Survival Through Leadership : A Tribute

For centuries powerful empires embarked on restless search for resources. They were ruthless on their dominion(s) and expeditions, wars and conflicts became necessity for survival. Europe became hothouse of military, economic and political power struggles by fifteenth and sixteenth century. By 1770’s James Cook expedition swept away the civilization of south-western Pacific region. “…worse fate befall the natives of Tasmania. Having survived for 10,000years in splendid isolation, they were completely wiped out, to the last man,woman and child, within a century of Cook’s arrival.” Tasmania native are, now, the subject of historical study and lecture series only. Cooks expedition and political situation that followed pressed the delete button on Tasmanian culture, civilization and whole of their existence.
For around 45 years world experienced one of imminent threat from power struggles and two locus of global power. Let lone survival of humanity, even the existence of planet itself was at stake. More armies were trained. Atom bombs and hydrogen bombs of variety were tested. Military expending spiked. Fear was looming in everybody’s heart. When world was in deadlock called the “Cold War,” Mikhail Gorbachev was President of Soviet Union, one of the world’s two superpowers, a state that encompassed one sixth of the earth’s surface. As President, he dismantled 70 years of ideological believeand secrecy, preceded to do the unthinkable: dismantle Soviet Union, only to safe the wold. Only to save the world: I repeat. Need for another grave global warfare was lifted from shoulders of all countries while Russia still exists as global power (without having to deploy even a single nuclear warhead).

Leadership matters. Need for great and exceptional leadership is timeless, however, great leadership matter especially and ultimately during difficult periods. Leader is not just a physical figure. Many emotions and associated powers come wrapped up in their personality. Great leaders exude happy energy, grit, powerfulness, unity, sense of purpose, pride and sense of belonging. Even powerless commoner like me enjoy so much pride to be part of powerful.
Bhutanese story of leadership is the story of survival. The survival of nation, culture, identity and her people. Here, I want to recollect and reflect on some remarkable stories of survival of Bhutan as I tell the stories of exceptional leadership of their Majesties and their predecessors.
The mountain tribes, barbarians, and hunter-gatherers that ran their business in thick jungles and scattered settlement of this region took centuries to come to sense and live a civilized life. We owe credits to various religious masters and political figures from various kingdoms and regions. We survived!
Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel came southward from Ralung in 1616 and was well received by mountain tribes who had revolutionized to cultured agrarian tribes by then. Zhabdrung Rimpoche quickly became revered spiritual and religious figure despite few petty internal frictions. People’s faith and veneration for his religious popularity helped him gain general prestige and political dominance over local chieftains. He then imagined a nation called Drukyul and established the institution of dual system of governance. Drukyul survived by keeping Tibetans at bay for several times with leadership of Zhabdrug Rimpoche and local Pawos at front-line.
Modern researchers and critics argue that, until that time, we never had prominent leader of our making and ingenuity, as most of them are either Tibetan religious figure or exiled political figures from nearby kingdoms. The argument is half-agreeable and half not in nature. However, this argument does not hold water after Zhabdrung’s era because the course of leadership history changed thereafter.
In 1700s British gained control of India and even started enforcing their interest in Bhutan. British got increasingly interested in Bhutan’s political system to gain trade route to Tibet. As a result, relation between Bhutanese rulers and British was in some sort of stalemate with occasional agreement and disputes. To make situation worse, occasional civil war broke out between rival Penlops, Dzongpons, factions and interest groups for political dominance. In the meantime, a Pawo, with deep interest for black cloth and black horse, was born in Kurtoe with prophecy to win, lead and rule. Thanks to the loyalty and bravery of Pawo Jigme Namgyel, we escaped the grip of Great Britain. Bhutan survived as nation state. Dasho Chewag Rinzin, Director of RIGSS once joked, how can cyclone Fani reach Bhutan when (even) Great Britain could not (rephrased). The joke has deep laden meaning for Bhutanese and I always enjoy retelling the joke on Dasho’s behalf.
In 1907 Institution of Monarchy was instituted as legitimate form of governance. First King and Second King successfully maintain the buffer state of Bhutan by maintaining good and careful relationship with British India and Tibet. Their Majesties cautiously considered the sensitivity of political situation in neighborhood and successfully minimized its impact on Bhutan. The seed of future peace and prosperity was sown and independence of Bhutan was recognized by neighboring states. Yes, Bhutan survived.
In 1947 India gained independence from British. Many Princely states were acceded and later merged with India through various political strategies. Sikkim saw emergence of many political parties demanding accession to India. R&AW officers stationed in Sikkim were vigilant than ever about political situation in Sikkim and taking note of every events. Choggyel, leader of Sikkim on other hand, was running frenziedly to everyone for help but to no avail, only to lose his beloved Kingdom to India in 1975 after referendum. Between 1949 and 1951, People’s Liberation Army of China occupied Tibet. India granted asylum to Dalai Lama and two giants of Asia could not agree on their boarder. Many such frictions added up to deteriorate relation between China and India, and geopolitical situation reached climax that went beyond anyone’s control. The conflict resulted to bloody 1962 Sino-Indian war in and around Tawang region just few miles away from Jangphutse in Trashi Yangste. The geo-political tension was at its peak at all corners of our country and we can only imagine the bravery and leadership that Third Druk Gyelpo took to keep Bhutan save and out of all the conflicts. For continuance of gaining international recognition and for assurance of independence of Bhutan, His Majesty the Third Druk Gyelpo made Bhutan a member country of United Nations and many other international organizations. Bhutan survived amidst the major conflicts in neighborhood.
Few crises here and there shook few branches but could neither cut the trunk nor touch the root of Bhutanese peace and stability. Those crises died down and Bhutanese were enjoying peace and stability they always had. At similar time-frame, insurgents problem hit neighbouring state and Bhutan became inevitably involved as the militants established stronghold with camps and sanctuaries in southern jungles after they were flushed out from Assam with successive military operation (Operation Rhino and Operation Bajrang in particular) in early 1990s. National security was the prime concern of His Majesty Drukgyel Zhipa as militants posed severe security threats and tried to muddle relation between government of Bhutan and India. They even opened fire on harmless Bhutanese citizens. His Majesty the King and government of Bhutan envisioned resolving the problem through negotiation. Nevertheless, despite the optimism from Bhutan’s side, negotiation with leaders did not take anywhere near to peaceful resolution. The options were running out on negotiation table. On December 15, 2003, His Majesty the King launched operation “All Clear” and militants were successfully flushed out. Four months after these militants were flushed out from country; US$ 4.5 to 7 million worth of weapons (around 7 truck loads as per the source) dockeda port in Bangladesh in their name. Had it not been for the bravery, craftsmanship and foresight of Fourth Druk Gyelpo to flush out militants, we can only imagine the consequences. Thus, under the leadership Fourth Druk Gyelpo, Bhutan continued to survive despite imminent threat from militants. We prospered in dynamism.

