The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, situated between India and China, began a big experiment towards ending a century of absolute monarchy and ushering in democracy. The country held a ‘mock election’ on Saturday, to be followed by the real thing in 2008.
One of the ironies in Bhutan is that it was the king himself, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who pushed for democracy — apparently against the wishes of many of his people — before handing over the crown to his 26-year-old son last December, reports Reuters.
“Yet Bhutan, which has a population of 635,000 in an area about the size of the Netherlands, is still a desperately poor and deeply traditional place.
“Saturday’s mock polls are designed to teach voters and officials about the election process. Four mock parties are contesting, and have been given imaginary manifestoes.
“In 1972, when Wangchuck came to the throne as a 16-year-old boy, Bhutan had almost no roads, schools or hospitals.
“Today four-fifths of its children go to primary school, most have access to safe drinking water and life expectancy has risen to 66 years from less than 40.”
In another report The Telegraph reports: “Eight years ago they saw television for the first time. Seven years ago they got the internet. Yesterday, the citizens of the tiny time-warped Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan finally took a step closer to another feature of modern life: democracy.
“Also known as Druk Yul, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, because of its violent storms, Bhutan is like a Shangri-la preserved by its hereditary monarchy.
“But perhaps strangest of all is Bhutan’s promotion of gross national happiness (GNH) as an alternative measure of development to gross national product. The term was coined by Bhutan’s previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in the 1970s and remains its most famous export.”
” ‘It’s an idea that’s catching on across the world: the importance of things like a sense of community,’ said Nicolas Rosellini, the United Nations resident co-ordinator. ‘But here in Bhutan, where there is genuine contentment, people want to know how democracy will fit in’.”
Further along the Himalayas, Nepal endured a decade of civil war and weeks of bloody street protests before it rid itself of its autocratic monarch last year. And here in Bhutan we see the King himself offering to surrender his powers to the people.
This is a welcome sign for India as its other two neighbours – Pakistan and Bangladesh – have opted for military dictatorship…and so has Myanmar (earlier known as Burma).
Ironically, the dictatorships are being reportedly supported by the US administration in the two Islamic Asian countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Incidentally, Bhutan is a Buddhist country, while Nepal is a predominantly Hindu country.
For more on Bhutan please click here…
And for pictorial view…here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.