Recommended reading:
TVM Haze
The world has changed so much in the past few decades. The sheer amount of information we have accessible at our fingertips is sometimes hard to comprehend. If you are a person who has the privilege of internet access, the only excuse you have for your ignorance is yourself.
The world has changed so much in the past few decades. The sheer amount of information we have accessible at our fingertips is sometimes hard to comprehend. If you are a person who has the privilege of internet access, the only excuse you have for your ignorance is yourself.
So what then, can we say about a regime that chose to keep its subjects ignorant? For the longest time, all the way until 2008, the Maldivian public had access to only one public TV channel. Television gets a lot of flak for being responsible for dumbing down populations; but I am of the opinion that the people that hold such views are often people who have been spoiled for choice when it comes to such media.
Television Maldives, or TVM, was founded on March 29th 1978; the same year that one of Asia’s longest ruling dictators came to power. It would remain the only local TV station for the entirety of his rule. The 2nd TV station to be formed, DhiTV, was inaugurated by him in 2008; timed perhaps so that he can claim that he had allowed more than one TV station to operate during his 30 year rule from 1978 to 2008. There was also of course TVM Plus, a short lived paid iteration that started around the turn of the century – but it was so lacking in original content that it could barely classify as its own fully fledged channel.
To say the content on TVM was controlled would be an understatement. The quality of content was also quite terrible; with very few shows featuring original works by locals. The majority of what we saw were pirated shows and music videos that always looked as if they were covered in grease, and shot through a tattered veil. My memories of the Disney Classics for instance are caked in this grime. Cartoons such as this would be shown in the afternoon, starting around 5 o’clock. They would end abruptly at the call for Magrib and Isha prayers from around 6-7 and would return only with the news at 8. If you were lucky they’d continue where they left of the next day; and if they didn’t, too bad! The best you could do was hope that they’d have a re-run at some point.
The news itself would always talk more about the terrors going on in places such as Palestine more so than anything that was remotely relevant locally; with such news being mostly restricted to the goings on at schools, or to Maumoon inaugurating some new building. The opposition would always be characterised as thugs. Instead of using the word “protest” they would always use negative lingo like “disturbances” and “threats to the peace”.
The pirated foreign content was always heavily censored. This ranged from eliminating images of people drinking, kissing, hugging and having sex, to the bizarre removal of scenes where people take their coats off after being outside. The most paradoxical part about all this was the need to still show content and maintain the façade that Maldivians are still hip consumers of Western culture. For instance there were several music video shows that would show after the 2PM news, around 2:30, that were presented in English that focused almost entirely on Western music. Most of the videos shown on it would be entirely incoherent due to the majority of the video being censored out. The fact that they accomplished this, with music videos at least, was by constantly looping the “halal” sections made the whole affair incredibly confusing. For example “It wasn’t me” by Shaggy mostly consisted of looped footage of his conversations with Rikrok; along with the former constantly getting out of his car. Yet the song was so popular that a cover version sung at the interschool singing competition, in which the song lyrics were adapted to be about the local tale of Foolhudhiguhandi and Aiminaabee’, remained a hit for almost a year.
The most loved original content was without a doubt the various dramas and music videos made by the local film industry. Most of this was however incredibly lacking in imagination and consisted almost entirely of songs, and often entire movies, ripped off from Indian cinema. In this regard the local film industry was, and still is, utterly shameless. To make things worse the strict censorship laws and stifling atmosphere of those times meant that the subject matter was always mundane; dealing with enthralling topics such as standard domestic dramas and infidelity. Still, there is probably a lot we could learn from the analysis of media produced by the film industry in those times. What were the common themes? What was left unsaid in these dramas? In what ways were the flamboyant dances of Indian cinema adapted to the apparently pious and god fearing Maldivian market? You could write a whole book about the psychology and sociology behind tight skin coloured cloth that some music stars used to cover exposed areas such as midriffs during their dances.
Most of the interesting content on TVM surfaced during Roadha mas. During this month of fasting most people stayed up late into the night so as to have a final meal before the day ahead. This provided a great excuse to create several late night programs; many of which were interactive game shows where contestants could call in to participate. Also of note is how the broadcast of Baibalaa tournaments during this time may have indirectly played a part in the creation of the many gangs which call Male’ their home. Most of these gangs started off as “sports clubs” and to this day maintain that façade of legitimacy in their operations. Framing it as a politician funding a sports clubs activities just sounds so much better than the mafia paying off hired thugs.
The Maldivian populace, desperate for entertainment, were forced to adapt. When I was growing up piracy was the norm. If the state, with all its vast revenues from tourism, cannot afford to buy original tapes to show on their channel; then what hope does the average citizen have of obtaining such luxuries?
One of the options was the local pirate tape rental. They’d have a vast library of murky copies that you could rent for 10 ruffiya a week. Sometimes my mother would rent something as a treat for my sister and myself; and we’d rewind and watch that tape until we’d memorised all of it. Sometimes multiple times a day. You could say this is common practice worldwide for kids that grew up with VCRs before the internet; but these weren’t clear copies. These were copies, much like the ones shown on TVM, with such terrible video quality and reverberating audio that you could barely decipher what was going on in some scenes. We were just that starved for entertainment.
One of the other options was to invest in a satellite dish. Some of the incredibly rich even had paid subscriptions. Most people, however, used decoders which let you access almost all of the paid channels for free. My uncle had such a set up, so we ran a cable all the way from his house to our TV. We couldn’t change the channel and were forced to watch whatever his decoder had been set to, but it was still much better than only having access to TVM. When my uncle got rid of his satellite, we put a cable in from my aunts; and when it was time for Dragon Ball Z, my sister and I would call them up to see if they could maybe change the channel to Cartoon Network for an hour. We must have been quite annoying.
In the 2000s some cable operators did begin service; but their catalogue was severely limited and overpriced. The pirate satellites still remained the better option. Some enterprising individuals even figured out that some Indian subscription services worked all the way down south in the Maldives; leading to rooftops being dotted with that particular type of dish for quite a while until the service providers became wary and began cancelling accounts.
These foreign cable stations provided a window to a greater world that Maldivians simply did not have access to in the past. They also served a strange form of self-validation in our own existence. I remember people proclaiming with astonished voices that “even the BBC” was reporting on events such as the historic protests of 2004. To finally see tyrants like Maumoon grilled by foreign journalists during the 2008 elections was nothing short of a revelation. The questions asked in the Al Jazeera video below, for example, are questions that very few local journalists would have even dared to ask back in those days. Mohamed Nasheed did not get imprisoned for his work with Sangu by accident.
101 East speaks to Asia's longest serving leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and opposition candidate Mohamed Nasheed at the Maldives' first free elections. In this edition of 101 East, we look at this turning point of democracy in Maldivian history and ask both presidential candidates why Maldivians should vote for them. - Al Jazeera English
Despite all these avenues for consuming pirated foreign content, the amount of local content was still shockingly low. With the advent of the internet, self-publishing, and more affordable technologies, this has changed quite a bit. Anyone can now create a show and post it onto places YouTube for the whole world to see. And there are now several local TV stations that compete with TVM as well.
Yet Maldivian media remains in its infancy, still struggling to find an identity from the years of that information blackout. In a way we are now undergoing our first renaissance of the creative arts. I am sure the Maumoon regime would like to take credit for this, but I think it has more to do with the world advancing as a whole rather than any conscious effort by them to improve the situation.
During Mohamed Nasheed rule, perhaps to distance his fledgling democracy from the days of dictatorship, TVM was renamed to MNBC One. But not for long. The station was so close to the hearts of the regime and its supporters that it was one of the first government buildings stormed and taken over by mutinying police during the coup of 2012; after which it was promptly renamed back to TVM. Some people say this is because the “secret” meaning of MNBC was not “Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation” but “Mohamed Nasheed Broadcasting Corporation”.
I think it was because TVM was like a mother to many regime loyalists. TVM back then was our way of communicating with our god, Maumoon. The days he gave Friday sermons were the days that the mosque was most packed. And of course these sermons were broadcast live on TVM for everyone at home, mostly women and children preparing lunch for the pious men who are busy praying, could soak it in as well. They find comfort in the nostalgia of those “peaceful” days of ignorance. In the endless songs of nationalism, penned by none other than god himself. Even now many people moan about the loss of the “peaceful” Maldivian community to the chaos of “politics”. Back then we never heard about the people that were abused and tortured in Maumoon’s prisons, so many people took this lack of information to mean that everything was OK. Back then many of the rural islands were, and still are, poverty stricken and lacking in basic development; which many people from the capital interpreted as “the simple life” that we are so missing out on today. Many of these people have never had to live “the simple life” and are simply tourists who exotify the rural islands they visit during their holidays. Even well into the 2000s, while those in the capital complained about slow internet, many in the islands still lacked proper sewage systems and electrical plants.
Yet still many people long for the days that we spent lost within that TVM haze. The drone of the no signal tone and the coloured bars that went along with it while I waited for programming to start are still burned into my mind; and much of this programming the Maldives has yet to overcome.
5 sociological concepts that every Maldivian should know
05. Structure & Agency
“In the social sciences there is a standing debate over the primacy ofstructure or agency in shaping human behavior. Structure is the recurrent patterned arrangements which influence or limit the choices and opportunities available.[1] Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.[1] The structure versus agency debate may be understood as an issue of socializationagainst autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a manner dictated by social structure.”
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom - Dictator of the Maldives from 1978 - 2008. Photograph via wikipedia.
Maldivian Example :
During Maumoon's dictatorship (1978 - 2008), one of the structures that shaped our behavior can be defined as his authoritarian regime. Agency was severely limited in the way that criticizing his regime, even though it was not technically illegal, would still land you in a lot of trouble. As such freedom of press was severely controlled. This is evident in the way that all newspapers had to tow the government line and in how the state broadcaster TVM (Television Maldives) was the only local television station to allow to air for almost the entirety of his dictatorship.
The legacy of Maumoon's dictatorship is clear in the insistence by most Maldivians that the Maldives is "100% Muslim". This is maintained by the Maldivian constitution (the structure) and how it restricts the freedom of consciousness (in other words the agency) of Maldivians by stating that all citizens are required to be Muslims .
How is this useful practically though? Well for instance one could analyse the influence of structure and agency on the suicide of Ismail Mohamed Didi, a 25 year old atheist who committed suicide after being refused asylum. What structures of Maldivian society drove him to the decision to take his life? Was his dramatic death, hanging himself off the airport control tower of a nation so reliant on tourists, a final scream demonstrating his autonomy?
04. Dramaturgy
"In dramaturgical sociology it is argued that the elements of human interactions are dependent upon time, place, and audience. In other words, to Goffman, the self is a sense of who one is, a dramatic effect emerging from the immediate scene being presented.[3] Goffman forms a theatrical metaphor in defining the method in which one human being presents itself to another based on cultural values, norms, and beliefs. Performances can have disruptions (actors are aware of such), but most are successful. The goal of this presentation of self is acceptance from the audience through carefully conducted performance. If the actor succeeds, the audience will view the actor as he or she wants to be viewed.[4] "
Maldivian Example:
Maldivian celebrity Ali Rameez, singing with his band before he transformed himself into an extremist preacher. He now appears to run a sizable network of radicals and is involved with indoctrinating the public on a daily basis.
Consider politicians, religious scholars, the MNDF and the police. They are all wearing their own uniforms and when they wear this uniform, they act in a certain way. Politicians wear the uniform of suits and ties and go to great lengths to appear "professional". A politician would not wear a mundu to parliament as this would clash with the image they are trying to present. Similarly, religious scholars also put considerable effort into maintaining their appearance. This is apparent to the extent that you can even somewhat discern the sect the preacher is affiliated with through their appearance. A salafi preacher for instance, would almost never take to the stage without his beard or rolled up trousers . As such, politicians and preachers, when they interact with the public, put on a performance. The way they speak with the public will not be the same way that they speak with their peers and it will not be the same as the way they speak to their families. This is how you get alcohol drinking politicians and adulterous preachers giving incendiary speeches about how natural events such as the tsunami occurred because of a lack of morals on our behalf.
This is of course not limited to just people of a certain profession but to everyone; except perhaps a hermit living by themselves. Simply consider how your parents act around you and then how they act around themselves, or how you act around your parents compared to how you act around your close friends .
03. Labelling Theory
"Labeling theory is the theory of how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. Labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms.[1] The theory was prominent during the 1960s and 1970s, and some modified versions of the theory have developed and are still currently popular. A stigma is defined as a powerfully negative label that changes a person's self-concept and social identity.[2]"
Maldivian example:
Are you from the MDP? A yellow person? According to the PPM you must be a ganja smoking alcoholic!
Are you from the PPM? A pink (or is it magenta?) person? According to the MDP you are a brainwashed drone incapable of thinking for yourself.
Are you an atheist? According to the MDP and PPM you are a nasty Islamophobe funded by zionists and you're probably addicted to heroin too.
Are you a salafi? According to the atheists you are a brainwashed drone incapable of thinking for yourself.
Are you a police officer? According to almost everyone in the Maldives you're a brainwashed drone incapable of thinking for yourself that has no sincere intent of even trying to adhere to the motto of "protect and serve".
Are you not straight? According to almost everyone in the Maldives you're probably having sex with animals too.
Are you a drug addict? According to almost everyone in the Maldives you're a lost cause and a waste of oxygen.
With this last example, think about the effects this stigma would have on such a person in terms of getting out of the situation that led them to the addiction in the first place. Do you think they would see the error of their ways or would their addiction worsen as they attempted to ease the pain of further ostracization? This might also explain why so many people from Maldivian minorities (they themselves being severely ostracized ) appear to also suffer from some kind of drug addiction.
This can also apply to members of Maldivian gangs who are often discriminated against and stereotyped by using the term "partey(s)". A person joins such a gang because society has rejected them, because they find acceptance within that community; do you honestly think rejecting them further is the solution to get people out of those situations?
02. Social constructionism
"Social constructionism or the social construction of reality (also social concept) is a theory of knowledge in sociology and that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world. It assumes that understanding, significance, and meaning are developed not separately within the individual, but in coordination with other human beings. The elements most important to the theory are (1) the assumption that human beings rationalize their experience by creating a model of the social world and how it functions and (2) that language is the most essential system through which humans construct reality.[1]"
Maldivian example:
What is the difference between a "raajje' therey meehaa" (literally - someone from within the kingdom, but often used as a derogatory term in the way someone might call someone a "country bumpkin" ) and a "Male' meehaa" (literally - someone from the capital city of Male', but often used as a derogatory term in the way someone might call someone a "city slicker")?
The differences are entirely constructed by society and it is maintained by several structures of Maldivian society; including the language itself which is divided into several levels of "politeness" and "sacredness" depending purely on class.
The same can be said for our performances of gender. Consider our constructions of gender in terms of our change of garments from the past to those of today. From the libaas and feyli to either the Western garbs of globalisation or the Arabian garbs of religious indoctrination. At the moment many people believe that women are somehow deficient in their capacity to lead and use religious justifications to make arguments against the idea that a woman may become the leader of a nation. As Maldivian society progresses, these ideas will be left by the wayside; but it doesn't mean that women suddenly became inherently more or less capable, it simply means that our perceptions around the idea have changed.
01. McDonaldisation
Ritzer highlighted four primary components of McDonaldization:
Efficiency – the optimal method for accomplishing a task. In this context, Ritzer has a very specific meaning of "efficiency". In the example of McDonald's customers, it is the fastest way to get from being hungry to being full. Efficiency in McDonaldization means that every aspect of the organization is geared toward the minimization of time.[3]
Calculability – objective should be quantifiable (e.g., sales) rather than subjective (e.g., taste). McDonaldization developed the notion that quantity equals quality, and that a large amount of product delivered to the customer in a short amount of time is the same as a high quality product. This allows people to quantify how much they're getting versus how much they’re paying. Organizations want consumers to believe that they are getting a large amount of product for not a lot of money. Workers in these organizations are judged by how fast they are instead of the quality of work they do.[3]
Predictability – standardized and uniform services. "Predictability" means that no matter where a person goes, they will receive the same service and receive the same product every time when interacting with the McDonaldized organization. This also applies to the workers in those organizations. Their tasks are highly repetitive, highly routine, and predictable.[3]
Control – standardized and uniform employees, replacement of human by non-human technologies
With these four principles of the fast food industry, a strategy which is rational within a narrow scope can lead to outcomes that are harmful or irrational. As these processes spread to other parts of society, modern society’s new social and cultural characteristics are created. For example, as McDonald’s enters a country and consumer patterns are unified, cultural hybridization occurs.
