Is Bhutan a failed state?
In a latest press meet, the government ministers were furious over an article published in a newspaper quoting some reports from US that Bhutan is a failed state. Though ministers did not name the paper, I was curious to know which paper was that and what had been written there. I got hold of the article. It was published in Bhutan Today, the country’s first daily newspaper on June 23.
As I scanned through the article, I found no reasons for the ministers to get too much furious about that. The reporter has made a balance in reporting. He has sought quote from the government officials and judiciary as well.
Media are not the judge. Media write what they find ensuring that all those linked with the issue are contacted and given chance to make their view. In fact the article has given chance for the government to ensure the public that Bhutan is making progress as stable and prosperous country. They failed to cash the opportunity. The reporter has nowhere said, Bhutan is a failed state but reported that some magazine in US mentioned Bhutan as a failed state. And adequately government ministers that Bhutan is not a failed state. Why don’t they interrogate others who claims Bhutan as failed state or not a sovereign state such as this. It is up to the readers to decide on the issue.
The government cannot impose restriction on publication of such articles and ministers have no reason to be furious. I have reproduced the articles here for the readers to get their views:
By M B Subba
Bhutanese leaders are stunned, disappointed and even angry because of the latest edition of the Foreign Policy Magazine 2011, an internally recognized magazine published by an American think tank called the Fund for Peace, which has rated Bhutan as one of the 60 failed states in the world.
Released on June 21, it has rated Bhutan together with Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Iraq, among other countries. Each nation has been rated using 12 factors to determine the country’s rating concerning security threats, human rights violations, wide-spread corruption, ineffectiveness of the central government, non- provision of public services and refugee issues.
Bhutanese leaders have reacted strongly to the report. The Minister-incharge for Foreign Affairs, Khandu Wangchuk, said that Bhutan is “an aid-dependent country,” but not a failed state.
“Socially, politically and economically the country is doing very well; rule of law prevails and there are systems of check and balance,” he said.
He added that Bhutan has all constituents of good governance and that democracy is deepening. “There is freedom of media and corruption is under control.”
The Chief Justice, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay, said that to list Bhutan as a failed state is an “unjust and irresponsible remark,” which has soiled Bhutan’s image. “Rule of Law prevails and the elected government is steering the country’s economic progress,” he said, adding how a state where the rule of law prevails can be a failed state.
The Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs, Minjur Dorji, described the report as shocking and surprising. “This is the first time that I have heard such a remark about Bhutan and I don’t understand on what basis the ratings were done or categorized,” he said.
The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly, Karma Rangdol, was shocked when Bhutan TODAY asked for his comments.
“I don’t agree with that. We are far from being a failed state.” He also added that the current government has done its best to balance development, one of the 12 criterions. He said that Bhutanese jails are visited regularly by Human Rights Groups.
“If the writers say that Bhutan has a high rate of human rights violations they need to contact the Human Rights Groups,” he said, adding that the
Magazine’s report that Bhutan faces internal conflicts indicates that it is flawed.
“I think the think tank has to re-think,” he said, adding that calling a country reputed for its developmental philosophy of Gross National Happiness a “failed state”, is unpalatable.
The report points Bhutan’s uneven development where it scored 8.2 out of 10. Other areas highlighted are group grievance, human right issues and external intervention. Bhutan scored 7.6 and 7 points for human rights violations and external intervention in its internal affairs respectively.
The report says that Bhutan is in good position in terms of security and economic growth apparatus. The Magazine states that the new edition of the index draws on some 130,000 publicly available sources to analyze 177 countries and rate them on 12 indicators beginning from refugee flows to poverty, public services and security threats.
“The fundamental question here is how and from where the so called think-tanks obtained the data to categorize Bhutan,” Tandin Rinchen, a businessman based in Langjopakha, Thimphu said. Meanwhile, Bhutan TODAY could not contact the Ambassador of the United States of America to India, Timothy J. Roemer, for comments.
Bhutan is no doubt a failed state.Because it could not address the refugees issue, the international boarder,disparity between the ethnic groups and the rich and poor. I think the Human rights records is the worst of all.
The ministers were outrageous simply because the truth is bitter.
Sure, the article is in 100 % right context. Bhutan is not only a failed state, it also is a drastically moving backwards to the stone-age and extremely ruined out by the ruling élites since a long time.
I’m 100% agree to the point” Bhutan is a failed state” worse of all in regards of humanrights.How many years will you throw dust in the eyes of the world?
Now it is crystel clear.
Sure it is a failed state supported only by the phony GNH bogey which is like a house of cards. When one sixth of the population has been made refugees and the issue cannot be resolved even after 20 years, it is an indicator of failed state. It will fail further with continuous dependence on donor funds while the coffers are emptied but large and fat royal allowances.
So in future it is sure that Bhutan is likely to become a nation of Gross National Sadness when people know that their country is going back towards the era of stony age and realize that revolution is only the way to get freedom.
To my knowledge, Bhutan has never been a successful state in her entire history. A successful nation can never be a protectorate of another country. As it can not protect its own independent existence, it is a mere replica of serfdom of medieval Europe. Bhutan as a state is nothing more than a “Once upon time, there was a country …” in the fairy tales.
I am a bonofied Bhutanese son. I had to leave my motherland at the age of 8. I had been in a refugee camp for 18 years. Now Thousand of Bhutanese son along with me are In The first world beginning a new life. I entered into the US, as the great government decided to resettle the Bhutanese refugees in the humanitarian grounds. Now, the questions comes why the the servants ngalung Jimge are yelling at a news report published in the US state magine? It is 100% true that Bhutan is a failed country in the human rights, and dependency on India. It didn’t try to resolve the refugee issue. Now the world has seen the drama of the Bhutanese hitler. As almost 1/6 population of the nation has been resettled in the world of Europe, Australia, and US. It showed the reality of the Bhutanese government. Now Bhutan has to expect donation cut from the European countries. Bhutan is assigned as the country of gross national happiness, it has to be ready to a country of gross sadness as it will be assigned as a nation of gross national happiness.
i am 100% agree with this article . Since Bhutan did’t show any initiatives towards the flow of her citizen towards the third country though it was the flow of intellectuals, scholars or the good politicians rather than the residues left inside the country.