A team of experts from the Israeli Foreign Ministry are training 35 Maldivian officials in emergency preparedness, with a focus on the management of mass casualties.
The experts from the ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation arrived on 27 January to run a two week course drawing on Israel’s experience with emergency response.
“Israel is one of the best in the field when it comes to emergency response,” said Abdulla Shahid, chief coordinator of the Maldives’ National Disaster Management Centre.
Many aid agencies had conducted disaster-response training in the Maldives after the “wake up” call of the 2004 tsunami, Shahid said, “but much of it was ad hoc and it wasn’t run under a proper department until this government came into power.”
He acknowledged while that there was little the Maldives could do to prevent a tsunami, it was possible to prepare for them; “things such as monitoring how you alter the environment and construct buildings. Artificial – reclaimed – islands were the worst hit and suffered the most number of casualties. Male’ is more than half artificial,” he noted.
Earthquakes were also a concern, especially because of the country’s “very poor building and construction standards – God forbid if anything happened.”
“On 15 July 2003 there was an earthquake 270 miles southwest of Addu measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, which shook the whole of the southern Maldives. So we cannot say we are not an earthquake-prone country,” Shahid said.
“Since the earthquake in Haiti we’ve had to rethink [our approach]. A lot of warning was given by Haiti’s neighbours, particularly by the US Geological Survey. But they were not taken very seriously.”
Shahid also observed that “a quarter of the world’s crude oil travels within 20 miles of the north of the Maldives.”
Terrorist incidents, “especially given the state of the world at the moment”, were not being discounted either, Shahid said.
“In fact, mass casualty scenarios were the main focus of the Israeli training,” he said.
Politics
Working with Israel on aid projects was not politically difficult, Shahid said, despite parliament’s no-confidence motion against Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed after he said at a press conference on 15 September 2009 that the the government was in the process of establishing ties with Israel, and he did not see any reason not to pursue it.
Shaheed narrowly survived the no-confidence voting with 37 MPs voting in favour, two short of the majority needed to remove the foreign minister.
Vice president of the Adaalath party Asim Mohamed said the Maldives “should collaborate with anyone willing to help us in our development.”
Shahid meanwhile noted that “we were working with Israel throughout the no-confidence motion.” The issue, he said, “had nothing to do with Israel and 100 per cent with local politics.”
The Israeli trainers had travelled to 18 islands across the country without incident, he explained, “and received warm welcomes and typical island hospitality.”
The government was exploring further training projects with Israel around developing paramedics and agriculture, “two areas in which Israel is state of the art.”
The first war of the twenty first century, US President George W Bush said after 11 September 2001, will be “a new kind of war”. It will be “a conflict without battlefields or beachheads”.
Well, almost 10 years on, we can see he was a bit off the mark with the battlefields – Afghanistan is one, Iraq another, Iran is a strong possibility, Yemen cannot be ruled out entirely. Some of us foresaw the prospects for disaster in many a decision made by President Bush before he blundered, swaggered or smirked his way into them. But I bet no one foresaw that he could also be wrong about the beachheads.
There could yet be many a beachhead in the ‘War on Terror’. Hundreds of them. Around nice pristine Maldivian beaches. The Taliban were “smoked out” of the caves in Afghanistan – will they be fished out of our waters, or simply blasted out? And at what cost to our lives? In Afghanistan the civilian death toll was over 2000 in 2008 alone… what fate awaits us?
Safety first
“Taliban feels that the safest place in the world for them right now is the Maldives”. Less than a decade after the world’s strongest military power declares war on not just the ‘terrorists’ – but also on those who “harbour them, feed them, house them, encourage them, and comfort them” – the Maldives offers them a peaceful retreat. With no military power to speak of, being of little or no geo-strategic consequence, not quite the most sophisticated of movers in global realpolitik – we go ahead and provide the Taliban a beautiful sanctuary where they can sit and plan their next move, with nothing to fear except perhaps a wayward coconut.
The government response to the discovery of the Maldives’ novel status as the Taliban’s new BFFL (best friend for life) is to tell us it is a compliment. A compliment, dear citizens. Pluralism personified, the New Maldives – a Taliban sanctuary, where religious extremists are a protected species. Follow the government line of thinking on this, people and you begin to see the advantages. Given the burgeoning numbers of people following their brand of Islam, we might not have to hang up our tourism hat just yet. There is an untapped market with huge potential out there. Think of the ads – “Tired of being vilified? Find unconditional adulation in the Maldives”; “Sick of being loathed? Come and feel the warmth of the Maldivian embrace”. “Sun, sea and blind faith”; “Maldives – no bad news, no bombs”.
Countering terror
A week later, and the same government is about to formalise a counter-terrorism agreement with India. The same government spokesperson that told us to be flattered by Taliban’s friendship, tells us that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed with India is “very important because it gives notice that the Maldives will not allow terrorist operations here.”
I beg to differ. The MoU is to be welcomed, if there is anything the Maldives can do to help shore up the security of the exemplary democracy that is India, we should to it. But, the agreement does not in anyway signal to us Maldivians that “the Maldives will not allow terrorist operations”.
