Not Mountain Echoes
The Mountain Echoes, a first literary festival in the country, concluded in Thimphu recently exchanging the affections and creativity among the writers. It seems to be a great event, unprecedented, for Bhutanese who never had earlier experienced the right to expression. Initiative from within the royal family added color to the festival than its spirit and content.
In a linguistically diversified country, unwelcoming some of the languages into the festival obviously is a symbolic gesture of marginalizing tactics. Over half of the country’s population understands Nepali, to which the rulers nicknamed as ‘Lhotsamkha’. Arguably, considering the growing penetration of Hindi language into Bhutanese society, the estimation that most Bhutanese understand Nepali would not go wrong.
The Mountain Echoes entertained only English, Dzongkha and Hindi. I faintly can imagine how many participants could understood Dzongkha recitation considering the fact that it changes every village you travel in addition that the festival attendees were mostly non-Dzongkha speakers.
The Mountain Echoes did not adequately echo the sentiments of the hills. It did not encourage the diversified Bhutanese society, it did not celebrate the magnanimity of the Bhutanese languages and it did not pay respect for all linguistic communities of the countries.
It was astonishing to see Nepali speaker Thakur Singh Powdyal, the education minister, remaining powerless to dictation of the organizers. He must have felt ashamed that a minister failed to include a language spoken in mountains at the mountain festival. Above all, almost-absent participation from Nepali speaking population of the country manifests the continuing discrimination prevalent in the Bhutanese system.
The festival is embarrassment for Bhutanese whose first language is not Dzongkha. If the organizers successively fail to include other languages from within the country during such festivals will invite detestation and hatred in the country. The harmony envisioned by the GHN will be just a dream, a distant object.