Terrorism taking its roots in to our soil

The news of the capture of a group of armed Maldivians near the Pakistan- Afghan border was shocking and I was dismayed by this news. It reminded me of a boy who was sponsored by a certain group believed to be the “DOT” who went to study in Pakistan. Sadly after 2 years the family was informed that he died as a martyr. By eaves dropping these neighbors of mine I came to know that the boy was actually taken to a battle field in Afghanistan and was recruited by the DOT gang. The poor parents of this boy were naïve in believing the DOTs who had a cruel intention of recruiting such boys and getting heaps of money from the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists harboring in Afghanistan. The sad thing was this incidence was never even reported to police as the family was brainwashed that their child died as a martyr and they should be happy. I spoke about this incidence to some of my friends who know the boy. However we came to a conclusion that if the family was not willing to inform this incidence to police, we cannot help them at all.
This is the tragedy faced by many poor islanders, who are naïve and unaware of the atrocities of the DOTs. Hence I think it’s time that our police establish a counter terrorism unit and bring these criminals to justice. I believe it’s a form of slavery and the most heinous crime one can make by taking away the children of the poor families, promising to provide them with better education. It is also high time that we stop educating our children from the fundamentalist Madhrasas in Pakistan. I’m sure the education they get is nothing but abuse of Islam and brain washing to take part in their version of “Jihaadh” which true Muslims never believe.
The stand taken by our Islamic Affairs Ministry on this issue was very straightforward and they are totally against this kind of Jihaadh. Our well learned Mnister Dr Majeed said there is nothing in Islam which encourages you to go to these places and fight by the name of Jihaadh. He stressed that caring about the family and embracing your responsibilities to the nation is a much more worthwhile Jihaadh than taking part in this terrorist activities.
Hence our public and our society must be educated on the cunning atrocities of DOTs and their heinous crimes against the human rights.

carbon neutral dream

"Carbon Neutral" has been buzzing in the Maldives, ever since the “age of the stupid" premiere. The government has recently employed an envoy for climate change and also inaugurated a council to advise the president on climate change issues. Instead of the tail wagging the dog, the dog has started wagging the tail with regard to climate change issues. After all climate change is a global issue which needs to be addressed at a local level as well. The inauguration of this council is a way forward as most of the world leaders have taken climate change advisors on board.

The council indeed has a wide array of professionals who are experts on the issues of climate change and sustainable development. I would like to see this council starting to plan our development so that our communities and their livelihoods become more resilient and resistant in the face of climate change. When I visited the islands impacted by coastal erosion and flooding due to swells, the most striking thing was the poor design of infrastructure in the islands and the poor planning. This is something which needs immediate attention as we are experiencing more and more unprecedented weather extremes. To help build better residential homes which can cope with such frequent and unprecedented events we need to provide incentives to the local community to build their homes in a more resilient manner. Just having a building code will not suffice as the costs involved is a far too bigger burden for ordinary islanders. Hence better loan schemes for home building and subsidies on certain building materials can help the island communities to be better prepared. Meanwhile to combat water and food shortages as well as other major social impacts on local communities due to the weather extremes, we need to carry out social impact assessments. We also need to allocate funds to combat disasters and need to review our preparedness.

The recent water shortage in the islands is just an alarm bell from this ticking clock. It shows that we have an uncertain future and how much we need to do for future. Becoming carbon neutral without addressing these issues would be a green wash. The local communities need to build a resilient and resistant livelihood before we begin a cleaner development approach. Perhaps this could be the beginning for us.

I wish we begin with a better legal framework and incentives based approach to address climate change issues and its impacts, before we move to a carbon neutral scheme.

Time to say sorry

The expresident of Maldives should be acknowledged for his wise decision to hand over pwer to the democratically elected president. However it is his duty as a peace loving man to respect the constitution and election results. Additionally he had no choice as the people clearly showed they need a change.
However he should publicly say sorry to all citizens of Maldives before leaving the post. For all the pain and grief caused to the people and families due to the unlawful shooting in Maafushi Jail. For all the political prisoners and the way they were treated you should say sorry. For all the money stolen by your friends and cronies and those which you gave them for free on the expense of us, you should say sorry. For not doing enough to bridge the gap between rich and poor you should say sorry.
I really wish the expresident say sorry for every crime and and every atrocity which happenend in his regin whether its intentional or unintentional. Dear expresident if you do so people will forgive you and if people forgive you ALLAH almighty will forgive you. It will also help you to rest in peace and live happiliy ever after. You should make your last speech as a president to ask forgiveness from people and to get the love and respect from the people.

