Category Archives: Politicking

Discuss various issues regarding my political views and beliefs, related to the Maldives & other countries

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June 27, 2015

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RIP The Maldivian Opposition

Vice President Dr. Jameel (Source: Internet)

Vice President Dr. Jameel (Source: Internet)

I’d be the furthest thing from being a fan of the current Vice President Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed. His arrogance, the hate pamphlet that he produced to undermine Nasheed’s presidency etc. are huge factors contributing towards my avid dislike for him. Bashing Jameel is quite the thing. He makes it easy. By being him. But right now, what I don’t understand is the need to undermine him as the Vice President, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and its supporters joining hands with hat of the ruling party, Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) & its ally Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) to lay the “groundwork” that would oust him from his position.

This brings to the mind the episode in which MDP wanted to oust the previous Prosecutor (PG) General Muizzu from his position back in 2012 for whatever reasons. Muizzu resigned without giving MDP the satisfaction. The ‘devil’ that came to replace Muizzu has become the instrument that has been playing to every tune of the current regime, prosecuting everyone left and right with charges of terrorism, even the revered President of MDP President Mohamed Nasheed himself, who was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, currently transferred to house arrest while some obnubilate deal goes through with the government. Ah. How ‘lovely’ is it when these obscure ‘ha kulhi kuriah’ (six steps ahead) maneuvers tends to blow up in MDP’s face. Point; MDP never seems to learn.

Vice President to-be, current Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb, lesser evil? (Source: Haveeru)

Vice President to-be, current Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb, lesser evil? (Source: Haveeru)

This time, it’s the case of Dr. Jameel vs Ahmed Adeeb, the tourism minister of the current regime. Unlike last time with the PG, MDP knows PPM’s game plan. That Adeeb would be the one that would be the most likely to replace Jameel. With all of Jameel’s faults, and those are numerous if you ask me, I still don’t see how Adeeb is a better catch compared to Jameel.

Adeeb did as much and was as damaging to Nasheed’s presidency before the Feb 7th coup. One has only got to bring to the mind the anti GST campaign Adeeb launched in 2011, one of the many efforts to cripple Nasheed’s government. Coming to the present, the vast allegations of corruption that Adeeb holds to his name, the abuses of power he has been accused of, accusations of his involvement in the disappearance of the Minivan News journalist Rilwan etc. are all reasons enough to believe that when it comes to Adeeb vs Jameel, there really is no lesser evil.

MDP seems to be guided by reasons such as Jameel threatening MDP and its candidate Nasheed during 2013’s presidential race by stating that even if Nasheed were to win the runoff, he would not be allowed to assume power. Thus the rationale, he refused the toy that belongs to us & therefore we are entitled to our petty revenge, regardless. Regardless of the chaotic future this deal might unearth in the coming future.

They say tyrannical people will be replaced by people who are more tyrannical than them. And they do say karma will come and find you and slap you on the face, six ways till Sunday, wherever you maybe hiding. Perhaps it’s a case of all of that for Jameel, since the party that was founded upon the principles of democracy, transparency, people’s rights etc. seems to have turned their backs on all of it, to accept a deal of which no details have been forthcoming, to make their supporters understand the reasoning, if at all, behind any of it. Thus. I just have one thing left to say.

May the Maldivian opposition rest in peace. Amen.

“And do not incline toward those who do wrong, lest you be touched by the Fire, and you would not have other than Allah any protectors; then you would not be helped.” (Hud: 113)

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June 24, 2015

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The Amendment that Brought the Opposition to its Knees

Placard used in one of MDP's rallies. Brings home the truth? Photo from Haveeru

Placard used in one of MDP’s rallies. Brings home the truth? Photo from Haveeru

2008 saw a new beginning for the people of Maldives. Or so we thought. At least that’s what happened when President Nasheed first assumed office. People were free of the shackles of fear, intimidation & dread that had bounded them, some even for their entire lifetimes. But it was a short lived happiness. All that changed when deals within the parliament and out of it, to go ahead with developmental projects, as the opposition then which was today’s government, remained stronger even then than the MDP government, which made it practically impossible to proceed if otherwise. Velezinee’s outcries regarding the judiciary, the composition of the Supreme Court went unheeded, the aftermath of which we are living through, even today.

