This is a post that I have been meaning to write for quite a while. But I kept on hesitating for a lot of reasons. For one thing, its a sensitive subject in many ways. After all I am about to talk on the case of sexual harassment that was filed against the Chair of the Civil Service Commission Mr. Mohamed Fahmy Hassan during June last year. Furthermore, I am an employee of the said commission, which made it difficult for me to come out and say all that I wanted to say without “violating” any unwritten rules there might exist. And then there’s the point that this is an issue that deals with a colleague of mine who was so very brave in standing up for her rights from the many women who have faced similar situations of sexual harassment but never having had the sort of support required to come out, had stayed silent all throughout the years; a topic that is still brushed under the carpet most of the time. And then there’s the part of me that believed in the due process taking care of Fahmy, him being voted out in a no confidence motion against him which indeed did happen, but then I guess I should have known better than to believe in a system that has failed on us on so many levels.

I believe that I coincidentally got “involved” in this situation because the Almighty wanted someone whose conscience wouldn’t let her stay silent on this as many seem content to do so. The big fish i.e. the political figures at the forefront are more concerned with the political gain this situation would bring their way or the loss they would face if Fahmy were to be removed from the position of CSC Chair because it would mean power lost at the Judicial Service Commission itself. On top of that Maldivians are a bunch who have become desensitized in so many ways that it just shakes me to my very core to learn about some of the very pressing social issues that this country faces, many of which go unaddressed which is going to be the reason for the imminent collapse of this nation as a whole.

Though I’ve heard many accounts from my fellow colleagues of incidences where Fahmy has more than acted inappropriately towards them, its not my story to tell. Since I don’t hold any power over any of them coming forward with their stories, which I believe if they had or do even now would have changed this whole scenario from what it is right now, i.e. Fahmy finding it so easy to return back to work as he pleases even after being voted out by the Parliament twice. I am not going to talk about those incidences but rather the one “small” incident that marked him in mind as a man unfit to be in a position as such, a position that oversees the rights of around 20+ thousand employees of this country.

It was in the year 2008, when members were first appointed to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and discussions were being held at different levels between the Public Service Division (PSD) of The President’s Office where I worked back then and the newly formed CSC under the Civil Service Act. That day was actually the very first day that I met Mr. Fahmy, who back then was just a member of the Commission. Since myself and a Director General were the focal points assigned to streamline the process of transferring the designated tasks from the PSD to CSC; I found myself at this meeting with Mr. Fahmy sitting right next to me.

I will deviate now into a little history lesson where I am concerned, just to lay out the background of my career. I was employed at the PSD in the year 2001 and went off for my higher studies in 2002. After returning to work in 2006, I had been working for around 2-3 years in the government by the time this meeting was to happen. Even then, verbal sexual harassment was commonplace, most people I don’t think even realized what they were doing because simply put there were no regulations or laws in place that protects an employee from any such incidences that they might encounter. Nevertheless, I had never been on the receiving end of such remarks from any of my coworkers, mainly maybe because I am someone who tends to keep to myself. The point that I want to drive home is that up until then I had never found myself in a situation even remotely like the incident that took place in that meeting. There was this point where everyone was fake laughing as if one of the members present at the meeting had just revealed the most hilarious joke in history and Fahmy while laughing, casually placed his left hand on my thigh as we were sitting right next to each other.

Maybe because my brain didn’t register at that moment what had actually taken place, I didn’t say anything then. It wasn’t until we walked out of the meeting and the Director General who was with me remarked angrily on Fahmy’s behavior that I realized what had happened. For those who think that, “Oh bullocks! It was just your thigh; what does it even matter? I’m sure it must have happened by accident.” etc. etc. the point that is of importance here is the fact that 1- he is a member of CSC, 2- there is no need for any form of inappropriate touching on anyone’s body part at work, and I am not talking about two people who get touchy-feely because they want to and out of mutual consent and 3- yes, it was way out of line and completely inappropriate. If the point of working in a mixed environment is to fall laughing into the lap of every employee of the opposite sex that sits next to you; oh well, then we would be better off with engaging in an orgy than turning up at work.

