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Showing posts from February, 2016

Ban or Sham?

The following is a column I have contributed in Business Bhutan (Saturday 27 February 2016 issue). Thank you, Ms. Peky Samal, the news editor of Business Bhutan for the apt title:  The Ministry of Agriculture and Forest had issued a circular requesting all government and other agencies to avoid serving meat during the workshops and conferences. The Ministry’s rationale was that the Year of Monkey is the birth year of Guru Rinpoche and it also coincides with the meat bans in the country. It is a welcome move.    In Bhutan, every year the first and fourth months of Bhutanese calendar, the sale of meat is banned. I think the content of the circular should stand even beyond Guru Rinpoche’s birth year. Since we are putting a strict ban on the sale of meat during the holy months, it should not be available in the first place. But sadly, some hotels continue to serve their customers meat. But should we allow this to happen? It is said, that a month prior to the ban, demand f