Bhutan often engages itself in telling the Bhutanese refugee stalemate is a humanitarian issue but never dared say who or what caused this issue. So far, Bhutan is very lucky as it is backed by a giant neighbour and its propaganda is sellable in the market. Why Bhutan does not dare sitting across the table … Read more
The role of the Indian government on the paraphernalia of the Bhutanese democratic movement for human rights and democracy begs for more criticism than appreciation. India’s strategic advantage both in terms of location and influence on governance in Bhutan is hardly concealed from anyone. But after two decades, India’s attitude on the Bhutanese movement remains … Read more
January 30, 2010: Despite being a leading democracy in world, India always remained silent spectator to many of the democratic struggles in its neighbor. Bhutan is one of them, where India not only acted as mere spectator but sided with autocracy to crash democratic fight. Bhutan Media Society (BMS) called upon leaders from diverse background … Read more
Bhutan hosted the three day international conference on “Deepening and Sustaining democracy” (12-14 Oct), jointly organized by the Center for Bhutan studies and UNDP. It should be a matter of pride for the government of Bhutan to hold such magnanimous conference with a bit of experience on democracy. But for the SAARC region it is … Read more
A year after Bhutan entered into party politics with a fabricated form of democratic system, it has organized the first conference talking democracy in Asia sphere. For decades, Bhutan resisted democracy in the name of preserving culture and religious unity. In many instances, Bhutan said it cannot tolerate religious and cultural diversity, which is fundamentally … Read more
Over a year and a half has gone by since Bhutan became “democratic”, but there is little to evidence Bhutan’s democratic credentials, and a lot is still left wanting, Druk National Congress said
‘Democracy is the government by the people, for the people and of the people,’ a definition taught at school level rings in my mind. It was the ICSC curriculum of Indian history and civics taught in Bhutan that gave a cursory knowledge of democracy to younger generation of Bhutan. Had it not been for the … Read more
Walking down history lanes years later, the year 2008 will go down as a remarkable year for Bhutan. That year, a King was crowned and a Prime Minister was elected. There were also many worthy firsts in 2008 – first Constitution in the history of the kingdom, the first democratic elections based on adult franchise, … Read more
A year of democratic practices in Bhutan has brought numerous reforms and left almost no stones unturned to demystify the suspicion of throne-gifted democracy. To begin with, the election of 20 members for the upper house, later, five deputed by the monarch, formally lifted the ban on the word ‘democracy”. Then, the royal cabinet divided … Read more
Change, change and change. That’s what has been the popular chestnut for Prim Minister Jigmi Y Thinley since he entered politics as appointed minister for foreign affairs in 1998.