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Magoodhoo islanders punished after jealous husband assaults atoll chief Umar Zahir 31 October 2002 translated by Maldives Culture editors
When the public announcement was made of the transfer of the atoll office from Magoodhoo to Nilandhoo island, Abdul Rahuman Shareef, from Fehi Aabaadhu house in Henveiru ward in Malé, was in Magoodhoo. He was staying in a house called Dhiggaru. At that time the house was new and unoccupied apart from the presence of Abdul Rahuman Shareef. Zakariyya Hameed (the atoll chief) often visited this house, and one night as Zakariyya Hameed, Abdul Rahuman Shareef and Ahmed Hamdoon of Finihiyaage house in Magoodhoo were walking out of the house, Zakariyya Hameed claimed that someone attacked him. At the time, NSS Sergeant Hassan Ibrahim was in the island, and in the report made to him by Zakariyya Hameed, the attacker was named as Ibrahim Hussein of Venus Villa in Magoodhoo island. After hitting him with the piece of timber, Ibrahim Hussein tried to hit Zakariyya the second time and Zakariyya demanded to know what the matter was, and whether Ibrahim Hussein was mad. Zakariyya thought of hitting Ibrahim with the cordless phone he was holding. At the gate of Beach Side house, close to the scene, was Ibrahim Naseem who lived there. Zakariyya Hameed said that Naseem also would have seen Ibrahim Hussein. When Zakariyya Hameed said this, Magoodhoo junior chief Ibrahim Fikuree, the first assistant atoll chief Mohamed Jaleel (Zakariyya Hameed's nephew), assistant Ibrahim Naseer, and Faafu atoll office assistant secretary Suad Ali were present. And also Zakariyya Hameed went with the Sergeant Hassan Ibrahim, the high officials of the atoll office, and the Magoodhoo junior chief, to the scene of the incident, and in the presence of many others of the public, Zakariyya Hameed told the same story. Based on what the atoll chief said, Ibrahim Hussein and Ibrahim Naseem were put under immediate house arrest. Ibrahim Hussein is the husband of Najuma Abdullah, and atoll chief is in love with her. As soon as she received the news that Ibrahim Hussein was under house arrest, Najuma went to the atoll chief's residence to see Zakariyya Hameed. At the end of this meeting, Zakariyya Hameed changed his story. It turned out that the atoll chief did not even see Ibrahim Hussein, and in the presence of everyone, Najuma's husband was released. After this, Zakariyya Hameed claimed the person who attacked him that night was Mohamed Munthaz from the Beach Side house in Magoodhoo island. Munthaz was put under house arrest straight away, and another fourteen people from Magoodhoo were handed over to the police on the allegation that they have aided and abetted Munthaz in this attack, and had caused unrest in the island. These fourteen men were taken to Malé and kept under house arrest. After eleven months in detention, the Criminal court found that none of these 14 men were involved in the assault on Zakariyya Hameed. Even then the atoll chief was not satisfied. If he cannot punish the people of Magoodhoo one way, then he tries another. Yes! On the morning of 1 October 2001, Zakariyya Hameed visited Magoodhoo. Half an hour before his arrival, participants of a training course from Mulee Regional Hospital arrived by dhoani. After dropping off its passengers, the dhoani returned to Mulee and arrived back at that island in the evening. That night, Zakariyya Hameed and the people doing the course were in Magoodhoo. Zakariyya Hameed met with the people of the island and addressed the chiefs of Magoodhoo, the Island Development Committee members, and the committee for Women's Development. He said that he was not waiting for the honourable President to grant him the authority to do to Magoodhoo what had been done to Thinadhoo on Huvadhu atoll [Thinadhoo was levelled and many islanders killed, in 1962 after an attack led by prime minister Ibrahim Nasir]. The atoll chief said that permission had already been granted, but he was waiting and hadn't acted on it yet. Zakariyya Hameed left Magoodhoo in the middle of the night, alleging that a group of Magoodhoo people had tried to set adrift his dhoani. He left instructions that no one was to leave the island without permission from the atoll office. He also tried to add another problem. Yes! He reported to the Health ministry that a group of people in Magoodhoo had assaulted the group of trainees from Mulee island Regional Hospital. He said the hospital's dhoani had been set adrift while anchored in Magoodhoo harbour that night, and it had been carried away by current. He said he had transferred the trainees from Magoodhoo to Bileh-dhoo island on this atoll. The Health ministry immediately checked the matter by contacting Mulee hospital. The ministry found out that Magoodhoo people had caused no harm to any of the trainees, and that the dhoani was not in Magoodhoo harbour that night. It was in Mulee harbour. I wonder how many other false allegations atoll chief Zakariyya Hameed has made about the people of Magoodhoo? Anyway, assistant atoll chief Ali Ahmed of Palm Lodge house, Nilandhoo island arrived in Magoodhoo to investigate the allegation of the setting adrift of Zakariyya Hameed's dhoani. Ali Ahmed set up three shops in Malé with the money from ambergris he and other family members found. In less than four years, the shops' shelves were bare. After this, he worked for STO (State Trading Organisation), and there he was found guilty of deception and sentenced to twelve years. He was then unable to find employment anywhere in Malé, and worked with a group of foreigners making cement brick blocks in Malé. Zakariyya Hameed was not able to find anyone more honest, reliable and capable in Faafu atoll than Ali Ahmed, and Zakariyya appointed him as assistant atoll chief. Ali Ahmed was put in charge of investigating all incidents that took place in the atoll. Accordingly, Ali Ahmed arrived in Magoodhoo island and took away some of the convicts who were serving banishment sentences in Magoodhoo. He took them to Nilandhoo island where these convicts made a statement alleging five offences had been committed by the eight people from Magoodhoo. (I am among these accused eight men). Soon after, Abdul Razzag, an investigator from the atoll