A real HERO is dead

I was deeply saddened this morning to hear about the death of the 15year old Shaneed. He is a real hero who died so young but believed in something lot of Maldivians never did. He believed in change and he fought for it. I wonder what went on in his little mind. What dreams he had of this Maldives which was reborn yesterday. What dreams he had for his future and his country. Sadly he died without seeing it but he has given us a legacy. A legacy of believing in ourselves, having faith in ourselves and never to give up in our cause was what he left us. I wish this will be the last brutal death we would see in our beloved nation. Let this hero be given what he deserves and pray that ALLAH almighty grant him paradise. Let us all vow not to repeat the mistakes and continue our lives peacefully. I will always remember you as my HERO, who fought for us, our country and for the change we wanted.

There will be no more tears in heaven

The Maldives was awakened to a new dawn of hope and prosperity today. Thanks to all those who made this possible thorugh lots of sacrifices and may ALLAH Almighty bless us with prosperity and jsutice and grant us happiness and freedom.
All the years of sufferings and injustice to the poor people is over. I prayed and believed in it and the collective efficacy of the National Alliance has made this possible today. We should now start with a new begining and digout all the roots of evil from our soil. Those corupted and dishonest senior government officials shold be immediatley removed from their posts and those who are committed and serving loyally has to be acknowledged. I wish and hope that justice be brought and we have a free society.
we have awaken ourselves from the long ignorant and intoxicated sleep that we were put down by the dictator. We all should embrace this change and go ahead.
"wahthan edhey gothah"

My paradise is crying for a change

My beloved paradise
My beloved Maldives

Your the paradise on earth,
But only for your ruling dictator and his cronies

I was born on to the bosom of your white sandy beaches,
surrounded by clear blue waters,
shaded by the tall lush palms

Alas! you couldnt quench my thirst
as the breast I suckled werent nourished

I couldnt get my vitamins as the fruits and vegetables were not affordable
I got my vaccines but even a minor fevr from an infection could not be cured,
as there is no proper health facility except the shamans

I couldnt get a good primary education as my school had no resources and trained teachers
I was forced to leave my family and friends and go another island for good education
Then I got something better than the rest of my friends in my island

But I lost half of my classmates because of the drug and violence
Some of them died in blood baths of gang violence
Your beaches get washed with heroin and hashis more than the coconuts

I lived like a refugee in a refugee camp in the so called developed capital of yours
There is no dignity, nor respect for a decent human being in the conditions there

When I finshed my school there was no university for me to do my higher studies
and when I returned to live in my island it was polluted socially and materially
there was no safe drinking water, nor a sewerage system and no job for me

came back to the garden of eden filled with concrete for a job,
the job i got was not enough to pay rent and to live a decent life.
I wish I was the fisherman I was born to be,
But I even lost the very identity of mine

All my life Im struggling to live in you
Oh my paradise where art thou?
How come are you my paradise?

Desperate decisions leading to more desperation

The 30 year old regime in Maldives has continued its deception and still are doing so. Over the years the nation has not seen much development as it ought to have. Yet the failed policies continue and the viosionaries keep on dreaming. While many developing nations are heading for sustainable development we are going backwards and our politicians are doing everything against the sustainable development principles. According to the 1987 Bruntland report sustainable development is "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. We all know the political agenda of the regime has flavoured their decpetion tactics with 2 unachievable visions, i.e population consolidation and mass tourism development. If we look at the 2 terms, growth and development, growth is mostly a quantitative change while development is a qualitative change. Because of high dependency on tourism and lack of natural reosurces we need to develop the tourism sector for the benefit of people. Because of disparity and difficulties and unfeasible economic nature of transport and develpoment in many small islands we need to focus on population consolidation. However the way these things are done currently by the regime undermines the public consensus and the awareness of public on these issues. Since the government has been ruled as a family buisness solely to make profit and to fatten the coffers of "Endheri" and "Kaaminee" clan the whole government and the government revenue is used for profit making. This has undermined the public and the desperations of public has turned in to frustrations. To soothe and calm the public tourism is brought to all corners of the country, undermining the essence of development i.e "More does not mean good". "The complexity of human-ecological systems, and the limitations in our current state of knowledge of the dynamics of these systems, make it hard to predict precisely where critical thresholds lie" (Global Environment Outlook, GEO4). This statement is very true and the vargaries associated with the current policy to develop resorts in the lagoons of some islands by reclamation and population consolidation should be taken cutiously. If there is anything like precautionery principle this is where we need to employ it. Our tourism is dependent on sand, surf and seas and the reefs and the values to which this tourism exist will be cannibalaised by this kind of tourism dvelpment. As more tourists are becoming environmentally conscious and seeking more green tourism, such artificial conditions will upset the current markets. However the "well learned people"believe over time such artificial sand beds will transform into natural islands and again is envisioned by illusions. Currently over 80% of our islands are facing threats of climate change and erosion is a major issue. Hence changing the dynamics of coastal and marine systems for such develpments will surely hamper the worsening conditions. However the magic word EIA is now used as an excuse for each and everything from not providing or not doing to overdoing and over exploitation. Hence or other wise we need to look at concerns of MATI and the government needs to to oblige in sustainable development and resource conservation, as well as environmental protection and maintenance of biological diversity.