Comments on: Bhutan: Blaming the Telly

By: bird

bird — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:56:44 +0000

I totally agree on this field. After all people, “what is media there for?”, Media and society was made to link, it will for sure keeping linking and you can do what is takes to do to change this but power is not in here, its an input in this arena of communication!

By: Sameer

Sameer — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:48:50 +0000

No man… me too I am Bhutanese……. But I love those who comments on us…… We can learn many things from them

By: Smita Sahay

Smita Sahay — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:51:13 +0000

Its strange to be reading this debate about the Bhutanese govt. control over telly broadcasts. I read all the comments with interest. I am an indian who happened to live in Bhutan in the late seventies and early eighties. I left Bhutan in 1981, after I passed out of the best school in the country at the time. For the past 30 odd years, I have been all over India(Kerala, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal, etc.) , not on holiday, but to actually stay in these places. I have never found a place like the Thimphu of my times. The reason I grew up beleiving in simple uncomplicated things and in the goodness of mankind was courtesy my stay there.The beauty of the place and people has to be experienced by staying and observing, not by breezing in, viewing it with lenses of ‘development’ notions, and breezing out. Simple people who live in harmony with nature, who love their king, and who believe in the goodness of humankind describe the Bhutanese people that I knew. If things have changed, it is because of the influence of the so called ‘free’ and ‘developed’ nations, who feel that media, malls, and brands are the things that every nation should aspire for.One has to understand that one cannot judge other cultures and norms of ‘freedom’ by our own. There are so many unique cultures existent in this world, with its own customs, traditions that they have a right to preserve. In our own country, there are tribes in Karnataka where the entry of any outsider, even an Indian, is banned, because they fear that their uniqueness will be destroyed. In nagaland and other areas of the North East India too, similar tribes exist. In many cases, the decision making is passed on wilfully by its members to certain people entrusted with these very tasks. If a nation decides to pick and choose what it believes is good for the people, then what is the harm? Don’t we parents monitor what our children eat, watch, etc.? When they come of age, and are old enough to take their own decisions, we step back and see them bloom. In a similar manner, the people of Bhutan need to led gently into the world of media. They are not yet ready to make the right choices, so it is being done for them. Once they are, they will do so. I see no reason for the rest of the world to make judgements about things that they do not fully understand

By: Drukstylz

Drukstylz — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:30:49 +0000

My response may seem a bit harsh. This is because I feel the following posts are trolling and have nothing to do with the topic on hand (The effects of Television in Bhutan)

Sam wrote:

“bhutan has spectacular scenery as i saw it. but everything else is just ordinary. rather i found people of nepal more warm and friendly. no ill feelings but. visitors know that GNH is nothing but a brand to sell at a premium.”

From what I can make out, you liked the Bhutanese landscape. Unfortunately it was inhabited by emotionless, manipulating people. Whose main occupation is the creation of an elaborate trick to con the world out of a few dollars…

p.s

Take a moment to read through these “http://gnh-movement.org/followup_detail.php?id=131″
feel free to ask me if you don’t understand some of the bigger words.

————–

Sonam wrote:

“bhutan feels more like saudi arabia due to religious and ethnic intolerance. ask the bhutanese hindus and ethnic nepalese there in private.”

Sonam, what a nice name. A great name to choose if someone was trying to impersonate a real Bhutanese. Sonam I’m going to speak slowly for you. Since I have a healthy suspicion that you may only have a primary education. First…think….before…you…speak.

Firstly, I don’t need to speak to Nepalese in private. They work in the same offices as us, we go to school together. We inter marry.

It’s sad you that you try to paint such a malicious picture of Bhutan. Any outsider who reads this, and doesn’t know the truth might actually believe you. Your post insinuates that someone has to fear for their life because they are not Buddhist in Bhutan. Ridicules.

Sonam, since you are a real Bhutanese. You should know the situation Bhutan is facing concerning immigration and the the population crisis in Asia. We do our best to be accommodating, just and fair however our sovereignty as a nation comes first.

Somehow I am not surprised that this crucial point never entered your mind. To those who don’t what I’m talking about, I’ll try to paint the picture.

Imagine this entire post from top to bottom, reprsents the populations of India and Nepal, which are neighbors of Bhutan. Now imagine that the period at the end of this sentence represents Bhutan.

By: Tame

Tame — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:56:17 +0000

I have recently gone through a judgement passed by the High Court of Bhutan.see http://www.judiciary.gov.bt/html/case/judg/1836.pdf or see http://www.judiciary.gov.bt/html/case/jud_yr.php on terrorism or treason case no 1836
this is the reality what the freedom fighters are intending to terrorise Bhutan

By: sam

sam — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 11:14:19 +0000

bhutan has spectacular scenery as i saw it. but everything else is just ordinary. rather i found people of nepal more warm and friendly. no ill feelings but. visitors know that GNH is nothing but a brand to sell at a premium.

By: sonam

sonam — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:47:06 +0000

bhutan feels more like saudi arabia due to religious and ethnic intolerance. ask the bhutanese hindus and ethnic nepalese there in private.