How can that be, when the government is positively preening from the Taliban’s exclusive attentions; and continues to form subversive and inexplicable alliances with political parties and dubious NGOs who are making Maldivians look, speak, behave, eat, have sex, punish and procreate according to the teachings of the Taliban?
What the MoU, coming as it does on foot of the government’s warm embrace of the Taliban, signals to us is that this government does not have a cogent or coherent national security policy. It is being formed on ad hoc basis, according to whatever political interests that needs to be served at a given time. We can sign hundreds of agreements, treaties and conventions. On paper, it makes the Maldives look good. But for the people who are living this enforced politicization of their religious beliefs, and being told to see this sea-change in Maldivian culture and identity as ‘pluralism’, it signals impending disaster, and a government that is unable to see the threat from within.
The Maldivian government was unaware of the Taliban hosting secret talks on our islands or was unable to detect their presence in the country because it can no longer tell the difference between a Maldivian and an Afghan, or any other follower of the Wahhabbi sect for that matter. We cannot tell who is Ibrahim Maniku and who is Abdul-Ibrahim bin Abu Muharram, or whatever other name we are now apparently required to have in order to be Muslims.
While the government was busy allying itself with religious parties for political gains and shoring up sandbags to ward off sea-level rise, we have all been turned into sheep in Muslim clothing, following blindly those who have assumed leading roles in remote islands through their preaching and their sermons, filling a leadership vacuum left by the appointment of so-called councilors as a reward for faithful campaigning regardless of their qualifications or lack thereof.
One of the biggest questions asked of the disastrous last government was how and why heroin was allowed to permeate the very core of Maldivian society. How could the authorities not stop the destructive drug being smuggled into this small island nation? Well, Wahhabism is the new heroin. It has got our youth addicted, it has robbed them of their identity and it has taken possession of them to the exclusion of all else. Why is this government allowing this to happen? No amount of posturing on the international stage, or pieces of paper signed promising our co-operation in the ‘War on Terror’ is going to be sufficient to protect Maldivians themselves from being sucked into this ‘endless war’ that has already claimed so many lives in every corner of the world.
Anti-terror agreements signed with one hand while holding the door open for the Taliban with the other are going to be ineffective, otiose. What will a Memorandum of Understanding with a foreign ally, however well-intentioned, do for our own protection when we have yet to understand that the biggest threat we face is within?
Munirah Moosa is a journalism and international relations graduate. She is currently engaged in research into the ‘radicalisation’ of Muslim communities and its impact on international security.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to minivan.news@gmail.com
The Maldives will formalise its counter-terrorism agreements with India after renewed fears that Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is trying to establish a base in remote parts of the Maldives.
The LeT was implicated in the terror attacks in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 in which gunmen entered the city by sea and killed at least 173 people and wounded 308. It is considered a terrorist organisation by India, the United States, the UK and Russia.
Covering the story today, Indian newspaper The Economic Times noted that Sultan Park bomber Moosa Inas was linked to the LeT and had travelled to Kerala before the bombings, a popular recruiting ground for the group.
Indian news portal Rediff.com today quoted Indian intelligence bureau sources as saying that the LeT “has nearly 1,000 operatives active in the Maldives”, and that there was no way the group’s operations “can be curbed unless there is very good intelligence sharing with the Maldives.”
The intelligence sources claimed that in the last three months “there has been an increase in LeT activites in the Maldives, and several persons from [the LeT’s] Kerala group have slipped into the country and are busy setting up operations there.”
India could ill-afford a slip in its Maldives policy, given the “extreme aggression” of the LeT group, the sources told Rediff.
The notion of a thousand LeT operatives active in the Maldives “may be an exaggeration”, said the Maldivian president’s press secretary Mohamed Zuhair, “but there may be some truth in it.”
Minister for Home Affairs Mohamed Shihab is currently in India meeting his counterpart P Chidambaram to draw up a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries that will be signed in April.
First Secretary at the Indian High Commission to the Maldives, Naryan Swamy, said the agreement would formalise existing arrangements with the Maldives but the details would have to wait until Shihab returned.
Zuhair said the MoU was “very important because it gives notice that the Maldives will not allow terrorist operations here.”
“The Maldives is very important to India’s security – the Mumbai bombers attacked via sea,” Zuhair said. “The sea is India’s vulnerable underbelly because there are so many entry points, and the Maldives can be very helpful with that because every day we have 1,500 fishing vessels sometimes 70-100 kilometres out to sea. If they see any suspicious vessels they can coordinate the information through various centres in the Maldives.”
The system appeared to work, Zuhair said, because after the president’s speeches following the Mumbai bombing several poaching vessels were apprehended based on information from fishing boats.
India was already assisting the Maldives to establish a chain of coastal radars stations across the country’s atolls, he said, which will be networked with India’s own radar network.
Zuhair acknowledged that such defence cooperation might “concern” countries like China, but he noted that “of all our neighbours India is the natural country of choice to assist the Maldives.”
