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Bhutan Modernization under Jigme Dorji, 1952-72
The third Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, was
enthroned in
1952. Earlier he had married the European-educated cousin
of the
chogyal (king) of Sikkim and with her support made
continual
efforts to modernize his nation throughout his twenty-year
reign.
Among his first reforms was the establishment of the
National
Assembly--the Tshogdu--in 1953. Although the Druk Gyalpo
could
issue royal decrees and exercise veto power over
resolutions passed
by the National Assembly, its establishment was a major
move toward
a constitutional monarchy
(see Structure of the Government
, this
ch.).
When the Chinese communists took over Tibet in 1951,
Bhutan
closed its frontier with Tibet and sided with its powerful
neighbor
to the south. To offset the chance of Chinese
encroachment, Bhutan
began a modernization program. Land reform was accompanied
by the
abolition of slavery and serfdom and the separation of the
judiciary from the executive branch of government. Mostly
funded by
India after China's invasion of Tibet in 1959, the
modernization
program also included the construction of roads linking
the Indian
plains with central Bhutan. An all-weather road was
completed in
1962 between Thimphu and Phuntsholing, the overland
gateway town on
the southwest border with India. Dzongkha was made the
national
language during Jigme Dorji's reign
(see Social System
, this ch.).
Additionally, development projects included establishing
such
institutions as a national museum in Paro and a national
library,
national archives, and national stadium, as well as
buildings to
house the National Assembly, the High Court (Thrimkhang
Gongma),
and other government entities in Thimphu. The position of
gongzim, held since 1907 by the Dorji family, was
upgraded
in 1958 to lonchen (prime minister) and was still
in the
hands of the Dorji. Jigme Dorji Wangchuck's reforms,
however,
although lessening the authority of the absolute monarchy,
also
curbed the traditional decentralization of political
authority
among regional leaders and strengthened the role of the
central
government in economic and social programs.
Modernization efforts moved forward in the 1960s under
the
direction of the lonchen, Jigme Palden Dorji, the
Druk
Gyalpo's brother-in-law. In 1962, however, Dorji incurred
disfavor
with the Royal Bhutan Army over the use of military
vehicles and
the forced retirement of some fifty officers. Religious
elements
also were antagonized by Dorji's efforts to reduce the
power of the
state-supported religious institutions. In April 1964,
while the
Druk Gyalpo was in Switzerland for medical care, Dorji was
assassinated in Phuntsholing by an army corporal. The
majority of
those arrested and accused of the crime were military
personnel and
included the army chief of operations, Namgyal Bahadur,
the Druk
Gyalpo's uncle, who was executed for his part in the plot.
The unstable situation continued under Dorji's
successor as
acting lonchen, his brother Lhendup Dorji, and for
a time
under the Druk Gyalpo's brother, Namgyal Wangchuck, as
head of the
army. According to some sources, a power struggle ensued
between
pro-Wangchuck loyalists and "modernist" Dorji supporters.
The main
issue was not an end to or lessening of the power of the
monarchy
but "full freedom from Indian interference." Other
observers
believe the 1964 crisis was not so much a policy struggle
as
competition for influence on the palace between the Dorji
family
and the Druk Gyalpo's Tibetan mistress, Yangki, and her
father.
Nevertheless, with the concurrence of the National
Assembly,
Lhendup Dorji and other family members were exiled in
1965. The
tense political situation continued, however, with an
assassination
attempt on the Druk Gyalpo himself in July 1965. The
Dorjis were
not implicated in the attempt, and the would-be assassins
were
pardoned by the Druk Gyalpo.
In 1966, to increase the efficiency of government
administration, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck made Thimphu the
year-round
capital. In May 1968, the comprehensive Rules and
Regulations of
the National Assembly revised the legal basis of the power
granted
to the National Assembly. The Druk Gyalpo decreed that
henceforth
sovereign power, including the power to remove government
ministers
and the Druk Gyalpo himself, would reside with the
National
Assembly. The following November, the Druk Gyalpo
renounced his
veto power over National Assembly bills and said he would
step down
if two-thirds of the legislature passed a no-confidence
vote.
Although he did nothing to undermine the retention of the
Wangchuck
dynasty, the Druk Gyalpo in 1969 called for a triennial
vote of
confidence by the National Assembly (later abolished by
his
successor) to renew the Druk Gyalpo's mandate to rule.
Diplomatic overtures also were made during Jigme Dorji
Wangchuck's reign. Although always seeking to be formally
neutral
and nonaligned in relations with China and India, Bhutan
also
sought more direct links internationally than had occurred
previously under the foreign-policy guidance of India.
Consequently, in 1962 Bhutan joined the
Colombo Plan
for Cooperative, Economic, and Social Development in Asia and
the Pacific (see Glossary) known as the Colombo Plan, and in
1966
notified India of its desire to become a member of the
United
Nations (UN). In 1971 after holding observer status for
three
years, Bhutan was admitted to the UN. In an effort to
maintain
Bhutan as a stable buffer state, India continued to
provide
substantial amounts of development aid.
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ruled until his death in July
1972 and
was succeeded by his seventeen-year-old son, Jigme Singye
Wangchuck. The close ties of the Wangchuck and Dorji
families were
reemphasized in the person of the new king, whose mother,
Ashi
Kesang Dorji (ashi means princess), was the sister
of the
lonchen, Jigme Palden Dorji. Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, who had
been educated in India and Britain, had been appointed
ponlop of Tongsa in May 1972 and by July that year
had
become the Druk Gyalpo. With his mother and two elder
sisters as
advisers, the new Druk Gyalpo was thrust into the affairs
of state.
He was often seen among the people, in the countryside, at
festivals, and, as his reign progressed, meeting with
foreign
dignitaries in Bhutan and abroad. His formal coronation
took place
in June 1974, and soon thereafter the strains between the
Wangchucks and Dorjis were relieved with the return that
year of
the exiled members of the latter family. The
reconciliation,
however, was preceded by reports of a plot to assassinate
the new
Druk Gyalpo before his coronation could take place and to
set fire
to the Tashichhodzong (Fortress of the Glorious Religion,
the seat
of government in Thimphu). Yangki was the alleged force
behind the
plot, which was uncovered three months before the
coronation;
thirty persons were arrested, including high government
and police
officials.
Data as of September 1991
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