Maldivian example:
What would make the Maldives a perfect luxury tourist destination? The subtraction of the local population of course. But until that day, drones will have to do. It will be a very uninteresting society, but it will be absolute perfection in terms of providing a predictable service. For this one I'd like you, if you'd please, to think about this one for yourselves a bit. Where do you think the Maldives is truly heading? Do you think enough is being done to preserve our history and culture - especially it's ancient past? Do you think the Maldivian society elevates an individual to be all they can be, or does it mould a person for subservience?
Note: All of the examples I have provided are very basic and might not even be that accurate in terms of the broader theories involved. Do not listen to anyone expecting easy answers about any of these things. As with everything else I highly suggest you do your own independent research and come to your own conclusions.
Maldives, UPR Report Consideration 2015 - Statement by Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed
"Let me now turn to the recommendations we received from Member States. As we have stated at the UPR Working Group, for over eight hundred years, Maldivians have embraced and maintained our Islamic values. Islam forms the basis of our Constitution, and all our laws. Any efforts to introduce practices contrary to the values of Islam, will not be entertained by the people of Maldives. Of the sixty recommendations the Government has rejected, and thus taken note of, are mostly those that contradict with the Islamic faith and our Constitution. The people of Maldives, through a democratic process, have rejected freedom of religion, LGBT, and non-traditional forms of family. However, as previously stated, non-Maldivians are allowed to practicetheir own faith in private. We have also provided explanations on the recommendations in the Addendum submitted to the Council." - Dr. Ali Nazeer
What democratic process?
““Let me now turn to the recommendations we received from Member States. As we have stated at the UPR Working Group, for over eight hundred years, Maldivians have embraced and maintained our Islamic values. Islam forms the basis of our Constitution, and all our laws. Any efforts to introduce practices contrary to the values of Islam, will not be entertained by the people of Maldives. Of the sixty recommendations the Government has rejected, and thus taken note of, are mostly those that contradict with the Islamic faith and our Constitution. The people of Maldives, through a democratic process, have rejected freedom of religion, LGBT, and non-traditional forms of family. However, as previously stated, non-Maldivians are allowed to practicetheir own faith in private. We have also provided explanations on the recommendations in the Addendum submitted to the Council.””
What democratic process?
The Maldives refuses to allow basic human rights by using the vague justification of religion. The UN is the greatest circle jerk in the history of humanity. They do not care about your rights as a citizen of this planet, they instead care about the rights of nations. Maldivian minorities will just have to suffer in silence. What other option do we have when the powers that be have failed us? And what greater power could there be on this planet than the United Nations? Does the UN not care at all about Maldivian minorities? Are they simply a myth to them?
The UN website streaming the video didn't even have a link to the transcript, or even closed captioning features. Says a lot really.
Maldivians are encouraged to dream big, but not so big that might dream of something like the freedom to believe in what you wish. Through what "democratic process" (as Dr. Ali Nazeer claims) have we decided all this? Just exactly what "humans rights" education are we talking about here where minorities such as apostates and LGBT are not even given the right to exist?
One thing is clear. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is utterly meaningless. Why does the document even exist in the first place if autocratic regimes like the Maldives can do with it as they please? What actual protection does it afford the humans of this planet?
The Full statement:
Thank you, Mr.President.
Excellencies, Ladies, and Gentlemen: Good afternoon.
It is a pleasure for me to be back at this esteemed Council, and part of this important meeting to consider the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of the Maldives, and adopt the Report of the Working Group.
In July this year, the Maldives celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of independence, and three days ago, we celebrated fifty years of membership at the United Nations. These two landmark anniversaries reaffirm our collective will to further continue the journey we began in 1965. It is a journey we embarked on to reform, and to strengthen our system of governance, our institutions, and to improve the livelihood of the peoples.
The Universal Periodic Review process has become a key navigational instrument in our drive for national progress. The Maldives UPR held on 6 May 2015gained nation-wide interest in the Maldives. The Session received wide coverage on national and private news channels, and lively discussions from schools to social media. The engagement and the discussion both positive and critical, has renewed and strengthened the commitment of the Government to this process and its core guiding principles: universality, inclusivity, and transparency. It has reaffirmed our belief in the process’s potential to contribute to the positive and sustainable development of the country.
Mr. President
At the Maldives UPR, we received two hundred and fifty eight recommendations from one hundred and two States. After a careful consideration, the Government of Maldives has accepted one hundred and ninety eight recommendations, and rejected sixty. For a small nation with very limited resources, we hope you appreciate how ambitious we are. But we have never shied away from a challenge: as we said in our closing remarks to this Council on 8May 2015,for us, “small” is neither insignificant not unimportant; . . . small means striving to achieve higher, and dreaming big”.
Mr President
I will now highlight some of the developments on human rights that have taken place in the past four months. The Health Services Bill, the Sports Bill, National Integrity Commission Bill, and the Disaster Management Bill have been ratified.
The New Penal Code has come into effect on 16 July 2015, after a comprehensive roll-out and sensitisation programme was conducted to familiarise the relevant stakeholders with the sweeping changes. Many amendments to legislations have also been ratified, in order to comply with the Constitution of 2008 and the new penal code. These legislative reforms have contributed to the strengthening of the legislative framework around a holistic approach to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Maldives.
On the socio-economic front, the Government has committed to provide 24-hour electricity to all inhabited islands before 2018, a right enshrined in our Constitution. We have also introduced the concept of “Smart city” to the Maldives, and begun efforts to develop a youth city, to cater to the nearly fifty percent of the population that are below the age of twenty-five. In August 2015, the Government has also introduced Islamic Financing loan programme ‘faseyha madhadhu’,which would benefit the small and medium enterprises.
On 17 August2015, the President, on the approval of the Parliament, appointed three new members to the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives to replace the members whose terms completed. The process of appointment was publicly announcedand transparently conducted. Members have also been appointed to the Public Service Media Governing Board, further enhancing the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
Mr President
Let me now turn to the recommendations we received from Member States. As we have stated at the UPR Working Group, for over eight hundred years, Maldivians have embraced and maintained our Islamic values. Islam forms the basis of our Constitution, and all our laws. Any efforts to introduce practices contrary to the values of Islam, will not be entertained by the people of Maldives. Of the sixty recommendations the Government has rejected, and thus taken note of, are mostly those that contradict with the Islamic faith and our Constitution. The people of Maldives, through a democratic process, have rejected freedom of religion, LGBT, and non-traditional forms of family. However, as previously stated, non-Maldivians are allowed to practicetheir own faith in private. We have also provided explanations on the recommendations in the Addendum submitted to the Council.
The Government has developed a comprehensive strategy for implementing the one hundred and ninety eight recommendations we have accepted. Under the guidance of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to be the principal agency coordinating the implementation of the recommendations. And we have already started the consultations. Following informal meetings, the reconstituted Standing Committee of the UPR has held its first formal meeting on 20 August 2015. The new Standing Committee has 8members from the Government, and 4members from civil society organisations. We have taken a results-based approach in implementing the recommendations by identifying measurable and verifiable benchmarks.
President Yameen’s Government believes that human rights are not only about international instruments or pieces of law. Human rights is as much about cultivating respect, nurturing belief, and in making human rights a way of life. To promote these values, the Government will continue its efforts to provide human rights education.
Mr President,
For a Small Island Developing State, with numerous challenges such as lack of expertise, capacity, technical and financial limitations, we remain constrained in our efforts to achieve the legislative reforms needed, at the pace we want.
New legislations such as the Gender Equality Bill will be presented to the next Parliament session, and there are many others in the pipeline. The adverse impacts of climate change is, and will undoubtedly pose new challenges to the realisation of the human rights of our small population, scattered over a large expanse of the ocean. Similar to many other countries, our societies have not been immune to the waves of drug abuse and radical extremism spreading across the globe.
We have been very forthcoming about our limitations. We have exercised maximum transparency in highlighting the challenges we encounter. We have never claimed we are perfect. And indeed, no country can legitimately claim to have a perfect record.
Despite the challenges, the progress that the Maldives has achieved only within a span of ten years, is by any measure, impressive. It is therefore highly unfortunate that there are several forces, both outside and within, trying to reap the benefits of our political vulnerability. It is also unfortunate that the Maldives, our governance system that is only a decade old, is often judged by the same yardstick used for countries that took centuries to establish. And while the attention is appreciated, conclusive evidence shows that change is only sustainable if locally owned, locally driven, and locally shaped. Institutions need to have the space and time to grow organically according to the specific needs of the people of the country.
Having said that, we always come to this Council with an open mind, and an attentive ear. We have much to learn from the experiences of other States, and well meaning, well intended advise is well received. We count on the support of our partners to help us reach our goals, and especially in implementing the recommendations received at this Council. We would like to hear from your experiences, on how best we can tackle some of the challenges we face. As my Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon stated at the UPR Working Group in May, “we are here with a sincere intent to listen, to engage”, to share our experiences, to be guided by yours.
With this in mind, I would like to request the President to open the floor, and I look forward to a fruitful discussion.
Thank you MrPresident.
A password for UN extranet access can be obtained without much hassle from:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/HRCRegistration.aspx
A POLICY OF DESTRUCTION - From 'The Maldive Islanders' by Xavier Romero-Frias
This is the final chapter of Xavier Romero-Frias' "The Maldive Islanders". With the direction the Maldives appears to be heading in, it is perhaps even more relevant now than when it was first written. If you wanted to know why so little is done to preserve Maldivian culture and heritage, this is why.
This is the final chapter of Xavier Romero-Frias' "The Maldive Islanders". With the direction the Maldives appears to be heading in, it is perhaps even more relevant now than when it was first written. If you wanted to know why so little is done to preserve Maldivian culture and heritage, this is why.
A POLICY OF DESTRUCTION
The relentless effort to promote Arabic cultural values within the Maldive island society is allegedly made with very good intentions. Its supporters claim to hold the monopoly of moral and spiritual values, and steadfastly affirm that their aim is to create a more virtuous society. However, local resistance against the arbitrary imposition of an alien desert culture on this equatorial oceanic nation has never been officially defined or at least assessed and has rather been stubbornly ignored. Hence, as the saying goes “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” and, humans the world over being who they are, as soon as a new law to promote virtue is enforced, a new trick to circumvent that very law pops up.
The result is that the country has become a virtual police state, but certainly the society is not becoming any more virtuous. Lacking perspective of their cultural identity, average island people are simply helpless to fight back the cultural forgery imposed on them. The state religion has been Islam for the past eight centuries and, in the eyes of the islanders, Islam is synonymous with a formidable machine of power and authority which cannot be contested. Thus, Maldivians have to put up with the role of remaining passive onlookers when freshly arrived Arabic teachers or ‘holy men’ harshly criticize their own island traditions with impunity.
It is a secretly acknowledged fact, though, that within the island population there are many who feel that they are traveling on a boat which is going in the opposite course they wish to go, but they feel helpless to do anything about it. This conflict is, if anything, compounded by the intense propagation of hard-line Islamic ideologies, including the construction of mosques and Arabic religious schools137 throughout the country since 1978.
The Arab religious schools, fruit of the petrodollar wealth, were first opened in the capital Male' in 1983 and they set a pattern of cultural and political indoctrination for schools all across the Maldive Islands.138 Boys or girls attending those schools have problems having pride in their own culture because they have been pitched against the basic Maldive cultural values ever since their first classes. One unavoidable side-effect of Islamic education is that students end up admiring the Arab culture and despising their own traditions. Children who are unaware of causing any harm are made willing accomplices in the dismantlement of their own cultural heritage.
With the media in the hands of an Islamizing government and the spread of Arabic madrasahs throughout the country, the pace and depth of Arab influence is growing fast. During the 1970’s, except for a few modern schools in MaleØ, most Divehi children were taught Quraìnic reading in the small traditional ‘maktabs.’ However, this situation changed in the 1980’s, when two heavily funded Arabic schools ‘Mawhad Dirasì at-ul-Islamiyya’ and ‘Madrasat-ul-Arabiyya-al-Islamiyya’ opened in MaleØ. These schools, teaching undiluted Islam, were instrumental in introducing the Arab veil among girls and in the crystallization of Arabic mores within the Maldive society.
Even the phonetic sounds of the Divehi language are changing. Local letters are abandoned and disappear. The indigenous sound ‘p’ has been replaced by the Arabic letter ‘f’ during the last couple of centuries; and the autochthonous retroflex ‘nö’ (nöaviyani) has been slowly vanishing to the point of having been deleted from the local written alphabet by Muhammad AmÄín in mid-20th century.
In contrast to this carelessness towards their own phonetics, young Maldivian students are very particular in their efforts to reproduce with fidelity Arabic phonetic sounds,139 alien to their own language, in order to win Quraìn-reading contests promoted by their government. This trend is to blame for the growing tendency towards the abandonment of retroflex sounds not existing in Arab phonetics. Those retroflex sounds ‘lø’ (Löaviyani), ‘dö’ (Döaviyani) and ‘tø’ (Taö viyani) and ‘nö’ (Nöaviyani) made by flapping the tongue against the palate are a characteristic feature of the Indic languages. However, they were the bane of some highly fastidious, Arabophillic local learned men who sought to replace the local Divehi Akuru with the Arabic script in the past.
After many unsuccessful attempts, the ‘Taìna’ alphabet now in use was devised as a compromise. This three-century-old although some present-day documents propagated by the government claim that it is older in order to fit it into their particular vision of history140 artificial alphabet is based mostly on the Arabic numerals and diacritical signs and, more importantly, is written from right to left like Arabic. The abandonment of the Divehi Akuru141 and the introduction of the Taìna form of writing was a decisive step towards a greater Arabization of Divehi culture. The new form of writing could easily accommodate words and even whole sentences in Arabic within texts in the local language. Therefore, in practice, the Taìna alphabet became a wedge for the further introduction of a foreign Semitic tongue into the written form of Divehi.
During the past five or six centuries, Maldive identity has steadily lost its color and vitality. Local dances, songs, festivals and ceremonies that were deemed un-Islamic have been weeded out and repressed with almost sadistic ruthlessness. Hence, most autochthonous ancestral cultural expressions have degenerated or have disappeared. Kite-flying and mutual water-splashing (fenô kuliø ), are among the popular festivals that were forbidden by the Maldive government during the latter half of the twentieth century .
Since the early 1980’s, during a government drive to promote Islam in the Atolls called ‘DÄínuge Heìlunterikanô’, Islamic preachers sailed from island to island, to scold the islanders with fiery speeches. Acting with the same zeal characteristic of the former Sayyids, these enforcers of religious ideology saw sin and depravation in the normal sexual dimorphism of dress and behavior and in the open expression of youthful joy by means of dances and songs, which are a vital part of any healthy society.
Devoid of popular entertainment, except for modern sports, island atmosphere has become extremely dull.142 Despite the introduction of consumerism and the relative economic buoyancy of the last two decades of the 20th century, things have not changed very much since C. Maloney reported in the mid-1970’s that:
This particular island appeared (...) as an enervating place, with almost no games, no music or scheduled events, except prayers, and few surprises (...). Only the changing of seasons, (the Muslim month of) Ramzaìn and the two Iïd (Muslim festivals) broke the passage of time. The KatÄíbu (government official) ruled in a tyrannical way (...). There is no crack in the shell of orthodoxy, at least in appearance. The majority of citizens of the Maldives pass their time on such islands as this, (...) scarcely touched at all by the civilisational vibrancy of the outer world.143
Since 1979 Arab preachers have been periodically invited to the Maldive Islands by the government and given VIP treatment. Conferences where those ‘holy men’ are the star figures are organized in the evenings during their stay. Government officials and schoolchildren from the capital are forced to go to listen to their religious speeches. These aggressive sermons in Arabic are not only broadcast live in the national radio, but their recordings are routinely aired during the following months.
