Why are Maldivians so scared of Gayyoom? Dhivehi Observer

Editorial
Why are Maldivians so scared of Gayyoom?

A.S.I.Moosa (Sappe’), Dhivehi Observer, 28 March 2005

The answer is simple. Gayyoom is a murderer who has killed many Maldivians since he took office in 1978. Gayyoom is a heartless torturer, thousands of Maldivians will testify to that. If anyone says anything against him or any of his policies or his corrupt officials, then you simply get locked up in jail for an indefinite period. You then undergo a transformation of learning to accept the injustices of Gayyoom for the sake of your family and livelihood. That is the idea anyway and many have given up their fight for democracy and freedom after such ordeals but at the same time a handful of people have continued with their campaign and work in spite of such experiences.

Gayyoom is heavily guarded and protected by the police. He achieves this buy giving the police and national security personnel hefty salaries and other benefits such as free healthcare for the whole family, homes or living quarters, cars and motorcycles and above all the ticket to be above the law. Gayyoom’s motto is, “do whatever you want but don’t forget that I am your Boss and you have to protect me, no matter what!”. This principle appears to be dug deep into the minds of several policemen and military personnel. Their oath it seems is all about protection of Gayyoom which according to them is the protection of the State.

Even the private policemen gets nearly Mrf 7000/-, including overtime and other benefits. On top of that health is free for their families as mentioned before, so the police and national security service staff are more affluent and has no worries. In addition to this, the top brass of the police and NSS, which were the same organisation until September 2004, have been groomed well by Gayyoom over the last two decades. And despite several blunders by police chiefs, Gayyoom cannot sack them because Gayyoom knows for a fact that a new appointment will not be a loyal dog like Adam Zahir. Chief of Staff Two-Two Zahir is also in the same boat.

It is human nature that there will be indifferences in the police and NSS ranks. In fact, several officers are very young now and they obviously will think more in line with the aspirations of the people and they will furthermore want to secure their future. Gayyoom is over 70 years of age now, there is a very good chance of him dying of old age naturally and whoever takes over the country after that will not get the kind of loyalty that Gayyoom has from these officers. Maldivians are today very aware of the consequences of a dictator ruling their country and hence there will no room for other dictators to flourish in Maldives. These young officers are moderate and will side with the people when the time comes.

Maldivians are still very scared especially after they witness the events of Black Friday (pro-democracy demonstration on 13^th August 2004) during which Gayyoom’s police beat the unarmed public as if they were animals. People were beaten up even after they were apprehended and they are still finding it hard to stand or walk months after the incident. That is why Maldivians are scared of Gayyoom. Vast majority of Maldivians don’t respect him or support his rule. The fact is that Gayyoom has never had real popular support in Maldives, he wins referendums with one sided campaigns and by arresting and torturing critics. Many Maldivians are scared because according to them there is no telling, Gayyoom might even order to use weapons if people come out onto the streets to demonstrate against his rule and demand his resignation. However, times have changed now and such an order is unlikely now. The world is watching Gayyoom and the pleas of Maldivian people are now on the international agenda. Furthermore, we cannot blame all the police and army for the actions of a rotten few, so we can count on them to protect us in such an incident.