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Resign Gayyoom or face the
consequences 21 August 2004 To: The the so-called President (King)
Maldivians are by nature very friendly and kind-hearted. We are not used to fighting and have not experienced unstable situations. We cannot tolerate injustice and corruption in our day-to-day life. It is our duty to deliver a peaceful society to our children. Recently we heard from your spokesman that you are still a leader with full support. Please stop talking about your support. Everybody in Maldives and all over the world now knows how you get your support. Your brother Abdullah Hameed is the Minister of Atolls. He is the supreme controller of all the people in the atolls. He himself appoints Atoll Chiefs and Island Chiefs. During the elections, he tells his subordinates that he wants you to be elected. This order goes from the top to the bottom of Hameed's administration. At the bottom of this hierarchy are the ordinary people. If any of your brother’s subordinates fail to fulfil their orders, they will lose their jobs and their lives are jeopardised. If an ordinary person refuses to vote for you, that person will be found guilty of not complying with some law. This is how you get support. You said that you have banned political gatherings in Maldives because they frighten people. What a joke! Tell us a decent country where political gatherings do not take place. To be very frank, we are more afraid of your NSS than any meetings. Their torture and harassment cannot be challenged. It is true that Evan Naseem’s case got media and public attention. Tell us how many people like Evan died due to the torture of NSS. How many Maldivians have been disabled due to torture? We did not hear about these other murders and beatings because the parents of those poor victims were not as courageous as Evan’s mother. Remember this is not the only world you will inhabit. There is a judgment day where you have to be accountable for all your sins. Being the commander-in-chief, you are responsible for all NSS actions. You keeping talking about the development of Maldives. Which parts of Maldives have been developed? How much money has Maldives received during your monarchy? How much of that money was spent on the development of Maldives? A large amount was spent on making yourself personally comfortable by buying yourself yachts, building a huge palace, an immense office, your own personal resorts and so on. Little of the money was spent on the country's development; only enough to buy yourself a few votes. In the health sector, the government has built several clinics and hospitals in different atolls and islands. Most of these places lack professional medical practitioners. There is only one well-built hospital in Maldives, which is Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) built with Indian government aid. In reality, IGMH is equivalent to a lower category hospital in neighbouring India. You have built a lot of school-buildings in different islands during your twenty-six years of power. Most of these institutions lack qualified teachers. Only the people in Male’ got some benefit out of these schools. Many schools in the capital provide secondary education, but only recently was higher secondary education allowed in a small number of islands. There is no university in Maldives. Why not? We got independence along with Singapore. You became the president twenty-six years ago. How many universities are there in Singapore? Look at Nepal, Fiji or any other developing country. They have universities! You are afraid that you will lose power if you educate the people. Now let us consider the sports sector. Maldives has been participating in international sports events for the last twenty-five years. How many medals have Maldivians won? After a terrible war, Afghanistan participated in the recent SAARC games and they finished ahead of Maldives. Why? Because in other countries, sports institutions are run by good administrators, and professional trainers are employed. Whereas in Maldives, ministers Zahir Hussain and Ibrahim Manik run everything, and they have no qualifications for the task. You have done everything to protect your personal power. The law is tailor-made to assist you, or you just ignore it. The media is controlled by you and your friends and family. Maldivians are not allowed to criticise you or your government. We have never seen or heard any media in Maldives condemning any act of yours or your government. Does that mean you are perfect? If anybody is against you or your policies, that person has no place in the public sector. That person will be threatened. The most recent example is the detention of Buruma Gasim Ibrahim, Ibrahim Zaki, Mohamed Munavvar and all the others. Their lives are now in danger. Your spokesman said there are no political prisoners in Maldive jails. What about the Sandhaanu publishers, and Mohamed 'Anni' Nasheed and Naushad Waheed? There are many more as you well know. We know that you found Anni guilty of robbery, but that was just a political game. We urge the earliest release of all the political prisoners. We need them and their services much more than we need you and your family.
We have lost all our faith in you. We are fed up with all your lies. One day you will say that we are free to talk and the next day you issue a search warrant against the people who actually use that freedom. You said your wife's brother Ilyas Ibrahim was a thief, and then you appointed him as an influential minister. You say you will limit the terms of a president, and then you run for the next presidential election. Regarding the shootings in Maafushi jail in September 2003, you said 'The NSS shot into the air, into space, into the void...', but in reality NSS people shot dead innocent and unarmed people without even warning them. Your lies go on and on. We want you to allow the constitutional changes in a peaceful manner. We want you to step down or face the consequences. Thank you for your service and we wish you good luck. Now there are lot of educated and capable people to lead the country. Give them their chance to show us their capabilities. Then we will know the difference between you and them. If you continue your kind of politics, Maldives will be unstable and its people will be in a turmoil. Our tourism industry, the bread of every Maldivian, will be in a critical situation. If you fail to take action right now, and we get you before your death, we will put you on trial under the Maldive judicial system for all your crimes. Concerned Graduates from Maldives |
Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldive cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
Contributions and comments - mc_editors@hotmail.com