However, an Egyptian friend of mine who knew well that type of person, Mahmoud Salama, told me that no one in Egypt would pay so much respect to those cheap preachers. According to him, they were totally unimaginative types, from a mediocre background who were basking in the exaggerated attention they were receiving. “These are backward characters. What good can the Maldivians learn from them?” another Egyptian friend, AmÄín ‘Pako’, one day commented. And yet, during the last twenty years, these Egyptian preachers have been let loose in the Maldives to indoctrinate the local people under special orders from the President’s office.
These brash preachers seize with glee their unearned high status in the Islands. Often they use to grow quite passionate and eloquent in their speeches about the torments of hell, probably provoked by the un-Islamic appearance of the crowds who are gathered in to listen to them. For the fact is that Maldives got most of its Islamic facade mosques with minarets, Moorish arches and veiled women only from the year 1981 onwards, when the petrodollars began pouring abundantly into the country. And there are many locals who have not adopted the Arab look.
Initially these Egyptian propagandists were not liked by Maldivians at all. They appeared rude and gross to them, terribly lacking in manners. The calm, monotonous voice of the Divehi translator contrasted sharply with the impassionate, hysterical screams and violent gesticulation of the Arab religious preacher. To make them more palatable, in later years, the indoctrinators were coached by government officials regarding how to behave in front of the Maldive public and they learned how to talk in a more culturally sensitive cool and regular tone. And yet, the crude content of their sermons remained the same. 144
Throughout Divehi history, Arabs were still viewed as foreigners by the average Maldivian. However, the last quarter of the twentieth century has seen a new phenomenon appear in the Island society’s horizon: The ‘Arab wannabe.’ These are Maldivians who leave the islands in their childhood and are sent to Arab countries or to Pakistan to receive Islamic training. Eventually, when they return to their country as adults, they behave exactly like the Arab Sayyids of old. These uprooted Arab impersonators put much effort into weeding out the last remnants of true Maldive national identity. Since the end of the 1970’s, many very high government posts in the Maldives are held by such ‘Arab wannabes’ and their number is increasing.
In the outer Atolls, the average attitude of these young, but religious-wise highly trained people is, at best, arrogant and insensitive. They are usually contemptuous towards the ‘aløuverinô’, or old religious males of the island, whose time-tested combination of folkwisdom and religion, is too unislamic for their taste. At the same time, their position as young persons and religious learned men simultaneously is still highly incongruous. Within the ancestral island society, there was a role for old religious men, but none for inexperienced youngsters happening to be well-versed in Arabic and religion.
Traditionally, one was supposed to acquire knowledge along with wisdom with age. Hence, young aløuverinô, or young learned men, simply didn’t exist. The result is that these brazen young ‘Arab wannabes’, full of Islamic zeal, put much effort into discrediting their elders, slandering them for not being orthodox enough. In this manner they have led people not to pay attention to the old local aløuverinô and have ended up destroying the traditional hierarchical system, in which old people had to be respected. This is paving the way for a break-up of the moral fabric of Divehi society.
It is a well-known fact that presently in Maldives, there is a secret hostility to excessive arabization, but it is leading nowhere. This ‘resistance’, if it even may be called so, is not only unorganized, but its goals are not defined and it has no visible leadership.145 Moreover, there seems to be nowhere else to go in the other direction, for the ancestral Divehi culture is effectively lost.
- 137 Decades before the murderous spree led by religious hard-liners in Algeria, and long before the opening of those schools in the Maldives, Algerian writers like Rachid Mimouni had already questioned the wisdom of mass-religious indoctrination. “What do they want? A country of muezzins? Or a country of pious unemployed people (chomeurs)?”
- 138 Paraphrasing Vivekananda, in those schools the first thing a Maldivian child is taught is that his father is a fool because he can’t understand the Quraìn as he doesn’t know Arabic, the second that his grandfather was a lunatic because he held on to many folk beliefs that were unislamic, the third that his mother is shameless because she doesn’t cover her hair, the fourth that his grandmother was a whore because her form of dress revealed too much of her body, the fifth that all the old Maldivian books and stories are lies, and the sixth that Divehi courtesy is rude because Maldive Islanders don’t go around saying all the time ‘Assalaìm alaykum’ as polite Arabs do (the traditional Divehi way being to ask: “Where are you going?”), etc. Vivekananda, a well-known Indian reformist, denounced British education in the schools of the Raj for giving Indians a false perspective of their own culture.
- 139 Letters: thaì, hâaì, khaì, dhaìl, Ïaìd, Íadì , Ìaì, Ña,ì Âyn, gôayn`and qaìf. These are foreign Semitic sounds that don’t come naturally to the Divehi people and are, thus, very difficult to pronounce for them. Even so, since they are positive that Arabic is the language of heaven, much effort is invested among Maldivians since childhood in order to achieve the correct pronunciation.
- 140 The claim that the Taìna script was devised in the 16th century is, however, not supported by historical documents. The oldest writing specimens in that alphabet, interspersed with Arabic, are from the 18th century. These are the Iïdu Miskit Dorosöi inscriptions, dated AH 1170 (AD 1757).
- 141 The traditional Maldivian writing whose most ancient manuscripts (in the form called ‘Eveìla’ by H.C.P. Bell) go as far back as the 7th century AD. The last manuscripts written in Divehi Akuru are from mid-19th century.
- 142 According to most islanders, the only excitement is to be found in secret illicit relationships.
- 143 C. Maloney, ‘People of the Maldive Islands.’
- 144 For example, this is how Maldivian women were coaxed to cover their hair: “Every single hair of a woman not covered by the veil will become a poisonous snake in hell.” From a speech by an Arab guest preacher in Divehi Raìjjege Adöu (Radio Maldives) translated from the Arabic into Divehi and broadcast during the month of Ramzanì in 1990.
- 145 Commenting on the power of the government and the power of Islam in turn-of-the-millennium Algeria, Mohammed Arkoun, director of the Institute of Arab-Islamic Studies at Paris-III University, writes: The nationalist vision insists on the continuity in time of the Arab-Islamic culture and, consequently, of the state. Thus, the social spirit dominating today is directly connected with the official thesis that refuses to make the indispensable room to the scientific analysis of facts and problems. Intellectuals who, like Mustafa Lacheraf, invest their efforts into the separation between the functions of the official ideology, which pretends to mobilize national construction, and the critical knowledge of the ingredients that have fashioned real Algerian society, are extremely rare. M. Arkoun, ‘Une SpiritualiteØ qui deØpasse la Religion d’EÚtat’ (GEO n 114).
One Year On - Celebrate Moyameeha's life by reading some of his earliest works #FindMoyameehaa
A year has passed and Ahmed Rilwan AKA @moyameeha is still missing. Much has happened since in the Maldivian political spectrum, but absolutely no real progress seems to have been made on his whereabouts or the people behind his abduction. The Maldivian Police remains silent, and the government even more so.
A year has passed and Ahmed Rilwan AKA @moyameeha is still missing. Much has happened since in the Maldivian political spectrum, but absolutely no real progress seems to have been made on his whereabouts or the people behind his abduction. The Maldivian Police remains silent, and the government even more so.
There is a lot I could write about his disappearance. The failings of the system. The institutionalized apathy and hatred towards those deemed "laadheenee" that was used to justify and belittle his life and abduction. Why his activism, writing and experiences as an ex-radical could have been conceived in so many ways as threats towards the enemies of liberty. Why his abduction may have been intended as a message towards anyone who was under the false impression that there is freedom of expression in the Maldives.
But today I want to celebrate his life, his work. If these were the dark ages before the internet revolution this might have been impossible. His works may not have been that easily accessible. What remained may have been confiscated or otherwise made retrievable. Hidden as well as they have hidden the truth about his abduction.
But no. We live in a different age and the relics who seek to keep us in the past are doomed to stay there.
Moyameehaa is still alive. Legends never die.
These are some of the best of his earliest works. I hope to see much more from him in the future.
Thursday, August 11th 2005 - Moyameeha's blog goes live.
For a reference to how long ago that was, YouTube was founded on February 14th 2005. YouTube is only a 183 days older than Moyameeha's blog. Do you even remember what the internet was like before YouTube?
Tuesday, December 13th 2005 - Aqeeqah Rituals
“Yesterday,I captured a hen being sacrificed (with my handphone’s video camera)
..( its the ritual of naming a new born baby on the seventh day ..or ‘aqiqa’..in the early days of islam a goat or something like that is sacrificed....but the Maldivians who cannot afford or cannot find a goat in time ...always makes a sacrifice like this)...traditionaly this is a very big feast where people (relatives, friends,neighbours,poor people and others) are to be invited..but these days in Maldives (specially in Male’) we just perform the rituals and send the food in parcels (in Maldives its usually bondibaiy and kukulhumas-chicken.)packages to the people.(if u r in male’ just call +9607773240 to ‘faseyha point’ shakir to make arrangements for goats,bondibaiy packages with free delivery and all aqiqa stuff) This is very helpful coz every one is bz these days..but i think we cud still hold on to the traditional ways and sen parcels to people who cant come...
”
“And about this day being marked as the ‘Unity Day’.Its just another trick of the dictator gayom.He is trying to make the most of this ‘golden opportunity’...where every one goes hyper-emotional.He is trying to bring forward the nationalist propaganda..and picture himself as the leader...who will protect this ‘unity’..’which he describes is threatened by ‘some,very few people’..(reffering to the opposition MDP) or describes that as the unity ‘which have been among maldivians since the begining’...
but i wouldnt call..what we witnessed on the 26th of december 2004...national unity..or Islamic brotherly love or unity..no..its mere humanity..no one can wait and see humans suffering like that...no matter what country or what religion they belong to...Thats why the Maldivians watched live scenes of Iraq war,Srebrenica massacre (we donatedd for em..but the corrupt government swallowed all the money) and the recent hurricane katrina in America..we are concerned..because we are humane...”
“Aishath Sudha (a neighbour of mine-so;i heard the story without the free-press a that time, also) died at the very young age of 17 on 26 August 1994 in Gaamaadhoo jail. She was serving a 12 years and 6 months sentence for using and possessing drugs . She was allegedly gang-raped (by gayom’s NSS militia) and left to die by the prison guards. Gayoom formed a Committee to investigate her death,but to this date its findings have been unknown. Sudha was not the only young person whose death in jail was silenced and who was tortured there are countless people around the country (like my friend mahir).
I have heard of it so much.people so close to me have suffered this brutality..even NSS staffs are said to be murdered the Militia under commands from higher leader...i have had enough of this gayom thing..and his prisons (no better than Abu Ghraib and he is no better than pol pot,Hitler or Stalin..in torturing their own citizens).There are special ‘cells’ (ya prison cells..i would call em) for punishing young children..this place is called Islaahiyyaa (literary-in arabic- meaning a rehabilitation centre )..i will be posting detailed stuff about it later..”
Note: The kinboo was recently shot dead
Saturday, November 25th 2006 - 1984
“ive’ read it sometime back...and still i cant stop talking about it....1984 is a grrreat novel!...but not just a novel...its an allegorical political novel written by George Orwell (the author animal farm).its about a dictator and his brutal ways of ruling over a nation.and one man’s struggle for freedom.
mmhmm..an Orwellian society? Maldives cannot be considered as such a state or society yet?.buti think it was very close to it once, until one day things changed...but still the gayomic society resembles it (the orwellian society)...there cant be such an extreme society or dictator as in the book...but Gayom was very close to it.”
“But i cant agree....Haveeru cannot be ‘sometimes biased’ and ‘sometimes unbiased’ in reporting and presenting the news,it has to be on either side...there is no standing in the middle! ....there’s a lot of coloring in haveeru reports...and it does not allow viewers to comment freely (on its online version).which is now in beta...and i say;the whole company is in a state of ‘beethaa’ for the last few years....that is from the time they got out from the lines of miadhu and aafathis (which are not popular and publishes only the news approved from the president’s office ).Now in this beethaa state, i have encountered a lot of problems in commenting on its online edition.
One day i wanted to comment and ‘Oh my God!’ there is no ‘comment on this article’ link in this very special news.Yes,it was a news article about gayom...well i was not going to write anything like ‘golhaabo isthiufaa’ or any base or unethical comment.i was trying to comment on what i thought about the article,but it seems he is far above that...he is in a position where the citizens cannot even comment about him...well atleast for this haveeru beethaa, he is god-like and resting in sidhurathul munthahaa!.”
“So it is all about our economy?not really...it is about pumping money in from the west and pumping em out to the swiss accounts of big fat businessmen and big bad politicians.Alcohol is also banned for Maldivians but Legal for tourists...and yeah...also topless dancers.but i DOOO think maldivians have a right to enjoy freedom of religion.It was Gayom who took away this freedom,and i want him to give it back!He have tortured Maldivian Christian converts and anyone who goes against ‘Golhaa Islam’ for almost 3 decades.its time we talk about these rights and question the crazy fatawaas given by uttama and gayom.And it is time we start thinking freely about EVERYTHINHG.what do you think?does maldives need freedom of religion?Is it just, to force all maldivians to be muslims when they are all not willing to?do we need to go for a referendum in deciding this?or should all the maldivians be barred from the right to freedom of religion.....and these rights be ‘sold’ only to those who can pay enough money?”
“Gayom and his senior supporters all carried pistols when Gayyoom took his first oath as President on 11th of November 1978 and gayom himself have later admitted for this crime( mabodey vaan vegen karaa felhumuge thereygai). see this article in dhivehi (PDF)
HE BROKE THE LAW!
On 3rd June 2005 political parties was allowed in maldives and Gayom was the second to make a political party and became its founder and zaeemu.
Article 33 of the Maldives consitution says: “The President shall be the Head of State, Head of Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Police of the Maldives”
Party Rules from the Home Ministry says on 5, alifu, and 5, vaavu, Police and NSS people cannot become a member of any political party.
So how can Gayoom, who is head of both Police and NSS (according to the Constitution), form a political party and be its zaeemu?(oh...and how can MDP talk to a ghairu gaanoonee party like DRP?...that’s what they are.any way,any how..they want...’something’)
AGAIN HE BROKE THE LAW!”
“He was,and still is the favorite singer for thousands of Maldivians, especially among the older generations.We can see this by the fact that in TV programs like ‘Alhuganduge Hovun’ and Radio programs ‘Dhathuthuverinnaai eku’....in almost all of the programs there would be a request for a song from Dhohokko be’. Most of the time they will say “Any song by Dhohokko be’ will be o.k for me!”.His songs were mostly romantic and love poetry.They were known for the good poetry and his own,unique style of performing.Even if his music were copied from hindi songs; he made it all (as he have said) ‘dhohokkobized’.He had a certain standard of performing, for example; he would refuse to perform, if he is not happy with the percussion section.There are very few people who are fit to be in his ‘band’.And about poetry, he was very concerned about maintaining the standard of his lyrics.They all had a touch of (not just a touch...a whole lot of em!) Urdu language.
Even today he is a favorite for many Maldivians; young and old ,though some youngsters find his music humorous,disgusting,not-music,not amilla raagu,out dated,not understandable....etc!
whatever. here are the songs.In the memory of Dhohokko be’ and his songs that entertained thousands of Maldivians.May his soul rest peacefully.Amen!”
“For a long time these people have been ignored by the society,the government and also the media.Most people never cared about them, called them wahhaabees or haabees and made fun of (arguing with them is some kinda entertainmenty for most people) some of them who are always very much eager to preach their ‘message’.And the the government would every once in a while randomly arrest all ‘bearded’men and ‘face veiled’ women and sometimes torture them.The government found a useful enemy in them.Every now and then gayom would be preaching “some very few people among us do this and that in the name of islam...this is not like this. this is like that...dont worry i am here to protect and guide you”...but now we know this is more serious. more than what we thought.”
“as a kid when my mom dictates that and when i myself recite it after her voice...i used to think of a bright golden light, a palace which is illuminated with a golden light... and it have some thingy hung somewhere in the middle of it ... and this light comes from it...and spreads to the whole palace, illuminating it...and then through a small window ...it comes out and these needle-rays strike my chest (heart).....when the light touches me i can feel it.thats how it was to me, back then.thats what i felt about this thing.
”
“visited the place just when they discovered some corpses there .I heard that the research team will be leaving soon.that means the work will no be continued.Again after an year i went back to kaashidhoo and discovered that it was a play ground for children.they would go and pee in to the ancient well there.they would break parts of the historical remains of the temple(some kids even brought it to the house i was staying in).I was not shocked. because my house is not far from ali rasagefaanu Ziyaarai (in Male’) ,which was a junk heap until it was renovated and opened for tourists in October 2002.And he was mulim mujahid..... no wonder they wont give a damn about the remains of a Buddhist temple!!