Last week Al Jazeera reported that a group seven fighters linked to the Taliban met in the Maldives with Afghan MPs to discuss an ambitious peace plan whereby Taliban soldiers would be paid to put down their arms. Al Jazeera’s report claimed the fighters chose the Maldives as the venue for the talks because it was “the only place they felt safe.”
Zuhair emphasised that the Maldives “will not allow terrorists to operate in the country and put the Maldives’ and our neighbours’ peace and security at risk.
Minivan News presents the first in a series of in-depth interviews with the heads of the independent commissions in the Maldives.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) would seem a vital institution to a government that was elected on a platform of human rights and accountability. Founded by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 2003 it came to the fore following the death in custody of Evan Naseem.
More recently, HRCM has come under heavy criticism from parts of government for its unwillingness to investigate human rights abuses committed prior to 2000. President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem defends the commission, claiming it is misunderstood.
JJ Robinson: What do you see as the role of HRCM?
Ahmed Saleem: HRCM’s major role since 2003 has been teaching the population what human rights and democracy are all about. It’s extremely difficult – you know the pressure we have been under. We are a non-political body – we don’t take sides, and there is always friction with the government in power. That’s very natural. But while I don’t mind the opposition or members of parliament criticising HRCM, it becomes a problem when the sitting government criticises and slanders independent commissions. Independent commissions must be respected, because without these independent commissions, democracy cannot work. Our job is an extremely difficult one to do without taking sides, and I think we are doing our best.
JJ Robinson: What would be some specific incidents of criticism you consider to have been the most damaging?
Ahmed Saleem: It is not even in the interest of the government [to slander us]. HRCM doesn’t go on TV shows, and we don’t retaliate even if somebody attacks us – you’ve never seen us retaliate, because we want to respect even those who criticise us. When people like the press advisor to the president criticises the commission, that means the government doesn’t respect the commission and that’s a problem because this government came to being on platform human rights and democracy – the government can’t afford to criticise the commissions, least of all the human rights commission. There are times we criticise the government but that’s because we are obliged to do so by law.
The government should respect our criticism, find out what’s wrong and talk to us. We cannot demonstrate our independence if the government gives the impression it is trying to use HRCM to achieve its own objectives, like investigating abuses [under the former government]. For that we have suggested a way: a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
JJ Robinson: Groups such as the Torture Victims Association (TVA) and the Maldivian National Congress (MNC) have attacked the former president for human rights abuses committed during his administration. Do you think this is a productive way forward?
HRCM has been criticised for not investigating past abuses
Ahmed Saleem: [TVA founders] Moosa Ali Manik is my brother in law and and Ahmed Naseem is a friend of mine, so I know very closely exactly what happened. These are people who have suffered grievously, and I can’t blame them. I am not at liberty to criticise anybody. It it is the system – the system is wrong.
We must look into these abuses, we must investigate and find out who is responsible and who is not responsible. They have genuine grievances and I think it would be wrong for anybody to say nothing happened during the last 30 years. Abuses have taken place, and we must find out who did it, why it happened, and also find out how this can be prevented in the future. That is why we have suggested a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
JJ: Do you think the TVA was attempting undermine HRCM through its promises to bring in international lawyers to document and review human rights abuses?
Ahmed Saleem: We definitely support them doing that, but I don’t think it’s so easy. It doesn’t happen that way. They are saying they will take statements and submit them to international courts – it’s not that easy; there are procedures and ways of doing these things.
If they can do it we would welcome it, but I have my doubts as to how successful they will be without the support of the opposition. That why I always talk about a national effort – even if this TVA claim they are not political, the people involved in it make it extremely political.
There are people like my brother-and-law who are not political, but I know for sure what he went through. He was hurt really badly, and until recently he did not want to even talk about it. Abuses have taken place in the past, but only they know what they went through – we will never understand it. As a human rights commission we will support any NGO working to promote the protection of human rights as long as there are no politics.
JJ: A lot of people currently in power have gone through some terrible things. Do you think that at any stage those experiences can compromise some body’s ability to work effectively in a government with an opposition?
Ahmed Saleem: Yes, I think so. And I think it is worth making an effort. After all we are one people, we are all Muslims here and almost everyone is related, it’s like one big family. The Maldives is just not like any other country that has many cultures and communities – everything here is homogeneous.
That’s why I’m saying we must put the country first, otherwise we may create problems that affect the country and our very existence. But if they feel like [investigating the past] we should do it in the right way. We will play a major role if this Truth and Reconciliation Commission happens, but it will have to be initiated by the government.
JJ Robinson: You yourself were appointed by the former government, and as a result some of these groups have attacked your willingness to investigate past abuses. Has this position you’re in made your work more challenging?
Ahmed Saleem: Yes it has. But we are going to stick to our policy. If you have seen our law, we can’t investigate any issue before 2000.
For instance there is this case some MDP people are trying to pursue through us which took place in 1994. This particular issue has been up taken by my wife’s own family, the person in question is my wife’s brother-in-law, but it happened in 1994. It was very cruel the way he was handled, and we talking about an 80 year-old man. Putting him in jail and harassing him was completely wrong. They brought this case to HRCM and we had to say, ‘no we can’t investigate that’. Because if we did investigate, we’d have to investigate each and every case or I would be open to accusations of favouring family members.