By: Ravindra Nath Tripathi, Scholar: Indo Bhutan Relation

Ravindra Nath Tripathi, Scholar: Indo Bhutan Relation — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:14:17 +0000

If one goes by most of these discussion, we find most indians are suffering with superiority complex. Whether Bhutan has banned some Indian Channels or not is a secondary question? My question is how many Indians like these channels? What is contrubution of most of these channels in development of our society? Do we really want that Bhutan should also suffer with all those cultural degradation for which we are suffering. Most of these Indian channels can only contrubute in fight between SAASH AND BAHU and will result in a joint family turning to small one. I think we should not try to impose our wish and will to any other small country. When there is ban on some Indian Commodity by USA I dont find so much reaction. Let them decide what is good for them. Why we want that what we like they must taste it whether they like it or not.

By: dorji

dorji — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 15:43:17 +0000

bhutan is a land of immigrants. the scale of poverty in the rural areas is as bad as anywhere in the world. so GNH is a nice word which hides more than it reveals. it is a small country and people worship the royals so not much dissent so far. but once democracy comes to bhutan one will be surprised.

By: lady

lady — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:13:21 +0000

Freedom should be selfish..freedom should be being able to do the way you want to and waish to so that it doesnt become a nusiance to others….i do not appreciate when people say we have freedom in our country..oh ya i have seen people throwing stones at each other…mercilessly abusing people in the street ..so is this freedom??
You guys come to our country as a tourist ..act so pious,gentle..sober..but once you are out of that you scandalize and paint the whole world with Bhutan’s news.That is what we call stabbing and hypocrisy..shame on you guys..
what we do as an independent country is none of your issue and concern…be bothered about what is happening in your own country..
You just envy the serinity and beauty and that country and doesnt know how to react..
keep your negative thoughts to yourself..

By: Jigme Singye

Jigme Singye — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 17:29:23 +0000

Bhutan is doing wonderful in every sphere! Talk of GNH, Democracy, UN system… The problems within Bhutan are personal…Let us do our way. Let us not allow the Indian TV shows. What can you do?

What refugees? The Lhotshampas are either Nepalese or non-nationals! Drukpas include the Ngalongs, Sharchops, Khengpas, Brokpas, Lepchas so what?

By: Reija Harju

Reija Harju — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 14:44:11 +0000

I was surprised to read some of the readers’ reactions to the refugee problem and violence. Instead of condemning maltreatment of Bhutan’s citizens, some people seem to accept it because the Americans, Canadians or whoever are no saints either. Following this logic, I may murder and rob, as there are millions of people in the world who do the same.
- It has been my dream to go to Bhutan, but having now read more about the country I understand that I have had a very idealized image of the it. I thought the Buddha’s teachings were respected in there but the reality seems to be far from that. Therefore I have decided not to subsidise the Bhutan government with the high visa fees, but will choose another country for my next “big trip”.

By: Jamtsho

Jamtsho — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 05:25:59 +0000

Bhutan is a small peace loving country. The policies of the Bhutanese govt. are confind within the boundaries of the morale influence by the Buddha’s principle of four noble truth. Please respect it. It is not a policy framed by a self centric individual.

By: Derek Cross

Derek Cross — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 07:18:06 +0000

I have visited Bhutan as a tourist, and intend to do so again. This means I can hardly lay claim to being an expert on Bhutan, but I have seen it for myself, as so many here have encouraged us to do.
The thread here seems to have lost its way. The refugee issue is clearly one which dominates thinking, but as an earlier post-er mentioned, the question is one of censorship.
Most countries have some form of censorship. The UK has been singled out earlier, and it is not the only one that could be mentioned. In general I agree that Governments should be allowed to censor material entering their sovreignty: the question is always one of degree and this has to be left to the Government concerned. Of course, we can ask inter-governmental discussions to agree what that degree should be to ensure some “freedom of expression” is allowed, and this may be seen by some as falling short in Bhutan. It very much depends on your starting point. I would like to think we can give Bhutan a little more time to work out how and what degree is good for them, since they are new to the game.

On a different issue, I feel I have to point out to those moaning about a written constitution and how new the Bhutanese are to this (with the implication that this fact alone is indicative of the repression in Bhutan): the UK does not have a written consitution – and we’ve been around for some time ;-)

By: Karma

Karma — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 17:03:05 +0000

Something I missed…ctd reply to Ayesha:

“well if you should know… they do have some ways of regulating that at the camps.. but leaving that aside maybe you should be told that these people are citizenship less which makes it impossible to work outside the camps… for those wanting to get scholarships abroad .. they cant even give their TOEFL exams beause they dont have a passport… they dont have a choice! even to work in Nepal you need citizenship.”

—-Look at unemployment in Nepal….how many would have got employment out of having Nepali Citizenship?….Compare what they would have earned as a Nepali citizen and other costs of bringing up family and educating them….i believe most of these are taken care of in the camps….refugee camps are truely a heaven to thousands of suffering nepalis coz everything is calculated in terms of US Dollar with good education.

—-If they want possports then they should get from Nepali government, how can Bhutanese be concerned about their passports. If you understand it this way then you should issue them your country’s passport and citizenship.