Bhutan bans religious activity ahead of election

By Vishal Arora
Religion News Service
Updated: Monday, October 15, 5:21 PM

NEW DELHI — Political leaders in the tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan have announced a nearly six-month ban on all public religious activities ahead of the upcoming elections, citing the Himalayan nation’s constitution that says “religion shall remain above politics.”

A notification by the Election Commission of Bhutan asks people’s “prayers and blessings” for the second parliamentary election, expected in June 2013. But it also states that religious institutions and clergy “shall not hold, conduct, organize or host” any public activity from Jan. 1 until the election.

The ban comes a year after the country’s religious affairs ministry identified Buddhist and Hindu clergy who should be barred from voting to keep a clear distinction between religion and politics.

The commission’s notification refers to a “noble national declaration” in the constitution calling for religion to be above politics while requiring religious institutions and figures to promote the Buddhist spiritual heritage. That rule “provides for the political system to be secular where religion is elevated to the higher pedestal,” says the notification.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/bhutan-bans-religious-activity-ahead-of-election/2012/10/15/3e82c412-170e-11e2-a346-f24efc680b8d_story.html