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Opinion
Masters of Deception and Terrorists

By A scared Maldivian, 18^th August 2004

If Mr. Gayyoom, his ruffians of relatives and his jackpot-seeking cronies are efficient in any work they do, it is only the spread of terror and deception. Gayyoom is not only a short-man-with-big-mouth; he is also a short man with many sleazy personalities. The greed and hunger for power and the desire to continue swindling our nation has taken Gayyoom and this gang’s conduct, the only course it could possibly take. Beyond despicable!

A very clear example is how the mighty Trade Minister and brother (an association mightier than any known designation) of Gayyoom is able to openly bribe some young thugs to derail our cause of pro-democracy and have the chief government spokesperson Dr. Shaheed to publicly and internationally frame and blame us for it. It should be noted that it was Gayyoom’s very maliciously planned strategies that have destroyed our youth in the first place. It is a known fact that each and every country in the world is faced with some degree of drug problems. However, this Indian Ocean archipelago has a different story. When the drug problem surfaced in Maldives it was only cannabis (lower class drug) that was used by the public. The fact that this is a non-addictive substance was not to the liking of Gayyoom. He immediately ordered a halt to the smuggling of cannabis and instead issued his blessing to systematically import and distribute heroin. Today no ordinary Maldivian can easily get access to cannabis, however, even a tourist who has been in the country for less than an hour can easily obtain heroin.

Mr. Paul Roberts, in his article ‘Events in the Maldives make waves around the world’ shed some light the deceptive practices adopted by Gayyoom and this gang. In his article he tells how the events of the Black Friday are being reported around the world. However, in our own home, the Gayyoom controlled broadcasting media have a different story: a story that mocks the misfortune of the victims of Black Friday. People who are unable to add one plus one are being told to compliment to his brutal actions. The key people who orchestrate this show such as Khaleel, Masood and Saleem are promised and reminded of the good fortune that awaits them by Information Minister Sammarey, brother-in-law of Gayyoom. The target audience is the people of outer island, who are desperate for electricity, safe water, education and so on. They are forced to believe that any good that can happen to them can only happen if they unconditionally kiss Gayyoom and his gang’s feet and acknowledge that the Presidency of our nation is a birth right of Gayyoom.

Gayyoom's game is clear! The media did not even report the uprising in Addu on that day. And come to think of it, to create havoc among the people gathered in the Republican Square, a video footage of NSS capturing and beating the alleged escaped prisoners from Maafushi Jail was provided. This was happening on real time! Can people believe this? Supposedly, the Maafushi Jail was renovated and security systems reinforced after the prison riots that erupted in September 2003. This project had cost the public millions of dollars. Gayyoom and gang should resign, even if it is only on the basis of inefficiency and mishandling of public funds. There is this special propaganda program that is aired every night now. What is surprising is that in this program, when reporting the Black Friday’s events, it very conveniently ignores the truth of Ms. Zuhaira’s repeated pleas to be calm when she addressed the crowd and the intense effort of Mr. Dhadhara Naseem to aid the NSS to avoid violent clashes. The TVM’s favourite footage of thugs with sticks, were actually roaming around the Republican Square simply because they were not allowed into the square by the peaceful reformists. In fact the sticks were provided by none other than the NSS personnel.

Gayyoom and his heartless gang are the real criminals. They are the real terrorists. They twist stories and deceive the public. We urge the international community to urgently assist us, as Gayyoom and his gang’s powers are too much for us to retaliate on our own. You cannot live in Male’ being defiant to Gayyoom, if you and your loved ones are to survive you have to kiss Gayyoom and his gang’s feet or else be subject to their torture and humiliation. Now, Champa's (a prominent family with Gayyoom's blessing) are printing t-shirts referring the pro-democracy reformists as terrorists. This is apparently for a rally organised by the government and all government employees are forced to participate without actually explicitly stating it. Gayyoom has asked the key people to highlight on this rally that the reformists are attempting to destroy our tourism industry, which in Gayyoom's scale, the receipts of tourism is distributed evenly to all Maldivian. Over 30 years of tourism and rapid increase in tourist resorts, nonetheless, still there are a hand full of resort owners or people who actually benefit from them other than Gayyoom and his power hungry cronies.