There are several other Ziyaarais or shrines of Maldivian saints and heroes which have been neglected and even destroyed by the government.You all will know the area called Lonu ziyaarai kolhu, no more ziyaarai is there now.They even stopped Maldivian cultural festivals like Maaloodhu.My said that the giraavaru people practiced their traditional thaarajehun and vajidhuvun until it was banned by the government.
And then there is Dhivehi language.so many words used in different islands..are lost day after day...i dont think any effort is made to collect these words and document em(even jaa have done more than what they do by giving us the radheed free).and i thnak maldivesroyalfamily.com and maldivesculture.com for all the information ive got from them about my country,its culture and heritage”
“މިބަލާވެރިކަން! ، މިބަލާވެރިކަން!
މިބަލާވެރިކަން ނިމިދޭހެ ފިލާ؟
މިކަމުން މިންޖުވެ، އުޅެވޭހެ ހިލާ؟
މިކަމުން ދުވަހަކު، ނުވެވޭހެ ނަޖާ؟
ދާރުލް މި ފަނާ، ދާރުލް ހެ ބަލާ؟
ލެއްވީ މިއަޅާ ލިބުމަށްހެ ސަޒާ؟
ހޭތޮށަލި ދުޅައިން ނީދުނިޔެހިނގާ؟
ހޭމީ އެޖަހަންނަމު ތަ ބުނާ؟
ހޭނުލެވޭނެހެ މިކަމުން ނާމާން؟
ހޭނުވެވޭނެމި ހުރަގޭން މިނިވަން؟
ހޭނާރާނެ އިރެއް މިރެއަށް ކަޅުފޮއެ؟
ހޭމަންޒިލަކަށް ނުދެވޭނެ އަމާން؟
ބާރުންގަދަ ވީ ދަނޑިމާރުއަޅާ،
ވާށޭ މިނިވަން ވަގުތުން ހެވިލާ ،
ދާށޭ އަދުވީ މިދުނިޔެ އަޅާ!
އާނއޭ މިކަރަށް ދަންމަޅިމިމަހާ!”
“There were thousands of results but what is commonly associated with maldives is tourism, not terrorism.how ever yesterday’s news was covered by hundreds of news outlets around the globe.This struck me so much.It have been sometime since we started to talk about terror minded narrow minded groups of saudi and pakistan educated (some even trained at Islamic military camps) growing in maldives.But we just talked, we didnt do any thing. now they have stricken. is this the beginning?no, this cant be, but we’ve got work to do.Leave the political fights aside and lets concentrate on this serious issue at hand.we should be united, not divided by this.”
“It is the hypocrisy of Maldives government when it comes to religion ...that have created a breeding ground for jihadi islamic movements and islamic extremism in maldives.For example; we are told that we should follow Quran and Hadith...but we are lied about them.Lies which are so evident that even the kids will know some thing is wrong in those fatwas.Now when this happens children turns to islamic books or websites originating from saudi arabia or saudi funded groups, looking for answers.These will lay a foundation for the wahhabi islam.Now from this stage a person may develop in to anything...just a salafi,a follower of political islam (hizb-ut-tahrir/ikhwanul muslimeen?) or to a houri seeking jihadi muslim.I am not saying that it is their right to preach terrorism. but we cant define what the limits are ,as long as we try to strengthen the ‘islamic unity’ by force.Let it come by its own (if there is any such thing as an islamic unity) .
I think what we need to cultivate is not islamic unity and hatred for other religions.what we need is an free society, a free environment in which religious tolerance,humanism, and brotherhood would prosper.For this to happen we need social change as well as political change.To bring about this we need education,awareness,change of policies and a secular state or atleast a state with freedom of religion.A state which wouldn’t threaten to kill a person for choosing his or her own way of life or belief or for discussing a religious topic freely.Religion have to become more spiritual rather than being a ‘dividing-in-the-name-of-uniting’ force.Hate and violence would give nothing but hate and violence.The government should understand that these islamic groups too are maldivian citizens, faceveiled women and bearded men are our people..parents to our children...if you jail them beat them up just for what they believe or how they dress..it would be very unjust.I have known so far that .... two leaders of the dotcom group (the guys behind the bomb plot) have fled Maldives.This is what we need to concentrate on... bringing the violent and the terror breeding to justice and tackling the extremism problem ideologically.”
“Maldives’ sexual network...
Ali Didi is a business man in Male’.He owns two toy shops in Majeedhee magu.This guy who is in his 40’s lives in Male’ but travels to bangkok frequently, on ‘business trips’.On these business trips he spend few days after his work is done just to enjoy.And every night he have an invited guest to sleep with him (sometimes licensed sometime illegal road prostitutes).
Ali Di’s brother Ibrahim Didi have recently returned to Maldives after 3 Years working as a seaman (what we call boattudhathurukurun). He really enjoyed it there, especially the sex.At brothels, and even from young prostitutes who come on board when they are at certain ports.Ibrahim Di went to his Island and started a business there, now with Ali Di’s help he can stay home with family and work there (thank you Ali Di).
Ibrahim Di’s Eldest son Vishah works in a Tourist Resort near the Capital Male’, he is now visiting his island.Working in a tourist resort is fun for Vishah.Working in the water sports section; he often creates close relationships with visitors and some staff (foreign and local) too...and ofcourse have great sex. Now that he is in his Island, he needs locals to replace those friends.He have a ‘serious girl friend’ there. But he also found this lady in her 30’s - married to a 50 year old fisherman- very interesting. Vishah now contacts a friend and gives her the message. Well... the next day at dawn just as the fishermen left for work...Vishah goes in to that house...and all the doors were open .... Bang bang! (gud that this time he did not have to go through the window as he does at midnight when he goes in to rooms secretly..in the islands this is called meehunkairiahvanun, a very common thing).
Now, This fisherman husband of the lady... this pervert ...is interested in children.He is able to lure some kidsn his island.But when he is in Male’ he always hires drug addict underage girls...and Bang Bang!
and...one of them was aazimaa. She has a boy friend (jawish) who is also a drug addict.But recently she have broken up with him ...after she discovered that she is in a ‘serious’ relation ship with zaahiya a 13 year old in Ameeniya.And yeah when Jawish’s gang have little stuff in store, and cant afford more...sometimes they make ‘heroin solution’ with lime and any other stuff they like.This solution is mixed and heated on a table spoon and injected...all using the same needle.
Ali Di’s wife lives in a small 3 room apartment in Maafannu ,with her children. Zahiya is the youngest of them.Then there is Fathin (the bisexual, who was caught under a staircase in Ameeniya with nasreena - Jawish’s new Gf.) and the eldest Rashida.Rashida left to SriLanka for higher education 2 years back. She lives in a two room Apartment with 3 other girls in Lanka. She dont have a serious boy friend now, but some ‘friends with benefits’. One of them she met last month from a Disco (it was ‘dhivehi ecstasy’..and yeah...ecstasy and other party drugs were used there) organized by the Maldivian students there.His name is Malli...Malli is very special for Rashida, but she don’t want to go into a serious relationship...but ehhe..ofcourse... there is Bang Bang!day and night!
NOW , WHAT IF:
Monica with whom Vishah once had sex had HIV.... who and who are at risk? or for example..Malli was infected? or someone else.... How many of them take safety measures? ...i dunno... if vishah gets married to that ‘serious’ he had at the island. what will happen? ...and make more possibilities for yourself.”
“4 pedophiles (who gang raped a 12 year old after breaking in to her house breakin the window with an axe have been sentenced to 2 years banishment and 15 lashes. and our human rights (or is it prisoners’ rights) commision actually congratulated this . well... there was an improvement if you can call that; before this high court sentence (after an appeal)...it was even worse. then it was 8 months banishment only, for just ‘consensual sexual intercourse’!!!.... but congratulate?!! can we congratulate the rapists for just raping her and not murdering her afterwards?
and a lady who burned her 10 year old brother with a heated iron was sentenced to 6 months banishment.
These sentences are childabuse.
I believe that revealing the identity along with pictures of these rapists to the public is an important matter, and must be done so in the interest of the public. because we at least have a right to know rapists who are let loose, so that we may protect our children from them. And this is a responsibility of home ministry. but instead they even freaking helped them cover their faces from journalists, when taken in and out of justice building. but why is it? police often publicize pictures of people even before they have been sentenced, take for example the case of the sultan park terror attack and the recent vodka bust. how are these child molesters special?”
“Though this is not a very civilized thing to do it indeed is/was a part of Maldivian culture, i should say. this is what a classic zuvaabu would look like. i just wanted to share this...as this old (not so kool) custom of zuvaabu is uncommon nowadays. Parents would not send children to these zuvaabu scenes as it is usually an 18+ form of arguing, challenging and expressing anger, hatred, jealousy..or simply just mockery and angering the opponent. people say... that they even go to the extent when they would lift the kandiki (skirt) and hit on their private part and ..point at the opponent and say challengingly ; “mine is fairer than yours!”... as for guys they would also do same kinda thing by lifting their mundu (sarong) and hanging it on their head sometimes. It was earlier done in the form of raivaru poetry, which lead to the death of it as an art form...because it was used in this way...giving rise to a vulgar, abusive form of raivaru.
how uncivilized this may seem, it is far better than box cutter/sword attacks and home made bombs. maybe we could teach this to the whole world, so that it can replace war. then maldives could be the superpower maybe. ehehe. but ive seen similar zuvaabu in India though not this advanced. and here is an interesting zuvaabu from Muhammaa kalo’s ‘Bunyey bunyey’. i dont find him funny at all but i kinda liked that one; based on a real story from his island (ihavandhoo).”
“Gayom revoked Nasir’s ‘Kilege’ title and a stone in the Male’ international airport -which stated that airport was officially opened by Ibrahim Nasir- was thrown in to the sea, and was later replaced with something about Gayom reopening the airport. The prison where Gayom was allegedly tortured was destroyed and made in to the Biggest mosque in country and the center for brainwashing the people with the new version of Islam Gayom brought from Egypt. The hero of Maldives’ independence was pushed aside and on independence days we hear only the semi- mythical holy jihad tales from olden days . Gayom often make sure he does not to even mention Nasir’s name in his speeches.
No matter how jealous Gayom is with Nasir, or how much he hates him; history will have lot more good things to say about Nasir than about Gayom. Not that he did not do anything bad, but he is actually the father of modernization and development in Maldives, he laid the foundations of almost everything gayom failed to develop. Maybe that is why Zaeem hate him. Because he did everything Zaeem could have done (and take exaggerated credit along with titles and awards) if it wasn’t already done.
Now we are seeing the same kind of thing against Gayyoom. But still (being civilized maybe?) i think we are unable to top Gayyoom and his reformists in that. DO lava party is nothing compared to the auguraana, death threats..etc in those songs. Koto is nothing when compared to those cartoons. Demonstrations of that caliber have never been held against Gayom. But it is said that ‘history repeats itself’. Lets just hope it stops repeating from the point a new government is formed.Coz we don’t want another golhaa.
”
“its a lil late maybe. but i just wanted to congratulate all of us on this historical occasion of kicking out a brutal dictator who ruled over us -with extreme power, in which ever manner he wished- for 30 consecutive years. yup, i may have a problem with my short term memory and i maybe insane. but i still mean all that. father of democracy? oh puleeeez, he is the same gayoom. we maybe in ‘aneh dhivehi raajje’ but that does not change facts (is the world flat now? Duh), or is everything upside down in aneh Dhivehi raaje?).
I really liked and is happy for and am proud of the example of democracy, maldivian people and leaders have shown in this election. how Anni and Gayoom adressed the people and how Anni did not want revenge or how gayoom have been offered security and pension. I do like the fact that Gayoom decided to stay with us. i believe in goodness in humans. I dint know what to say after watching that on TVM. i never saw that coming.Gayoom accepting defeat and Anni not taking things personally, how the people united against gayoom, how the people used the power of the ballot to achieve this, how peacefully they did this...everything is amazing and i am very very happy to see this day turning out like this
..........But still the facts will remain as they are. A theif will never say he is a thief (especially when he is a very good liar). This is not a matter of Anni’s personal feelings towards Gayom. This has nothing to do with how humble he is. Do something else to prove that (try forgiving gayoom for your personal sufferings). Only the people can forgive Gayoom. This is just like Gayoom forgiving his brother in law and putting him back in the cabinet (and we forgot that too) or how he forgive dangerous criminals as afuaamu, to show that he is ‘ghafoor-ur-raheem’. How could he?, when those money belong to Maldivian people.
I may not be very religious, but i do knowhow these kinda stuff work with God.... God have forbidden forgiving of this sort for himself. Things God can not (by his own will) forgive include; taking away the rights of other people, or harming another person unjustly. So inorder to get in to paradise, these people should be forgiven by their victims. Or another deal is to transfer their good deeds to the victim’s account (if the sinner is out of credit, then he should transfer bad deeds from the victim’s account and suffer for those).naaeeees.
my point is; that it is a good thing...something we can be proud of..that Gayoom is still with us, that he is safe and is being given all his rights and all the credit he deserve (if nothing else, it could make him feel reallybad inside maybe.heehee.). But stuff he does not deserve (like saying he brought democracy to maldives) should not be given, and justice should be served. we’ve got a lot of cleaning up (the mess he made) to do and a lot of rebuilding to do, i understand. but we should never forget the facts and the truth.
once again i congratulate the people of maldives, the opposition leaders, Anni, and Gayom for being so civilised and showing that good example of democracy.this is a happy moment.a turning point.a new dawn.a beginning, not an end.
and to keep a record;
The Reformists: 54.21% (97,222 votes)
The Dictator: 45.79 (82,121 votes)
Invalid Votes: 1,861 (dumbasses!)
Eligible Voters: 209,294
Turn Out: 86.08%
note: i am still alive, i am just away from my blog and the blogosphere for many reasons. and btw, would dhohokko be peeping down from heaven, and saying ‘ah, there you go’....anywayz i dedicate this post to him.”
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A Maldivian MP removes her hijab, and the whole country predictably freaks out
As always the reality of “Islam” or any ideology for that matter, depends on the framework within which you are practicing that ideology. If you are practicing in a largely secular country, with freedom of consciousness and all that jazz, chances are, you will probably craft your own version of Islam that is quite progressive. A version where the hijab becomes a “choice” and a symbol. If you are from the Maldives however, the reality of this “choice” being not a choice at all is made apparent from how society reacts to someone removing the hijab. A choice can only truly be a choice if it goes both ways, and the Maldivian social contract is most certainly not a two way street. This is paralleled in the Maldivian constitution and mindset where everyone is “born Muslim” but no one is allowed to leave. It's 2015 and people still love claiming that the Maldives is "100%" Muslim.
Below are the 10 top rated comments on a post made by Channel News Maldives facebook page. I simply waited 24hrs and let facebook decide what was “top” or not according to their algorithms. I kept the focus narrow for my sanity as there are more than 240 comments on it already at the time of writing; the majority of which is hateful nonsense. I think these comments, the support they have garnered, and the fact that a woman’s “personal choice” is somehow worthy of making national headlines, largely speak for themselves in terms of whether or not the hijab is a “choice” in Muslim majority countries such as the Maldives; where the garment even seems to take priority over medical conditions.
At first I wasn't going to censor the names of these people, since they are so public in their bullying, but I've decided against it. I will instead censor their names as ugly and messily as possible. That will be the extent of my self inflicted bad taste.
1.
Translation: “If you believe you will get salvation/treatment/better from doing what is forbidden by Allah, then you have reason to reflect upon/revise your faith.”
2.
Translation:
Person One: “Can you say that on the day of questioning??? That the doctor told you to take of the hijab(burugaa)?? That you started wearing a bikini because the doctor told you??”
Person Two: “That is a great point Adam Shahydhoo.”
3.
Translation:
Person One: “Asmaa, why don’t you just stop wearing clothes, is it because of the doctor that you took it off (to do something new).”
Person Two: “Yeah that will make the doctor much happier eh?”
4.
5.
Translation: “(I) don't know why this should be news.”
6.
