The calls for freedom, rights and democracy that resonated throughout the country still linger on in my ears. The calls were not in vain. The elusive freedom that we sought for years did finally come to this country. And so did democracy and a lot of our fundamental rights. We have a democratically elected president in office. The government machinery and the institutions, albeit slowly, are being forced to wakeup to the new realities. And today, we are probably one of the freest people among the developing countries.
One thing that struck me over the last week or so is that in practicing our new found freedoms and rights, our people seem to be going a little overboard, a little too early. While people from Maduvvaree , Maaivadhoo, vashafaru , Madaveli , Fiyori and a whole lot of other islands were exercising their ‘freedoms’ in their islands, presumably in an attempt to vent out their pent-up frustrations over lack of public infrastructure, two of our state ministers State Minister Shafeeg and State Minister Shahid had to change gear to riot control mode in Male. Just two week ago our new housing Minister Aslam had a taste of public outrage when he visited his native island Faresmadhoda.
As an average Maldivian who has for so long yearned for freedom, rights and democracy, I can’t help asking where our new found democracy and freedoms are taking us. I don’t know any more than the Yahuya Average of this country does about freedom and democracy but I think these virtues are by no means an end in themselves, but a means to an end; and that end, I presume, is the collective happiness and well-being of the society. And I have serious doubts on whether we are heading towards this end. Just as when the country, for the first time in the living memory of 80 percent of its people, gave the power to individual people to influence the political direction of this country through the virtue of democracy, there seem to be quite a lot of things not quite alright. After all it has only been less than 60 days since President Nasheed assumed office. Any reasonable person in this country would agree that it would be grossly unfair to blame Nasheed’s government for the things done and not done before the new government took over the reins of power. So, the big question is why the protests? And why are they happening in so many places?
My contention is that there must be something very wrong for all these protests to precipitate so prematurely in so many places. The only possible responses that I can think of are we were either barking up the wrong tree, or we put the cart before the horse.
10 comments:
Naimbe, why did u bother to write this shit? Whats your motivation? You want to show the world you are literate in English language? Or do you honestly think that your writing is going to have any impact on these tuna-brained Maldivian idiots? You are one big moron!
anonymose 9:04 - you are a bigger moron for wasting your time writing the comment. get a life!
Yes, Naimbe, Things are still very wrong simply because we haven't had the time to get things right, yet. Much of what is wrong does not lie with the Executive, but in other institutions. THis is something akin to the Big Bang. In the Big Bang, all the condensed matter in infinite density spread out. In our case, all the condensed power in one person is sprading out, and the power-gravitational grid is still arranging itself. I just hope that when it finally settles itself into equilibrium, it will be a dynamic equilibrium, and the grid will be well balanced. Right now each part of the grid seems to want to attract more than its fair share of power.
Your articles are pristine, clear and well written. Keep it up. I am writing this as a direct response to the doofus who had commented first.
Hi INI... good post
It is not just something that is wrong. Many things are wrong and would go wrong when freedom is given wholesale to people who have never experienced it.
Democracy (in whatever form) was brought on the assumption that there is a demand for it. But democracy is just one part of the package. To me what Maldivians wanted is an efficient and effective government. Democracy and freedom came as a part of the accessories in the package.
This is not to say that we don't want them. Ofcourse they are what we are looking for but we need to make the government working properly first and foremost.
At present this does not seem to be the case, although the efforts of the administration should be applauded.
The way things are going, democracy and freedom could lead to chaos. I would not be surprised if the same people who have advocated democracy start acting against it very shortly.
Cart before the horse? I tend to agree there. Without a solid platform of governance (a good administration), democracy would be useless....
BTW, I agree that I am moron for writing this... its pointless to talk against herd mentality.
anonymous 3:49 is really on the money on this one.
http://maldiveseconomist.blogspot.com/2009/01/economics-of-corruption.html -> why did u bother to write this shit? Whats your motivation? You want to show the world you are literate in English language? Or do you honestly think that your writing is going to have any impact on these tuna-brained Maldivian idiots? You are one big moron!
Naimbe, human beings are an impatient lot. They want to see things done overnight.
I agree that it is unfair expecting the Anni government to correct mistakes in just 60 days. But perhaps people are protesting so soon due to anxiety resulting from a false perception created by some major mistakes that the Anni government is making at this point and maybe people are becoming afraid that they might be on the loosing end if they don't act now.
What a great web log. I spend hours on the net reading blogs, about tons of various subjects. I have to first of all give praise to whoever created your theme and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and honestly you got it. The combining of demonstrative and upper-class content is by all odds super rare with the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace.
Post a Comment