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Journal

The Bhutan Journal 3.1

by The Bhutan Watch February 19, 2022

EditorialGrowing active role of the monarchy in daily governance and creating new agencies outside the constitutional jurisdiction to take over development activities usually mandated for an elected government are testimonies of the king’s interest in being a pro-active politician and weaken the mandate of an elected government. Weakening of an elected government results in death of democracy and returning to the order of absolute monarchy. That’s has been the repeat history of Bhutan under Wangchuk Dynasty. Citation: Bhutan Watch. (2022). Editorial. The Bhutan Journal, 3(1); 1-3. Statelessness Among Former Bhutanese Citizens: An Issue of Public Concern By Ram Karki Much has been studied and written on Gross National Happiness (GNH) and Bhutanese Refugee Issue in the past decades, but scholars and researchers are yet to write on the issue of statelessness among the former Bhutanese Citizens. This paper attempts to find a suitable answer of how a country that propagates the philosophy of happiness could revoke the citizenship of its people and escape from crime. Citation: Karki, R. (2022). Statelessness Among Former Bhutanese Citizens: A Public Issue of Concern. The Bhutan Journal, 3(1); 4-21. Citizenship and Marriage Laws of Bhutan By Govinda Rizal Citizenship of a state is the right of the holder to have rights as any other member of the state. Categorisation of citizenship creates distinct groups with different limitations, rights, and privileges and makes citizens unequal before the law. In Bhutan, there are three major and seven subcategories of citizens created by the government. This article highlights the background of promulgation of citizenship and marriage laws and their implication. Citation: Rizal, G. (2022). Citizenship and Marriage Laws of Bhutan. The Bhutan Journal, 3(1); 22-40. LDC Graduation: Opportunities and Challenges for Bhutan By I P Adhikari Bhutan is graduating from Least Developing Country (LDC) status in 2023. Fair political stability, consistent economic growth, and improved social indicators in the last few decades helped the country achieve this status early on. However, Bhutan will face tough challenges following graduation as the resources allocated…

GNH

Bhutan Human Rights Report 2021

by The Bhutan Watch February 27, 2021

Forward This is the third year BW publishing Annual Human Rights Report on Bhutan. This is our humble effort to promote human rights, equality and justice. We have been consistently exposing the issues of human rights violations since 2019 and questioning the authority of its inability to provide justice to the citizens. Though Bhutan claims being a democracy with a written constitution guaranteeing modest fundamental rights to all its citizen, it continues to violate human rights of its citizen. The media are controlled with punitive measures and social media is monitored and censored. Politicians appear to be ruled by bureaucracy. Citizens are still scared of speaking the truth about instances of Human Rights violations. There is no national mechanism to monitor. Justice to the victims rests on whims of the local bureaucrats. Issue of political prisoners lingers in limbo. These brave individuals fought for human rights and democracy. When the country proclaimed democracy, the democracy fighters are treated like criminals. They have failed to receive a fair trial. Until they remain in prisons, Bhutan cannot proclaim being a democratic country. At the international level, Bhutan has successfully painted its image as champion of happiness philosophy through its hypocritic Gross National Happiness (GNH) campaign. On top of that, being new entrée to democracy club, the international community has diverted its attention from human rights violations and refugees to helping install democratic institutions in the country. We would say, the process has been very slow and unreliable. Even the erstwhile critics of human rights records of Bhutan like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international human rights organisations stopped their monitoring Bhutan rights records, turning deaf ears to human rights violations in the country. There is an acute need of an independent mechanism to monitor human rights situation in the country and bring those instances to the table. The timely birth of The Bhutan Watch and its continuous monitoring and reporting…

