King’s Driglam Namzha
For general public, in early and mid 1990s, national etiquette was like religion in Bhutan. Driglam Namzha was imposed in such a matter that it was the highest ethics and greatest responsibility of the people to obey – even while in farm. Many received fines for not obeying.
Did all Bhutanese accept that? Not at all. Story is coming out gradually. Even the highest diplomats and prime ministers are not interested in wearing the dress all the time. And there are occasion where they avoided the national dress – more precisely the dress of the western Bhutanese. As proof, I had posted some of the photos in my blog earlier.
Latest is the biggest story. A journalist in Thimphu sent in mail a link, which made me stare. He had come across few such pictures but had not archived them. My collection of ‘mocking driglam namzha’ pictures pushed him to find such pictures again and publish them.
While attending the talk program of National Defence College in October 2010 last year, King Jigme Khesar appeared in coat-pant-tie. According to the journalist, the king had one appeared in kurta.
One more pic I got it from Govind Rizal’s blog where the king appeared in black Tee Shirt with a glass of wine in hand. No idea, where was this photo taken.
Last year only, the administration in Tsirang was issuing circular on strict imposition of the dress code. The parliament member assured the people to raise the issue in parliament but failed. There is nothing more to say, the king’s picture speaks enough and give sufficient reasons why gho and kira was made compulsory for Nepali-speakers in the south.
The one in which the King appeared in “black Tee Shirt with a glass of wine in hand” was taken during the King’s visit to Thailand.
The Driglam Namza enforcement, a part of the package by the paranoid king (K-4) and his gay uncle, implemented slowly but with stealthy accuracy from 1985 onward to decrease the population of the south such that the northerners will have a majority in Bhutan. In addition, legislating for a two party system under K-4 right hand man JY Thinly and his own brother-in-law would for the time being ensure that a westerners would be the PM. Abdicating to make way for his son was the smartest move to shy away from the responsibility of evictions of Lhotsampas and hence the international criticism. So the Drilam Namza was essentially to get rid of us. However, truth needs to be revealed by all means to make the K-4 and his cronies be made responsible for the paranoia.
I do not agree a 100% with you. The situation with Lotshampa’s in Bhutan are far more complex. Look at Sikkim and Tibet that says it all!
I like the above photo. Every body should be free, a king or an ordinary person to exercise his/her own rights to dress up the way one likes. It is your life and you are free to live and enjoy your life the way you like. It is a breach of universal human rights and an forgivable crime to limit freedom in matters of dress, culture, love and marriage.
This dress denotes that this king is the universal; not stick to his own ancestral trait. He often appears in this non national dress because, he was born in the Hospital of Nepal(kathmandu Bir Hospital in 1980). So his birthplace is Nepal. The country which gives birth to anyone is his/her motherland. Therefore, the motherland of the fifth King of Bhutan is Nepal.
Not true, his parents are Bhutanese so he is Bhutanese, his birthplace is Nepal. A different thing.
jeez…what kind of an picture are u trying to portray??? no matter what kind of bullshit that u churn about Him, he will remain the Peoples King of Bhutan. M surprised that u used only those photographs and not those of when he plays football with small children (which he does quite often) in Gho and that too barefeet, and when he walks miles n miles in his gho to meet and talk to his subjects even in the most remote reaches of the kingdom irrespective of what the weather. trust me man…this kinda slander is only gonna result in us going ‘driglam namzha’ on ur ass…n how can you be so thick tongued??? never, ever was it pronounced that people should be wearing the national dress even while working on their farms. n lemme make it clear for once and for all – we Bhutanese wear our national dress not out of compulsion but with pride. Our unique culture is what has kept us sovereign and independent as a nation for so long. Man i feel pity on u…i cant imagine how u can be so deluded and that far from the truth. next time, take ur gossipmongering ass into areas which u have real knowledge and information about. and as for the photos that you posted, think about it, u r an indian, do u go to official gatherings in dhoti and lungi???or r u just plain jealous that thanks to our selfless efforts of our Monarchs, our age old and time honored culture is still intact whilst urs is long gone?? i dunno if u are aware of this but some gatherings do observe the dress code. if only u had one chance to actually see him,talk to him and find out for ur self just what he is made of…u ll realize the gravity of ur error. n by the way, m not wasting my time in writing all this because i was obligated to, i do it our of sheer love for my king for whom i wouldn’t flinch even if i had to lay down my life for him and i can confidently assert that the feeling in mutual for all those of Bhutanese blood. Just so u didn’t know, this is what loyalty is all about…but then again, what would u know about loyalty…
All that you have in your article simply talks nonsense and more nonsense. The reality is you have not known Bhutan as much since you are an outsider who wants to write all those stuffs which are not true.