Food For Thought

Facing reality.......

A coup d’état is usually brought about by people who are convinced that they cannot acquire power through democratic means and / or those whose vital interests are mightily threatened without power .

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Time to Think and Act

More than a year since I penned anything on the blog, now. Many a times I have thought of sharing a thought, but somehow I never got around to it. And then…the world collapsed, throwing me into utter despair. The pain was so deep. What I saw happening was so fearful it made me speechless. Thrust into a time machine and in the blink of an eye, we are hurtled back 2 decades. Only thing is we remain two decades older and somewhat wiser than then.

I must admit, it has taken sometime to shake off the weariness and pick up the pen again. But I feel I must. I have to. The least I could do was to try and make some sense of what was happening and to put it out for anyone who cared to read.

The last couple of years had made my conviction stronger, that a change of leadership was insufficient to bring in lasting democracy. Readers of my blog would recall that even before the Presidential Election in 2008, I had been advocating that Qayyoom simply epitomized a system and that it was the system which propagated oppression. What became more apparent was that even though Qayyoom himself was ousted from office in the 2008 election, his tentacles which had been bred over a period of thirty years were strongly rooted in the civil service, in the judiciary, various commissions, in the military and the police force. All these elements were working in concert, first to maintain the system which had served their personal interests so well in pecuniary terms as well as privilege and in some cases impunity, and when change became inevitable, with the bedrock of the old system, the Judiciary, coming under direct threat of being reformed, it was time to pull the coup, before all was lost.

Now that I have recovered somewhat from the blow, and the self pity for seeing what I had worked for and sacrificed all my life going down the drain, I can finally start thinking clearly. I must admit the first few weeks since the coup I felt a rage that I had never experienced in my life, and it was difficult to think rationally and clearly. Rage and clear thoughts don’t see eye to eye, I suppose. Anyway, that phase is gone, and now it is time to fight this tyranny again. It should be done with clarity of thought, a cool head and cold logic which is exacting. The enemy must be sprung with what he is least expecting (Old Chinese war philosophy). The vulnerable spots must be identified (and there will be many, I can assure you).

What is heartening is that a great proportion of the general public does not seem to be accepting this atrocity. Compared to 2004 – 2008, there are less people now to be convinced of what has to happen. It appears that the Maldivian public is no longer prepared to timidly accept a dictatorship. Will we have an election this year? I can see no reason to doubt that this will happen. If the public do not relent, the rest of the world will not simply turn a blind eye. Their engagement looks set to get stronger by the day.

The eternal optimist, I believe that much good also has come out of this. We now know who is who and what is what. This will make it much easier for us to complete the work we have started.

9 comments:

  1. This interesting. Giving a clear picture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Felt the same way. Just dumbfounded that they have the nerve to do such atrocities in broad daylight

    ReplyDelete
  3. compared to years back, we now have less ppl to be convinced of what has to happen, but today we are seeing, more power misuse,
    infact bribing,the security force, under differnt schemes, by their Leaders to sustain theri regime.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is not about Gayyoom. This is about radicalism. Radical Liberalism and radical Islam. This is about alcohol- whether to drink or not.

    This is about an electoral deciding point. It's either Salaf (importing goats) or the Happy Hour brigands (chanting democracy through a Breathalyzer). We decided first to get rid of the bottles of insignia Kenereege first. Then the literal cucumbers.

    Behind the Anni-movement lurks a liquid-evil following. The drinkers are growing in number. We are against extremism you see.

    Good scholar (semi-aussian cum Queens English school teacher), while we respect your ignorance of these matters, and the disillusionment you face in thinking like an ideologues parrot- we regret to inform you that the new charge of this country is an anonymous union. One that is far removed even from Anni or Maumoon or even the Islamists.

