Personal Musings; Revolution, Reform and Nation Building

It is difficult to pass through this period without recollecting the events which occurred on 12th/13th August 2004 in the Maldives.I believe that Evan’s death on 2003 , was the last straw that was needed for many people to actively decide on changing not only the destiny of a nation but end decades of silent suffering many people were enduring in the country.

I remember standing near the dead body of this boy, wondering why and how things had come to this, in a nation of such peace loving people. How could human cruelty stretch so far? The wounds on this boy’s body which have now become the symbols of prison torture for many of us were caused by men born to Maldivian parents. How did these people learn such cruelty....and how dare they inflict such suffering on a helpless person.

I watched frozen in a moment of silence as people moved silently past the body.

I stood close by, when the former president visited the cemetery.Amidst the chaos and confusion, I thought, “Here is a leader looking at the death of his legacy and lying on the parapet is not only the dead body of a young man but of a lad who was born during his rule and who grew up to represent the problems which malice the society he governed, to be killed by torture.. !”

I was amazed about our people who were so tolerant and so civilized....they just allowed him to come and witness first hand what his regime had done ..........'.Despite the pain we all felt, pain caused by the ruthless murder which happened under his leadership, no one harmed him, no one uttered a word.I was personally interested in watching his face when his glance fell on this murdered youth.

I wanted to know what he felt, perhaps some of his emotions would show…. or so I thought. It was then, that I realised how vain all this was. I thought I saw teary eyes, fear and pain similar to what we were feeling. This was a man who perhaps never wanted something like this to occur under his rule and in that cemetery on that day I saw an old man, coming to terms with the reality that things had gone so far... in fact too far.....

I felt so sorry, so sorry that this boy had to lose his life like this. Sorry that many often forget to think that all good things and even the bad ends. The world has seen the rise and fall of empires and kingdoms, and right before us we were witnessing a beginning of an end.

Little kids, women and men, old and young, went past the body in such eerie silence. No words could describe what was happening to our hearts and minds at that moment.A young addict came and wept near me saying....the person who was dead was his friend and he will fight to death........

Next the mobs happened like a logical progression of what was the next best thing.

Through the chaos of that day, new leaders were born. New hopes, new determinations were chalked out by ordinary people who decided to stand up for what was right. Some decided to support the waves of change in silence and some were confined to express their views due to reasons they just cannot ever share. The brave stood up and decided to do something about it, so that their sons and daughters will not have to lie so mercilessly killed right before their eyes.

At some point later, I felt that people were working hard to make amends to what went wrong. I believed that the hard work that began in wanting to change the system was really not stemming from a desire to remain in power. I believed there was remorse and determination to make significant changes to the lives of the common man. I believed that there was a genuine need and effort to remove the black stain caused by this event. But how difficult it was going to be to redefine the legacy of this leader! How challenging it would be to correct everything that had rotted within the system that had governed our nation for decades.

On the night the reform agenda was announced, I sat among the audience and felt that at last, this was proof that peoples’ voices for a need to change have been recognised. Whatever else people may say or think, here was a leader who had done a lot of good to our country but under his rule many changes occurred which made dignified people beg for basic health care, shelter, water and food. The moral and social fabric of the society was torn to bits, drug abuse had become rampant and crime rate was on the rise.

The rich just continued to become richer and the poor became poorer by the day, the gap between the two was too much to tolerate. Some of us were struggling for 2 decent meals a day, working day and night between jobs while others.....were bathing in mineral water, flying to neighbouring countries for personal pampering, shopping and relaxation sessions.

Often I felt I was living in a sort of kingdom, where some people were gifted with laurels and roles which was not based on the quality of the work they did nor the expertise they had in their profession but merely because they belonged or were affiliated to a certain blood line. There was a silent sort of discrimination which was demoralising decent people who wanted to serve their country in utter sincerity.

Then came 12/13th August 2004.
Things changed for Maldives that day and in the days and months which followed.

Finally, when the old guard gave to the new with the former president accepting defeat, I stood in a house in London with a community of Maldivians, who in their own ways had worked day and night to make their contributions towards the process of change that was sweeping through our beloved homeland. We watched the handshake and heard the leaders speak and honour each other. Once again, I saw a dozen or more intellects of our country slumber in a state of frozen silence. The tears this time was in celebrating and honouring those who decided to allow change to happen and in saluting those who decided to accept defeat in a honourable way.

This was the Maldivian way of bringing in a revolution.

It happened with the sacrifices and hard work of people who love our country, who dared to stand up and make the difference. But, our democracy is in its infancy still. The world economy and our economy are in recession. It is such a challenge to achieve the dreams, hopes and aspirations of the young and old, the weak and the strong who hummed the tones of the WATHAN edhey gothah to bring in this day.

It may be so easy to fall into the traps of power and forget why this revolution happened. In the face of frustration and fights between colours, we have to remember, the nation comes first and that include all its people. We have to ensure that we do not end up just building houses or flats alone, but homes for people who value people and relationships, who are proud of their culture and religion and whose daily life is governed by principles and morals that can build but not fragment our hearts and minds. Perhaps, the real revolution of building a just society, a safer and better society is all yet to happen.