PC@Athang

Story of year 2020 will go down in history of Bhutan as one of the significant stories of survival. If I am the most prolific writer, maybe I can write the best narrative of it, but I regret not being one. I am just one lousy writer deprived of words and caliber to craft the story as it have been written. Nonetheless, I narrate this story as follow.
His Majesty the King broke the news second royal child in his Royal Address during National Day in 2019. Bhutanese were delighted to heart and eagerly waiting to celebrate birth of second Gyelsey in March 2020. Second Royal Child was born on 19th March, 2020.
Meanwhile, deadly contagious virus originated from Wuhan, China by the end of 2019; spread around the globe killing thousands and shocking virologist, doctors and everyone to brain. First COVID-19 case was detected in Bhutan on March 5, 2020.
With first case detected and with increases in number of detected COVID-19 cases in subsequent months, His Majesty has to oversee medication of patients, preparedness plans to fight the virus, I worry if His Majesty had any time left to take care of Royal Child. Many people in tourism and hospitality sector lost their job. Many countries entered indefinite lock-down, and many Bhutanese working abroad lost their bread and butter. Many had to return home. Economic situation was record slow. Schools had to be closed for an indefinite period. His Majesty’s pain, concerns and affection for Bhutanese affected by pandemic was clear in his Royal Address. Ministers, Health professionals, financial institutions, farmers, and everyone work with unity under the leadership of His Majesty the King. And the rest of the story is for you to imagine and appreciate. At the end, I am sure; we will survive this pandemic like any other issues. Some effort and support to His Majesty the King and government is all that matters. 

Going back to Cook and Tasmanian story, in my calculation, if Tasmanian had better leadership than Cook’s expedition notwithstanding their differences in use of technology, Tasmanian natives could have survived Britain’s brutality. The fate of Truganini would have been better than being museum piece and she would not have been recorded as last Tasmanian native in human history either. On other hand, had Mikhail Gorbachev not been the president of Soviet Union in late 1980s and early 1900s, world would have witnessed another bloodshed or series of wars. Thus, I reiterate, Leadership matters. Need for great and exceptional leadership is timeless, however, great leadership matter especially and ultimately during difficult periods.
Story of survival of Bhutan can never be written without mentioning the leadership story of beloved Monarchs. The two are inseparable. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy may be best University to pursue leadership degree, whereas, our Monarchical institution and their leadership in survival of nation will be the best country to pursue lifelong study of exceptional leadership. The bottom line is, we must trust the Monarchs. Their centuries of leadership experience will always guide us to better platform in the world.

Note: This was written as part of personal writing exercise. It is neither intended for any audience nor for academic purpose.