Media must take the lead to speak
I was unfortunate to follow up the new events in Bhutanese media due to my residential shift from Nepal to Australia. Now I have better accessed to internet and computer to have look into what Bhutan is saying these days.
Other than normal news flow, I am constantly interested in how freely Bhutanese can express. I do have read several books sponsored by Wangchuk family to write that Bhutan has all the components that a democratic society has. While the views came directly from Thimphu, it was gradual opening up of the country for competitive politics that voices of the general people have begun to come out.
I was just reading a new book by Thinley Penjore, president of Druk National Congress (Democratic) operating from exile, where he had mentioned about how the only newspaper Kuensel used to file news in 1980s. They were government circulars, king’s orders and other official statements.
Now, the situation has not remained so. Since 2008, people have begun to say Bhutan has marched into democracy from monarchy. They were the same people who refused to pronounce a word to mean that Bhutan was ruled by absolute monarchy before that.
Media has faster growth to reap the fruits of freedom, as it is by nature. However, not all media have come up openly to speak the heart and speak the truth. The government media still remain under strict vigilance of the politicians – the good example would be to remember the fine implied on BBS for live telecasting a show where a citizen on phone criticized minister Rai.
That brought a hot debate whereby the government had to pull back from its plan to take action against the media.
In the similar case, journalist Tenzing Lamsang moved from Kuensel to Business Bhutan after receiving threats and warnings for publicly criticizing government and the politicians. He is one of the fearless journalists I recorded in Thimphu to this day.
However, in general terms, The Journalist has grown up faster in subscribing the meaning of freedom of expression. The weekly has both appreciative and critical on government and bureaucratic activities, which is regarded as healthier for democracy to flourish. Media in Bhutan have greater role to play as opposition in view of the small opposition in parliament and this has been partly fulfilled by The Journalist.
Should the other paper come open on similar trend, it would not take a longer time for general people to speak the truth. The papers must now shoulder responsibilities to pen down the stories of suppression and inhuman treatment that people, from any regions of the country, faced during the past years so that people feel democracy gives them justice. To let people speak, media must take the lead.