Fast forward to February 7 2012, a day that marked the beginning of the end of the democratic process that had gained little momentum, and had started its inevitable descent into chaos. It wasn’t just MDP and President Nasheed that suffered in the aftermath that followed. Countless Maldivians who actually believed in the concept of ‘aneh dhivehiraajje’; we all suffered, mourned and were debilitated by the loss of the government we all believed would serve the people than the cronies that surrounded them. Some cried, others held them back because President Nasheed stood up and showed that there was fight still left in him. The people rose, to fight, to get back the rights that they’d fought for so hard, so long, only for it to slip through the fingers just like that.

Commonwealth intervention after the coup brought forth the report by the Commission of National Inquiry set up by Dr. Waheed’s government. Hard as it was to swallow the results of the report, the blatant untruths in it, the sheer audacity behind its justifications, we bucked up and dealt. It was frustrating, it was a blow to the solar plexus of the people who believed. But once again, I believed in the wisdom behind President Nasheed taking the higher road. Just as I’d believed that had President Nasheed not stepped down on the day of the coup, this country would’ve had the blood of its people shed on its soil, something we would never have been able to move past from. And after months of protests, people had to focus their energies on something that’d give them hope. And that was the election of 2013.

Come election time, people were jubilant. Their voice was once again going to be heard, their votes the very thing that’d break apart a government that had been put together by mutinying forces within the police and military. The tick that they’d place on the ballot paper being the one that would smash to smithereens the belief held by the corrupt circle of politicians that had financed and backed the coup that had ousted a legitimate government.

2013 yet again proved to be one that tested the patience and endurance of MDP as well as those that believed in them. Supreme Court’s high handed tactics, all well orchestrated by the people in power today, with the help of business tycoon Qasim Ibrahim who himself is cowering somewhere outside of the country at the moment, is one that continues to haunt us. People were literally and figuratively fed up by the time the last round of elections were held and once more, I believed in the path that President Nasheed chose to walk upon when he conceded defeat and allowed President Yameen to assume office. It irked, it rankled and it put a huge damper on our hopes, the sheer effort that MDP had put into its campaign enough to show who had been the most deserving of the title of Presidency.

Since then, a lot has happened. President Nasheed decided on his own volition that to be born again, one had to die and that he’d face the consequences of the corrupt judiciary that stands ready to legitimize every single unjustifiable deed that is done by the incumbent government. 13 years in jail was what he got out of it, once more a blow to the hearts of his supporters, the people who believed in him. That President Nasheed chose to stand his ground and fight, rather than go into hiding was one that resonated within the hearts of even those that were reluctant to give him any credit. But sadly, today I find myself having difficulty reconciling with what the opposition, MDP, the party whose basic principles I have believed in, how utterly and effectively defeated they seem to stand, the values they’d preached on podiums with vigor all but lying tattered beneath their feet.

As I write this, parliament will be taking the vote that’d decide whether the constitutional amendment which would mean the age of the President and Vice President be capped between 30 and 65 would go through, meaning the current Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed would be ousted and most likely, as rumors have it, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb be brought in as our new Vice President.

None of this can happen without MDP choosing to vote yes, with 3/4th majority of parliament members required to bring amendments to the constitution. What is supposed to be the ‘sacred’ rule book that should govern the affairs of the country is now being amended at whim, to suite the political ambitions of a certain group of people, and MDP is complicit in the very act, at last bowing down to the whims of this tyrannical government that rules and maintains its hold through corruption, coercion and pressing on the pressure points that’d yield them results.

I remain in a state of chaotic contemplation, my mind unable to accept the gravity of MDP’s decision to align itself with this government, the way it so silently folded, in the face of whatever the government dangled in front of them. If one were to deduce things from what has been on the forefront of the news, MDP hopes to secure the release of President Nasheed, and perhaps foresee him contesting in the 2018’s election.

I hold no such hope. In my naivety as some people put it, I see the incumbent government for what it is. A state ruled by the corrupt rich, gangsters a part of its core, the sort of people you never ever sit down to make deals with.

There’s no point in being principled if you can’t walk the talk. There’s no point of honor if you can’t show it to the people when they need to see it the most. And there’s no point of hope, when the very party that acted as the beacon of it has just switched itself off, and not a flicker of it remains to visible to the naked eye.

PS: As I was set to publish this, the amendment was passed with a whopping 77 votes from the 85 member parliament. MPs of Kendhoo constituency Ali Hussain and Galolhu Dhekunu constituency Ahmed Mahloof were the only ones who seemed to have listened to the sentiments of the public that didn’t want the amendment passed. Thank you for listening to the people. Thank you.

