I, in my blissful ignorance, have passed a wrongful judgement over a community of the Maldives: the misunderstood southerners. This moment, sitting in my safe haven, I find myself considerably disturbed over a narration I heard just moments ago.
It is the story of the calamities faced by the people of Addu, Huvadu and Fuah Mulak during the period circa 1960. I was told the tale by one of the descendants of the people removed by two generations. I will try to summarize the tale in the following paragraphs to the effect of conveying the highlights.
The story revolves around the incident of the evacuation of the island of Thinadhoo by the government of Maldives. Some of the people of Thinadhoo at the time were amongst the group of southern merchants who were - often enviably - considered the richest people in the Maldives. The trade conducted was admittedly illegal as the proper channels of trade endorsed by the government of the Maldives at the time were unheeded. Regardless, the business sustained a society.
As the Second World War set in, the merchants found themselves needing government endorsement to avoid being misrepresented as spies by the various factions patroling the waters surrounding the Maldives. The government's refusal to grant the request saw the trade dwindle, the wealth taper away and the society enter the realms of poverty. The impoverished people, doubly crushed by the effects of war, appealed with little avail to the government for help. As per the narrative, these were the events which inspired the people to revolt: their survival depended on it.
The most bitter part of the tale happens here. The part where I listened with horror to the stories of the suffering of a people confronted by the government of Maldives which was determined to strike down the revolution. The regiment of armed forces dispatched by the government persecuted the people of Thinadhoo, killing, raping and pillaging. Despite sounding dramatic, I chose to use the word 'pillaging' as it facilitates best the feelings with which my narrator made his deposition. Apparently, there are witnesses still alive today who have seen people's brains splattering out of their skulls as bullets exited their craniums.
In the end, the people of Thinadhoo were given 24 hours to evacuate the island and find alternate refuge. This ultimatum, along with the preceding brutalization, sent the panic-stricken people into a state of frenzied desperation and people started to flee, leaving the bulk of their worldly possessions. The ones who made a stand were imprisoned in the worst of conditions. These people were shoved into hastily constructed solitary confinements which ill-served the needs of a human being. Plenty of them died and all suffered countless diseases due to not just a mere lack of hygiene but the lack of consideration thereof. From then on various sanctions were imposed on the people of Addu, Huvadu and Fuah Mulak, most notably those on property.
That summarizes the tale that has dawned an awareness I lacked for one half of my life. I now understand that the southerners have indeed been subject to an injustice that have been deeply etched into their very souls - and souls do not just die with a generation.
My perception of the southerners' intrinsically closed-up community led me to believe, for the longest time, that their was a connotation of racism in their dealings with the rest of the Maldivian people. Now I understand that it is just a defense mechanism: one that has been taught over generations, perhaps not intentionally but rather instinctively. I also understand that they will continue to maintain their defensive stance for ages to come as long as we do not accept our failings as a society and apologize for these failings.
You would ask me, why us? My father was a member in the leardership of the armed forces of the Maldives, and it pains me that I was not told the tales of the people with whom I live, laugh and cry. Though he has been deceased for sometime, I am sad to say that I now find myself disappointed for being excluded from one of my biggest social responsibilities: to apologize to the people upon whom he may have wrought injustice. It is for him, myself and all others who would see eye-to-eye with my interpretation of this incident, that I apologize to the people of Addu, Huvadu and Fuah Mulak. Forgive us...
Note: I write this with absolutely no intention of making any political statements, but rather because of a need to exorcise the uneasiness that crept into me upon hearing the plight of the people of Addu, Huvadu and Fuah Mulak. I sincerely felt that it was my duty to make an apology, and that is the sole purpose of this post.
Additionally, if any of you who happen to read this feel that I have not been given the full facts, or that there is more to the tale please do write your comments.
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19 comments:
what? i never knew that. you bastards!!!
ok ok... interestingly i've heard the revolt stories but not that part you just mentioned. this is about THE revolution thingy that was attempted in huvadhu atoll right? like... nasir's mini battalion coming to the rescue and fenabadda hageegee baddaa and then killing a handful and so on. right?
actually i am lucky to have heard a portion of this from the guy who was then the atoll chief himself (N.T. Hassan Didi - guys, thats Ayya's dad). the people tortured him because technically he was nasir's representative. maybe i was late to arrive and missed the beginning of the story, or he didn't really say why the whole thing had to happen in the first place...
so nasir just wanted to make them suffer because they were once rich and they revolted back.. nasir attacked and they gave up having no choice and then nasir had them tied up with strict laws... hmmm..
okay, apology accepted. but you see not everyone knows all of this, and i bet you are still missing a part of it. anyway, lets play counter strike...
yeah i ve heard some it too. The real history of this indident is not known to most of the people.
some of them have been killed using cigerat buts on their faces, others using posion, all the people were prisoned in a tiny cell where they could hardly move.
this is the truth. there is also a written book about this incident with photos which i read a few pages.
but it seems that the book is not telling the truth and a lot has ben modified.
somebody really needs to go into deep of this and document with gud reasearch while the witneses are still alive.
