Non-Buddhists Object To New Broadcast Services In Bhutan

In the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, the government, with the aid of the International Telecommunications Union, has begun to offer nationwide satellite television services. Yesterday's Asia News reports that while Bhutanese authorities see this as a landmark, minority religious groups are protesting that it is a tool to entrench Buddhist cultural hegemony over the country and keep control over other groups. Kamali Chetri, a nurse, complained that with programming that is largely Buddhist in content, "the gap between the Buddhist majority and immigrant Hindus, Christians and Nepalese animists is bound to grow. It doesn't really foster co-existence."