If we take a case like this it has to really do with the sovereignty of the country – we can’t handle so many cases otherwise. Right now we are investigating the political abuse case of someone who is very close to the MDP, the high commissioner to Malaysia. He says he was abused, and we looking into it because that case occurred after 2000.
JJ Robinson: The Maldives is a very small country and you have many links here yourself. How has being president of HRCM affected you? Have you been subject to threats or intimidation?
Ahmed Saleem: We don’t have threats like we used to have. I was personally attacked, my car was attacked, I was attacked by people on the street in those days, when the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was in the opposition. The previous government attacked me and my family, and MDP was very supportive of us. But this the life of a Human Rights Commission. That is what it was all about. HRCM is misunderstood so I don’t take anything personally. I do understand when people criticise on street, but talk to them and most people don’t understand what we trying to do. Creating awareness of human rights is the main objective of HRCM.
JJ: What kind of public support do you think there is for HRCM?
Ahmed Saleem: We don’t see anybody working against us, and understanding of HRCM and its work has increased. In 2003 when we came into being everybody felt HRCM was only about caring for inmates in jails. We visit jails because there is nobody else to care for [the inmates], but that’s only a fraction of what we do.
People who’ve never been to jail don’t understand what happens in there. We work very closely with government because if the government fails, we fail. We ensure the government does its job and respect article 18 of the constitution, but some in senior levels criticise us and I feel that’s not right. We have enormous support from UN Ambassador for Human Rights, and with this in mind it is very damaging for the government to criticise the human rights commission. Because HRCM could fail.
JJ: Is there a risk of HRCM failing?
Ahmed Saleem: Yes there is a risk. If we keep being attacked by the government on a daily basis we have an obligation to let our friends in human rights circles know this is happening, and they would not be happy about this. They expect a government that came into being on a platform of human rights and democracy to work with HRCM and other independent commissions; they don’t expect the government to criticise the commission all the time.
JJ: Why is the government criticising the commission, then?
Ahmed Saleem: Let’s be very clear. I don’t think the government as such has any policy on it – it’s individuals [in the government]. Sometimes we find it difficult to be mature politicians instead of activists. I think this is something we have to learn quickly – there are those in high positions in the government who must change themselves into mature politicians, because the things they say can have enormous effect.
As far as the president is concerned we work very closely and I have enormous faith in him. For instance, he has told me personally to ‘never ever give up on torture.’ ‘If you do that, the government itself will torture people,’ he said. He has gone through it himself.
The president keeps saying ‘If we never let go of the past we’ll never have a future.’ But then he might say HRCM’s work will never be complete until it has investigated past abuses, and the next day he says something different. I don’t think he himself wants to dig into the past.
JJ: Who are these individuals in the government who have a problem with HRCM?
Ahmed Saleem: There are a few in the government. I don’t think some of them even believe in the policies President Nasheed has issued. He is milder, compared to some of these people.
I’m talking about only a few people here; these are the same people who criticise HRCM and other independent commissions. You’ve never heard the president criticise HRCM or any other commission. He is more democratic than most of these people and he knows value of commissions. I have great confidence in the president, but he has a very challenging job.
JJ: What are some of the areas in which HRCM hasn’t achieved what it set out to do?
Parliament's two months of leave is "irresponsible", says Saleem
Ahmed Saleem: One thing I would say is the culture of torture. I remember a few years back, on human rights day, I said there was a culture of torture in the Maldives. During the previous government someone came up and said ‘you’re wrong, you’re making a very big mistake – there is no culture of torture in the Maldives.’ I stick to my word and stand by what I said.
You can still see it happening. But unlike before the police have changed; police tactics have changed, and they want accountability. We are working with police and the police integrity commission, and the police are giving us all the evidence we need because they feel we should be investigating [complaints].
But I can be 100% sure that the new government has no policy of torture. It’s been the system – it’s the system that’s been wrong, whether it was President Nasir, President Gayoom… under that system anybody could do anything and get away with it.
That’s not the case now, and that is why [the previous government] was a dictatorship – there was no separation of powers, there was no justice. But right now the nature of politics in this country is so divisive it is threatening the existence of this country. I think at some stage the opposition must acknowledge that violence took place in the past.
JJ: Let’s look at some specific issues around human rights in the Maldives. How important is gender equality to the country’s future?
Ahmed Saleem: I think it’s extremely important. I don’t think you’ll find any other Muslim country that has so little discrimination against women; even in the government there are more women than men. At the top levels there are fewer women because they started late – this used to be a very male dominated society.
We have extremely well-educated young ladies these days and I think we should be bringing more of them into the government. Women in Maldives had voting rights long before many other countries, and the only hitch we had as far as human rights were concerned was that women were barred from running for president – that’s gone from new constitution.
I don’t think any there’s effort being made against women being active in society except by conservatives – extremists I would say, who are a threat to the very existence of this country.
JJ: How has religious extremism affected the country? And how has this changed under the new administration?