A three-year civil war began in Maldives in 1960 with a declaration of independence by the southern atolls, Huvadhu, Fua Mulak and Addu. Starting in 1957, a huge U.K. military staging post had been built in Gan island, Addu, and the U.K. was sympathetic to the independence movement. Shots were fired into Fua Mulak from a Male' vessel, and Male' forces occupied the important island of Thinadhoo in northwest Huvadhu. Thinadhoo had long been an island under special Male' control and was better known by the name of ‘Havaru Thinadhoo'.
One night in late 1961, the Male' militia on Thinadhoo were beaten and driven from the island by men who rowed north from Addu. In a revenge attack early the following year, 700 militia men from Male', led by Prime Minister Nasir, returned to Thinadhoo, which was seized again and sacked.
The entire population was banished from the island and many people died from exposure and starvation.
Between 200 and 300 prisoners were taken back to Male', where they were tortured and many were killed.
Historian Hakeem Hussein Manik was an eyewitness to vicious beatings of prisoners by the Sifain on the streets of Male', and for days he heard the screams of tortured people inside the Male' fort.
Text as from MC on DO.
On behalf of everyone from thinadhoo who lost many during the holocaust.
Thank you for the post.
interesting!
I remember someone told me that once the people of thinadhoo were force to flee to other islands, some had to live on the streets, some traded gold for a handful of rice, and the not so fortunate died of starvation and malnutrition. These included women, children and the old. The effects weren't immediate. It's a shame.
My grandmother is 86, from Thinadhoo, lived through the Huvadu revolution and is alive and well living with me. She's got a lot of stories to tell.
I've close relatives from my Thinadhoo side that were arrested, imprisoned and banished to islands.
I've seen photos of the "mission" to Thinadhoo at the National Centre for Linguistic and Historical Research. Photos of preparation, the ship, Nasir, his close right-hand (I assume) Karanka Rasheed, Maizan Ibrahim Manik etc, injuired people, sifain celebrating, "prisoners" being shipped to Male'...and most striking of all...a shot of Thinadhoo beach area with the ship carrying the battelion on the horizon.
These photos are available to the public (or so they said then) and NCLHR will scan each for a fee.
As for my grandmother, she'll be happy to talk about the past events with anyone. But there is one catch - although she can speak Male' language very well she refuses to do so and speaks ONLY in the traditional native THinadhoo language.
Injustice is injustice..no matter who have done it,or against whom it was done..as a person who view humans as humans..(not blacks,male'people,addu people or anything like that)i reject apoligize to adduans specifically.
but i think the people of addu have been dealt very unjustly by nasir,maumoon,and many Maldivians who tease them..but adduans must not take the 'goobaddaa' and other jokes by people who dont know the history as hatred towards em.its like calling a dhidhdhoo guy 'boanthashi' or miladhoo 'obi'...I think now its time adduans and other Maldivians become one..as humans...share the stories (no need to live your whole lives like a secret society).
At one time,nothern and male' people or the government might have dealt with you unjustly..but that does not mean,us from generation y ..have to be stereotyped as unjust addu haters.
Among you (adduans) were,and are our heroes,our scholars,our brothers and sisters who died at the hands of unjust rulers(like this gayom one)...you still are among the most hard working and most educated people in Maldives...lets leave behind the hatred,but remember the victims..your forefarthers,our brothers.Lets live together and share 'our' history...and save the history from being altered by the rulers.I think this is an issue some people have to go deep into and study..and preserve for the coming generations.
Racial prejudice exists within the community often taught, maybe on personal opinions or maybe from the way the whole system is made up. The centralized system hides the very hardworking people so called islanders who still drive the economy. (fishing) It's hypocricy when we can eat from their catch and still look down on them.
