Maldives News | Dhivehi Observer | South Asia | Why is Dhivehi Observer still blocked in the Maldives?

Editorial

Why is Dhivehi Observer still blocked in the Maldives?

Dhivehi Observer, 15 May 2008

Dhivehi Observer has a reputation for being particularly irritating to the Maldives Dictator and his cronies. However, over the last 4 year, since its initially launch it has become one of the most visited and a frequently updated news website. It is seen by many Maldivian as a main sources of information and news, especially in the early days of the democracy and human rights campaign that began after the brutal murders of Evan Naseem and his colleagues in Maafushi Jail back in September 2003.

Initially, the news and reports were published in www.e-maldives.com and www.dhivehiobserver.com was launched a few months later. But, soon both domains were blocked by the despot in an attempt to hide the injustices committed by his regime and the level of corruption amongst his cronies. However, his attempts had no impact because DO undoubtedly became one of the strongest voices of dissent and quickly gained recognition both locally and internationally.

Things have come a long way since the early days, when DO and a few other sites were the only dissident voices on the internet. There were no local papers nor any radio station that were able to broadcast anything critical of the dictator. Today, it's totally a different scenario. Almost all the newspapers are able to criticise and report fairly without the fear of being thrown in jail for months, without a charge or trial. Daily papers which are still aligned to the regime, such as Haveeru, Miadhu and Aafathis are also now reporting issues they were unwilling or unable to report before fearing persecution. And when the reformists launched Minivan Radio, the dictator attempted to jam the frequencies but today there are local private radios, which have in a just a matter of few months over taken the state controlled radio station in terms of listener rating and creative programming. Similarly, there are several daily papers, such as Minivan, Haama and Jazeera, which are excellent sources of news and information. Furthermore, soon we will have private tv stations launched in the country, all thanks to the continues pressure by reformists to make the Maldives media free from the claws of the aging dictator because that is one of the most essential elements of transforming the country in to a full-fledge democracy. Whichever way you look at it or assess it, we are geared towards achieving just that. The aging dictator and his regime are no longer able to control the media and they are no longer able spin the minds of the people with their lies and propaganda.

Recently, Information Minister Kutti Nasheed said in a press conference that there was no point in blocking Dhivehi Observer because despite the fact that it is officially blocked, there is hardly anyone who isn't able to read the material on the site with proxies. Furthermore, he added that, by doing so Maldives is listed amongst the countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, who are famous for blocking media sites critical of these regimes. Yes, DO is a hard hitting website and it is irritating to the regime but today there are several anonymous sites that are a lot harsher in terms of the content and language used. However, these sites are never blocked by the regime and to the contrary they operate their own sites duplicating the themes in DO and criticising reformists and opposition leaders.

Whether the dictator and his cronies like it or not, it remains a very popular site and highly regarded by reputable news organisations such as The Observer UK, which recommended its readers to "read uncensored news from the Maldives at www.dhivehiobserver.com". Furthermore, the prestigious travel guide series Lonely Planet referred to DO as "Irreverent, hard-hitting and a self-declared anti-Gayoom site, the Dhivehi Observer is what anyone wanting to know the truth about the Maldives should read as a matter of urgency."

So why is it that DO is still blocked in the Maldives? The answer is quite simple. The aging dictator has forgotten that he had requested to block it, after all, the bastard is suffering from dementia. Perhaps someone close to him should remind him that there is no need to block DO as in doing so, the site will only maintain its popularity both home and away.

click here to visit kobaaNet