Translation: “She just claimed it was religion of the ideology of Zaeem (Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom) and wore it to get elected to her parliament seat. However (she) only does whatever she does in name only. Previously Zaeem had said he’s a religious person and bragged and boasted about it loudly. Now what.”
7.
Translation: “It’s lucky (she) wasn’t ordered to take off her clothes.”
8.
Translation: “Look, even if you did take of the hijab, if you aren’t outdoors 24hrs a day, why don’t you just wear it when you go outside? If you feel discomfort after you cover yourself for even such a tiny amount of time, can’t you wait when you’re outside for a small amount of time? You sound like you feel crazy for putting it on when you say stuff like that.”
9.
Translation: “A higher authority than the doctor has commanded (the hijab) because no harm can come from it to women.”
10.
Translation: “The authority that gives one illness is also the authority who will take it away… This is not related to the hijab… May Allah grant Asma sound thinking.. Amen.”
Because just ONE comment from the entire top 10 questioning the news worthiness of the article is kind of depressing, here is a bonus from further down the thread that sincerely asks people to leave her alone (using religious justification that still makes the hijab obligatory, but its still better than nothing). If for nothing else, it's useful to illustrate how they immediately get shut down.
"THE PROBLEM OF THE MALDIVE PAST" - From 'The Maldive Islanders' by Xavier Romero Frias
While the coup of February 7th 2012 was going on, a group of people broke into the Maldivian National Museum with the sole purpose of demolishing what little physical evidence remained of our pre-Islamic past.
This chapter from the excellent Maldive Islanders (p. 25-27) by Xavier Romero Frias, highlights how this may be a case of history repeating itself. Maldivian Culture is in turmoil and even though it has always been more or less in a state of flux, unless we work to preserve the past so that we may analyse it, we are doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes. More than anything else, Maldivians need to stop being so ashamed of their rich and cultured past. Following is the chapter in its entirety including footnotes (minus some phonetic characters).
THE PROBLEM OF THE MALDIVE PAST
There are very few historical documents throwing light on the past of the Maldivians. Even many documents locally accepted as history are mostly myth. Archaeological evidence shows that there was a flourishing culture in the islands before the last Buddhist king decided to convert to Islam. The precise reasons why this monarch decided to abandon his ancestral Buddhist faith are not known, but edicts written on copper plates (Lōmāfānu), make it very clear that the general conversion to Islam was ordered by the king. Lōmāfānu edicts were etched on long copper plates held together by a ring of the same metal. The oldest lōmāfānu that have hitherto been found and preserved are from Male', the royal capital, and from the islands of Isdu and Dambidu in Haddummati Atoll, where there were large Buddhist monasteries. These copperplates were issued at the end of the twelfth century AD.[51]
The lōmāfānu were written in the curly Evēla[52] form of the divehi akuru[53] or old Maldive alphabet, which has strong similarities with the Tamil Grantha script of the 7th century Pallava and Pandya dynasties.[54] In certain documents, a form of old Nagari or Protobengali script is also present, which shows that there were contacts with the centers of Buddhist learning of Nalanda, Ratnagiri and Vikramaśīla. These must have taken place from the 8th century AD onwards, when Buddhist culture revived and flourished in Eastern India owing to the patronage of the Pāla kings of Bengal.[55]
The religious and cultural relationship between Maldives and Bengal was made possible by regular seaborne trade with that region of the Subcontinent[56] facilitated by favorable winds and currents. The large wooden trunks used by traders in their journeys were known in Divehi as ‘bangalufosi’ (Bengali box) and in the oral tradition of the Maldivians there are legends telling that trade with Bengal was very important in the distant past.
The Pala dynasties were rulers over the last Buddhist coastal kingdom in South Asia. In spite of some squabbles with the Cholas to the South and the Senas to the West, their reign was generally so peaceful that in 1196 it was possible for a small party of Muslim horsemen to ride directly to the Pala palace and slaughter the dynasty’s last king with impunity. The Muslim armies went on to thoroughly destroy the great centers of Buddhist learning named above. It is said that the vast seven-storied library of Nalanda University kept burning for six months and that fifteen thousand monks were burned to death trapped inside while having their midday meal. Some of the monks who escaped the massacre took refuge in Burma, Nepal and Tibet. These events took place but a few years after the conversion of the Maldives to Islam.
Even at that time, the actual Maldive archipelago was under the control of a single king (Radun) or royal family. This king must have been very secure in his power to be able to deal with the strains of the country’s mass-conversion from Buddhism to Islam. In the Dambidu lōmāfānu[57] the Radun addresses his edict to all islands between Kela (in Tiladummati Atoll), one of the northernmost islands of the group, and Addu (Atoll) in the Southern end. It is interesting to note that Maliku[58] (Minicoy) is not mentioned in those documents, even though it is known that, besides sharing the Buddhist faith, this rather isolated atoll already had both ethnic and linguistic affinities with the rest of the Maldive Islands at that time.
However few, a number of archaeological remains from the Buddhist period have survived. Thanks to the lōmāfānu it is known that the monasteries in Haddummati Atoll were of great importance within the Maldive Kingdom. In other atolls, many islands have mounds or low hills which indicate where a Buddhist Stupa was located.[59] In fact, these remains quite accurately indicate which islands were inhabited during Buddhist times.
Unfortunately, these mounds have been heavily vandalized, especially in the recent past when certain ancestral superstitious beliefs were overcome. According to those beliefs, going near old ruins or interfering in any way with them, like removing stones or earth, would bring disgrace to the intruder. As an example, in Malos (Ari Atoll), a man who had tried to break a little hemispherical coral block (probably a small Stupa) known locally as Mudu, complained that he had horrible nightmares that same night.[60]
Another cause of heavy destruction during recent years has been archaeological excavations on those sites themselves. Regrettably, these investigations were either done carelessly, or left the site unprotected after excavation. The removal of the sheltering jungle exposed the site to subsequent vandalism. Often local inhabitants plundered the place in the vain hope of finding gold or other treasures, as soon as the archaeologists and accompanying government officials left the island.[61]
Perhaps the fact that most endangers the preservation of ancient archaeological remnants in the Maldive Islands is that among Maldivians, save rare exceptions, there is a definite lack of pride in their ancient history, especially in what has come to be labeled as ‘pre-Islamic’. Hence, it is not surprising that disrespect for the ruins of Buddhist monuments is very common among islanders of all walks of life.
Much of the general disinterest in their ancient cultural heritage lies in the confusion arising from the lack of definition of Maldive cultural identity. In every Maldivian mind there is a sharp struggle between inherited customs and Muslim ideology. Since this conflict remains unresolved, there is a widespread feeling of guilt and frustration at being unable to adjust the ancestral cultural heritage to the Islamic ideological pattern.
After the country’s mass-conversion to Islam in the 12th century AD, the culture of the Maldivians and the Islamic ideals were only overlapping to a certain extent. Large areas of the Maldive cultural heritage had no compatibility with Islamic ideology (albeit these have been greatly reduced during the 1980’s and 90s as government-sponsored Arabic cultural influence grew exponentially). At the same time, all through the post-Buddhist history of the country there were large areas of Islamic cultural patterns incompatible with the ancestral ideals of Maldivians.
To illustrate the latter point, when Ibn Batuìta, the Moroccan traveler who had been appointed as supreme judge by the Maldivian queen, ordered the hands of people guilty of stealing to be cut off according to Islamic Sharia’ law, most spectators in the hall fainted.62 Although this event took place in the 13th century, average Maldivians still privately consider acts of violence, even if committed in the name of the religious law, barbaric. Paradoxically, these strengths, fruits of an inherited cultural refinement that the Maldive islanders possess as a nation, have been made to appear as their weakness by elements propounding greater arabization.
Always suspicious of any type of religious syncretism, the government has been responsible for the enforcement of religious orthodoxy in the island communities. This activity has known no respite throughout Maldive history and, as a result, it has brought about periodical repression of all type of Divehi cultural expressions deemed un-Islamic. As this has been the pattern since the 12th century, there was no small amount of perplexity in far-off islands at the paradox of a sudden official interest in preserving the remainders of “Kafir ruins” in recent times, when tourists and foreign archaeologists have begun to pay regular visits to ancient Maldive Buddhist sites.
Undoubtedly, the most conspicuous physical destruction happened at the time when the King ordered the islanders to abandon their ancestral religious practices. The converted monarch was ruthless in his resolve to erase all traces of the former religion of the Maldivians. According to the Isdu lōmāfānu , monks from monasteries of the Southern Atoll of Haddummati were brought to Male' and beheaded.[63]
All anthropomorphic and zoomorphic iconography and other important religious symbols were systematically vandalized. The Dambidu lōmāfānu tells us that Satihirutalu (the Chatravali crowning a Stupa) were broken to disfigure the numerous Stupas. It tells us also that statues of Vairocana, the transcendent Buddha of the middle world region, were destroyed; and the destruction was not limited to sculptures.
The wealth of manuscripts - probably written on screwpine leaves - that Maldivian monks in their Buddhist monasteries must have produced was either burnt or otherwise so thoroughly eliminated that it has disappeared without leaving any trace. Therefore there are no samples of paintings from the Maldive Buddhist period itself. The only actual remains of the art of those times are a few sculptures and etchings on coral stone. Most of these are preserved in a little room in the Male' Museum.
[51] The Isdu lōmāfānu was issued precisely in the year AD 1194, however, the conversion of the Maldives to Islam was in AD 1153 according to the Maldivian ‘Taìrikh’ chronicle.
[52] The ancient Divehi alphabet. ‘Evela akuru’ was a tentative name given by H.C.P. Bell to differentiate it from the more recent forms of the same script (divehi akuru) which were in use between the 12th and the 19th centuries. H.C.P. Bell, ‘The Maldive Islands. Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy.’
[53] Wilhelm Geiger and H.C.P. Bell in their writings erroneously called this alphabet ‘Dives akuru’. The word ‘Dives’ is a misspelling. The real name of that alphabet, as quoted by Bodufenvaluge Sídí in his authoritative work, is ‘Divehi akuru’, meaning ‘Island letters’ or ‘Maldivian letters.’ Previously Christopher and Young had referred to this alphabet as ‘Divehi Hakaru’. W. Geiger, ‘Maldivian Linguistic Studies.’ H.C.P. Bell ‘Excerpta Maldiviana.’ Bodu Fenvaluge Sídí, ‘Divehi Akuru’ Vol 1. Lieut. I.A. Young & W. Christopher, ‘Memoirs on the Inhabitants of the Maldive Islands.’
[54] Some authors claim that the old Divehi script resembles the medieval Sinhalese Elu alphabet, but the fact is that the affinities with the Tamil Grantha script and with the earlier forms of Malayalam script are much greater from a graphic point of view, even though the Divehi language itself is closer to the Sinhala language.
[55] The Pala kingdom included Bengal (made up of present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh), Bihar and part of Orissa (Ganjam).
[56] Trade between Sri Lanka and Bengal also flourished during that time. When the Pala Kingdom fell, Mahayana and Vajrayana influence in Ceylon came to an end. In time, the Buddhist kingdom of Sri Lanka became practically landlocked. Nandasena Mudiyanse, ‘Mahayana Monuments in Ceylon.’
[57] A tentative transcription of this lōmāfānu was made by M. Loutfi and was subsequently published in ‘Faiytura’, the organ of the Maldivian Cultural Affairs Council.
[58] A culturally Maldivian island now part of the U.T. Lakshadweep, India. Oral tradition says that in centuries past Minicoy was devastated by a cyclone that broke most of the coconut trees. The island was then ruled by the Maldive king, so Minicoy islanders sent a delegation to MaleØ asking for financial assistance. Since the king told them that he had not enough money in his treasury, this delegation went onwards to the Malabar coast, where they found favor with the king of Cannanore who agreed to help them rebuild their island. Thereafter the Minicoy people owed allegiance to this kingdom of the SW Indian shore (Information: Magieduruge Ibrahím Dídi)
[59] Stupas were said to have been built by the Redin. V. Rasovesi: Havitta uhe haudahau, Redin taneke hedí ihau (How tall is the Caitya! A Redin place built in ancient times). Thor Heyerdahl made much speculation around that word, but I am convinced it is just a name that Maldivians used in the first centuries after conversion to refer to their Buddhist ancestors.
[60] Information by Ahumadu Salímu, Victory House, Malos, Ari Atoll.
[61] Information by the late Magieduruge Ibrahím Didi
[62] Ibn Batuìta, ‘Travels in Asia and Africa’.
[63] H.A. Maniku & G.D. Wijayawardhana, ‘Isdhoo Loamaafaanu’.
Understanding terrorism in the 21st Century - A short essay focusing on the 2007 Sultan Park Bombing
Originally written in September, 2014
I will attempt to provide an objective sociological definition for terrorism by referring to the works of Turk (2004 n.p) and Black (2004 n.p). Additionally I will explore how their models can be applied to real world situations as a means of understanding the dynamics of terrorism, as well as to achieve clarity on how the motivations of people that commit such acts are intertwined with the processes of how they came to view themselves as “others” or “outsiders”.
Defining Terrorism
Terrorism is not a natural phenomenon but is rather an interpretation of events and their presumed causes (Turk 2004 p.271). These interpretations in turn, are not unbiased or objective attempts to decipher the truth of the situation (Turk 2004 p.271), and are instead subjective perceptions which are used to promote certain interests at the expense of others (Turk 2004 p.272). The more powerful a party is (such as a national government) in a conflict, the more successful they are at labeling opponents as terrorists, while attempts by opponents to label officially sanctioned violence as “state terrorism” are unlikely to succeed unless they are also supported by a powerful third party such as the United Nations (Turk 2004 p.272). Additionally, threats which are presumably influenced from outside a given nation are far more likely to get labelled as an act of terrorism when compared to incidents involving organisations which can be considered to be domestic or “home-grown” (Turk 2004 p.271). Labeling is thus a major component of terrorism, with involved parties attempting to apply unfavourable stigmas to their opponents based on their subjective agendas. As the popular phrase goes “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”.
Despite these subjectivities, what then, are the unifying characteristics of terrorism and terrorist acts? Where do the motivations of the individual terrorist stem from when they commit such acts? Turk (2004 p.273) notes that for empirical research purposes, terrorism is usually defined as the deliberate targeting of more or less randomly selected victims whose deaths and injuries are expected to weaken the opponents will to persist in a political conflict. Similarly Black (2004 p.16) defines pure terrorism (which is terrorism as defined by his model of pure sociology) as self-help by organised civilians who covertly inflict mass violence on other civilians. He states that like other forms of violence, terrorism is a form of social control (Black 2004 p.16) which defines and responds to deviant behaviour (Black 2004 p.15). Terrorist acts as such are political in nature, rather than necessarily being the products of psychopathology or material deprivation (Turk 2004 p.273). Moreover, although terrorist acts may resemble conventional warfare, they are instead a form of quasi-warfare – being unilateral and covert instead of bilateral and overt; where its primary targets are civilian rather than military (Black 2004 p.16). This focus on harming civilians is also where terrorism distinguishes itself from forms of guerrilla warfare; which may at first appear similar due to their similar scale and tactics (Black 2004 p.17). Furthermore, conventional warfare usually has a well-defined beginning and conclusion; with former enemies resuming normal relations after the “end” of the conflict (Black 2004 p.17). This is in contrast with most conflicts involving terrorism where the true beginning/end point may be difficult if not impossible to place.
The 2007 Bombing of Sultan Park
It may be helpful to analyse a specific incident in order to both illustrate these points and also to determine to what extent these theories are applicable to real world situations. The incident I will use for this purpose is the 2007 bombing of Sultan Park; which is the first known bombing to occur in the Maldives. The homemade bomb was exploded in the afternoon of September 29th at approximately 14:30hrs outside the gate of Sultan Park, which is in the vicinity of the main mosque of the capital Male’ and is an area which is frequented by locals and expatriates in addition to being a popular location for many tourists visiting the capital from their resort retreats (The Observer 2007). The blast injured 12 tourists and it is important to note that rather than all being from the same nationality, ethnicity, political affiliation or other such group, the injured were from a diverse range of countries which consisted of China, Britain and Japan - the only unifying characteristic being that that they were all foreigners and tourists (BBC News 2007 n.p). The intended targets were therefore most likely to be these civilians; in particular tourists visiting the Maldives from abroad who were targeted not as individuals but more or less randomly selected victims chosen for what they were perceived to represent as a group. This is further supported by the fact that the bomb was remotely exploded using a mobile phone (BBC News 2007); implying that the time of its detonation coinciding with the arrival of the tourist group to the area was no accident. The attacks were thus covert, unilateral and targeted civilians with violence.