From that day onwards, I have always been leery of Fahmy; someone who cracks jokes that doesn’t bring a smile out of me because most of the time it is sexist in one way or the other and mostly I just had an inherent distrust for the man himself. I am certain some people are going to be clearly pissed off at me for writing this but then, high time don’t you think?

When the incident that propelled Parliament to take action against Fahmy happened, it was again by accident that I found myself entering the toilet where I found my colleague on the phone, crying. This was right after THE incident had happened in which Fahmy had caressed her tummy and commented on her body weight, which is yes again, highly inappropriate and wrong on so many levels. Since I wasn’t someone that close to her, I didn’t stop and ask her why she was crying, mainly because I had the feeling that she’d rather I didn’t at that moment. But I did later message a mutual friend of ours who said that something had happened and that she had gone home. I didn’t let it bother me overly much until I began to see Facebook statuses from some of my colleagues, most of them seething with anger and disgust, some of whom had been on the receiving end of such ‘tender’ unwanted affection from him. It didn’t take long for me to put two and two together and come up with what had happened which was soon revealed to the whole country; a case that in my opinion was a long time coming.

Ever since I was summoned to the Independent Institutions Committee of the Parliament regarding this issue because my name appeared in the timeline of events that took place that day, I have never looked back. My family and especially my father advised me that standing up for what’s right can never be wrong and that’s where I always find my source of strength whenever I find myself in despair over how casually people treat this incident and whether I should be worried about the fact that I cannot let this go. I was appalled at the level of apathy that most of the colleagues displayed. Some were disgusted because the one who stood up was ruining CSC’s image, others were of the mindset that she shouldn’t have made such a HUGE fuss and then there were those who thought and still thinks that Fahmy sports two wings and a halo over his head.

I was summoned to the Maldives Police Service as well as the Human Rights Commission (HRCM) to provide testimonies on what had happened, the HRCM being the agency that actually did the most thorough interviews to-date after being “harassed” by reporters as to why their investigation was being stalled for so long. They collected so many testimonies from different employees and thus it was a slap on the face to read their decision that there investigation hadn’t been enough to prove or disprove that the incident in question had happened; and this too rather helpfully right before the Parliament was to vote Fahmy out after giving him a grace period in which to resign and exit without making a fuss. But as the events that unfolded have shown, he didn’t, not surprising when he actually doesn’t believe that he did anything wrong!

November 20, 2012 was a day that I was proud of the members of the Parliament, a rare enough occurrence that deserves a mention. PPM was the only party that voted against the motion; not surprising when Fahmy is one of the founding members of the People’s Alliance registered as a political party on August 4, 2008, whose former leader is Abdulla Yameen, PPM’s current Presidential candidate. If you ask me, Fahmy deserves a thousand times worse than being voted out of his position for abusing his position of authority a million times over. If someone were to really probe into what happened; even write an investigative journalistic piece on him, they would find a lot of details that would really put this whole nation staying silent on this issue to shame. The relief felt by that those who believed he had done something wrong was short-lived as the tables once again turned around when on March 18, 2013, the Supreme Court totally proved themselves to be the hypocritical bunch they are and overturned the case of Parliament’s dismissal of the Chair of CSC. Thus began the “war” between the Parliament and the Supreme Court of the country. March 23, 2013 saw Fahmy resume office and later, on April 10, 2013, Fahmy was again voted out, this time the Parliament voting to replace Fahmy as a member of CSC. The bitch slap in the face was to hear that he had resumed coming to work again last week, a news that brought to home just how utterly shameless he really is.

So today, out of my frustration with everyone who was keeping silent and furthermore rallying behind him, for the very first time in my life, I joined the May Day rally (this is the first rally/protest that I have ever joined ever) which was organized by MDP. The last push needed came mainly with the news that the walk organized by CSC to commemorate CS day which coincides with Labor Day was led by Fahmy himself, a walk that was supposedly about the rights of the civil servants of this country. But what better way to mock the rights of the said employees than to let a man like himself lead the rally? But alas, no one seems that bothered about “trivial” issues such as this one. And whether you believe in coincidences or not, I was the one who ended up holding up the placard that says “Fahumy…OUT” (that’s a shot of myself holding the banner right after the rally ended) which if you think about it, is funny in one sense and then again exactly the point I want to drive across. The disappointing factor about the rally was that there was no chance to really vocally call out for his resignation and I think the rally was more focused on the upcoming elections than about labor rights apart from the short speeches that were delivered at the end. In the end I had to satisfy myself with the fact that at least MDP’s rally provided me with an opportunity to become more proactive in a cause that I believe in and helped me at least put the message across to those who have already forgotten.