Ahmed Saleem: I think there is more extremism [in the Maldives] now than then. I also think that unless we can bring it under control we are going to be in danger. In our 2006 report we predicted that there would be serious problems in society not because of politics but because of extremism, and that’s become very true – we see it happening now. People are misusing freedom of speech and expression.
We have had moderate Islam [for a long time] and most of us belong to moderate Islam, but there are a few – I would saw half-baked – religious scholars who are advocating something totally different. I think the Islamic Ministry has to take huge responsibility for this.
JJ: Do you think the Islamic Ministry is fulfilling this responsibility?
Ahmed Saleem: I don’t think so. They should be doing much, much more.
JJ: Where are these scholars coming from? Why has this suddenly surfaced?
Ahmed Saleem: We never thought of religious extremism as a problem, so nobody really thought of doing anything about it. Now I think the present government recognises the danger, and are even trying to restrict people going to certain countries and certain colleges.
I think that’s very good. This state is a democracy and anybody can go anywhere, but when it threatens the whole of society and the country I think it’s time the government takes action. I heard the other day [the government] is trying to restrict people from travelling to certain madrassas in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
JJ: How much of this happening because people are seeking higher education opportunities that the Maldives cannot provide?
Ahmed Saleem: This happening because the people advocating this kind of extremism don’t understand what Islam is. Islam is a very simple religion. I don’t think Islam advocates any violence – it doesn’t do that. But some of these extremists think any non-Muslim should be killed, for instance, which is wrong. They go on jihad to various countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is highly against the religion.
I don’t know if this is anything to do with our education system. I think our own system should work on this, and try to [cater to] those who want to learn religion. I think the Islamic and education ministries should really think about how best they can handle this situation [internally], rather than have large numbers of people going outside the country and returning with different beliefs and only half an education. It’s a very serious problem that must be addressed.
JJ: Do you think human rights can be guaranteed under the current constitution?
Ahmed Saleem: Yes, I think so. We have never had a Constitution like this – it’s very democratic, but it’s not perfect; no constitution is perfect. I think it was done in a hurry in a way, and there are lots of changes that must come with practice. Our own legislation needs change – the Maldives is one of the few countries that has signed almost all human rights instruments, and there are so many laws that must be incorporated into Maldivian law.
This ought to be done by the Majlis (parliament). At a time like this, during a process of transition, there is so much to be done, and yet the members of parliament are going on leave for two months. I think that is very irresponsible – now is the time to do this, before people get fed up with democracy, before they start thinking that the former dictatorship was better because there was no quarrelling; there was stability under dictatorship. I don’t know why the Majlis has to take two months leave, and cannot take leave like we do. They are elected by the people why not take leave like we do? There are so many laws pending and so much work to be done.
JJ: Do you think the members of parliament are as informed about human rights as they need to be?
Ahmed Saleem: Democracy cannot function without rights. So much is missing because they are not in session. Some people are saying there is more peace in the country because the Majlis is not in session. It is going to take maybe 20 years to create the kind of parliament we are trying to imagine.
JJ: How much success has the media had in the last year in becoming independent, and what do you think of its current condition?
Ahmed Saleem: The media has developed a lot. But with media independence also comes responsibility – we need responsible journalism these days. I find there aren’t too many people who can investigate a report or analyse a situation and suggest recommendations for the government and independent bodies. People just go and report anything they want, and in most cases they want sensationalism. And they don’t follow up their reports – just one report and that’s it. The media needs to mature.
JJ: Until recently media in Maldives existed on government subsidies for quite some time. Do you think it is possible to have a fully independent media that receives subsidies from the government?
Ahmed Saleem: In order for the media to develop I think the government must provide some kind of media subsidies until they mature. The media is the fourth pillar of democracy, and unless there is a genuine and productive media I don’t think we can work as a democracy.
JJ: Has one of the failings of journalism in the Maldives been its political attachments?
Ahmed Saleem: The only problem is unfortunately we are still learning what democracy and human rights are all about. That people are misusing both is a matter of great concern – there is a limit to criticising the government and making the government responsible. I don’t think anywhere else in the world people call for the ousting of the government at every meeting of the opposition – you just don’t do that. I wish there was some kind of law to prevent that from happening.
JJ: Would that conflict with freedom of speech?
Ahmed Saleem: I don’t know, but at this time we must do what is right for the country. I’m not saying if the time is right the opposition shouldn’t call for a no confidence vote, it is the opposition’s mandate to do that. But not at every rally; you don’t do that without a reason.
It is a difficult situation for the government in power – extremely difficult after so many years without democratic rule. People are misusing freedom of speech and freedom of expression to a great extent, and that is a concern.
“Why do you even need political parties for democracy?” I asked the sea of black, brown, white and every-shade-in-between students.
We were discussing the rise of far-right political parties in Europe.
“In the Maldives we have a democracy, but we do not have political parties,” I had said. Two years later, in 2006, I sued the government of Maldives for unfair dismissal, and won the country’s first civil rights case.
Attending Mahindra United World College of India (MUWCI) changed my life. Fresh out of Aminiya School at sixteen I longed for adventure and MUWCI, located in the hills of Pune, Maharashtra, turned out to be the biggest adventure of my life.
