An expression of sentiment to former PM of Bhutan

Your Excellency Jigmi Yoezer Thinley,                                        Dated: 26^th July, 2013

I hope Your Excellency, Aum and other family members are keeping well. I had waited till today to greet Your Excellency for the simple reason of waiting out the turmoil events.

It’s a beautiful Country we have with all the green valleys, hills, rivers and mountains. Temples, Chortens and monasteries adorn the landscape and people still believe that the flutter of mani flags will guide the spirit of the deceased and lungdar prayer flags will grace the fortune of the living. In a way life is rooted in such simplicity of faith. And yet at times we Bhutanese act viciously and thoughtlessly rush head long into disharmony.

I never really hoped for manna from heaven or feared sulfur from hell but I did believe in the goodness of our nation and broadness of our national outlook. At times like these, more than at other times, and especially at a senior age, one feels desperate in search of a meaningful sign that post a light of hope for better things to come. I have always yearned for stronger national footing and more control of our national destiny. As much as I am grateful to our giant neighbor India for all the assistance we have received, it was never my thought to seek more generosity and national steering from India.

Where did the precious gift of democracy go astray and what made people, institutions and political parties so hopelessly lose trust in each other and make possible Indian intervention with impunity in our General Election?

I suppose ardent supporters of both DPT and PDP would be tempted to divide Bhutanese into 2 groups but thankfully life of ordinary people can never be all politics because politics in a way is a luxury for most common Bhutanese struggling to etch out a decent living or for a youth seeking sustainable employment.

DPT has changed its opposition party leadership, so I suppose Your Excellency has decided to take a back seat. I am as yet, unsure, whether passive or active role would heal the social and political wounds the nation seemed to have suffered. But wounded as a nation we are today, otherwise: 1. There would not be a 15 point publicly declared election grievances submitted not to the Election Commission but to the Royal Person of His Majesty the King, relating directly to royal affiliated institutions such as Royal Bhutan Army and Royal Secretariat. Whatever the ground realities may have been during the heat of the Election, these submissions, as necessary as deemed, to point out flaws in election process, the procedure followed is nationally unpalatable and further deteriorates the post election status. 2. There would not have been rumors of an organized protest march to your residence which again is rumored to have been stopped by Royal Command thus unnecessarily fuelling speculations of social uncertainties and political aggression and 3. We would not now have a situation of compromised national sovereignty with India publicly toying with the sentiment of Bhutanese and national status of an economically weak Kingdom.

Not only as a citizen of the nation but as a born and bred Bhutanese totally beholden to the Kingdom and the Kings, all I pray for is a benevolent King overlooking the affairs of national sovereignty, security and welfare ( Kidu ) of all Bhutanese; a government that continues the development works and provide sustainable employment needs of the disengaged youth populace and; a continuous very friendly relation with India and a fruitful bilateral or multilateral co-operations with other nations including China.

There is no denying that Your Excellency, even as a member of opposition party or as an Ambassador of GNH a title conferred upon you or as a private citizen, does enjoy both national and international credentials. Please do not give up for whatever reasons but rather try harder to promote the interest of Tsa-wa-Sum. And as time passes by and present molten of political acrimonies cool off, please humbly and sincerely do all you can humanly possible, to clear any and all misunderstanding or deemed breach of Thadamtsi that seemed to have occurred, not necessarily with intent of plan but most possibly in the trial and error of seeking a way of balanced democratic governance in between the authority of the King and the aspirations of the people.

We need a stable and secure sovereign Kingdom for our children, grandchildren and their children and so on. A sovereign King need happy subjects and people need a just Monarch and reliable government under whatever nomenclature of systems. Therefore in the ultimate interest of generations of Bhutanese to come, all of us high, middle, low and young and old alike must find positive strength to build constructive and progressive society. This vision of one nation and one people must be our most vital constant political culture.

In the serenity of our beautiful natural landscapes, in the flutter of prayer flags, the pureness of tolerance in temples and mandirs and smiles of our innocent younger generations, I pray that all Bhutanese from farmers to monks, students to philosophers, civil servants to political leaders, traders and industrialists, royal and holy members and above all His Holiness the Je Khenpo and their Majesties the Kings and Queens of Bhutan find faith, solace and trust in our own goodness and in the goodness of the Kingdom as a nation for all Bhutanese.

Let us all find the moral strength and spiritual faith in the workings of the Pelden Drukpai Chhochong and Ka-sung. Pelden Drukpai Lha Gyelo!

I wish Your Excellency and your family happiness, peace and joyful hope. Respectfully Wangcha Sangey.