Journal

The Bhutan Journal 2.1

by The Bhutan Watch January 16, 2021

Editorial This issue also carries many grievances of the past and the agony of unsolved issues. This journal like the first one also carries sentiments and contents of Bhutanese diaspora more than Bhutan. De-Suung: The Orange Army By Dr Govinda Rizal Formed on the principle of volunteerism, the Orange Army is dedicated to crowd control, rescue and operation during emergencies, takes up the role of alert citizens. The Orange Army is now running a parallel government and is growing incredibly popular among the citizens most of whom are not happy with the democratic parliamentary system in the country and victims of calamities. Citation: Rizal, G. (2021). De-Suung: The Orange Army. The Bhutan Journal, 2(1), pp 3-19. Bhutan Watch Democracy, Adult Franchise, and Public Participation By I P Adhikari Bhutan promotes adult franchise, conducts periodic elections and has elected parliament and government. It has political parties contesting elections. But it lacks accountability mechanisms, participatory channels, independent and active civil societies, democracy education, and monitoring system that are central to a functional democracy. Citation: Adhikari, I. (2021). Democracy, Adult Franchise and Public Participation. The Bhutan Journal, 2(1), pp 20-38. Bhutan Watch Integration and Satisfaction Among Resettled Bhutanese in Australia  By Prof Dr Manfred Ringhofer Forcefully evicted out of country, 20% of the Bhutan’s Lhotshampa population spent decades in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Now they are resettled in developed countries and are starting a new life. They are happy. They have embraced their new country and connection with Bhutan is gradually eroding.  Citation: Ringhofer, M. (2021). Integration and Satisfaction Among Resettled Bhutanese in Australia. The Bhutan Journal, 2(1), pp 39-58. Bhutan Watch Bhutanese Settlement and Community Leadership  By Om Dhungel Refugee resettlement provides opportunities for key stakeholders to work more collaboratively by adopting strength-based approaches in driving positive settlement as well as successful integration outcomes. The focus of this article  is on learnings from the Bhutanese refugee settlement experiences in different settlement countries and the role community leaders can play.  Citation: Dhungel, O. (2021). Bhutanese Settlement and Community Leadership. The Bhutan Journal, 2(1), pp 59-72. Bhutan Watch Bhutanese Refugee Cultural Complex: An Outsider-Insider’s Perspective By Dr Susan Banki The proposed Bhutanese Refugee Cultural Complex in Jhapa in eastern Nepal is worth asking about its purpose(s). Such commemorative structures are used for documenting history, preventing future problem events, reconciliation, individual healing, and tourism. Citation: Banki, S. (2021). Bhutanese refugee Cultural Complex: An Outsider-Insider Perspective. The Bhutan Journal, 2(1), pp 73-83. Bhutan Watch Democracy and Political Prisoners in Bhutan By Ram Karki Everyone said Bhutan attained democracy in 2008. King agreed for…

Journal

Editorial

by The Bhutan Watch January 16, 2021

We offer TBJ Second Issue of BW to readers. It gives us an immense pleasure and satisfaction to some extent. It is the unofficial link between the Bhutanese Diaspora and Bhutan. This issue also carries many grievances of the past and the agony of unsolved issues. This journal like the first one also carries sentiments and contents of Bhutanese diaspora more than Bhutan. The political prisoners detained on charges of demanding democracy in the country are still in prisons even after 12 years of democracy. The king who is above the law is raising an army and is in an early phase of running a parallel government. Read full here

Human Rights

Faltering – Annual Human Rights Report

by The Bhutan Watch February 18, 2020

Bhutan has become an example among South Asians and high achievers in donor’s expectations in the socio-economic sphere. There are several statistics and reports produced within the country that display tremendous development and efforts to maintain and preserve a pristine environment at the same time. The image of Bhutan as a mystic last Shangri~la and a carbon negative country in the world has garnered good admiration and soft power. Besides, the only country to have adopted Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product as a developmental index received international attention. In May 2019 Bhutan participated the Universal Periodic Review of UN Human Rights Council. Bhutan was asked to ratify the core international Human Rights Instruments to which it is not yet a party. Bhutan rejected many of these recommendations citing technical and financial resources. Bhutan also rejected extending an invitation to all special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council into the country for regular monitoring. Bhutan was asked to constitute a national human rights institution. Bhutan’s response was that it ‘…takes note of this recommendation. The Royal Government will study different options that may be best suited for the country taking into consideration the need and national state of preparedness.’ Bhutan received a total of 220 recommendations from the United Nations Member States. The government accepted 157 recommendations, and deferred 63 which are of paramount importance to upholding human rights in the country. The joint Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committee in parliament has now been reduced to that of National Assembly only. Despite the appearance of its name, the committee has no permission to discuss or debate on any human rights issues or accept any complaints or applications from citizens related to human rights violations. This committee has never looked into any cases of human rights in over a decade. The lack of any human rights groups or state apparatus means citizens have no options to seek justice if they feel their…

