Sunday 9 August 2009

Remembering Black: Time to Make People Power Durable



TV Maldives has asked me to give them an interview about Black Friday, 13 August 2004. It was the day that a government for which I was its chief spokesperson, declared a state of emergency and locked up the opposition. I rarely say no an interview, so I promptly agreed.

Yet, I do feel some unease about talking about that day; because it is one of the darkest days that I have lived through yet.

No doubt, I rose to political prominence in the Maldives in my role as a government spokesperson, an office that I held from 9 May 2004 to 14 July 2005. Some people (those who wanted immediate regime change) hated me for my performance in that job and others (those who opposed regime change) adored me for the same performance. In that polarised atmosphere, where there was no dialogue amongst opposing groups, and everyone was viewing me through a prism of their own objectives. Very few recognised that I had my own goals for being where I was, and that those had nothing to do with either regime change or regime maintenance. I wanted a democracy with human rights safeguards – a new Maldives. And Professor Samuel Huntington’s The Third Wave: Democratisation in the Late 20th Century, published in 1992, gave me the roadmap to do that – the way to a New Maldives.



I said that Black Friday brings uneasy memories. That is because a lot of people suffered that day and from the events that followed. But, as everyone knows, that was not my doing, and, as many know well, I did my best to mitigate that. Working for a 25-year old outdated and atrophied regime is a perilous task, but I kept a clear conscience. In fact, one of my main roles was to teach the old guard at the “Sitcom” (Situation Committee) how to respond to the Opposition in ways consistent with international norms of democracy and human rights. That is why I can today team up with several victims of that day.

But at the time, few people knew what went on behind the scenes (or the numerous death threats that I received). The people who had a proper perspective of what I was doing were the foreign ambassadors and the international news media, who kept a close dialogue with both the government and the opposition. US Ambassador Lunstead, Colin Hicks at the UK High Commission, Indian High Commissioner Gavai, Dutch Deputy Ambassador van Dyke, as well as Sanjeev Srivastava of BBC, Simon Gardner of Reuters, the late Dilip Ganguly of Associated Press, Amal Jayasinghe of Agence France Presse, Abbas Faiz of Amnesty International to name a few from the summer of 2004, quite well understood and appreciated my role.

What was that role? It was to build bridges of understanding between the Maldives and the international community. It was neither to glorify former President Gayoom nor to demonise current President Nasheed. MDP were quite adept at putting across their side of the argument. But as all rational human beings know, there is always more than one perspective to any human endeavour. And really, as I always say, democracy is a process, not an event.

Of course, being cast in that role, I was being ostracised within my own community of friends: for example, Mahmood Razee and Ali Hashim were among my best buddies, and were very openly MDP. I was not part of the ruling elite, so naturally, my friends and associates felt that I was sacrificing my own future by trying to rescue a sinking ship. So the question all asked was why I was cast in that role?

Among those who asked me that question was Hassan Afeef, former MP for Thaa Atoll, MDP stalwart, and married to a relative of mine.

I explained to Afeef that I quit my foreign service career and took up the post of government spokesman because Gayoom gave me a credible undertaking that he would make the Maldives a modern democracy. I had a clear human rights agenda, and I had a credible undertaking from Gayoom that he would implement that agenda. I had enough reason to believe that he would not wiggle out of that commitment, and I was there to ensure that he did not wiggle out of that commitment. Afeef always protested that Gayoom would never be sincere, and I pledged to Afeef that the day that I came to believe that, I would quit Gayoom and join the opposition.

I explained to him and many others why I, at that time, believed that Gayoom was sincere. On Saturday, 9 August 2003, more than one month before Evan Naseem was murdered, I proposed a Human Rights Commission modelled on the Paris Principles to Gayoom and he accepted it the following day. Today we are all familiar with the Paris Principles; it was I who tied Gayoom down to them, using my position as Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry. At the same time, I had secured Gayoom’s approval to accede to the UN Convention against Torture, and had begun the legal paperwork to do that. Then, on 15 February 2004, at Gayoom’s request, I travelled from New York to London to meet Amnesty International on 16 February to open a dialogue with them and to invite them to the Maldives, and they promptly agreed. I do not know what Gayoom’s motive in all this was—it may have been to improve the country’s image, as he kept on saying, but my intent was to mobilise the international legal framework and Amnesty International to effect lasting human rights reform in the Maldives. I honestly believed there was a lot of scope to make a lot of progress—and a lot of progress we did make.