Consequences for writing this post and participating in the rally is something I anticipate, but if anyone were to take steps against me because I stood up for something I believe in and wrote about the truth and nothing but the truth here, then Fahmy ought to go first. I’m willing to walk away from the position I hold at CSC because its an utter disappointment to work with people who actually have no qualms about him returning to work and resuming office like nothing ever happened. Its as if he went on a short leave of absence and returned to work. It shamed me to see my colleagues walk behind him and rally behind him today, holding up banners that called out for the rights of civil servants. But then again, I guess I shouldn’t expect a desensitized society to really care about the other person and truly empathize, because after all we are the people who would rather watch on a person being beaten to death than move in to help. We are after all the society that kept looking while police brutality rained down from left and right. Says it all doesn’t it?

If women want equal rights at the workplace and to be able to report to work without the fear of falling prey to some perverted male employee who isn’t getting enough; then its time to become proactive. I’m glad that MP Rozaina has put forward the Sexual Harassment Bill which is a direct effect of what happened with Fahmy playing peekaboo with the Parliament’s decision. I call out on women to stand up for your rights. Do what’s right. Doing what’s right now means you ensure the security and future of your own children who would tomorrow lead this nation. Nightmares wouldn’t be the only thing that would visit you when your own child grows up and walks out into a world filled with sexual predators left unchecked; and that’s the legacy you would leave behind if you don’t act now. If no one acts now, whatever leverage that we have on this issue will just disappear into thin air, never to be seen or heard of ever again.

Where were you Sheikhs

When Maumoon raped this country for 30 years & used religion as a political tool for his gain

Why weren’t your voices resonating with authority

When Islam teachers refused to talk about religion as it should have been because they had been ordered not to

Why were you silent and turned a blind eye

When all the atrocities continued to happen in this country & people started to stray towards a ‘version’ of Islam that suites them

Where were you Sheikhs

When people were imprisoned & tortured for no reason other than speaking their minds

Where were you Sheikhs

When the father who wanted his daughter to be able to wear Hijab at school got sent to prison for his advocation

Why are you always so selective in your condemnation

When it is your duty to see, hear & address all issues in the society

Where were you Sheikhs

When men who sported beards were jailed, shaved off & plastered with chili sauce for acting as per the Prophet’s Sunnah

Where were you Sheikhs

When Maumoon denied what is in the Quran & spoke of the Hijab as something that is not necessary

Oh, & where were you Sheikhs

When the whole country has & is being stripped bare of its justice system; when justice is being served to the highest bidder

Where were you Sheikhs

When corrupt & incompetent Judges continue to reside in our Courts & ensure Justice is always delayed

Where were you Sheikhs

When hate mongering is what was & is being carried out in the name of media freedom in the country

Where were you Sheikhs

When society is being divided in half & everyone believes themselves to be the righteous & on the path to Paradise

Where were you Sheikhs

When the Police & the Military toppled an elected government & invoked the Almighty’s name while celebrating

Where were your voices

When a young child who was systematically raped by her stepfather gave birth & is to be flogged for the act of premarital sex

Where were you Sheikhs

When radicalism began to take root on this soil & is continuing to fester unchecked

Are you all deaf, dumb & blind

When religion is being used as a political tool & self righteousness continues to grow amok in this society

When are you going to stand up & do your duty to the people & this country

When are you going to have your say & guide people to the right way

When are you going to have the guts to talk about the injustices that happen right in front of your eyes

When are you going to preach religion for its sake & not for any other gain & because that’s whats your duty is as a scholar of Islam

When are you going to face the truth & realize that this country is moving towards ruin & if you don’t step forward now

Shit is going to hit the fan & then no amount of self righteousness on your part is going to save this country & its people

Our very “capable” Finance Minister Mr. Abdulla Jihad warns that more stringent and stricter measures may need to be taken since, wait for it…. there is no money to spend on the citizens of this country. What a surprise huh? You never saw this coming? Oh well..