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May 5, 2015

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#EkehFaheh15; The Rising of the People

Ibra's tweet when the protests began on 1.5.15. Moving!

Ibra’s tweet when the protests began on 1.5.15. Moving!

Vote in a government. Give them a year or two. Take to the streets. Mount the pressure. Topple the elected leader. Change government. Rinse and repeat as needed. This is a formula that Maldivians seem to have taken to like a duck to water, and it has got to stop. This is exactly what President Nasheed warned us about when he was toppled from power through a coup d’état on the 7th of February of 2012.

Government MPs threaten the public via social media

Government MPs threaten the public via social media

Believe it or not, pose your various excuses or not, it was indeed a coup, brought about with the aid of the mutinying police and military officials. This sentiment becomes fact when you take into account the recent MayDay rally or #EkehFaheh15 as it was referred to in social media circles. Government vehemently denied that there existed any pressure, but press conferences and tweets from government aligned MPs and bots attested to fact that government was indeed jittery.

Government MP Nihan threatens boat owners who ferried people to MLE for the protest.

Government MP Nihan threatens boat owners who ferried people to Male’ for the protest.

Yet, after brutal crackdowns on protestors, the rally ended with the state marking its victory with fireworks the very next night. The government remained unchanged unlike the culmination of events of 7th February 2012.  MP Nihan called out to terminate those that are sympathetic to the oppositions cause from their government jobs & for the boats that carried people to the protests from the islands to Male’ be cancelled of their permits to travel. But there definitely was no pressure.

The art of changing governments via coups is not something that is new to the Maldivian history. This has happened many times before and is set to continue unless the elected governments are ready to listen to its people and work with them to ensure harmony and development that is beneficial for the people, not just to a couple of ‘loyalists’ to the leader in power. The blatant disregard to the people is shown more so when the opposition continues to talk about Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb’s corruption and stronghold on the government & the President telling the opposition that Adeeb would be the one who would represent him in any negotiations or meetings that would take place with the opposition movement.

Prior to 2008, Maldives has weathered through tough 30 years of torture and fear where if your family member even expresses a desire to see a different leader take over was jailed & tortured, coming out from the experience a shell of the person he or she was before. Oh how well the people have forgotten. I weep over the many accounts that remain untold even today, of the many ways in which President Maumoon’s regime ruined the lives of families by rendering a person unfit to even take care of personal needs after being taken in for reprogramming at the infamous jails in Dhoonidhoo.

All that changed through nonviolent political movements that wasn’t easy, and yet Maldivians persevered. Yet again today we are sliding rapidly into the same rut, unless the government acts to rectify their mistakes & the people raise the collective voices to end this tyranny. President Nasheed calls for perseverance from his jail cell where he is set to spend the next 13 years of his life, all because he wants a life of dignity and equal rights for the people of the Maldives.

President Nasheed's message to the people.

President Nasheed’s message to the people.

It was quite obvious that during the MayDay rally, the police targeted the vocal on social media and otherwise, the ones who dare criticize the government and its actions or lack of without fear. A prime example would be Hamid Shafeeu, a staunch supporter of democracy and its values, whose wife was snatched first which ultimately led to his arrest during the next couple of minutes. Arrests numbered in the 100’s before the night was through and none of it was easy to watch.

Sentiments of a government supporter; their government doesn't have to warn protestors before pepper spraying!

Sentiments of a government supporter; their government doesn’t have to warn protestors before pepper spraying!

The fear and intimidation that we thought ourselves rid of is back, and if I have to put my money’s worth on it, I would say it is back to stay. Accounts of civil servants and other government employees being threatened with dismissal or worse if they took part in the protests continue to pour in and I for one have this foreboding we are headed towards the era where we would have to huddle in fear every second of the day.

Coup of 07.02.2012; still afresh in our minds

Coup of 07.02.2012; still afresh in our minds

I can never be a supporter of a coup d’état that topples a government. But just like the CoNI report that actually legalized this form of government change if there exists the weight of a couple of hundreds of citizens behind the movement, then I guess there’s no reason that a government cannot be changed legally in the said manner.

