I’ve never been a supporter of Maumoon. Don’t think I ever will be. People talk about all the ‘good’ that he has done. I fail to see any good that has come out of population centralization and development just to suite his needs. I fail to see the pure goodness in a man who tortured countless men and women in the prisons, the accounts of which they tell even today. Some of them are bedridden, some have been driven mad by what was done to them, some have already left this world and NONE have gotten justice for the crime of disbelieving in his governance and the way he clung onto power using the kuda kaafu bodu kaafu tactics (a small tick if voting “no” to Maumoon & a larger tick if voting “yes”). Yet, once again, people seem to have forgotten the long hard battle that a few brave people fought in order to ensure the freedom that we ALL enjoy today. A freedom that seems to be fading into the horizon as we look on with the man in power today.

Yes, President Yameen doesn’t do anything in contradiction to the Constitution aka Qaanoon Asaasee (QA). Why? Because he has his minions in place at the parliament to do his bidding, to amend the QA to suite his agenda. The shameless manner in which Yameen flaunts Ali Hameed in our faces, the Supreme Court justice whose nether regions most Maldivians have seen in the pornographic video that was released 2013 should serve as enough evidence to show us that when it comes to the sentiments of the people, Yameen hardly gives a damn.

And then there’s former President Mohamed Nasheed. Everyone accuses him of one thing or the other. He’s anti-islamic, he’s an alcoholic, he’s a cult leader with ties to those promoting secularism in the country. And yet, no one, except perhaps Judge Abdulla Mohamed, a corrupt and vile judge sitting as the head of the Criminal Court even today can say that Nasheed was a ruthless torturer when he was in power. I still believe people like Abdulla Mohamed are the ones that belong in jail. If you fail to see that, well good luck with that.

Regardless of what took place on the 7th of February 2012, which I still believe was a coup, Nasheed resigned. Selfless or not that was what he did. I wonder how Maumoon or Yameen would’ve reacted under the same circumstances. Wouldn’t be pretty in my opinion. Javvah, vayah, fazaa ah, the events that followed the brutal death of Evan Naseem in prison tells its own story. From the current crop of political ‘leaders’, I still believe that Nasheed is the only man who is the least violent & capable of working with the enemy if need be. Which is exactly what is happening even if it makes me want to crawl inward and hide in a corner.

Do I agree with what he’s doing? No. I don’t believe that toppling an elected government is the way to proceed. But in the light of the report published by the Committee of National Inquiry (CoNI) that was established to investigate the transfer of power that took place on February 7th 2012, a coup d’état seems to be legal if there’s the weight of a revolutionary movement behind it. Anyone who has read the CoNI report would know exactly what I’m talking about.

Do I agree with the alliance Nasheed has made with Qasim, the man who allegedly funded the 7th Feb coup? Oh hell no! I believe we, the people who voted for a change in government in 2008 should get justice for the way our leader was toppled from power. The alliance makes that an impossibility now.

Do I agree that the previous Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim (currently imprisoned) and former Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz, now the Parliament Member that represents Thaa Kin’bidhoo constituency, have now been cleansed of their involvement in the coup? No, no and no! I believe they were the key instruments utlized by the leaders of the coup, who are in power today. But the picture being painted of those very people as heroes today makes it abundantly clear that once again, we will fail to get justice where it’s essential to be delivered for the future of this country embroiled in political turmoil.

While I believe in equality and justice, and that the likes of even the most heinous criminals like Bashar Al-Assad should get a free and fair trial before being convicted & sentenced for their crimes, I vehemently disagree that being jailed even under even ‘false’ allegations requires that we give them our sympathy. Yet, we see a total reversal of the politics that was in play after 2012 February.

I wonder at where we are headed & whether we’d ever reach a safe harbor that’d deliver a peaceful & prosperous country to the future generations. Or I wonder if we would just perish along the way due to the clash of ideologies that govern our thinking; arresting a corrupt judge whose crimes are far greater in the eyes of Allah is considered a far more grievous crime than getting the country rid of the men who have ripped us all off & continue to do so and have ensured that none of us will be given our due rights while they are the ones in control is telling in itself. I guess the ones who survive what’s to come will live to tell the tale. And as it’s the way of the world, time alone will tell. May Allah help us all.