Special occasion
In March 2008, the Bhutanese monarchy decided to go for elections and liberalise politics whereby two parties were formed and taken to the field. This was the beginning of a democratic culture that Bhutan initiated after centuries of absolute rule. In the 1950s, when the third king started a number of political reforms including formation of a national assembly and cabinet, the Bhutanese rulers had termed it a democratic government and democratic reform.
It has been more than two years that “democracy” has existed in Bhutan. While many democracy and human rights enthusiasts who were arrested in 1990 and 1997 on the charge of treason are still passing their days in prison cells, the absolutists overnight changed to posing themselves as democrats and protectors of human rights. Whom is this democracy serving?
Democracy has been talked about and discussed elaborately in Thimphu. The international community commended the change and the media enthusiastically reported, exaggeratingly, the birth of party politics in Bhutan. The notion behind banning more than two parties remains unreported and undisclosed. A fundamentally fractured democracy has evolved in this Himalayan kingdom as explicitly evidenced by the fact that the election commission denied registering a third party which was, in fact, not loyal to the king.
Stories from rural parts are yet to get placed in the news pages. Until that is done, until the democracy discourse is extended beyond the urban elite, the changes that have swept Bhutan for the last few years will remain a bare fabrication and mere lip service. After two years in the seat, the Druk Phunsum Tshokpa (DPT) has adequately shown the trend that democracy is for consumption of the urban populace.
My observation of Bhutan’s two-year-old democracy has compelled me to brand it a fraud. The simplest evidence of it is the failure of Bhutan to prove when democracy was born. The government has not yet decided a democracy day, and its celebration remains a far off dream.
This is a political culture, better to call it a human culture — any special changes are marked with daylong celebrations. This is what has been seen in the case of coronation day for kings, their birthdays. Historical changes are celebrated lavishly to ensure that future generations remain informed of the original event and their history. Celebrating democracy day in Bhutan would certainly tell our generations when the people of Bhutan were actually made sovereign.
Democracy has not been born in Bhutan, and its practice has been suspicious. This cannot be correct in the philosophy of practices. A democratic culture has not penetrated Bhutanese society, but it has been a topic for debate to the elite. It has not been implemented, but it has become a hot cake to adjust with the changes in the global village.
If the people in Bhutan today were really enjoying the fruits of democracy, they have every right to know when the victory day is. A change from an absolute monarchy to a democracy is a victory for the people because the sovereign power has shifted from a person to the whole populace. Victory day should see celebrations and merrymaking.
Thimphu annually celebrates India’s independence and republic days, Bangladesh’s independence day, the UN’s formation day and many other occasions. When the government spends so much money to celebrate the monarch’s birthday, the people have no chance to rejoice in the establishment of democracy. Democracy day must see the kind of towering celebrations that are organised on the occasion of other special events. Sadly, this has not been the case in Bhutan.
If the country lacks a democracy day, it is not a democratic country. The people are yet to become sovereign. If the current government is of the people, by the people and for the people, it has an obligation to inform the citizens when they became sovereign and when democracy actually entered Bhutanese soil. Or is it that the country is still ruled by an absolute monarchy? Until the nation celebrates democracy day, it certainly means Bhutan is still being ruled by an absolute monarch.