Now that we have established that the bombing can be characterised as a terrorist act, what then were the motivations of those that carried it out? How did they come to warrant the label of “terrorists”? Turk (2004 p.274) states that the general conclusion of Krueger & Maleckova (2003) is that terrorism is better understood not as a direct response to poverty, but as a response to feelings of indignity and frustration developed in repressive political environments. In this regard, it is important to note that 2007 marked one of the final years of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s 30 year dictatorship which would dominate political thought in the country from 1978-2008. Maumoon’s regime has been regarded as oppressive towards individual expression and liberties in addition to being hostile towards ideologies which stray from the sanctioned norms by various commentators (Asian Human Rights Commission 2006 n.p). The regime maintained strict control over political and religious thought by controlling the media and also by jailing and torturing dissidents (Asian Human Rights Commission 2006 n.p.); which I believe can be classified as a form of state-terrorism, as the primary targets were also civilians who were targeted with violence using covert means.
Maumoon, who also considered himself a religious scholar and thus responsible for accepted Islamic ideology, saw the ultra-orthodox as a much of a threat to his own brand orthodoxy as liberalism and heavily suppressed radical thought; with measures such as banning the face covering niqab and shutting down independent religious congregations which would only serve to stigmatize followers of radical sects further. In particular relevance to this case, there have been reports of jailed radical preachers that have claimed that the regime tortured them in various ways; including degrading punishments which specifically targeted their identity as religious fundamentalists such as shaving their beards off using chilli sauce as shaving cream (Himal Southasian 2012) (Minivannews 2010). This gave the bombers, who have been primarily characterised and labelled as religious fundamentalists, a political reason for the attacks. The attacks, especially since they specifically targeted tourists, had the potential to severely impact the tourist industry, the main source of income for the country, and forever tarnish the reputation of the Maldives as a peaceful destination by increasing the perceived risk of visiting.
As such the Maldivian government reacted to the bombings by shutting down an “illegal” mosque being run from a private residence in the capital (HaveeruOnline 2007); and the investigation into the whereabouts the of the suspects and details of the attacks would lead them to the island of Himandhoo in North Ari atoll – where a similar mosque was being run because certain residents felt that the teachings of the government sanctioned imam of the “official” mosque were against the Sunnah (sayings and actions of the Prophet Mohammed) (HaveeruOnline 2007). This would result in an armed confrontation between the police and mosque attendees/supporters as they attempted to prevent its closure. These operations taken by the Maldivian government in retaliation to bombing, which itself appears to be result of political & ideological oppression, represents some of the feud-like elements that are present between terrorism and counter-terrorism (Black 2004 p.18) (Turk 2004 p.280).
Motivations, Ideologies and the re-confirmation of the “other”
Turk (2004 p.277) notes that a previous analysis by Juergensmeyer (2000) has shown that the religious traditions of Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, and Buddhism all allow, and may even require, violence in defence of the faith. The selective and innovative interpretations of sacred texts can nurture “cultures of violence”; where religiously motivated terrorists see themselves as “holy warriors” fighting to restore or create a “true” moral order in a “cosmic war” between good and evil (Turk 2004 p.277). Additionally Black (2004 p.18) notes that terrorists typically demand a restoration of the past, such as political independence, lost territory, or a customary way of life. These notions are evident in the recent declaration of an “Islamic State” or Caliphate by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Al Jazeera English 2014), the leader of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) or ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) – currently referred to as just IS (The Islamic State). The notion of a caliphate itself is a religious ideal as much as it is a political; and refers to the idea of an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph; which in the case of IS, is “Caliph Ibrahim ibn Awwad”, an alias for al-Baghdadi himself. Here al-Baghadi positions himself as the decider of the true moral order and thus the leader or the “righteous” in the perceived “cosmic war” between his interpretation of Islam and the rest of existence as he attempts to restore “Islam” to its “former glory”. His largely political manoeuvrings are still inescapably tied with the label of terrorism due to how his organisation has repeatedly targeted civilians in their operations. The obsession with a restoration of the past is echoed in the materials propagated by Maldivian radical fundamentalists; the most recent of which laments the “destruction” of the Islamic Caliphate in Spain and warns of a similar fate occurring to the Muslims of today if they give into democratic ideals, “irreligion” and the will of the “infidels” (Minivan News, 2013).
The shutting down of the independent mosques, jailing of radical preachers and strict controls over religious thought would create a rift between the Sultan Park bombers and the government as it would have increased the distance between them in terms of social geometry. Black (2004 p.18) states that he builds on Roberta Senechal de la Roche’s (1996,2001) theory of collective violence to propose that terrorism arises with a high degree of cultural distance, relational distance, inequality and functional independence - together comprising a condition of “social polarisation” between the aggrieved and their enemy; with the extent of social polarisation explaining the occurrence of terrorism and its level of violence. This may perhaps explain why the bombers did not target other Maldivians and instead chose to attack foreign nationals; as other Maldivians would have largely been perceived to be Muslims and thus closer in social space, even though they belonged to a different ideological sect. Visiting tourists on the other hand, would have been perceived as both foreign and non-Muslim. It may also explain the relative infrequency of such terrorist attacks by Maldivians on Maldivian soil.
In contrast, there have been growing reports and incidents of Maldivians going abroad to fight for Islamic “jihad” in other countries; with Syria being the most recent example of note (Minivan News 2014). This corresponds with the recent rise in “westerners” from first world countries travelling to Syria and Iraq in order to become jihadists (Reuters 2014 n.p.). A study comparing the motivations of “domestic” Western jihadists and “foreign fighters” (Western jihadists abroad) and why they used violence by Hegghammer (2013 p.6) found that when Western jihadists first considered using violence, considering all else was equal, they were more likely to join in a distant warzone than attack at home. These similar trends between first world and third/developing world jihadists in their preference to fight abroad rather than at home may perhaps be indicative of the effects of social polarisation at work despite the difference in structural and geographic origins. It is also important to note the shared ideology of Islamic radicalism and fundamentalism – an ideology which is inherently incompatible and opposed to more inclusive philosophies and ideals such as democracy or secularism.
Technology and the reduction of social and physical space
Black (2004 p.21) notes that terrorism has been a relatively rare occurrence in human history because, except for certain exceptions, the social geometry of terrorism rarely converges with a physical geometry that provides opportunities for mass violence with enemy civilians. However, he notes, the great advances in technology in recent years, in particular in the fields of transport and communication (Black 2004 p.21) has significantly reduced the time needed to travel and interact across physical space (Black 2004 p.22).
These aspects are demonstrated by the example of the 2007 Male’ Bombing in several ways. First of all in the past, before the spread of relatively inexpensive global travel, the bombers would not have had any targets that were a sufficient distance apart in terms of social space while still being sufficiently close enough in terms of physical space to attack. The significant growth of the Maldivian tourism industry coupled with those technological advancements in travel would enable foreign non-Muslim tourists, who were significantly different enough from the general local population to be classed as others, to enter the country in numbers large enough with a close enough proximity (the capital city) to warrant an attack. Advances in technology are also responsible for the spread of the ideologies that would justify such an attack; in terms of enabling radical preachers to travel abroad to attend conservative madrasas in Pakistan and elsewhere, and also in terms of communication technologies such as the internet enabling the rapid transmission of ideas across traditional geographical boundaries. Since the targets of the attacks can be said to be the tourists and the government, they also satisfy one of Black’s (2004 p.19) requirements for pure terrorism – which is that it has an upward direction, against a social superior. Black (2004 p.22) states, as the relevance of physical geometry declines, the fatefulness of social geometry rises; with the social geometry of a grievance becoming not merely a necessary but a sufficient condition for terrorism.
The way in which technology (advancements in global travel and communication) enabled the 2007 Male’ bombing is paralleled by the rise of foreign fighters travelling to Syria/Iraq in order to fight for IS; in particular their sophisticated global propaganda campaign which makes full use of new media and the internet. Furthermore, despite the physical proximity, the distance in social space that would exist between foreign fighters and local “enemies” (non-Muslims and Muslims belonging to other sects such as the Shiites) compared to locals fighting amongst themselves would be much greater. This may also perhaps explain the extreme levels of violence displayed by foreign fighters towards locals and other “enemies” compared to what was occurring when the conflict was largely a civil war involving local rebel factions and the government (Al Arabiya English 2014) (The Guardian 2014) (The Washington Post 2014).
Despite all this, the same technologies which are responsible for enabling such acts of terrorism may eventually be the cause of its eventual sociological death (Black 2004 p.24). The growth of communication technologies and global transport have significantly reduced to physical and social distances between groups of people that have been historically separated from one another leading to the recognition of self-hood amongst people that previously regarded one another as the proverbial “other”. Black states (2004. p.22) that this amplified contact between such people will increase global intimacy, cultural homogeneity, and other forms of human closeness; concluding that technology thus makes terrorism easier and deadlier in the short term, but in the long term it destroys the social geometry on which terrorism depends. Turk (2004 p.285), meanwhile is more conservative in his conclusion and states that whether or not such “cosmic wars” can result in anything other than the mutually assured destruction of all or at least some involved parties remains to be seen. I personally agree with Black’s views, as “terrorists” themselves only appear to represent a minority of the human population – their global presence largely exaggerated due to the culture of fear that dominates the fourth estate; with the majority of peoples busily occupied with the process of understanding one another in this new era of global communication – further reducing the social distance and sense of “otherness” required for the majority of terrorist acts to occur.
References
Al Jazeera English, 2014. Baghdadi's vision of a new caliphate - Middle East - Al Jazeera English . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/baghdadi-vision-new-caliphate-20147184858247981.html. [Accessed 20 September 2014]
Al Arabiya English, 2014. Meet ISIS’ new breed of Chechen militants. [ONLINE] Available at:http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/08/31/Meet-ISIS-new-breed-of-Chechen-Militants-.html. [Accessed 21 September 2014].
Asian Human Rights Commission . 2006. MALDIVES: The Human Rights Situation in 2006 . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2006/Maldives2006.pdf. [Accessed 15 September 14].
BBC NEWS, 2007. Tourists hurt in Maldives blast. [ONLINE] Available at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7019929.stm. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
Black , D., 2004. The Geometry of Terrorism . Sociological Theory , Vol. 22, No.1, 14-25.
HaveeruOnline 2007. Police shut down illegal mosque; two people arrested . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/18314. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
HaveeruOnline 2014. Police begin operation in Himandhoo to find missing bomb blast suspects . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/18351. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
Hegghammer, T., 2013. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Explaining Variation in Western Jihadists' Choice between Domestic and Foreign Fighting. American Political Science Review, Vol. 107, No.1, 1-15.
Himal Southasian, 2012. A tool for the atolls : Himal Southasian. [ONLINE] Available at: http://himalmag.com/a-tool-for-the-atolls/. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
Minivan News, 2010. Religious unity regulations on hold | Minivan News . [ONLINE] Available at:http://minivannews.com/politics/religious-unity-regulations-on-hold-7301. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
Minivan News, 2013. Translation: Jamiyyathu Salaf’s ‘Al-Andhalus’ sermon | Minivan News. [ONLINE] Available at: http://minivannews.com/politics/jamiyathuh-salafs-al-andhalus-sermon-66015. [Accessed 21 September 2014].
Minivan News, 2014. Jihadist media claims two more Maldivians killed in Syria | Minivan News . [ONLINE] Available at: http://minivannews.com/society/jihadist-media-claims-two-more-maldivians-killed-in-syria-89915. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
Reuters . 2014. U.S., foreign fighters in Syria pose 'very serious threat' to U.S.: lawmaker | Reuters . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/31/us-syria-crisis-usa-lawmakers-idUSKBN0GV0KR20140831. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
The Guardian, 2014. British Isis militant in James Foley video 'guards foreign hostages in Syria' | World news | The Guardian . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/isis-militant-islamic-state-james-foley-guards-british. [Accessed 21 September 2014].
The Observer , 2007. Tranquillity of Maldives shattered by bomb blast. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/30/terrorism.travel. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
The Washington Post, 2014. Foreign fighters don’t always help - The Washington Post. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/05/28/foreign-fighters-dont-help/. [Accessed 20 September 2014].
Turk, A. T., 2004. Sociology of Terrorism . Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 30, 271-286.
My Experience Dealing With Maldives Police Service [ We Are All Ahmed Rizwan #FindMoyameehaa ]
It has now almost been 15 days since Ahmed Rizwan (@moyameehaa) has gone missing. Instead of speculating about what might have happened to him on the limited information currently available (the only things that are clear at this point in time is that he was most likely abducted, and that there are people that don’t want him found and that there are people who don’t care). I am going to do what he would have wanted me to do; what he has inspired me to do since I came into contact with his works and writings almost a decade ago. I am going to write about what I know for sure. I am going to write about my own experiences; even the ones I’d rather forget.
My ex-girlfriend and I almost died in 2008. I remember nothing particularly memorable leading up to the incident other than a sense of despair and hopelessness about my failing relationship; which had degenerated into both partners acting out only the most mechanical and utilitarian parts of intimacy. Pick me up, drive me there, let’s eat some food, let’s ****. It was all falling apart and neither of us wanted to put in the effort of going beyond the repetitions we were already familiar with.
It was in that haze of melancholic apathy that I went to give her a lift back home from work on my bike; business as usual, a clean transaction, at least we’d be together for a little while. Besides that I felt somewhat obliged since it was already past midnight and the streets of Male’ aren’t exactly the safest place to be walking home from at such an hour.
On top of the regular dose of crushing claustrophobia, the city seemed to ooze a strange vibe. It was unnerving. I was taking the classic detour going around the outer edges of the island when I suddenly felt as if something was not right and felt a sudden urge to drive straight home. So instead of continuing that endless lover’s circuit, I turned into Majeedhee magu from near the artificial beach area.
As I idly wondered to myself if I had made the right decision, I noticed a figure standing in the middle of the road opposite the Muni Ufaa Youth Center. The heavy foliage from the trees which grew at the centre obscured the streetlights, which shrouded the whole area in a veil of darkness. I wondered if I should ark away or go onto the opposite lane, but eventually just drove ahead in a straight line, hoping the appearance of the shadowy figure had nothing to do with a sudden growing sense of dread.
As I neared him, I noticed that he was looking around wildly in all directions and had one of his hands around his crotch. Something was definitely not right. Just before I came parallel with him I felt something warm and sticky on my leg. All rationality suddenly evaporating from my consciousness, I slam the breaks and glare at the person. I do not remember what my exact words were but I angrily asked him what in the world he just did.
“Goru handanee” (I’m pissing), he slurred back with a whole bunch of expletives thrown in, before whipping his dick around at us again and splashing us some more.
What happened next is hazy in my memory. I vaguely remember gritting my teeth and starting the motions of getting off my bike. Halfway through that I thought to look left behind my shoulder towards Muni Ufaa. A crowd of people were standing there who I had not even noticed before because of the shadows, and perhaps because I was focused more on the guy who just pissed on me. As I turned back towards the right I felt a heavy thud and then a crack on the back of the left side of my skull. A chunky piece of wood flies over my head and clanks down diagonally in front of me.
One of the people in the shadows behind me had broken a heavy wooden beam across my head.
Everything from that moment seemed to happen in slow motion, or as if I was swimming through some thick liquid.
I faltered for second that seemed to last for hours. Everything was muffled and far away. Then her voice broke through the fog endlessly screaming “GO!”.
I snapped out of it and looked down at the dashboard of my bike. It was in third gear and the engine was still running.
I somehow managed to grip the throttle and accelerate as I began to slump down on the edge of losing consciousness.
The bike began to move, and the feeling of unstable forward motion combined with her screaming jolted me back awake and I miraculously had the sense to put the gear back down to the second. The sudden escape, and perhaps the fact that I hadn’t immediately crumpled into a heap, had surprised them long enough for me to pick up some speed and put some distance between us. My sole thought was getting her out of there safe.