MUWCI is one of the thirteen United World Colleges (UWC) which makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Students from over 120 countries are selected purely on merit through UWC national committees.
At MUWCI, I shared my room with girls from India, Russia, Canada and Swaziland. I volunteered at an HIV positive children’s home on Wednesdays, did yoga on Mondays and painted schools in the Mulshi valley. One Saturday, my friends and I built a raft from plastic bottles and sailed down the Mulshi River.
I spent ten days in Tamil Nadu clearing fields and cleaning fishermen’s nets after the Tsunami. In 2005, ten of us went to Kashmir in Pakistan for earth quake relief at a medical camp for a month.
And of course cramming for the two-year International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma; one of the most well regarded and widely known secondary school qualifications in the world.
Maurifa Hassan remembers studying for the IB from the castle-roof of UWC-USA located in the state of New Mexico: “If New Mexico and Maldives have anything in common, it’s the dramatic sunsets. We would attempt to study, but get distracted by the breathtaking scenery and our endless stories that start with the phrase ‘iin my culture’.”
UWC Scholarships are unprecedented and unparalleled in the Maldives. The Ali Fulhu Thuttu Foundation (AFTF) has provided scholarships to 26 Maldivian students to India, America, Canada, Italy, England, Norway and Bosnia. Founded in 2001, the AFTF provides 2-5 scholarships per year for students who have completed GCSE O’Levels.
Theema Mohamed, the first Maldivian student to attend UWC in Norway said, “Many of my community members were shocked that my parents were letting me go to a country that was very far away and of which they knew little about especially since I was a girl and quite young at the time.”
UWC “really felt like home,” Theema says. “I felt free to express my opinions and be who I wanted to be. I found my voice in UWC and I am thankful for the space that UWC provided for me to grow into the person that I am today.”
She currently works for the AFTF to provide grants to support various youth development projects in rural Maldives.
For Ali Shareef, his UWC experience taught him to deconstruct racial and cultural barriers and prejudices.
“People became much more interesting and relatable once I learnt to look beyond the label of Muslim, Christian, Hindu, black, white, female, male, rich or poor,” he says.
Twenty-three Maldivian UWC graduates have now gone onto to pursue higher education in respected universities in America, Canada and Australia and continue to contribute to the country at different levels of society.
Aminath Shauna graduated from Canada’s Lester B. Pearson UWC and went onto do her bachelor’s degree in politics, environment and economics. When she returned to Maldives in 2008, she worked as a journalist during the Maldives’ first multi-party elections and now works for President Mohamed Nasheed.
“UWC has given me a completely different worldview; to expand my horizons beyond that of the island and the atoll,” Shauna says. “I learnt the value of democracy and dialogue and I learnt that in order to change the world, you have to start with your own backyard.”
Fathimath Musthaq currently works in NGO Transparency Maldives and wants to establish a university in the country after her finishing her post-graduate studies.
“I believe liberal education is essential for a progressive and liberal society. Attending UWC in England taught me the values of tolerance and diversity and I want to inculcate those values in Maldivian society, especially given its homogenous nature.”
Zaheena Rasheed attended the Mahindra United World College of India on a Ali Fulhu Thuttu Foundation scholarship. Scholarships are now open in 2010 for students who have completed their IGCSE, GCSE and SSC exams in 2009. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to represent Maldives at one of the following United World Colleges (UWC): India, Norway, Italy, Canada and USA. Applications forms can be obtained at the AFTF office and at www.mv.uwc.org. Deadline for application is 2:30 pm on 15 February 2010.
A group of Afghan MPs, “a government official” and seven people linked to the Taliban met in the Maldives last weekend for secret talks, according to a report by Al Jazeera in Afghanistan.
According to the report, the talks were part of an ambitious plan to bring peace to the war-torn country by offering cash, jobs and incentives to Taliban fighters in exchange for laying down their arms.
Afghan parliament member Ubaid Ullah Achackzat, one of the MPs who reportedly visited the Maldives last week, told Al Jazeera the meeting was an effort “to find a third way, a way for the foreigners to leave [Afghanistan], with the possibility of merging the Taliban with the government and the possibility of a cease fire – there are lots of issues.”
Seven of the men were reportedly part of an armed opposition group linked to the Taliban and held in high respect by the Taliban’s leadership, Achackzat said.
The Al Jazeera report claimed the Taliban selected the Maldives as the venue for the meeting “because it was the only place the fighters felt safe.”
“I believe that is a compliment to the Maldivian government and our pluralist policies,” said the president’s press secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, adding that he did not feel the comment would negatively affect international perception of the Maldives.
“Our government has a policy to include followers of all sects of Islam,” he said.
“For years other versions of Islam have been stifled [in the Maldives]. The president has said democracy is the best answer to keep fundamentalists at check.”
Assistant controller of Immigration Ibrahim Ashraf expressed a different opinion.
“If this so-called group of Afghans had a link to the Taliban, that is in no way safe for the Maldives,” he said.
“If people from internationally recognised groups such as the Taliban or other institutions keep coming to the Maldives, that is quite dangerous.”
