By Jon V. & Greg G. 

        Yes, you read the title correctly, this is wiki is not about India. This page is about the small Himalayan kingdom fo Bhutan. Perpetually in the shadow of its two neighborring superpowers, India and China, Bhutan has, and continues to fly under the radar of world news. As such, most people are unaware that Bhutan has recently made the transition from an absolute monarchy, to constitutional democracy. Here is America, trying to impose democracy in the Middle East, and a small Southeast Asian kingdom is voluntarily accepting this form of governemnt. Yet, the world seems completly oblivious to this amazing development. We are hoping to shine a little light on this often overlooked miracle in the mountains.

http://www.appliedlanguage.com/maps_of_the_world/map_of_bhutan.gif   

       Bhutan, the name doesn't exactly conjure up images of international might and power. For years, this country has remained isolated and backwards (There were no TV's until 1999, and no Internet until 2000). Now, under its reformist monarch, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan is hurtling into the modern era. Everywhere you look, there are signs of outside world; rap music, movies, radio, TV, cell phones, airplanes, and more. Now, King Wangchuck ash announced his greatest gift to the people yet; the power to decide their country's fate. Such a leap forward is unprecedented in this small nation's history, and leaves many people to question the country's future. Many conservative government officials are worried that this new tide of reform will destroy the nation’s precious Buddhist culture.  In recent years, Bhutan has experienced a growth in crime and drug-addiction (For the first time in their history, Bhutanese have to lock their doors). The Bhutanese movie industry, once non-existent, now churns our 24 movies a year, the highest per-capita rate in the world. Conservatives fear that rapid globalization will destroy Bhutan’s cultural heritage. Since the opening of Bhutan the rest of the world, thousands of Hindu Nepalis, fleeing the violence in their home country, have flooded into Bhutan. This greatly alarms the conservative ethnic ruling class, the Theravada Buddhist Drupkhas, who fear democracy will challenge their traditional power over the nation’s affairs. Despite gaining the right to elections, many are still traditional Bhutanese are unwilling to exercise this right, as they worry instability will ensue without the guidance of an all-powerful king. A difficult political dilemma is before Bhutan; whether to progress with democracy or remain an absolute monarchy.

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                                            King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, 4th                                                           Despite classical Buddhist saffron robes, Prime Minister Jigme Y. Thinley is

                                            king of Bhutan, in ceremonial robes.                                                         anything but classicalm as he becomes Bhutan's first elected head of

                                            It is largly due to him and his son,                                                            government. Prime Minister Thinley, a former minister in teh monarchy, is the

                                            Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel                                                                    chief architect of Bhutan's plan to modernize and raise the standard of living,

                                            Wangchuck that Bhutan has                                                                     collectivlly known as Gross National Happiness.

                                            advanced into the 21st Century

Dialouge

This is a conversation between a man (Jigme) and his wife (Sonam).

 Jigme- Did you hear the news? His majastey, the King, has agreed to give his power to the people. Is this not splendid news!!

Sonam- I suppose so.

Jigme-Why are you not happy? This is terrific news!

Sonam- More like dreadful. Without a strong king, are way of life will fall apart.

Jigme- Are you mad? Now that we can chose our leader, we can insure that he will always be stong. Think of what were to happen if our king was a weak fool, or a creul tyrant. There would be nothing we could do aobut it. Now, we can decide for ourselves the ability of our leader.

Sonam- Yes, but democracy is not always stable. Look what happened in Nepal. The moment they tried democracy, rebels tried to overthrow the governemnt, and the king took control again. The same thign will happen here. 

Jigme- But allowing everyone to speak will gives us many more rights...

Sonam- And leave us divided. Then, we will be taken over by a powerful country. That is what happened in Tibet, and the Chinese forced His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, to flee his own homeland.

Jigme- Tibet was isolated and alone. Bhutan is open to the rest of the world and will be better because of it.

Sonam- Opening up the country will only furhter damage us. It is already destorying our country.

Jigme-But now we have TV, computers, and telephones. Planes now fly to the capital in Thimpu and all sorts of people are coming to admire our country's beauty. 

Sonam- yes, but they are bringing with them dangerous ideas. Crime is spreading, along with the gangs, and the drugs. Just the other day, the family down the street was robbed. That has never happened before, in the whole history of the village. These foreigners are corrupting our Buddhist ideals

Jigme- Does not the Buddha teach us to be kind and open to all?

Sonam- What of the Hindus though. Every day, more and more of them flood over the border each day from Nepal. They are taking away all the jobs us  Buddhist Drupkas have always held.

Jigme- There will be more jobs, you'll see.

Sonam- Ha! There aren't even enouh jobs now. Everyday, the village shrinks as more young men leave to get jobs in the city but there are none to be had. So the land goes untilled  and the job seekers turn to crime. I am telling you, this democracy is tearing our social fabric apart.

Jigme- You must have more faith in Prime Minister Thinley.

Sonam- I have faith in Buddha and his Majesty, the King. But I trust Thinley as far as I can throw him.

Dialogue 2

This is a coversation between two government officials. One is for the reform to Democracy(pro) and the other opposes(anti) the changes brought to the country.

Pro: I can't believe after all of these years that our country has changed to a Democracy.

Anti: Yes, it is a mess isn't it? Why would our king give up his posistion?

Pro: Actually, I think this is a great idea. Our country is finally becoming modernized. We now have internet and air palnes are finally flying in our air!

Anit: Do you really believe that the people of this country can decide what is good for them?

Pro: Of course they can. They know what they want, and what right do we have to stop them!?!?

Anti: How can you speak against the King like this?

Pro: I am simply speaking for the people of our country. This modernization has brought more wealth to our economy. Look at all of the foreigners that come to visit our country. Changing to a more democratic system will just bring more intrest to our country.

Anit: Well then, how do you explain the raising crime rates? Along with the higher drug addictions. Aren't these changes just inviting problems like these to our country?

Pro: I suppose there is some truth to this. But with this new system, more jobs will be brought to the country and the crime rates will go down. It just takes time you will see.

Anti: I hope that you are right.