I vaguely remember yelling something about calling the ****ing police to the people that I passed by. This made my head feel a bit clearer and as I regained a better hold on the motorbike, I kept accelerating as I neared the corner where Sonee Hardware is.
“Someone’s coming after us!” she said.
I looked back, making us go slightly off balance again, to see that someone was indeed chasing after us. Everything was happening so fast that I cannot tell for sure what he was actually holding, but I remember seeing a knife.
I had to keep going. I kept accelerating and took the corner. I looked back over my shoulder a few seconds later and the runner had stopped.
“You’re bleeding!” she said. At this point I’d like to note that she was saying quite a lot of things. I don’t remember all of the details, it was a long time ago, and the situation didn’t exactly lend well to crystal memorisation.
She pressed her hands against where the wood had struck and tried to stop the blood as much as she could. At some point I think she showed me one of her hands as I drove. I don’t remember how I felt about it but I remember a lot of red.
In this state I somehow managed to find the winding way home through the dark streets of the city. On the final corner I distinctly remember driving against the last one-way road in order to drive straight towards my home.
I remember parking the bike at an odd angle and being completely unable to move. She ran inside to get help and soon after I heard voices yelling and coming towards me. Arms lifted me up and I was carried through the front door and to the living room, where I was laid down on the tiles.
As I drifted around the edges of consciousness I saw standing around me in a semi-circle the worried and concerned looking faces of my family.
I vaguely remember foaming at the mouth as I struggled to tell them what had happened all the while worrying if I was explaining it well enough.
Now I was in a taxi. My mother, who was sitting next to me, informs me that we’re going to the hospital. She tells the taxi driver what happened and he turns on his emergency indicators and speeds most of the way there.
When we get there I’m told to sit in a wheel chair. I remember feeling blinded by the lights and an ocean of faces as we entered the main lobby and rushed towards the emergency section.
Here my memory becomes even fuzzier. Maybe it was when my brain decided it was ok to rest for a bit. I any case I do not remember much of my treatment or surgery other than my mother jokingly saying this was why she said I was stubborn (boa-haru in Dhivehi means stubborn but literally translates into hard headed) and vague memories of sitting in a wheelchair feeling shocked and numb waiting for the police to arrive.
When they did finally come, it was two officers, and one of them was holding a small notepad.
After taking my name and address and other details, he asked me to briefly describe what happened, after which he asked if I knew the people that had assaulted me.
When I said that I had no idea he closed his note book as if to signal that he was done. He didn’t ask me how many people were there. He didn’t ask me what they were wearing. There were so many things he didn’t ask I feel irritated just trying to remember what he did.
I vaguely remember my mother angrily asking them if that was it, was that the whole investigation?
They said that I could go to headquarters and give a statement if I wanted, to which I said something along the lines of that I’d give a statement but not at headquarters, and that I’d rather an officer visit me at home.
Sure, they said. Someone would get in touch. So we went back home.
After a troubled sleep, I woke up the next day wondering why I had a bandage over the back of my head. A stifling sombreness descended over me as I suddenly remembered why.
I called my friends and let them knew what happened. My uncle trimmed my hair so the bandage and where they had shaved to put the sutures in wouldn’t look so odd.
All the while I was gripped with a fear and paranoia that itched at my skin. I kept seeing the vague silhouettes of my assailants everywhere. For a while I couldn’t even stand being near Henveiru for any extended amounts of time.
No police officers came. No one to tell me what had happened. No one to tell me if they were still out there or not. No one to tell me if I should be worried. No one to tell me shit other than my friends and family.
Weeks seemed to pass, then as if out of nowhere, we get an imposing looking envelope. Within it was a summons to appear at Police HQ. I read it over and over again several times.
Surely this couldn’t be right. I’d specifically told them I didn’t want to go to HQ. It was pretty well known that HQ was monitored by certain gangs for informants and witnesses and rumours said that there were staff that provided them with info as well.
It didn’t even say what it was about; yet disobeying a summons is an offense in itself, so I decided that I had to go despite my paranoia.
I walked in and handed the summons over to the woman at the reception desk. I was told to take a chair in the reception area and wait. I wondered to myself if it would be the receptionist who would dob me in.
After an eternity under the clinical glare of the fluorescent lobby lights someone came and told me to go through one of the doors adjacent to the lobby and was told to take a seat. Even at this point I only assumed that the summons was about the assault. What else could it be about?
The man sitting across the desk from me in office wear identified himself as something that sounded like corporal (I don’t remember his exact rank) before apologising about not being able to make it to my house to conduct the interview as he “had been quite busy”.
I remember staring back at him incredulously for a few seconds; as all my suspicions and all the rumours and stories I’d heard about the police being terrible at their job crystallised in front of me into tangible experience.
He took out a thick file and placed it across from me on the desk. I do not remember if he asked me for my statement before or after this. I mostly remember being pissed off at him for handling my case as if it was some barbers appointment.
Either way, he opened the file and flipped to a series of police mug shots and began explaining how right after I had been assaulted, a police patrol had come upon the group. The group, which he revealed to be heavily drunk and intoxicated, smashed the patrol vehicle and injured some of the officers who were in it. I do not remember if he said they got backup or if it was the original set of officers, but somehow they managed to arrest most of the people that were there.
As he flipped through the images I remember being jarred at how familiar they looked yet how different they were from the shadowy paranoia infused version of them in my memory. One of them was a musician who I had taken photographs of earlier at a live show. Photographs I was quite proud of. I wondered what he was doing there.
He said that the group of people were suspected to belong to a dangerous gang that had already committed several assaults that year. I vaguely remember him saying something about them belonging to a “red list” or them being “red listed”.
So after taking my statement, and explaining to me how these known and dangerous gangsters had attacked the police themselves, he asked me if I would testify in court with my statement. It was at that point that I began to suspect that he wasn’t really concerned about my case as much as theirs.
I told him yes, I would testify, but only if I could do it anonymously and only if they could guarantee some measure of protection for me.
You’ll be right across them in the courtroom he said. It would really help the prosecution, these gangsters had attacked a police officer, he said.
I stared back at him dubiously. So you can’t do anything? I asked. Even though you just said these “dangerous gangsters” are “red-listed” and were already responsible for countless assaults?
Yes, he said with a hopeful smile. It would help the case. They attacked a police officer.
If they get convicted, how long would they be going away for? I asked.
About three months he said. They would be out after that. It would help the case. They attacked a police officer.
No way, I thought to myself. No way I was helping this person who couldn’t even be bothered visiting my house. No way was I helping an organisation that didn’t seem the least bit concerned about my safety. Three months was not a long time, and if I was going to be exposed to them during the trial, it meant I’d probably be stabbed and dead in some alleyway for snitching before those months even ended.
Besides, the officer hadn’t really asked me about my feelings at all. About why I wanted anonymity. About whether or not I felt safe walking around in the city that he was supposed to be protecting.
All of a sudden as I stared blankly at his face I felt like I empathized more with my assailants than the police. They didn’t attack me because they hated me. I wasn’t some target. They attacked me because I had stumbled into the middle of their drunken rampage and they were in the middle of a drunken rampage because society had given up on them.
A few months before the incident, I had become familiar with a group of kids who were riding their BMXs on the half pipe that used to be across from Raalhugandu. They loved riding their bikes and they had lovely personalities made even more colourful by their rather interesting vocabularies.
A lot of them also had scars. The oldest barely looked like he was 15, and they were already riddled with scars. Scars from fighting. Scars from helping defend their older brothers and themselves when they were under attack. Their lives made the significance of my assault inconsequential in comparison. They were from the poorest neighbourhoods, they had lived the most challenging lives wrought with constant danger and uncertainty, yet still there they were, cracking jokes and trying to become better at riding their bikes; bikes that would eventually get stolen by their enemies, on a half-pipe that would eventually fall into disrepair, because it was individuals that created it, and individuals can only do so much when living under the constant shadow of government apathy and negligence. Youth such as them are the unsung survivors of our constantly growing nation.
So I told the officer No; that I wouldn’t testify. Why would they need me, when they had several police as eyewitnesses to the attack on the patrol jeep? Why should I risk my wellbeing just to send people that were as much victims of the system as I was of them to jail for three months? And to help a bunch of people who only seemed to see my value as a witness to help bolster their case and not as a citizen and human being? What possible good would that do any of us?
He asked me if I was sure, and I said I was, and we went back and forth for a few minutes, and that was pretty much it. I left the station feeling betrayed, confused, and full of more questions than when I had arrived.
Slowly but surely life returned back to normal. Except that it never did. The night of my assault was the night I feared most for my life, and the days following were when I was the most paranoid, but the day I that I attended my summons at Police HQ was the day I completely lost faith in the system.
In the wake of Rizwan’s disappearance, the Police responded to accusations of inefficiency and negligence by saying that people, the media and political parties should refrain from saying things which may cause distrust in their institution and abilities.
To which I ask, how can you break a trust which has never existed in the first place?
Has there ever been a point in Maldivian history when the police have done their job properly? This question may sound preposterous, but please take a few minutes and think about it. When was there a time when the citizens could trust the police to protect them? A time when you could walk up to a random officer on the street, and they’d know you and you’d know them, not because you are a criminal, or they your enemy, but because you recognised each other’s part in the community as being one rooted in altruistic symbiosis? They working to protect you, and you working to make the community they protect better, so that the lives of people on both sides are enriched. In our criticism of the police, we must not forget that they are people too; people with lives outside of their job, people with families they work tirelessly to support, people with hobbies, people with dreams; unique individuals, just as yourselves.
If you are a police officer reading this, I hope you see this as reasons to improve, to make your profession as a police officer something both yourself and the community can be proud of. This can only be achieved by the police assessing and improving itself and understanding the importance of community policing instead of current approaches. The most important aspect of community policing is actual dialogue between the police and the citizens they are supposed to protect and serve. All we see you as right now are as traffic police and as riot police. This doesn’t mean this is what we want and neither is it all you were meant for. We want to trust you to protect and serve, so that we as citizens can continue to make our nation better, no matter what our political alliance or personal beliefs. We want to see you as our friends. Our allies.
Raising your voice about your concerns and experiences as an individual is the first step in achieving this; whether you are a member of the police, a citizen, or anyone else who is concerned about the future of our nation and the world.
We were all raised in an environment that was hostile to such expression. We were told that everything is OK and to go about our lives no matter what happened, no matter what we heard. Higher powers were taking care of us, higher powers were keeping us safe; and as long as those higher powers were happy, it would continue to be so.
Ahmed Rizwan is not the first Maldivian citizen to go missing and it is unlikely he will be the last.
Where are those higher powers now? Where were they in the past? Where were they when the batons that were meant to protect were smashing skulls against the pavement on the 8th of February 2012 and the many protests before that?
How are citizens supposed to respond to such savagery at the hands of those whose livelihood is about keeping them safe?
Hatred will only spawn more hatred. In fact hatred between citizens and the police is what those higher powers want. In ensures that the police will only serve and protect the interests of those higher powers and not carry out their intended role of serving and protecting the community. It ensures that citizens will regard police as enemies and that productive communication between both parties will never occur.
So what are we supposed to do?
We do what Ahmed Rizwan has been doing his whole life. We continue to do what the people that do not want him found and the people that do not care about his disappearance are constantly trying to eradicate with their hatred.
We will speak out. We will express ourselves. We will listen to each other. We will do what humans do best. We will communicate and we will think.
We will appreciate each other as human beings from a shared heritage; hurtling through space on this planet we call our home.
We are all Ahmed Rizwan. And if we give up on him, we might as well give up on everything and accept the apathetic utopian future that awaits us; a future born of our silence, self-loathing and material greed.
We are all Ahmed Rizwan. If we cannot find him, or find the strength to speak out for him and make light the broader social issues that his disappearance represents, surely we have lost ourselves.
We are all Ahmed Rizwan. Speak out now. He would have done the same for you.
More info on efforts:
#FindMoyameehaa
facebook.com/findmoyameehaa
www.findmoyameehaa.com
The Maldivian Prison Riots of 2003
The riot I will analyse in this essay are the riots that took place in the Maldives in September of 2003 after the deaths of Evan Naseem and several other inmates at Maafushi Jail. I will focus mostly on the death of Evan Naseem and the riots at Maafushi jail rather than the subsequent linked riots in Male’, the capital. I will first start with some context to the situation in the Maldives, after which I will present a timeline of events which I will attempt to analyse, explain and discuss using sociological theory using a critical realist approach. I have chosen these riots because I believe they represent a turning point in Maldivian history that has not yet been properly examined. My main sociological reference will be the journal article “The State and Collective Disorders: The Los Angeles Riot/ Protest of April, 1992” by Bert Useem (1997).
The Maldives is an archipelago consisting of over a thousand islands which lie south of India and Srilanka. The Maldives has a long and cultured history, and was an independent sultanate for most of its official history until becoming a British protectorate from 1887 until 1965. The first attempt at a Republic, led by President Mohamed Amin Didi on January 1st 1953, would only last until August 21st of the same year. In 1968 the Sultan was once again deposed after a referendum and Ibrahim Nasir became the first president of the newly independent republic. He would be replaced by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 1978, who would rule as president until 2008. A report by the Asian Human Rights Commision referred to his tenure as “An Omnipotent Presidency” where the office of the Presidency governs every aspect of Maldivian political life. The president was vested with interventional powers, in regards to the affairs of parliament, that the report stated as being “in contrary to all modern norms of constitutionalism and separation of power” (Asian Human Rights Commission 2006).
It was during Maumoon’s 30 year rule that Evan Naseem was incarcerated at Maafushi Jail on a drug conviction at age 16 in July 2001. He would die 2 years later on the night of September 19th 2003. The events of that fateful night would cascade and change the course of Maldivian history forever.
Useem (1997 p358) states that theorists of resource mobilisation / collective action (RM/CA) apply an approach to the study of social conflict that:
1. Recognises the state as an independent entity that can affect the broad course of social change
2. Embraces the idea that government officials may act upon their own interests and policy preferences, rather than serve as a transmission belt or referee for societal preferences
3. (yet) maintains that factional conflicts and administrative disorganisation may prevent government elites from achieving their interests.
Furthermore he states that in a riot of serious magnitude, authorities make choices in a complex and uncertain environment. He states that Supervisory personnel (“command”) must handle unpredictable problems as they arise, but their own mistakes may only add to the confusion (Useem 1997 p358).
There are two broad types of strategies that can be employed by state officials facing the threat of a riot or rebellion (Useem. 1997 p360). These include diplomatic strategies, which are efforts to convince potential participants that a disturbance would be costly to them personally, counterproductive for reform, and unnecessary because their grievances will be addressed in the future. The other main type of strategies are force strategies, which are efforts to physically inhibit mobilisation; this can include massive shows of force, with the implied or explicit threat that it will be used against rioters/protestors, that likely instigators or participants will be arrested or put in detention, and that crowds will be dispersed as they form (Useem 1997 p360). I believe that the Maumoon regime used a combination of both of these strategies before, during and after the Evan Naseem riots in order to quell rebellion and maintain their control over the Maldives.
Due to the authoritarian nature of Maumoon’s regime, very little official academic literature exists on these events. The regime chose to suppress and veil rather than investigate transparently. Even though an investigative committee was formed by Maumoon’s government (Daily News 2003), the contents of the report have been said to incomplete after a review and another investigation was ordered under President Mohamed Nasheed in 2011 (Minivan News 2011). However that report was never completed and Mohamed Nasheed was forced to step down in a coup that occurred on February 7th 2012 (Al Jazeera English 2012) (Paul Roberts 2012). The members of the original inquiry panel themselves faced difficulty in gaining information; for instance their attempt at obtaining CCTV footage of the night of Evan’s death proved fruitless as the data was allegedly already overwritten (President’s Office 2003). Furthermore the inquiry completely leaves out the events of the next day when four inmates were shot dead and several were injured. In addition the inquiry does not acknowledge the role played by the culture of torture and violence present in the Maldivian correctional system (Minivan News 2010). For these reasons my reconstruction and analysis of the events will additionally rely on eye witness testimonies of people present at Maafushi on the night of the 19th and people present in the capital Male’ on the 20th.