But deep in all of our hearts we know that ain’t right. We know that the power lies within the people who cast their votes to decide who their leader should be for the next FIVE years. Not ONE or TWO or even FOUR, but FIVE. Let us not forget that. Nor should the government ever forget that they are elected to do RIGHT by the PEOPLE. Not by those that work their own agenda, filling their pockets with the taxpayers money, making the best of it while their government thrives.

My wish for the Maldives and its people is a simple one. One that aligns with the vision that President Nasheed has for this country. That we be able to live a life of dignity regardless of our ideological differences. That we be a nation that prospers amongst a just and able society wherein which the government doesn’t serve its people based on their political color of choice. A government which listens to the concerns of the people who put them there, without openly challenging them and calling for war.

From the manner in which things have proceeded since the elected president was toppled from power back in 2012, little remains of the democratic changes that were brought about owing to the new Constitution. What remains or is in the process of happening is silencing the voice of dissent, the vocal who are not swayed by the threats this government, it’s MPs & associates seem to dole out on a daily basis. With the leaders of the opposition behind bars, perhaps to be prosecuted & doled out with equally horrific sentences as given to Nasheed, Maldives is on the verge of becoming the next Egypt. The government is adamant that its foreign policy reflect this tyranny and that is exactly what’s being conveyed through the diplomatic channels. The single flickering light of hope at the very end of the long winding tunnel remains on the international community, the actions that they would be willing to take to put this tyrannical government to bed.

Future of the country looks bleak, no matter in whichever direction you look at. The struggle that is currently ongoing, the people trying to let their voices be heard to a tyrannical government that not only actively challenges the people, but also celebrates with fireworks their “victories” over the people doesn’t seem promising. Inevitable seems the breakout of a civil war, rendering this country totally unlivable. On the surface, the scars left over by the coup might have scabbed over, but inside the wounds are deep, festering with hatred, resentment and a deep disillusionment over a country whose justice system continues to fail the public over and over again. And as every infamous quote tells us, only time alone will tell whether those fighting for rights, justice and democracy would emerge victorious or whether we’d all be browbeaten to embrace a culture of corruption, nepotism, injustice & abuse for years and years to come.

May God help us all.

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March 11, 2015

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‘Clash’ of the Titans; Judge Abdulla VS. President Nasheed

Judge Abdulla Mohamed (left), President Mohamed Nasheed (right)

 

Reading the news article on last night’s trial proceedings on Dhivehi Online, such elaborate romanticism was my gut reaction. Judge Abdulla Mohamed is made out to be as innocent as a new born baby’s bum, the poor victim, whose story bears telling over & over again, while President Nasheed’s actions have to be shown to be that of the preposterous ruler, who jailed him and severed a sitting judge of his rights. Oh the blasphemous nature of it all!

The allegations of misconduct whatsoever against the judge which the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), the commission entrusted with overseeing the affairs of the judicial sector, and other governing authorities, were unable to investigate, for the lack of a better term, don’t seem to deserve a mention. Responsible journalism, a concept Maldivian media would rather avoid altogether, requires that the countless allegations against Judge Abdulla Mohamed mentioned, & why it got to this point.

In the spirit of that, I’m going to highlight some of the wonderful ‘heroic’ acts that Judge Abdulla Mohamed has committed, in the name of serving justice for the people of the Maldive. I’ll say this time & yet again. The likes of Judge Abdulla Mohamed belongs behind bars for the rest of their natural life & in the deepest recesses of Hell in the Hereafter.