    The problem is that when one seeks to justify ones undying support for an ideology or party, one is doing so by being deeply convinced of one's superior thinking or intelligence in deciding to follow that particular party. But the reality is that choice to support one fool at the expense of the other, only indicates how misinformed one chooses to be about the real face of that very party one supports.

    sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Article is not much. Expected more thoughts from you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. while i agree with,share and support your thoughts and viewpoints regarding the coup....

    however i feel i must put across how disappointing your outburst at raalhugandu was.. i had the utmost respect for you and your work and it's gone now. i felt that someone in your position should have handled that a lot better rage or not.

    rage is not an excuse. if that's the case everytime something you did not like happened why not blame it on rage?

    maybe you can find ways to justify it to the public, blame on others, their actions but a dignified man does not take the lower road.

    you sir, are no longer a dignified man!

    i know this comment will probably never hit the blog.. but at least i take comfort in knowing you would have heard the message.

    good luck with your future work for all our sakes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. you know what im tired of your accusations. tell me Ibra. do u have any solid evidence to support that qayyoom was behind the coup. besides your baseless claims what have you to support it?
    What makes you think your side of the story is better than theirs?? atleast what they say is easier to believe. they dont dispute there was a police mutiny.
    the important question here is why was there a police mutiny? was it because them Security forces desperately wanted to bring back Qayyooms regime? Or was it because their commander in chief was making unlawful orders and thereby caused public uprisings and made their lives terrible.
    Ibra, you know youre better than this. though you were appointed as political advisor in the former administration ask yourself this. Is it the RIGHT choice? if it werent for Maria wouldnt you still be in the parliament? didnt Anni choose his close acuqaintance over you? i cant imagine how it would feel to lose 2 elections within 2 years. i know Anni helped you to overcome the hardships you were facing them. but isnt Anni himself the cause of it?
    You dont owe anything to anybody. Anni didnt do you a favour, it was just a political decision he needed.
    All im asking you is given the fact that you know the truth behind Annis resignation please ensure yuo speak the truth or keep silent. Anni couldnt do it. he failed. he failed you. he failed me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @medo:Firstly, I believe I have the capacity to take criticism. So, your comment will "hit the blog"! The only comments which will not "hit the blog" are outlined in the comment policy.

    In reply to your disappointment in me...well I don't get into a rage every other day. But once in 50 years....is OK. I suppose it proves I am human after all. I know that many expect me to be devolved from human traits such as anger, sadness, happiness and so on...bit I am not. I am just as human as you are, with all its vulnerabilities. It is just that I am able to contain emotions in public most of the time, more than many other people.

    If one "outburst" negates 25 years of work and discipline, then so be it. You, see, I am not seeking anyone's approval. As for dignity, how can I, just one individual, hang on to it, when the whole nation has been robbed of it?

    Don't worry. I will keep on doing what I have to, in the best way I can. Not for you or anyone else, but because I believe in it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ sincere stranger : Thanks for the sincerity. The point is, for whatever reason, the police and MNDF mutinied. And that is wrong. We can't have the police and MNDF mutinying and overthrowing governments every time they are unhappy.

    Yes, the proof is there in plenty about the details of this coup. They will come out at the right time. The substance of my post is not the organizers of the coup. I was just putting out my thoughts on the wider issues surrounding the coup. I would like to hear you dispute any one the arguments I have put forward with a counter argument or a counter explanation for the coup.

    When you stand up for election, there is always the possibility of losing. But the fact is, you have not lost an election because you have not stood for elections. My losing elections have nothing to do with any particular person. The people voted, and the people decided.

    True, I don't owe anyone anything. And nobody owes me anything ( in a figurative sense). I take pride in my independence. I support the protest against the coup because I don't subscribe to coups. I like my President to be elected by the people. Even if Qayyoom got elected again in a free and fair election, I will respect the choice of the people, but I will try my darned best to have him voted out in the following election.

    "Anni helped to overcome your hardships"? How? You shouldn't go around repeating everything that you hear. Check out the facts. For the record, Anni, during his term in office, has never done anything for me personally through the government mechanism, and I never asked for personal favours.

    I am speaking about Anni's resignation because I know the truth. And I am speaking the truth.

    ReplyDelete