After spending more than half the chunk of the budget on the Police and the armed forces, what’s the point of even talking about this? All development projects that were started have been halted for one reason or the other but firework displays for Maldivian Police Service’s anniversary took place in full swing. Dr. Jameel laid down the foundation for flats and office complexes for the very “needy” Police service that we have here. And I think the rest of the budget should be very wisely utilized to buy and distribute toys and sweets amongst the police force who made this “change” possible on February 7, 2012.

This news piece brings to mind how Jihad used to mock and take that self righteous stance criticizing each and every financial policy that was put forth by the previous government. Apparently, the genius in financial matters turns out to be an inept man who is just taking us to the point of no return when it comes to financial woes. But who cares eh?

It was last week Mr. Fazeel Najeeb, the MMA governor said that the financial situation is not “that worrying”. When should we actually start worrying? When we are left with nothing to eat and when all our bank balances run dry and we have to run after the politicians who actually brought this ruin down upon us?

Where is Dr. Waheed, the self appointed President of this country? While he is mourning the fact that a parent refused to allow his child to shake hands with him (more people should do this in fact) the whole country is in an utter mess. But who cares huh? As long as he and Madam Ilham sports matching profile pictures up on Twitter, who cares about little things like the need to keep a country running for which finances are required?

Right now, I would love nothing more than to go and shove each and every one of Jihad’s self righteous remarks up where it would hurt the most. And yes, I am serious.

A question that Nasheed answered during a Q&A session while in Denmark recently has become a topic of much controversy, of course stirred by none other than those who are so “moved” by Islam that they cannot or are not willing to understand the fact that extremism is not the version of Islam that Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) has preached and left behind as a legacy to all of us to be blessed with Allah’s love and good things in the Hereafter.

It was a tweet by Mr. Bushry, the former editor of Monday Times; a man I respected deeply as a journalist and his ability to keep readers interested with his articles (I still remember looking avidly forward to each article that was published back then and I am most certain I have never missed out on reading anything that he published back then) that brought this video link to my attention. Maybe I am just dumb or maybe the version of English language that I understand is not on par with what Bushry and the likes have studied, but what I understood from the video clip was that Nasheed adressed the point of rising extremism as an issue that exists in this country together with many other countries in this region.

Maldives being a “100%” Muslim country, the vulnerability factor here is a just a tad more, which is of course true if you look at what has happened in the past and what is happening even now. If you take into account the direction in which Imran and the lot are trying to move this nation i.e. by preaching their hypocritical version of Islam, extremism & radicalism is what is going to be the end result of this all. And of course if you take a look into the bombing that took place in the Sultan Park together with the Himandhoo issue, both of which came up during Maumoon’s 30 year golden era, one cannot turn their back on such glaringly obvious evidence unless they choose to be blind, which is of course another matter altogether.

What Nasheed said was that a different dialogue that preaches true Islam to the people needs to come out. Which is certainly true because there are very few scholars who actually preach what they practice without sounding like envoys sent from up above to judge people based on their actions and decide then and there who and who are ordained for Paradise and Hell. Nasheed corrected himself after using the term “liberal Islam” saying that a better way to put it would be the “correct version of Islam” and the fact that this dialogue needs to be established is the unvarnished truth. I believe that Nasheed makes a valid argument based on that point. Extremists use and exploit religion to their own advantage. Religion is a means to an end to them, most of them dreaming about the 70 virgins they would be offered the minute they strap explosives on their body and go blow up something killing 1000′s of innocent bystanders in the process. That is not the form of justice that Islam talks about.

Islam is a religion that advocates peace above all else. A just and fair system for its followers and those that do not follow it, a society that can live in harmony, even be it when there is a mix of people who follow different religions. Such is the way of Islam, it is not a religion based on beheading each and everyone that emerges with a different school of thought from yours and it is certainly not about enslaving and brainwashing people into submission. Above everything else Allah SWT has given us free will and that choosing to live the way we do is something He alone can judge and to that there is no question.