At the time of Evan Naseems death in 2003, there was no separation of Military and Police and responsibilities of both insititutions were covered by the umbrella of the NSS or National Security Service (President’s Office 2003). Maafushi Prison was mainly under the care of the Department of Corrections with the Maafushi Jail Security Unit from the NSS assigned to maintain security and vested with the “general responsibility” to guard the perimeter of the jail (President’s Office 2003 p.5.2.1). Despite this, MJSU were also charged with the responsibility of looking after Block C or Investigation Jail-1 – the unit in which Evan Naseem was being held.
In an interview given to UncuffedMV.com, an independent website dedicated to sharing the stories of torture victims within the Maldivian prison system, Ali Shinaah describes his first-hand account of the night of Evan’s death (Ali Shinaah n.d). Shinaah was imprisoned for a drug offence and he describes the situation at the time as being incredibly brutal. He said that there would be regular beatings, where inmates who were suspected of offences such as smuggling tobacco or phones into the prison, would be rounded up and beaten at a place that was called the ‘range’. He says that sometimes this would involve being cuffed in standing position to a palm tree or an iron ring for weeks. He says that he was in the same block as Evan when it was raided sometime before the 19th. He says that the MJSU personnel threw their clothes into the toilet and as a result the aggravated inmates began to throw stones. He says that the situation escalated and that he and several other inmates, including Evan and an imnate called ‘Ammakalhey’ (who was killed on the 20th), were transferred out of the block and put into separate cells in an area was called the ‘galhi falhi’ (literally stupid-side) by the inmates which was next to the ‘Gudhan’ side (warehouse). When correlated with the findings of the official inquiry, this area appears to be Block C (President’s Office 2003). He says that since a phone was discovered on Evan during the raid, he was taken to Dhoonidhoo (another prison island) for investigation (Ali Shinaah n.d). He said that upon his return he was placed in the ‘Gudhan’ side instead of the ‘Galhi falhi’. He says that on the night of the 19th there was a loud racket coming from the ‘Gudhan’ side and that a force of officers went into investigate. He says that one of the inmates from the ‘Gudhan’ side were saying that Evan had been seriously beaten and had been taken out to the ‘range’. According to the official inquiry this was when the order came to remove several inmates from that unit and after Evan protested that he did not deserve to go the range (President’s Office 2003). The inquiry confirms that Evan was correct in his grievances as he had not been involved in the doings that the other inmates were being taken out for. According to the inquiry, Evan, refusing to leave, hit Private Ishaq Ahmed, one of the members of the MJSU (President’s Office 2003 p4.3-f) with a piece of wood, which led Captain Adam Mohamed to command “all the assembled members of the Security Unit to go to the cell” and remove Evan in order to transfer him to the range. The inquiry concludes that this was an “irresponsible order issued without regard to either the risk of maltreatment Evan faced from the members of the unit or the extent of their anger towards him” (President’s Office 2003).
According to Shinaah (Ali Shinaah n.d) this caused the inmates on the “Galhi falhi’ to also create a commotion and himself and another inmate called Maujoo were cuffed together and taken out to the range; which at the centre he says there is a workshop, behind which is a row of toilets. He says that at the range he was beaten further and that while this was going on he could hear Evan screaming for mercy from the direction of the toilets. According to the Presidential Inquiry Evan was handcuffed with his arms behind his head and in a standing position to the steel bars on the eastern wall of the workshop; where he was beaten by at least 12 MJSU personnel who in addition to using bare hands, used wooden planks, riot batons, and the boots that they were wearing (President’s Office 2003 p43.21). Shinaah says that the people who were beating Evan came around from behind them while he was being forced to do knuckle push-ups and told him to say that he was “size zero”; which he says they meant as meaning slave. When he responded with “size one hundred” instead, he was slammed on his head with a baton after which they began to beat his back. When they could not stop his shouting he says they put sticks in his mouth which he spat out, after which two men dropped a large piece of wood onto his back. He says that his ordeal came to a stop after a Sargent nicknamed ‘Daulat’ (literally ‘regime’) came over and ordered them to stop the brutality. He says that he and the other inmates were ordered to face in the opposite direction of the workshop and that they were told that they would be punished for looking behind them (Ali Shinaah n.d). Shinaah said that at the time he was already on the ground and that he couldn’t resist looking behind him. He says that his turn of the head was met with a swift baton blow which missed his head and clipped his ear. This gave him enough time to witness officers dragging something wrapped in a canvas towards the direction of the workshop (Ali Shinaah n.d). I believe these details are important as the riots would occur the following day in the prison and ultimately in the capital would not have happened if there was no knowledge of Evan’s fate. They also help illustrate how the culture of violence appears to be an expected and not at all unusual part of the correctional system.
The next morning, as news of the previous night’s events spread among the prison, inmates demanded a meeting with a correctional officer about the circumstances of Evan Naseem’s death (Maldives Culture 2003). There were no response to these demands and after refusing to eat lunch, Islamic funeral prayers were conducted by the inmates for Evan around midday. The inmates apparently prayed in loud voices so that the guards would know exactly the type of prayer they were performing and who they were praying for (Maldives Culture 2003). After the prayer was over the inmates left the praying area and pushed over a small shed made of corrugated iron near the duty officer’s tent. As the news kept spreading the number of prisoners grew the rioting spread towards the NSS buildings that the officers were retreating to (Maldives Culture 2003). They were met with a force equipped with riot gear. At this point an unnamed “old” NSS officer who was standing next to Fusfaru (the Officer Commanding or OC of the prison) raised his hands, asked everyone to calm down and called on everyone to try and solve the situation through dialogue(Maldives Culture 2003). Although some of the mob calmed themselves, the rest did not, which caused the officers present to panic (Maldives Culture 2003). One of the officers (allegedly called “Appa”) shot a single bullet into the air after which the officers opened fire on the group, killing Abdullah ‘Clinton’ Ameen, Ahmed Shiyam and Ali Alsman and injuring 17 others as they tried to flee (Maldives Culture 2003). The bodies of the dead inmates, including Evan’s, were transferred to Indhira Ghandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) on the capital island of Male’ that same day (Uncuffed: Torture Victims of Maldives. n.d).
I believe the brutality present in the Maldivian correctional system is indicative of a broader culture of violence and marginalisation perpetuated by the Maumoon regime. Most of the inmates killed and injured that day were undergoing sentences for drug offences and are from impoverished backgrounds. As the Maldives only has welfare for aged citizens, I believe this would encourage them more or less to seek opportunities in the criminal economic sphere; which includes activities which cannot be undertaken legally in the economic sectors, either on or off the books. In addition there are reports that it is very difficult to obtain employment if one already has a criminal record. The frequent beatings and terrible conditions indicate that the prison system is more focused on dehumanising punishment rather than any form of rehabilitation. I believe this has led to a significant amount of offenders becoming criminalised and marginalised as a result. For instance term “partey” – derived from “partu” which is derived from “partner”, originally used as a term of friendship amongst prisoners – is a common slang term in Dhivehi that often used to stereotype and alienate people with criminal and often disadvantaged backgrounds or relations by upper classes in a somewhat similar way the word “bogan” is used in Australia.
However, I believe that the riots that occurred on Male’ were not a result of their criminal activities, but rather the release of tension that had been building up in the Maldives due to the activities of the Maumoon regime (Asian Human Rights Commission 2006). I believe that Maumoon and his associates can be classed as a criminal family; especially in the light of how his younger brother is the current President of the Maldives after the coup of 2012 and the controversial elections of 2013 (openDemocracy 2013) (The Independent 2013). Maumoon would fall into the category of “omission-implicit” for the crimes committed by his state (Kauzlarich, Mullins and Matthews 2003); due to the human rights abuses committed by his regime and the human suffering which may have been avoided. Even though stories of brutality in the prison system were common, it was not until the 20th of September 2003 that those stories crystalized in the eyes of the public as a tangible reality. Furthermore strict control over state broadcasters and independent media meant that transparent information about the regimes activities would always be difficult to obtain by the general public (Asian Human Rights Commission 2006).
When Evan’s body was handed over to his family for burial, his mother, Mariyam Manike’, pulled the shroud off her son’s bruised and battered body and asked the gathered crowd to bear witness to the very visible and apparent signs of abuse (Uncuffed: Torture Victims of Maldives. n.d).
Abdul Raheem, who is the father of Abdulla ‘Clinton’ Ameen, describes the events of the 20th in another interview to UncuffedMV. He says that he kept getting reports that his son was dead but he kept refusing to believe the shocking news until he finally got a call from his sister in law, a nurse who works at the hospital. He says that upon arrival, it was only after much insistence that the body, which was still connected to an IV drip even though he was obviously deceased, was handed over to the family. He says that both the entry and exit wounds the bullet had made were clearly visible on his sons head. I believe this is an indication that the Maumoon regime were trying to conceal information regarding the inmates from the public.
As the stories of the fate of Evan and the other inmates spread throughout Male’, people began to take to the streets to demand justice; eventually damaging / burning government buildings and vehicles. Information on the timeline of events during the actual riot is murky and there is almost no local or international news that has a coherent or objective report of what happened on the 20th. The riots in Male’ led to Maumoon declaring a state of emergency after deploying the NSS onto the streets of Male’ and enforcing a curfew from 2200 to 0430hrs for almost an entire month. It would be a tactic he would continue to employ in the riots that would occur in the following years (Asian Human Rights Commission 2006).
While the prison system established by Maumoon would be an example of a Coercive Institution; the majority of the tactics employed by the regime for control, at the superficial level atleast, are diplomatic. I believe this allows the visible elements of the regime to save face in the eyes of the public while blame for deviant behaviour by the regime can be passed onto people of lower rank that can then be said to be acting independently. In his address to the nation, which was broadcast in response to the riots over Television Maldives (TVM) and Dhivehi Raajjeyge’ Adu (or Voice of Maldives) – the state broadcasters and only broadcasters), at 8PM on the 20th, Maumoon initially claimed that the prisoners involved in the Maafushi riot were attempting to access the armoury and said that the bullets fired only into the air as a deterrence against the very “violent” and “dangerous” mob; implying that the precision shots to the heads of inmates were accidental and done only as a last resort (Haveeru Online 2003). Furthermore the content and delivery of his speech gives the impression that the death of Evan Naseem was a completely separate and unrelated event. This is in contrast to reports from inmates that they were not even aware of the existence of the armoury and that there was no conspiracy to take over the prison beyond protesting Evans death (Maldives Culture 2003). In the conclusion to his speech he said that people should “behave well” and head back to their homes, saying that the protests in Male’ were only the result of criminal elements taking advantage of the situation to cause chaos, and that an official inquiry into the events of Maafushi will be launched – to be spearheaded by a panel of “independent” and “upstanding” citizens; promising that those responsible would be persecuted to the full extent of the law and “shariah” (Haveeru Online 2003).
His speech demonstrated the use of several neutralisation techniques. His transfer of blame of the treatment of inmates towards the individuals present at the time, rather than acknowledging the culture of torture and maltreatment, is an example of a denial of responsibility (Sykes & Matza 1957 p667). Denial of injury and denial of victim (Sykes & Matza 1957 p668) were used to an extent with the claim that the prisoners were all dangerous and attempting to gain control of the armoury the implication that the subsequent use of force was necessary. The targeted arrests of pro-human rights and democracy activists (Asian Human Rights Commission2006) that had been occurring under his regime both before and after the Evan Naseem riots is an example of the condemnation of the condemners (Sykes & Matza 1957 p668). These tactics rely on the denial strategies of splintering the event, blameshifting and a combination of individualising, normalising and isolating the event from the past/future.
The eventual outcome of the riots and growing public dissatisfaction was the acceleration of democratic reforms in the Maldives and would foreshadow the “Black Friday” riots of August 2004. These riots, which began as demonstrations calling for the release of four arrested activist/reformists (BBC News 2004), were the result of the resistance that had been slowly building up against Maumoon’s regime since 1978; the exact dynamics of which would be quite interesting for future resource mobilisation / collective action based analysis. The 2004 riots would be the largest in the country’s history and would result in the arrest of 90 people and the Maumoon regime taking drastic measures such as temporarily cutting off the internet for the whole country (Reporters Without Borders 2004). The growing pressure against the regime, both internally and from a less naïve international community, would cause Maumoon to put in effect the reform process that would eventually lead to the Maldives electing Mohamed Nasheed as president after having its first multi-party democratic elections in October of 2008. Nahseed’s presidency would not last long, with Maumoon loyalists using demonstrations and riots themselves to manipulate the events leading up to the coup of 2011 (The Independent2013).
I believe this case study demonstrates the complexity of the construction of crime; especially when those crimes are being committed by the institutions that were created to prevent them (Becker & Bruce 2007).
References:
Al Jazeera English . 2012. Maldives president quits after 'coup' - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/02/20122813513480256.html. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Ali Shinaah n.d | Uncuffed: Torture Victims of Maldives. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.uncuffedmv.com/evan-naseem-interview/ali-shinaah-1. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. Protests in paradise: Repression in the Maldives 10/11/2006. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA29/009/2006/en/3d6e0559-d3d8-11dd-8743-d305bea2b2c7/asa290092006en.pdf. [Accessed 14 April 2014].
Asian Human Rights Commission . 2006. MALDIVES: The Human Rights Situation in 2006 . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2006/Maldives2006.pdf. [Accessed 24 April 14].
BBC News. 2004 State of emergency for Maldives . [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3561340.stm. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Becker, Paul J. & Bruce, Alan S., 2007. State-Corporate Crime and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Western Criminology , Review 8, 29-43.
Daily News. 2003. Gayoom appoints Presidential Commission to investigate inmate's death. [ONLINE] Available at: http://archives.dailynews.lk/2003/09/29/new26.html. [Accessed 26 April 14].
Haveeru Online . 2003.- މާލޭގެ ހާލަތު އިއްޔެ ވަރަށް ނުރައްކާތެރި ހިސާބަކަށް ދިޔުމާ ގުޅިގެން، ދިވެހި ރައްޔިތުންނަށް ރައީސް ކުރެއްވި އިލްތިމާސަށް ރައްޔިތުންދެއ. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.haveeru.com.mv/dhivehi/news/8423. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Maldives Culture. 2003. Murderous NSS rampage at Maafushi, prisoner tells - September 2003 - Maldives Culture. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.maldivesculture.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=214&Itemid=42. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
YouTube 2014. Maldives Forum: Turning Point - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGOkYqNeHwI. [Accessed 14 April 2014].
Minivan News . 2010. Torture Victims Association to seek justice over human rights abuses | Minivan News . [ONLINE] Available at:http://minivannews.com/politics/torture-victims-association-to-seek-justice-over-human-rights-abuses-2366. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Minivan News . 2011.Committee to probe 2003 Maafushi Jail shooting | Minivan News . [ONLINE] Available at: http://minivannews.com/politics/committee-to-probe-2003-maafushi-jail-shooting-24491. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
openDemocracy. 2013. The Maldives: a serial coup in progress? | openDemocracy. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.opendemocracy.net/civilresistance/stephen-zunes/maldives-serial-coup-in-progress. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Paul Roberts. 2012. 2012 Maldives coup: background and analysis. [ONLINE] Available at:http://news.uk.msn.com/world/2012-maldives-coup-background-and-analysis. [Accessed 24 April 14].
President’s Office . 2003. INVESTIGATIVE FINDINGS ON THE DEATH OF HASSAN EVAN NASEEM - A TRANSLATION . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.uncuffedmv.com/sites/default/files/Investigative%20Findings%20on%20the%20death%20of%20Hassan%20Evan%20Naseem.pdf. [Accessed 24 April 14].
Reporters Without Borders. 2004. President Gayoom cuts off Internet links with outside world - Reporters Without Borders. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.rsf.org/maldives-president-gayoom-cuts-off-internet-13-08-2004,11137.html. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Sykes, G. M and Matza, D, 1957. Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22 No. 6 , 664-670.
The Independent . 2013. 'They came to power in a coup, They will not leave': There may never be an election, claims former leader of Maldives - Asia - World - The Independent. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/they-came-to-power-in-a-coup-they-will-not-leave-there-may-never-be-an-election-claims-former-leader-of-maldives-8895102.html. [Accessed 26 April 2014].
Uncuffed: Torture Victims of Maldives. n.d. Evan Naseem | Uncuffed: Torture Victims of Maldives. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.uncuffedmv.com/evan-naseem. [Accessed 14 April 2014].
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All photographs © Hani Amir