Bhutan: Religious Freedom
Status*
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U.S.
Department of State Human Rights Report 1998
Buddhism is the state religion. The Government subsidizes monasteries
and shrines and provides aid to about a third of the Kingdom's 12,000
monks. That part of the monastic establishment following the school
of Buddhism practiced by the western Ngalong ethnic group enjoys statutory
representation in the National Assembly and in the Royal Advisory
Council and is an influential voice on public policy. Citizens of
other faiths, mostly Hindus, enjoy freedom of worship but may not
proselytize. Under the law, conversions are illegal.
The King has declared major Hindu festivals to be national holidays,
and the royal family participates in them. Foreign missionaries are
not permitted to proselytize, but international Christian relief organizations
and Jesuit priests are active in education and humanitarian activities.
Source: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 1998, U.S. Department of State.
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