A positive step we can take is not to teach these to our children. Abolish the term 'Raajethere', 'Raajethereymeehaa' when refering to people from islands other than the capital. As 'Raajetherey' infact is translated to "Inside the Maldives"
The worst steps of racism is when the community labels others just to see them as inferior people. Needs to Stop.
i had a similar "enlightment" session earlier in 2005 when a little chat with a woman from thinadhoo turned into a graphic description of the event you've eloquently described. the woman described how she, her mother (pregnant at the time) and her siblings were forced to into the chilly waters of the lagoon as dawn while the men were beaten and arrested.
im glad to see u publish of this event. there shud be more on this, unless it's been wiped clean from our history books already. i intend to read up more on the incident. i have to agree with u that after hearin about incident, it made the apparent "racism" that the southerners hold against the rest to be reinterpreted in a new light...
kudos.
Its the same tape in a nonstop loop. Seen a lot of pics about that Huvadhoo Bagaavaaiy. It was a printed book well written and compiled. Don't remeber the name of the book though.
yea someone shud document the undocumented stuff, video interviews... etc so that the future will know the real history. not so that some people will hate the others but just that they will know the truth. i don't think the new generations will hold those grudges anyway... see maumoon is a nice guy (compared to nasir)
This is nothing but a bloodied truth man! I know this a long time since am a savage alien like them. :)
Being from Addu I sorta new bout these things.
I do have the digital copies of the pics which simon mentioned.
asoa: would appreciate it if i can take a look.
"so nasir just wanted to make them suffer because they were once rich and they revolted back.."
I do not believe NT Hassan Didi would have said that or even implied that vengeance was a factor.
Nasir committed many mistakes. But to my knowledge Nasir was not a vengeful man . Maldivian people are ignorant and that is why all the suffering inflicted on each other from both sides. Nasir if fact tried to educate us beyond that and tried to instill a culture of responsibility.
I've probably completely missed the point, but coming from both the Addu atoll and Male' atoll with numerous relatives on both sides, I always considered Maldives as a race of one. I've heard of incidences that happened as mentioned in the narrative, and sure I found them appalling. And I acknowledge that an apology is a first path to healing an emotional wound. I didn't however think that Addu people were inclined to be more closed off or racist because of such. Nor more than the rest of the Maldives is, and no more than what is expected of from a culture of island-context where isolation and island-cultural specificities would come to be. For whatever reason that are thought to be behind this (addu people being closed off from the rest or 'racist' - my input), I don't think implying that addu-ians are 'racist' or closed off and treating other Maldivians different because they are not Addu-ans is appropriate. Generalisations of one group to be different from another based on their race is still racism - so I'm kinda thinking 'far out' (as in this unbelieavable - especially from you Shaafiee - you have more emotional intelligence than most people I've met in Male') when I read this whole thing. Here we are, a little nation made of one race, and the same roots, and we are definitely getting the impression that one group is different from the rest of the country or the other, the 'us' and the 'them' phenomenon. I shouldn't be surprised, prejudice seems to be something human beings look for - if not sex then race, if not race then the little finger size - what the hell? And now I wonder if I can get more annoyed with people from other countries who treat me differently based on the fact that I'm Maldivian. Excuse me for going off track, but hey can you blame me? And another thing, I don't have to be from either one island or the other - can't I be from both? I was born in Addu, does that mean I'm from Addu? I also happen to have a parent from Male' so ended up living there quite a long time - so what? I've lived a long time away from the Maldives too, and I know I personally belong in places I've lived in other than the Maldives - what does that make me? Just an addu-an who's different? Or perhaps a Maldivian who's lost the plot :)
Anonymous (September 25, and yes, i do know who you are): This is the reason why I run away from people like you. I hate the fact that you made that comment without doing your own bit of research.
You say you thought I was emotionally aware? No, you don't know that! If you did know, and were truly aware of how I feel about the stories that my mates from down south (now, will that be considered racist too?) had to tell me, then you'd be able to understand why I wanted to write about it.
It's obvious that you're oblivious about the lives of Maldivians, so go live in your own dream world and leave the amendment of Maldives to us folk who are trying.
I apologise for the comment I made. It was uncalled for, and you are right about me being oblivious to the lives of Maldivians, and living in my dream world. I made that comment from an emotional response rather than an intellectual one, and it doesn't give me the excuse to say what I did. I spent a lot of my childhood bearing with comments that people from Addu were different and arrogant, and having to justify that I was the same person whether I came from Addu or Male'. I also apologise for claiming to know that you were emotionally aware or that I knew anything about how you feel.
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