Zuhair acknowledged that the government had received reports of sightings of “a group of people who look like the Taliban wandering around the streets of Male’.”
“Our stance is that the fact people happen to look like the Taliban doesn’t mean they should be labelled that way,” he said.
He admitted the government had noted the arrival of “a group of 20 people from Afghanistan” who were “quite quite closely monitored by the concerned authorities.”
“They apparently conducted a meeting amongst themselves,” he said, emphasising that the group had not associated with any group in the Maldives.
Ashraf confirmed the government had received some information about the group, but would not say whether this came from inside or outside the country.
“We do have a watch list and a very good system in place,” he said. “Those who are flagged would not be allowed into the country.”
He would not say whether the visitors were flagged.
“A lot of people come to Maldives and nobody needs a visa, whether they are Afghan or Israeli,” he said. “To my knowledge, they have now left [the country].”
State Minister for Defence Mohamed Muiz Adnan said he was not aware of the group’s arrival until he “saw it in the newspaper” and had no knowledge of the meeting that apparently took place.
Regarding the Taliban fighters considering the Maldives to be ‘safe’, Muiz commented that “irrespective of who says it, anywhere in the world a safe environment is good for everybody.”
An international conference on the Afghanisatan’s future is currently being held in London. Al Jazeera reports that Japan, the United States and Britain are rumoured to be spearheading a proposal to ‘bribe’ Taliban fighters to disarm and turn over to the government’s side.
Japan is said to be providing most of the money, thought to be between US$500 million and US$1 billion over the next five years, a far cheaper option than the annual $30 billion currently being spent by the US on its military ‘push’.
President Mohamed Nasheed has claimed the Maldives can learn from India’s economic success and the way the country has brought large segments of its population out of poverty.
Speaking at a dinner last night in honour of India’s Republic Day, the 60th anniversary of its freedom from British rule, Nasheed described India as “the world’s largest and most vibrant democracy, shining a beacon of freedom and hope around the world.”
The country was rising “peacefully” to take its place “as one of the 21st Century’s superpowers,” he said.
The founding of India’s news constitution had many parallels with the Maldives, Nasheed said.
“India took the bold decision to found a republic based on the principles of democracy and freedom. The new constitution enshrined democratic rights and fundamental freedoms, vesting power in the people.”
But he added that it would be “foolish to pretend that India’s transition was all plain sailing,” and suggested that the Maldives could learn from India’s experiences.
“I believe that the Maldives has much to learn from India. Just as India faced growing pains after Independence, so the Maldives has teething problems of its own.
“The new administration has inherited crippling levels of debt, stacked up in the last years of the former regime, our youth have been plagued by rampant drug abuse, and many in our society remain scarred by the torture and cruelty of the past thirty years.
“India overcame its growing pains by embracing its new democracy and respecting fundamental liberties,” he said. “Despite its faults, history shows us that democracy is the best guarantor of freedom, peace and prosperity.”
In particular, Nasheed said, “the Maldives can learn from India’s economic transformation.
“For too long, the Maldives’ economy has been centrally planned, heavily regulated and micro-managed by the government. This has prevented growth, repelled investment and thwarted people’s aspirations. By opening up our economy to the world, the Maldives can also enjoy economic success. ”
Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Dnyaneshwar Mulay said India was “fortunate” to have a friend in the Maldives, “and I happy this partnership is now going into an economic, clultural and academic phase with the strengthening of health and education services.”
Mulay added that he saw “a huge large number of new things happening between India and Maldvies in next few years.
“We do feel India has a stake in the success and prosperity of the Maldives,” he said.
Leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and former president of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, today announced his resignation from politics ahead of the party’s national congress in February.
Gayoom apologised to the DRP and its members but said it was time for the “younger generation” to take over the party’s helm.
“The Maldives is a young country, and only will progress if youth become involved in politics and leadership,” the 72 year-old said at a live press conference held in TVM studios.
“I am not young any more. I have spent many years in office, and I want to spend time with my family. I need to give the younger generation the opportunity [to lead the party] – they are capable.”
Gayoom said he had been urged to remain as the DRP’s leader because people felt if he left many members would follow, and the party might even disband.
“They felt that if I’m not there the DRP will not win the presidential election. [But] the party is more important than the individual; everyone must focus on the party, not on one person.
“I have thought long and hard, and I believe the DRP needs a new generation [of leadership] to progress and strength. Many apologies to DRP members, but I would like to say I will not be running for the DRP presidency.”
The former president said he would remain a member of the DRP “and do what I can for the party”, but would not no longer take part in politics.
“I won’t comment on any political issues, but I will support whoever runs for the presidency. It’s important for the DRP to win the next election, and God willing DRP will win.”
There were many reasons for the DRP’s loss of the last election, he said, “but I don’t have proof of why the outcome was the way it was.”
He pleaded with the party’s members to remain in the DRP, “and join together to make the DRP a party that serves the public.”
Gayoom endorsed DRP vice-president Ahmed Thasmeen Ali as his replacement ahead of his brother, Abdullah Yameen.