Journal

The Bhutan Journal 1.1

by The Bhutan Watch January 12, 2020

Editorial Welcome to the first issue of Bhutan Journal. Citation: Bhutan Watch. (2020). Editorial. The Bhutan Journal, 1(1); 5. doi.org/10.55564/tbj11edtr20 Waters of Bhutan Govinda Rizal On average 75 billion tons of freshwater exit from Bhutan every year. Bhutan is perhaps one of the few countries rich in freshwater. Bhutan’s per capita fresh water was 108,476, 557 liters in 2014. Yet, the water on each person’s share is of little use, as they don’t get to use it. Citation: Rizal, G. (2020). Waters of Bhutan. The Bhutan Journal, 1(1); 6-16. doi.org/10.55564/tbj11gr20by Bhutan Within the Indo-Pacific Strategies C M Niroula The security threat posed by rising China in Indo-Pacific region has raised fear of possible shift in the world order. China is flexing economic and military muscles. As China crawls to Asia Pacific region, the US has unveiled its new strategy to counter the rise of Communist China. Citation: Nirola, C.M. (2020). Bhutan within the Indo-Pacific strategies. The Bhutan Journal, 1(1); 17-25. doi.org/10.55564/tbj11cmn20dw Contemporary Bhutan’s Faulty Policies & Remedies Ram Karki Bhutan is no exception when it comes to effect of globalisation and its tight measures to avoid wind of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation will bound to fail sooner if not later. Internet and social media have already been playing their influential roles in connecting both former and present Bhutanese citizens. Citation: Karki, R. (2020). Contemporary Bhutan’s faulty policies and remedies. The Bhutan Journal, 1(1); 26-35. doi.org/10.55564/tbj11rbk20az Climate Change Impact in Bhutan I P Adhikari The Himalayas is serious victim of climate change. Melting ice and decreasing ice reserves indicate a disastrous future. The impacts are already visible. Results are declining agricultural production, scarcity of water resources and deterioration of human health. Citation: Adhikari, I. P. (2020). Climate change impact in Bhutan. The Bhutan Journal, 1(1); 36-51. doi.org/10.55564/tbj11ipa20cx Jumpstarting Nepal-Bhutan Relationship John Narayan Parajuli A breakthrough in Nepal-Bhutan relationship in the past had been rendered near impossible. With resettlement of Bhutanese…

Journal

Editorial

by The Bhutan Watch January 11, 2020

Dear Readers, We welcome you to the inaugural issue of The Bhutan Journal published by Bhutan Watch. The Bhutan Journal is the first attempt from Bhutanese in Diaspora to look deeper into the Bhutanese issues that are outside the four walls of everyday domain and discussion. It is our sincere effort to engage every Bhutanese into an intensive and fruitful conversation about issues affecting Bhutan and Bhutanese people. Whether inside the country or outside, contribution to Bhutan continues until the Bhutanese spirit is alive. It is our divine duty to keep this spirit alive for generations to come. As we spread across the globe, our busy schedule keeps us disconnected from Bhutan. There is an unintended disconnection between Bhutanese in Diaspora and those living in Bhutan. Bhutan Journal shall make efforts to bridge the extreme ends of the same community and to build consensus in Diaspora about our ability to contribute towards reshaping a fair and just future. The journal shall contain anything to everything about Bhutan. Articles both appreciating and critical analysis of Bhutan’s efforts on modernism, philosophies, development, political process, economy, human rights, discrimination, and current affairs are welcome. We respect constructive criticism and critical appreciation. There is no restriction on what subject you love to write if it is about Bhutan and issues are authenticated with facts and sources. We are eager to hear your comments, suggestions and feedback to improve our future publications. This Journal shall be published once a year, but our website will carry occasional papers, research reports and opinion columns. We welcome short articles/opinions for website too. Editors

