A Philosophical
reflection from India
The present political persona of India Narendra Modi BJP
chosen Prime Ministerial candidate declares that Constitution is his Holy Book,
national development his only Prayer and that India Government’s religion has
to be “India First”. Election rhetoric or not, the statements do stand out in
contrast to Bhutan’s political philosophy of pleasing India our Holy policy; Power
our only Prayer and DPT constitutional development grants or PDP gewog
development grants official bribes to promote “Party First” religion.
Bright spots for
Middle East (Iran and Syria Talks)
1. Iran and America have taken the first necessary steps to
co-exist peacefully. Western media is saturated with western power claims that
Iran buckled due to impact of Sanctions. It is true that Iran is having
economic problems but almost every nation has the same economic problem be it
America or India or France. In spite of Sanctions, Iran continues to influence
events in Middle East and her nuclear program had progressed steadily. The 5 Permanent
UN Security Members and Germany have now tacitly recognized the right of Iran
to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. America has agreed to release Iranian
money frozen in Western Bank accounts.
In my opinion the nuclear Talk was successful because
America has decided to engage itself with the real world situation. Mecca may
be in Saudi Arabia but the spirit of Islam prevails in Iran. Israel may have
been at one time a successful surgical Striker and war Strategist but Hezbollah held its ground when Israel tried to root it out from Southern Lebanon. Iran
nourishes Hamas and Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia and Israel do not fear a nuclear Iran. They are
afraid of Iran’s influence, wealth and unity. And America is wary of Chinese
and Russian influence in Iran. I am particularly happy with America’s new
regional politics of realism. It will be good for all. America has helped
Bhutan with the Jaffa refugee problems thus giving new dignified life to
refugees and easing international pressure on Bhutan. America is in position to
improve everyone’s life if she chooses to pursue a world policy of unbiased
leadership.
2. It has already been decided that Syrian Peace Talk will
be held in January, 2014. This is again a positive approach by America. There
is every possibility of scaling down the hostility in Syria. Bhutan will have
no direct benefit from successful Syria or Iran Talks but peace in Middle East
will surely impact the price of crude oil especially with the prospect of
lifting sanction on Iranian oil export. So Bhutan too will indirectly benefit
through cheaper petroleum products.
Bhutan Government’s
100 days.
The first 100 days idea originates from the American
Administration. Generally a new President is given a hundred days of honey moon
administration by the media and critics. There is not much to say about the
People’s Democratic Party 100 days in power. However, the 100 units of free electricity
for rural Bhutan is Pure Blessing. It is not a political ruse for popularity.
It is an authentic consideration for well-deserving hard working poor rural
families. It is a blissful way of sharing a national resource with poorest of
the poor. In other matters, I wish the Government had not panicked so much over
the delay of fund release from India. Panic leads to surrender but Bhutan does
not seem to have much to surrender or offer except our say in our internal or
external affairs. It never occurred to me at the onset of Bhutanese Democracy
that Democracy for Bhutanese meant more say by India in Bhutanese national
affairs. Maybe we could revert to Mono-Cracy where we had elected members in
Royal Advisory Council and National Assembly and the Monarch firmly and courageously
guided Bhutan’s entry into United Nations to assert Bhutan’s Sovereignty.
The Proposed Pay
Raise for Bhutan Civil Servants.
I hope everyone gets a good pay raise including the
Ministers. I recall reading in Kuensel the anxieties of a Pay Commission member
expressing worries over the economy, rupee crisis and impact on corporations
because of pay raise. This member left nothing for the King and the Prime
Minister to do. I thought Pay Commission is to look into the quantum of pay
raise for all civil servants and other Government budgeted personnel including
politicians and local leaders. And leave the issue of economic problems, rupee
shortages etc to the Cabinet and the King. And let DHI, Private Sector take
care of their responsibilities when it comes to the issue of salary in
corporations and other business entities.
Thailand: A Kingdom
in Crisis Again
Bhutan has very friendly relation with Thailand. In fact our
national sovereignty has been strengthened with Druk Air flying directly to
Bangkok. Therefore, one does feel sorry for the instability of Democracy in
Thailand. There really seems to be a power struggle between the ambitions of
the established hierarchy and the democratic vision of majority of voters. This
time the army is offering to meditate and not dictate as it did during Thaksin’s
time. But meditation could be a passive form of persuasion to compel Government
to give into the demands of the protestors. Hard luck Democracy!
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