Nasheed’s point of extremists using religion to their advantage is valid and the example he took to drive home the point was what seemed to have stirred all this controversy. The example that extremists always have an answer for everything. Even if one cannot sleep at night, they would quote a Hadith and an Ayat from Quran and then the person would go back to sleep again. This is in no way a mockery to any of the teachings in Islam and I cannot find anything blasphemous in nature in what he said. He did not mock Islam, nor did he mock the Sunnah laid out by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Anyone who has a good command of the English language and can THINK for themselves without getting all defensive about their personal hatred towards Nasheed would indeed understand his point.

Me, I’d rather have a leader who sees the problems that exists in this society than bury his head in the sand like an ostrich & goes on to prevent others from seeing and facing the reality of the society that we live in today. Reality is that even the much “revered” Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom himself had agreed to the rising elements of extremism on this soil during conversations he had at the American Embassy based in Sri Lanka as per the documents leaked on WikiLeaks. Truth is extremism if not curbed, if a solution not found, is a ‘virus’ that will continue to breed, multiply and the resultant wound fester beyond control which would result in us reverting back to the dark ages where education is a thing of the past, where women become enslaved and our children grow up to be ignorant in a way that would bring nothing but despair raining down upon us.

For once, stop the hate mongering TV channels and newspapers from feeding those little tidbits into your brain and do the actual thinking for you. For once in your life, STOP and THINK! It just might change how you see things which in turn might pave the way for a better future.

An important point to ponder upon meanwhile is the fact that actions are judged by our intentions. And be it me, you or Nasheed, we would all be judged for our actions, our deeds and the way we have conducted ourselves in the Hereafter. Allah knows best.

To say that empathy is a foreign concept to most Maldivians would not be a lie. It is appalling just how narrow minded even some of my friends are. Politically, I do not care who anyone chooses to vote for. I do not mind whether everyone goes and votes for even the devil himself. I’d question their thinking rationale which made them conclude the devil to be the best choice but then I wouldn’t comment on it.

But what I do have a problem with is people and my friends who refuses to see brutality and injustice when it happens right in front of them. My digestive system has issues and malfunctions when people ridicule what the other person goes through, going so far as to label them cowards in the face of great tyranny and injustice.

February 8th 2012 was one of the worst days of police brutality in the recent Maldivian history. I was appalled at the apathy that some people showed towards the victims of the attacks of the life threatening variety, the picture in my post being one of them. The man depicted in the picture lost three of his fingers to the attack by the police officer (Haveeru reports on this incident one year on), if not for his hand getting in the way, he would certainly have died or would have been rendered into a coma or a vegetative state for the rest of his life. There are people who still think everyone who got beaten up within an inch of their lives that day deserved what they got and had it coming. Enough said.

I have a problem when people root for and become cheerleaders for the bullies instead of condemning the act. And I certainly do have a problem when people judge the other person never knowing what he/she has gone through. Unless you put on their shoes, walk through their life, face the troubling & conflicting times they have had and come out a “winner”, don’t assume that high and mighty attitude and think you are a better person.

Some Maldivians I’m afraid to say, they wouldn’t know injustice until it bitch-slaps them on their face. Or brutality until a baton comes swinging their way. Or the humiliation of being subjected to inhumane  torture until they are stripped of every right and poked with a hot iron rod in their nether regions. Or pinched and groped with every intent of humiliating and dehumanizing the person to a level that would continue to give them nightmares for the rest of their lives.

Point being, these people might differ from you in their political visions and aspirations but that certainly doesn’t make them any less human. You are a human too. At least I think we all are. If not for our ability to think, rationalize, feel and show empathy when and where its due; what other aspect differentiates us from becoming mere animals?

What the Jews are doing to the Palestinians ain’t the only injustice that is happening in this world. Its happening right in this country too. When you open your mouth and condemn what the Jews are doing to the Palestinians and laugh on like a hyena when it happens to someone from whom your political opinion differs; yes, that I have a problem with.

And that ends my mini rant for the day. Thanks to everyone who took the time to “listen”.