooled by the very person we worshipped as our King. Even when our people suffered at the hands of army, police and local administration, we believed all that was happening was without the knowledge of the King. How naive we were. It was the sneaky and cruel Jigme Singye who was the mastermind of all the brutalities commited against us.
He is well aware of the facts, in his heart he knows what he has done. He must be spending his days praying for forgiveness every day. We know he will rot in hell.
the speech is fine but reality is different ….. Jigme . gave this speech to fool the int; countries before he incepted the ethnic cleansing policy in the country. we are the sons and daughter of the soil of bhutan .. he (jigme ) is not a legal figure to identify who we are….. Our glorious history is crystel clear foe everyone……… everywhere…..
I am mon from America. I just came from Nepal a year ago.I am one who was refugee and living in camps as refugee. We were refugee not by wish but due to compulsion. so, we will pay our govt. for it anyway
It is not to blame the King or His government for the harsh and strict regulations that led to the turmoil in Bhutan. It is to blame some Southern Bhutanese Nepali officials that fed some wrong information to the King’s cabinet in their race of gaining better position in the government. In their competion with the other Nepali officials they put up some deceitful information to the royal secretariat aiming to gain better favour from the office. They plead stuff like “If the royal govenment does not take some strict measures immediately Nepalis in Southern Bhutan in combination with Nepalis across the border will soon lead His Majesty’s government to facing the fate as that of Sikkim’s.” “I have been resisting and defusing so much pressure that has been coming up to me asking me to begin a revolt program supporting the cause of southern Bhuitanese people.” I heard these, please.
I appreciated the speech the fourth king deliver on December,17/78. I was a second grader then and I was present as a student scout to welcome the king.There were many students,infect from all over the southern district’s schools of Bhutan.
Although.I was so bichara(innocent) but I was anxious and waiting the grand descending day of the king at galegphu.
I also feel the same way as Mr.Tortala. Life would have been better if all the countrymen were able to coexist and breath the same air from the Himalayas. We would have missed the materials possession or any other super gadgets of these ultra modern days,but have certainly shared the developmental work of the country in hand and gloves.
The king would have commanded unfathomed love and respect, if he would have kept his words that he spoke in the National day celebration at galegphu.
I wish to see him, keep his promise which was solemnized along with his countrymen.
Thanks
DB Adhikari
Arizona,USA
Real king is he who sacrifices his pleasures and happiness for the prosperity of the people and country but our king found pleasure in killing and evicting innocent southern bhutanese.he drank the blood of our innocent people simply to quench his thirst. i dont agree with what Mogin Chilen said above. A king should not have done such a crime upon the innocent people simply listening to what the southen bhutanese leaders said to get better position.there may be some truth in what he said but was he a child or a teenager to believe what they said without trying to know the reality??????.
He maintains double standards .we have unfathomable love to our country,thousand times more than that of jigme singye because the real value of something can be realized only in its absence.to know the feeling of sufferrers he must suffer,otherwise his iron heart cant melt.
Raghu Osti.Saint John,Canada.
Dear writer,
may b you are king or the follower of the king. i don’t care but the thing is that what ever you written on fourth statement is not true.this is false statement.if u said this is true then try to see the history.
“Long live our beloved king ‘your execellency Jigme Singye Wangchuck'” longer you live more are your suffering. According to bhuddist philosophy, it is sure that your next birth will be not as a king but as a son of poor farmer from south or east. You didn’t realise the real problem of your own country. There is still ample of time to re-think your past conducts and correct it, so that you will have golden script in the hearts of the citizen not only on the history which you dictate to your innocent people. Though we have suffered a lot because of your iron fist but we still love you, ‘long live our beloved king Jigme Singye Wangchuck’.
I was part of this celebration and have listened to the speech first hand. I was a student at that time in Yangchenphug High Schhol and had volunteered to escort students from Damphu Junior High School on my way home.
The enthusiasm of the monarch at that time was good and his goal was to integrate all Bhutanese. The three main ethnic groups in Bhutan are distinct in their origin, culture and history and it would be wise to let them co-exit instead of making efforts to integrate and merge them in the hope of creating one race. On hindsight, I think things would have gotten better if this was the thinking at that time. Southern and Eastern Bhutanese were adapting the national code but there was too much pressure to do it over night and cultural assimilation, even if it materializes, takes generations.
Going forward, all Bhutanese (in the country and the Dioaspora) would do well to look for ways of working together and move towards the healing path. I am not sure if the thinking at the systems level is ripe for that yet.
Please read the second paragraph and correct the fourth word. It should be ‘policy’ and not ‘police’. “To err is human: but, to forgive is devinity’. You are forgiven for you are great by power but a vile dust in understanding and command of Enlish, which is a sweet language if you have mastered it, not fashionably.
Wouln’t it be wiser to rephrase “from the horses’ mouth” to ” from the leach’s mouth”?
i really disrespected the writer of the bhutan because u had made the mistake on printing and re-correct through common.this shows that it is untrue. mr.bajiya.try not to be greater then what you are. be always in your position. and do favor for the country not for the king like JIGME.