Bhutan’s reputation as the happiest country in the world is stained by its mistreatment and mass expulsion of the Lhotshampas — a sharp contrast to the jocund paradise it claims to be.
All in Genocide & Persecution
In today’s world, governments are more readily able to manipulate the public’s perceived reality, just as they would an audience in a play. Separating out the front- and backstage enables actors to give their audience the impression that they are meeting standards expected of them while behaving in an entirely different manner to achieve their underlying interests.
Benjamin Franklin, remarking on the coming end of the American Revolutionary War, opined that “there was never a good War, or a bad Peace.” But not all peace is equal, and not all ceasefires lead to peace. The consequences of decisions made during negotiations will continue to reverberate long after the ink has dried. Policymakers must now reconcile the disparities created during the peace process that have benefited national security at the expense of the most vulnerable communities.
For many in Western society, the catastrophic events unravelling on the Western coast of Myanmar might seem to come out of left field. Yet the Rohingya have faced similar treatment for decades, only recently reaching a tipping point which caused it to flash across international headlines. Why has it taken this long for the world to take notice of the humanitarian and political crisis of the Rohingya in Myanmar?