office, arrived in Magoodhoo in a private Nilandhoo dhoani with about a dozen civilian men from that island. (The atoll office had two idle dhoanis in Magoodhoo harbour). Abdul Razzag summoned three men to the atoll office. They were Mohamed Rafeeu of Mush-thareege house, Amir Ahmed of Janvaree-maage house and Umar Ali of Kenery-ge house. They were not among the eight accused. The three men were taken aboard the Nilandhoo dhoani, and as they travelled the Nilandhoo men abused them, slandering their parents and family members, and making death threats. When the dhoani arrived back at the eastern side of Nilandhoo island, a man on the shore signalled them to go to the western harbour of the island where about 350 men and women had gathered on the beach. As the three Magoodhoo men came off the dhoani onto dry land, all these people surrounded them and began throwing sand and stones, and shouting abuse at them. The mob followed them all the way to the office, and not a single effort was made to halt the harassment. When the three men complained to the assistant atoll chief Ali Ahmed, who was in charged of investigating the matter, his reply was that now the three of them had become aware that there were very upset people in Nilandhoo. The three men were put under house arrest in three different houses of the island. The leading person in this Nilandhoo harassment campaign was Samiyya Ahmed, the daughter of Mariyam Hameeda who is the younger sister of atoll chief Zakariyya Hameed. The eight men, alleged to have set adrift Zakariyya Hameed's dhoani, were brought to Malé on 13 October 2001 by the police and put in prison islands for 4 months and 19 days. Then they were brought to Malé again, and put under house arrest there. After 2 months and 12 days of house arrest they were released, and told to remain in Malé. By the time these eight men were advised of their release by the Defence Ministry on 30 September 2002, they have been in various forms captivity for twelve months. So, I plead to you, Honourable sir, to look into this matter and provide justice, so that such cruel treatment of these powerless and innocent people by the atoll chief, will be prevented. Yes! Up until now, Zakariyya Hameed holds a proud position as the longest serving atoll chief in the history of Faafu atoll, and yet the atoll has not had the slightest development in this long period. The entire population of the atoll would agree that every step Zakariyya Hameed has taken has been for the benefit of himself and his family members. As you may know, this atoll chief also owns land in Malé. On this land he has built a warehouse, and is leasing it. He had taken a 9000 sq. ft. block of land in Nilandhoo island on Faafu atoll where he and his family live. It is a three storey house of modern architectural design. Yes, he can build a house up to ten storeys high! But if the people of this island only get 3500 sq. ft. blocks of land each, then why does Zakariyya Hameed have a right to a 9000 sq. ft. block? Is this fair? Just taking the measurements of the Zakariyya Hameed's block of land would provide evidence for the Maldive government about his 'honesty' and 'faithfulness'. Similarly, the assistant atoll chief, Mohamed Jaleel (Zakariyya Hameed's nephew), had only the foundation of a house laid for ten years, and owed a debt of Rf 1,100 to the people of Magoodhoo. Less than 3 years after the transfer of the atoll office to his own island (Nilandhoo), this house had been completed as a two storey modern architecturally designed house. As he proceeded to fulfil the desires of other family members, the affairs of the atoll were reduced to a regrettable state. Yes! The atoll office allocated a limited number of units of electric power for the island offices and mosques, and island chiefs were required to pay for any units in excess of this limit. As a result of this atoll office decision, I have information that island chiefs have paid for the excess electricity units out of their own pockets. In the same way, the use of phone and fax services in the island offices have been stopped since July 2002. Since then, island offices are given a limited amount of money to buy phone cards to make official phone calls from the public phone booth. As a consequence of this decision, it is becoming common to see island chiefs waiting in queues outside public phones to make official phone calls. I would like to say, that if this situation is the same in other atolls of Maldives, then many apologies from me, your honour. Yes! Mohamed Jaleel is a nephew of Zakariyya Hameed; assitant atoll chief Ali Ahmed is a paternal brother of Mohamed Jaleel; second assistant atoll chief Mohamed Rafeeu is a nephew of both Mohamed Jaleel and Ali Ahmed. As a result, the affairs of the atoll are based on decisions and discussions among only four members of one family. Conditions on the atoll are deteriorating day by day, to such an extent that the peace and harmony of the atoll may never be restored. Although this situation exists, Zakariyya Hameed continues to assert that regardless of what he does and how he does it, there is no one in Maldives who can stop him. This atoll chief has had so much power and dominance during his time in office that 28 people from Magoodhoo island have been punished in a variety of ways based on reports he had made on various occasions. I am one of the people who have suffered for twelve months for no proven offence. I would like to mention that this letter which I present to your honour's presence, is also being sent, with the same wording, to the honourable members of the cabinet, and the honourable members of the Majlis. This is due to my deep desire to avoid further punishment from this atoll chief who keeps using his power. In the same just and fair way that it was found that there was no truth in the reports made by Zakariyya Hameed regarding these 28 people from Magoodhoo island, I plead that a fair consideration be given to these complaints I have made regarding this atoll chief. Please accept my respects. 25 Shau-ban 1423 31 October 2002 Yours sincerely [signature] Umar Zahir To the Honourable Members. |
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Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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