Media

Struggle for Survival

by The Bhutan Watch May 1, 2019

Status of Press Freedom, Right to Information and Freedom of Expression in Bhutan 2019 ACRONYMS FORWARD SUMMARY RIGHT TO INFORMATION ORGANISED EFFORTS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION POLITICAL COMMITMENTS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ATTACK ON MEDIA JAB AND ITS ROLE CONCLUSION ANNEXURE Acronyms BBSC – Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (also refer as BBS) BCMD – Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy BICMA – Bhutan Information, Communication and Media Authority BKP – Bhutan Kuen-nam Party BMF – Bhutan Media Foundation DNT – Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa DPT – Druk Phuensum Tshogpa ECB – Election Commission of Bhutan EVM – Electronic Voting Machine GDP – Gross Domestic Product GNH – Gross National Happiness IFJ – International Federation of Journalists INGO – International Non-governmental Organisation JAB – Journalist Association of Bhutan LDC – Least Developed Country MoIC – Ministry of Information and Communication NA – National Assembly NC – National Council PDP – People’s Democratic Party PSB – Public Service Broadcasting RCSC – Royal Civil Service Commission RENEW – Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women RSF – Reporters Sans Frontiers RTI – Right to Information Go to top FORWARD Even after a decade of parliamentary democracy introduced, institutionalising press freedom is still proving to be problematic. The governments and political leadership have expressed solidarity to respect freedom of the press, but it seems only lip service is being paid to it, with them not bringing legislation favourable to press freedom and not providing enough state support and not taking initiatives to help media professionals facing challenges. The only union of the journalists Journalist Association of Bhutan (JAB) has almost become the rubberstamp of the government. The right to information is the fundamental rights enshrined by the Constitution but the lack of legal mechanism to access the public information for last 10 years itself speaks the volume of Bhutan’s state of press freedom. The continued decline in the World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) also…

Human Rights

Rights Under Shadow

by The Bhutan Watch April 29, 2019

Status of Human Rights Report 2018 ACRONYMSFORWARDSUMMARYSTATE PROTECTION MECHANISMPOLITICAL FREEDOMRIGHT TO EXPRESSION & FREEDOM OF INFORMATIONRELIGIOUS FREEDOMMINORITY ISSUESWOMEN ISSUESCHILDREN ISSUESEMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR RIGHTSLGBT RIGHTSPRISON SITUATIONSECURITY & CRIMECONCLUSIONANNEXURE FORWARDIt is my pleasure to be a part of the team to bring out an annual human rights report on Bhutan. Bhutan has adopted a controlled democratic set up which can be considered an outcome of our post 1990 political and human rights campaign. In 1998, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck was compelled to reinstitute the power vested by his father King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck to the National Assembly of Bhutan. He further evolved the idea to “guided” democracy eventually declaring the country in 2008 as Constitutional Monarchy. Now, Bhutan has a written constitution. Because of this development Bhutan is freer than pre 1990 situation but yet it is a long way to go to achieve democracy as enjoyed in truly democratic system of governance. The checks and balances in the system are so weak that the “guided” democracy could easily turn into a permanent road block in the quest for true democracy in Bhutan. As a team member of this fresh initiative to publish the annual human rights report in Bhutan. We will cover cultural rights, civil rights, minority rights and economic rights of Bhutanese people as seen by people in the opposition bench. It is hoped that such reports will be useful for self-evaluation of the people in the government and the need to do more for opening up the country for better governance. I also congratulate the team members from the resettled Bhutanese communities for coming forward to join the publication team. We have a long way to go. There is a need for us to organise at global level a vibrant Bhutanese Diaspora which should not only be able to take care of its own interest but also help Bhutan and the Bhutanese people to make economic and…