Critical Appreciation – Constructive Criticism
Our editorial and management team is changing. But the future mission of The Bhutan Journal will not change. We will continue to publish research, policy-relevant analyses, and reflective essays that elevate underrepresented perspectives and inform public deliberation. Read Full
Bhutan is undergoing significant socio-political and economic changes, with progress in areas like democratic governance, child welfare, and environmental sustainability. However, challenges persist. Restrictions on opposition parties, minority rights, and media censorship raise concerns about political participation. Press freedom is declining due to editorial interference and government advertising censorship, impacting media independence. Ethnic minorities, particularly Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, face systemic discrimination, including barriers to citizenship and limited access to basic services. Out-migration rates are rising due to economic instability, while domestic job security and wage disparities remain unresolved. Despite CEDAW ratification, gender inequality persists, with women underrepresented in leadership roles and facing economic barriers. Child welfare shows improvements, but issues like violence, substance abuse, and inconsistent enforcement of child labour protections remain significant, particularly in rural areas. Environmental sustainability faces challenges such as water shortages and climate impacts on natural resources. Bhutan is implementing projects like ACREWAS to address these issues. At its Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Bhutan reaffirmed its commitment to human rights and sought international support to implement reforms addressing legal, gender, and environmental challenges. Read Full Report here
This edition of The Bhutan Journal is solemnly dedicated to the memory of the late Dr. Govinda Rizal—scholar, activist, and co-founding editor of this publication. Since the journal’s inception in 2019, Dr. Rizal remained a steadfast pillar of its editorial vision, intellectual integrity, and unwavering commitment to truth. Read full
EditorialBhutan has recently completed its fourth round of parliamentary election since starting the ‘controlled’ democratic exercise in 2008. Each election brings some surprises. This latest election come as less controversial compared to the previous three. The diaspora expects the new government will be more liberal in term of opening doors for family and friendly exchanges and re-unions. Reconnection will further erase such sentiments, build up relations that will produce more benefits to Bhutan – economically and socially. Mental Health Among the Resettled BhutaneseDevi KatelThe resettled Bhutanese, most specifically in the US, have widespread mental health issues. The trend has improved in the last couple of year, though. The issue is not completely absent in other countries where they have been resettled but due to the small population size, they receive less attention. There have been very few studies made on the cause of the issue to prescribe tentative solution. This article will look into the current situation of the mental health issues in the resettled communities and efforts made to address them. Bhutanese Women in Public Spheres: Agency, Existence and ResistanceTara Lal ShresthaThis research attempts to explore the existence of Bhutanese women in public spheres in exile. Bhutanese refugees- their (hi)stories about the resistance and existence. It blends with personal narratives, introduces instances of representative Bhutanese women who have marked traces in the resistance history. It also talks about women who exist outside the bourgeois public sphere via their case. Theoretical insights from Nancy Fraser have been used, who proposes subaltern public spheres instead of singular bourgeois public sphere. Presenting available foundations and insights, this paper posits possible ways to articulate plural public spheres for the Bhutanese women in exile. Interim Governments in the Kingdom of BhutanGovinda RizalGlobally, interim governments function as transitional entities managing governance during crises or regime transitions, facilitating the shift towards a stable governance structure. Their roles include supervising elections, maintaining law and order, addressing immediate…
Bhutan has recently completed its fourth round of parliamentary election since starting the ‘controlled’ democratic exercise in 2008. Each election brings some surprises. This latest election come as less controversial compared to the previous three. The diaspora expects the new government will be more liberal in term of opening doors for family and friendly exchanges and re-unions. Reconnection will further erase such sentiments, build up relations that will produce more benefits to Bhutan – economically and socially. Read full
The democratic changes ushered by the royals allowing political parties to participate in the democratic process and represent the will of the people through periodic elections have hardly made any, if any, changes to the life of ordinary citizens. The king is exercising more power than before to swirl the parties to his whims and anyone questioning his whims is eliminated. As the fourth periodic election is near, there’s a likelihood of one of the oldest parties in the parliament Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) getting eliminated. This has been the attempt of the palace since 2013. Many leaders who contested previous elections under the DPT banner are encouraged to create a new party. The new party is focusing its attention on eastern districts where DPT has made its stronghold since its inception. Over three dozen political activists, who were arrested for demanding democratic changes, are still in jail on charges of treason. The incarceration of democracy fighters in jail is ironically teasing the Bhutanese democracy and its purity. Sexual abuse of women and girls had been a major issue in the last few years with the government failing to act. However, the issue is sometimes used as a weapon to victimise others – a special case on this issue is highlighted on this report. The government is limiting the freedom of information, not only by a new law but also by creating a veil in the government system that restricts the flow of information. Journalists do not get access to government information and government officials speaking to the media are terminated from their jobs. Journalists’ professional bodies raised concerns about the lack of access to information, however, were met with no response from the government. The parliament has passed a law giving both royal projects – Desuung and Gyalsung – legal status. This, however, is outside of the purview of an elected government and the king has been granted full…