  1. One of the complaints against Judge Abdulla Mohamed stems from 2005, forwarded by the then Attorney General Dr. Hassan Saeed where it was said Abdulla Mohamed who presided over a case of child sexual abuse had ordered the victim to show the court what was done to her & this in front of the perpetrator. Copies of the letter exists, circulated over social media every now & then.
  2. Judge Abdulla Mohamed already had a criminal conviction when he was appointed a judge during President Maumoon’s tenure. The conviction was made during the time of Justice Minister Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed who is currently the Vice President of Maldives.
  3. By April 2009, there were a number of pending misconduct allegations against Judge Abdulla Mohamed pending without inquiry.
  4. On 27 July 2010, JSC announced removal of 32 names including Abdulla Mohamed, but on 28 July 2010 declared him to be fit to remain on the bench. JSC appointed member under Article 158(F) of the Constitution, Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman, walked out of a meeting in protest and announced on media that Judge Abdulla Mohamed did not meet the good character required of a sitting judge in Islamic Shariah and condemned JSC’s corruption.
  5. In February 2011, Abdulla Mohamed released an alleged murderer to “teach the health minister a lesson”, and in 24 hours the released committed a second murder, which in reality should’ve taught the public a lesson.
  6. On November 2011, JSC decided that Judge Abdulla Mohamed was in breach of good conduct, not fit to be on the bench, but refused to take action against him.
  7. On 16 January 2012, Maldives Police Service summoned Judge Abdulla Mohamed for questioning. However, Judge Abdulla Mohamed refused to appear, and instead petitioned the High Court to cancel the police order.
  8. MPs held responsible to hold JSC accountable, and to determine the legitimacy of JSC’s actions on article 285 and re-appointment of judges including Judge Abdulla Mohamed of the Criminal Court, who publicly boasted that there’d be no inquiry of JSC led protests against former President Nasheed calling for release of “Ablo Qaazee”.
  9. Records of Judge Abdulla Mohamed show him raging at JSC, declaring JSC had no power to investigate him. JSC refused to agenda the matter showing impunity for Judge Abdulla Mohamed.
  10. On 7 February 2012, former President Mohamed Nasheed was forced to resign, for which the opposition cited “allegations of unconstitutional and unlawful activity with regard to circumstances surrounding the supposed abduction of Judge Abdulla Mohamed.
  11. In July 2012, the Civil Court ruled that JSC, the overseeing body of the judicial sector, could not implement any action against Judge Abdulla Mohamed, and thus he & other judges shall remain above any check & balance mechanisms ensured by the law.

Above points highlights the nature of the Judge, the victim, whose rights seems to take a precedence over the rights of the people that he sits & judges every single day when he walks into that courtroom & sits down to serve the people. If you can’t see nothing wrong with that picture, well, good luck to you! Former JSC member Aishath Vellezinee has a wealth of information on proceedings of JSC & the how’s & why’s of our arrival to where we are today. The points mentioned just highlights the depth of ineptness & corruption of the state institutes in the face of the ongoing judicial dictatorship the country is experiencing.

The arrest of Judge Abdulla Mohamed, which I refuse to call an abduction, took place on 17th of January 2012. Lawyers from all over the country protested the move by the government, not looking beyond to see the character of the man that had been arrested, a man who had violated over and over again, the very code of ethics of the position he stands for. Two of the three judges presiding over the ongoing trial of President Mohamed Nasheed are those that were present at Judge Abdulla Mohamed’s residence when he was arrested, which is why I have a hard time calling his arrest an abduction.

Getting back to the ‘trial’, if it can even be called that, and the fact that Nasheed seems defiant in front of the judges with no respect for them, well, people respect those that garner respect, i.e. respect is earned. You can’t make someone respect a person just by making it mandatory by law. Elitism of the judicial sector is something I have a hard time accepting & well, let’s leave that discussion for another time.

This farce of a trial currently happening in Maldives, is above all difficult to read about & yes, impossible to accept. No matter how much any media wants to gloss over it, the state of the judiciary shines through in every aspect of this trial. Vindictive, corrupt & unjust are a few choice words that comes to the mind. If President Nasheed deserves to be jailed for the unlawful imprisonment of Judge Abdulla Mohamed, by all means please do so. But award him a fair trial that observes the proper proceedings as required by law. Don’t expect the mindful section of the public to accept the shenanigans that you keep referring to as a fair trial to imprison a former President.

Media makes out Judge Abdulla Mohamed to be the epitome of a well behaved citizen while President Nasheed, who is getting the raw end of the deal in every single manner remains the villain in many a people’s eyes. There was a mention in the aforementioned article of how Judge Abdulla Mohamed never looked up at President Nasheed during his testimony at court while President Nasheed looked on at him with avid interest. I say, if you have a clear conscience, you can look in the other person’s eye when they are talking about what you’ve done. Can’t say the same thing for the ‘victim’ here who couldn’t, not until that last ‘historic’ moment where even the infamous Judge Abdulla Mohamed had to smile back at a man who refuses to show the world that he is being beaten by a system designed to do so, in the form of this heinous & rampant injustice that’s being done.

Like Julian Assange once said, “every time we witness an injustice & do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence & thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves & those we love.”

I sincerely hope that doesn’t become the case with us Maldivians.

Allah knows best.

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February 20, 2015

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The “Rational” Irrational Fear of Maumoon

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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.