“Thasmeen was my running mate for the last presidential election and in my opinion, he is the best [candidate] for the job,” Gayoom said. “But this is just my opinion. The leader will be decided in the DRP national congress.”
Reaction
Speaking at a dinner organised by the Indian High Commission this evening, President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed praised his predecessor for his decision.
“Today, as we celebrate the eve of India’s Republic Day, I also would like to congratulate our former president, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who, after ruling this country for 30 long years, serving to the best of his ability and doing so much good for this country, decided to retire. I wish him all the best, and I wish his party all the best,” Nasheed said.
Senior members of the DRP reacted with shock at Gayoom’s decision to resign.
DRP spokesman Ibrahim Shareef said “many hardcore supporters were shocked and I’ve seen a lot of people crying over his sudden departure.”
There had been a lot of petitions within the party for Gayoom to remain as leader, “but despite all this, from what I can see, Gayoom is quite sincere. For the past 30 years I’ve watched him both at a distance and at close range, and he always does what he says.
“I think there was tremendous pressure applied on Gayoom to remain leader, but in the end the decision to hand over the reins to the younger generation was only ever going to be his own.”
Shareef said Gayoom’s departure “would have a very small impact” on the party, despite there being at present “no political leader of Gayoom’s stature in the country.”
“A lot of people feel very loyal to Gayoom. I think he will remain as the spiritual leader [of the DRP],” Shareef said.
“There will be a new leader when the dust settles – there’s lot of young people who are highly educated and very capable.”
The defection of key DRP supporters such as Dr Hassan Saeed prior to the presidential election was a blow the party, Shareef admitted, “and that helped the MDP candiate [Mohamed Nasheed] into the presidency.”
“A year on, many of those who left the DRP have found their decision was not a wise one. Many people now see that [Nasheed] is not a leader they thought he was.”
Shareef acknowledged that emerging factions within the DRP in the wake of Gayoom’s departure might “certainly create some problems somewhere.”
“But Thasmeen is a candidate who has the ability to hold the party together,” Shareef said. “He is not someone who will apply the letter of the law and not go witch-hunting. He will not take revenge on the opposition.
“Yameen is a very able man with great vision, but different political leaders have different strengths. Thasmeen’s strength is that he is able to work with the opposition, which is very important. The social fabric of the Maldives has been ripped apart by the party system and everyone is out trying to get revenge.”
Rumours of a deal
Gayoom denied rumours that he had met with president Nasheed last night and agreed to step down from the party leadership in exchange for the government ceasing to pursue him for alleged human rights abuses committed during his administration.
“There is no truth to the story. I have not met the president, nor do I have plans to meet him,” Gayoom said.
Shareef also said the reports were unlikely: “I don’t think so. No one pressured him, it was his decision alone.”
A return to politics?
MDP MP Mohamed Mustafa said he did not trust that Gayoom’s decision was final.
“I would like to believe he’s resigned but I dont trust him. I know he has a hidden agenda,” Mustafa said. “He has been sucking blood for 30 years and now he thinks he can wear white cloth.”
“If he has good intentions, that’s OK. But he knew the government would not provide financial assistance [due to former presidents] and let him open an office [while leader of the DRP]. He’ll just build his resources and come back to politics in three years.”
Mustafa described today’s news as “a victory for MDP – I can say that. The DRP are quarrelling internally and won’t be strong enough for the [forseeable] future. Thasmeen is not on good terms with Yaamyn, and Yaamyn not on good terms with his brother Gayoom. I think they are splitting to pieces inside and in many ways this is good for us. They had billions, but now they are beggars.”
However a highly-placed source inside the government said “there is no jubilation here. It was very hard on some people when Gayoom publicly denied he ever harmed anyone, and emotionally [Gayoom’s departure from public life] will be good for them. We can finally put this chapter behind us.”
The Maldives has signed a memorandum of understanding between the European Union (EU) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The deal includes an aid package worth €1.5 million over two and a half years to strengthen the country’s response to drug abuse.
Foreign minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed said the money, which comes from the EU and would be in the hands of UNODC, will mostly be used to help with the rehabilitation of drug addicts, make people aware of the relationship between HIV and drug use.
Dr Shaheed signed the agreement at a ceremony yesterday with EU Ambassador Varnerd Savage and representative of the UNODC Regional Office South Asia, Cristina Albertin.
Speaking at the ceremony, Varnard said the program would strengthen the national response to combating drug abuse in the Maldives, and would target the major problem areas of drugs and crime.
Albertin said 10 per cent of the Maldivian population is affected by drug abuse, and that UNODC hoped the program would assist in the country’s enforcement of drug laws.
Reaction
Chairperson of the Society for Women Against Drugs (SWAD) Fathmath Aafiya said she hoped the project would not end up like the government’s previous ‘WAKE-UP’ program.
”The government does not do sufficient work to reduce the number of drug importers,” she said, criticising the government’s lenient treatment of dealers by placing some under house arrest and letting others go free.
Aafiya said the government had “a lot of work to do” to reduce the importation of drugs into the country.
SWAD was expecting the new program to be beneficial, she added, as it would increase the aftercare and rehabilitation of drug users.
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