Issue 4 TBJ
EditorialThis issue of the Bhutan Journal has focused partly on language─ the most specifically the changing needs and status of the language of the Bhutanese diaspora. When the Royal Government of Bhutan wanted to reduce its potential political opposition, one of the major criteria in its target list was Nepali language and its users. The evicted people- who were mostly of Nepalese descent- reached Nepal where they reinvigorated their skills in Nepali language and literature that had almost extinguished in Bhutan. During their migration for resettlement, for many literate people, Nepali language or literature was the only possession they carried with them. Citation: The Bhutan Watch. (2023). Editorial. The Bhutan Journal, 4(1); 1-3. Identity, Culture, and National Interest: A Pragmatic Application of Constructivist Theory to the Lhotshampa ExpulsionBy James PleaceThe Bhutanese state has constructed their identity, domestically and internationally, against the Lhotshampa people, a broadly Hindu Bhutanese-Nepali people, who feature as the ‘Other’ in the process of identity construction. This group of marginalised people has been expelled from Bhutan through ethnic cleansing. The monarchy and ruling elite see the Lhotshampa as a threat to their power and have imposed policies designed to homogenise Bhutan. We explore this Bhutanese construction of identity. Citation: Pleace, J. (2023). Identity, Culture, and National Interest: A Pragmatic Application of Constructivist Theory to the Lhotshampa Expulsion. The Bhutan Journal, 4(1); 4-23. Post-resettlement Bhutanese Poetry: A Thematic Content Analysis through Natural Language ProcessingBy Ramesh Gautam, Shiva Lal Dahal & Khem Raj GautamInterpretation of poetry is generally based on qualitative analysis of semantics, figurative language and expression, and knowledge about the author and literary elements. Recent advancements in computer-based text processing allow us to analyse a large amount of text quantitatively. This paper presents two useful aspects of literary analysis. Firstly, it interprets the social, cultural, and contemporary aspects of Bhutanese people’s lives after resettlement represented through poetry. Secondly, it presents NLP as a methodological technique in analysing…
Issue 4 TBJ
Issue 4 TBJ
This issue of the Bhutan Journal has focused partly on language─ most specifically the changing needs and status of the language of the Bhutanese diaspora. When the Royal Government of Bhutan wanted to reduce its potential political opposition, one of the major criteria in its target list was Nepali language and its users. The evicted people- who were mostly of Nepalese descent- reached Nepal where they reinvigorated their skills in Nepali language and literature that had almost extinguished in Bhutan. During their migration for resettlement, for many literate people, Nepali language or literature was the only possession they carried with them. Read in full
Issue 4 TBJ
A high-profile case involving the supreme court justice dominated the news outlets of the country for the majority of the year. The personal collusion between a lady and army chief was tagged as mutiny and criminal conspiracy. Where females are treated as incompetent compared to their male counterparts, sentencing a lady on a charge of mutiny is contentious. On the political front, the governing party DNT has gradually cornered the opposition DPT with the likely intention to kill it by the next election, scheduled for 2023. Since anti-king sentiments outpoured at the party’s gathering after the 2013 election, the palace has taken calculated steps to finish DPT at any costs. Other parties have become the instruments. Political participation of women and other minority communities remains very low due to a lack of government initiatives for positive outcomes. Women and girl children continue to face the wrath of masculinity – sexual abuses and rapes. The safety of girls is at risk. There are no government interventions despite the seriousness of the issue. The safety of women and girls is not the priority of any successive government. The solution is focused on jail terms for perpetrators where possible – rather than seeking long-term solutions through women empowerment and social awareness through education. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the economy to the brink. Unless any revolutionary programmes are launched, the economy is likely to take years to repair. The government-imposed restriction challenged the general life and treating citizens like criminals for minor violations of orders has questioned the very tenets of humanity in Bhutan. Unemployment has increased. Failure of the government to create employment opportunities provided good grounds for the palace to take advantage and present itself as the rescuer of an unemployed new generation. The initiative from the palace ‘Gyalsung’ has overtaken the constitutional mandate of an elected government. It may create some jobs, but it will undermine the authenticity of the elected…
Democratic days of Bhutan heralded with the transfer of power from fourth to fifth kings with new king accepting the fact that governance should be through the peoples’ elected representatives. In the past the monarchy used to face pressure to relinquish power; the transition to democracy witnessed appreciation and approval. The maturing of democracy did not go well in terms of practice, functioning and delivery. The monarchy remained the central force influencing decision-making and intervening the projects of the elected government. Though the constitution includes enormous royal prerogatives, it was positively hoped that path to democracy will widen as time goes. Many steps taken by the palace are proving to be otherwise. Read full