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| Saturday, 4 October 2003 |
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Male returns to normal : Gayoom was quick to take action to restore law and order by a Maldives Watcher It has been several days since life in Male', the capital of Maldives has returned to normal after the disturbances of September 19 and 20. The fact that there have been no new incidents since indicates that what happened on those two days were spontaneous following the death of an inmate in Maafushi prison, reportedly due to police brutality. But at the same time, there were signs that the opportunity was grabbed by a few disgruntled anti-government strategists, who successfully managed to mobilise a group of people to try to destroy the Elections Office and the People's Majlis. The President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was quick to take action to restore law and order. His appeal over the national television for calm was well heeded. The subsequent announcement of a curfew also made it difficult for the hoodlums to cause more trouble. The government's handling of the situation was commendable. There were no indiscriminate arrests or detentions, tactics to disperse crowds were used only a couple of times and only when it was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, quite a few in the foreign media have failed to recognize this. The close ties that exist between Sri Lanka and Maldives demand that we, Sri Lankans look at whatever happens in the Maldives in an impartial manner. Since what is good for Maldives will also be good for Sri Lanka. In the phenomenal growth of the tourism industry in Maldives. Sri Lankans have played their part. More than half of the tourists going to Maldives used to fly on SriLankan Air Lines. Even at preset, a significant number of tourists fly on SriLankan and via Colombo. This is in addition to the contribution of the Sri Lankans working in the Maldives itself. Quite a few years ago, a Maldivian cabinet Minister, speaking at an event held to strengthen the existing ties between Sri Lanka and Maldives, acknowledged the importance of the contribution of Sri Lanka to the economic development of the Maldives. Maldives, for its part, also contributes to Sri Lanka's development in ways it can. It was not many years ago that the Maldives granted Sri Lankan to have the fifth freedom nights from Maldives to Far East and Europe, following the destruction of half of its fleet in the bombing at Bandaranaike International Airport. This allowed SriLankan to quickly regain its lost markets in those regions. To me, the political stability in the Maldives has been the major reason for its rapid development. When people are disgruntle with the Government, they are bound to resort to all sorts of tactics to pressure the government. But what is worrying is the fact that they adopt illegal means to try to achieve their ends, when there are perfectly lawful ways to influence the government to seek reforms in areas where needed. That is what is needed, and that is what will appeal mass support of the people. The majority of the people do not wish to adopt violent ways to seek reform. I do not think we should encourage by condoning their action those who see that violence is a means to pursue political objectives. Sri Lankans should realise this better, after decades of civil war, which has killed thousands of people, made thousands of children orphans, retarded our development, and spread poverty nationwide. We should encourage Maldivian people to develop their country peacefully. We should discourage those who seek to destabilise the country in order to achieve their personal political objectives. Let them know that we, Sri Lankans are opposed to any form of violence. We should refrain from doing things that encourage them to harden their positions on moving in such destructive directions. |
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