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Epilogue from THE
MALDIVE ISLANDERS, A Study of the Popular Culture of an
Ancient Ocean Kingdom
by Xavier Romero-Frias
1999
EPILOGUE
'I
believe, in fact that there is no greater suffering for
man than to feel his cultural foundations giving way beneath
his feet.'
Alberto Moravia, Italian writer.
STUCK
IN THE SANDS OF ARABIA
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Illustration:
Haveeru
Formerly a non-issue in the Maldives, female dress and
self-righteousness suddenly made an impact on Divehi
women throughout the country. An artificial form of
prudishness was contrived when government-sponsored
Arabic schools spearheaded the introduction of compulsory
'proper Islamic' uniforms for girls from mid-1980s
onwards.
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Is
the fate of gradually becoming an Arab nation the Maldive
Islanders' only option? This is the Maldivian dilemma since
they made the decision to accept the Arabs as their undisputed
cultural masters and began to sever their links with their
own past. Nowadays Maldivians are culturally restless people
who can never be at ease. The intense indoctrination of
the 1980s and 90s, when Islamization was imposed on the
islands at a much higher gear than at any time in the nation's
history, has made Maldivians feel uncozy in their own country.
The changes brought about have been of such magnitude and
in such a short time, that there is now a whole young generation
of Divehi people who, having not known how things were previously,
take for granted that their home nation has always been
so orthodox and impersonal.
Although
in ethnically Arab countries it may not be so, in the Maldives
Islam is an elitistic religion. Traditionally, only a very
powerful sector of the elite, for various reasons, has cherished
the strict Islamic rules. Furthermore, in the enforcement
of orthodoxy downwards, it is this elite who, often hand-in-hand
with visiting Arabs, has repressed or wiped out most Maldivian
popular expressions leaving in its wake a bleak, unsmiling,
hieratic ideology.
The
relentless campaign to promote Islam spearheaded by the
government since 1979 has been quite successful. In between,
many Maldivians have adopted the Arab way of life and the
Arab dress.1 The atmosphere in the capital Male', although the
city looks now more modern and wealthy than before, is heavily
charged with religion. Young people born during the last
two decades only know the hard-line religious environment
and most don't even know an independent Divehi cultural
identity not attached to religious propaganda. Thus, they
have grown accustomed to the prevailing cultural forgery
and the ensuing loss of personal freedom. Since they didn't
experience the mellower times preceding the year 1980, when
for example, shops didn't have to close at prayer times
and there were popular discotheques in Male', this is only
natural.
Maldivian
people opposing arabization are in a very vulnerable position,
because they are easily, and conveniently, singled out as
opponents of Islam. In a perverse paradox, the alien-based
ideology of Islam in Maldivian government propaganda is equalled
with patriotism.2 Within this perverted context, someone who is against
Arab cultural intrusion is easily made to look like a person
lacking patriotic fervor. As a consequence, the bitter irony
is that Maldivians are misled into believing that the only
way to become better citizens is by distancing themselves
more and more from their own true national identity and
become Arab look-alikes.
Maldivians have been traditionally a monogamous society. The
Islamisation that began in the 1980s saw an upsurge
in polygamous marriages that upset local values. Hagu
An'bi (Second wife), the title of the Divehi movie
announced on this Male' streetboard, reflects female
concern towards what they perceive as hostile trends.
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Most
of the youth opposing arabization have despaired of protecting
their own ethnicity, because the Maldivian or Divehi identity
has been dishonestly usurped by an Arabicized elite who
pretends that it is equal to Islam.3
The very governmental organization whose duty is, in theory,
to protect and promote Maldivian culture has, symptomatically,
a long and pompous name: Divehi Bahai Tarikha' Khidmaiykura
Qaumi Markazu, which is made up of mostly Arabic words!4
A clear indication of this council's abysmal record in protecting
the autochthonous culture is the fact that even its main
publication (Faiytura) is used by the government
as its mouthpiece for the further promotion of the cause
of Arabization of the Maldives. Therefore, in the Maldive
Islands one is confronted with the patent absurdity that
the people who are most active in destroying the national
cultural heritage are hailed as patriots.
Confronted
with this farce, non-conformist young Maldivians have no
choice left but becoming cynical and many have jumped into
the bandwagon of contemporary consumerism.5 They choose foreign values that are more attractive
to them because most are only vaguely aware that they have
a culture of their own. These frustrated young men and women
are very keen to display progressive, modern views, which
they perceive to be neater and smarter, as a potent form
of protest.
The
modernity that inspires and gives hope to this section of
the Maldivian youth comes to the Maldives nowadays from
the influence of a multitude of sources. However, the greater
role in fashions, tastes and new attitudes is played probably
by the comparatively more democratic societies of urban
East and South-East Asia, like Singapore, Japan and Thailand,
towards which they display great affinity.
Is
the only choice left for Maldivians now to further dismantle
the cultural heritage they have been handed over from the
previous generations?
1Recently
some even have gone so far as to adopt the Arab language
as their own.
2The
government repeatedly (and somewhat unimaginatively) claims
that the Maldives is a 100% Muslim country'. This means
different things to different people, but it plainly comes
down to the fact that there is no freedom of religion, no
freedom of thought and no freedom of expression.
3Sadly,
finding it impossible to express their frustrations, many
keen idealistic youngsters became victims of drug addiction
in the last decades.
4Meaning
'National Council at the Service of Maldivian Language and
History.' Except for the first two which mean 'Divehi language'
and were thus completely unavoidable, the other words are
in Arabic. The official translation of the name is 'Council
for Linguistic and Historical Research.'
5As
I am purely concerned with the 'tradition-versus-change'
issue, I have avoided the word 'westernization'. Things
are not as black-and-white as Muslim ideologists want to
believe. One should keep in mind that, even within what
has come to be labeled as 'The West', the conflict between
traditional and consumerist attitudes is still simmering
within every nation.
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20th century Maldives 