And in April, Hill and Knowlton were contracted to help with government communications. It defied logic that at small island state would try to hoodwink a premier PR firm – and pay a lot of money while at it! Indeed, H&K were livid about the way the government handled the Black Friday protests.

And in late May, Gayoom confided in me details of what became his reform agenda. He called Shahid, Mohamed Hussain and me to his office and read out the 30-odd points of his reform proposals. They were generally very good, but I did suggest some revisions which he readily incorporated. Later, I met him privately and asked him when he would unveil his proposals. He told me that he would unveil them when he went to inaugurate the People’s Special Majlis- which could be July. I told him that it would be too late; that he should do it immediately before his ideas were leaked and he lost authorship, and that I would organise BBC interviews and other media platforms for him to publicise that.

So on 9 June Gayoom outlined his ideas – much to the chagrin of the old guard cabinet, for I had managed to get Gayoom to by-pass Cabinet approval by going public. Before he spoke, I shot out press releases to the international media that he would unveil an agenda to transform the Maldives into a “liberal democracy”. After he spoke, I proclaimed an “Agenda for Reform, Human Rights and Democracy” through press releases from the SCU. After a few uses of this phrase, objections were raised by the old guard to the use of the word “liberal”, so I began to use variously, “modern democracy”, “working democracy”, “functioning democracy”. All these terms implied that there would be very strong human rights safeguards.

I said my role was to build bridges of understanding between the government and the world. This involved explaining what was happening in the Maldives to the international community. It also involved in equal if not a greater measure, explaining the world to the old guard and making them conduct themselves in ways acceptable to the international community. Because no one was willing to take on the first role, I had quite a lot of influence in the second role, often being able to marginalise the old guard advisors. Often, I was able to predict quite accurately what the pro-democracy activists will do next- my training as a diplomat helped me to listen to the chatter more closely than others in the government did, and it enabled me to avert over-reactions by the Old Guard on many occasions. And I slipped them a copy of Gene Sharp’s handbook From Dictatorship to Democracy, which has been used as a manual by pro-democracy activists of Otpor in Serbia and in the “coloured revolutions” of the early years of this century. (The “Rose Revolution” in Georgia had occurred in November 2003 and perhaps explains why Dr Hussain declared “Finifenma Ingilaab” on Black Friday.)




And it was because of the second role – restraining the Old Guard -- that I did not walk away from the government when it declared emergency on Black Friday. The emergency showed that the Old Guard had lost it, and knew not how to handle the brewing crisis. That would be dangerous for any country. In any case, having done extensive research on the PRG revolution in Grenada, I could not believe that revolutions were the best way to establish democracy.

I was at home when the emergency was declared. I was shocked! Emergency rule has been the norm in Egypt, but in South Asia, it reminds one of the period in India when emergency rule was imposed. It was a traumatic and painful experience in India, and it scared me. When Shahid, my boss at that time, called and asked me to come into the office, I hesitated. I took time to think about it. Something inside me rebelled against the whole notion of emergency rule, especially where opposition MPs are locked up. That is a dangerous path.

As the phone kept ringing, I thought about my decision deeply. I took up the post of chief government spokesperson with a plan, based on Huntington’s seminal work on democratisation. It was Gene Sharp versus Samuel Huntington (and my friend Hussain from Mashhad). Huntington showed that democracy was most durable when it was achieved peacefully and by regime transformation rather than by abrupt replacement. Democracy was a process not an event.

Viewed from that perspective, I saw that the Black Friday was not the endgame, and that the Reform Agenda must still be pushed along. There were pre-planned visits by Amnesty International and by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs: the former to advocate for human rights and the latter for political pluralism. And left for themselves, and cornered as they were, the Old Guard could lash out even more irrationally and brutally. There was still a role I had to play without selling out my conscience. The process must be pushed forward.
I went to office some 90 minutes after I was summoned.

The first thing I did when I went to office that day was to call Mr Ahmed Mujuthaba of the Human Rights Commission and Mr Minh Pham of the UNDP and invite them to go with me to Jumhooree Maidhan and also to see the condition of the detainees. Mr Minh Pham could not move without approval from New York and the Human Rights Commission, bound by their rules, could not respond because a majority of its members were just leaving for the USA. Mr Mujuthaba did call back ready to go, but by that time, the window had closed. This was an opportunity lost—most of the complaints of ill-treatment related to these initial hours of arrest, and had we been able to visit them, such mistreatment may have been deterred or averted.

Then I did the famous BBC interview where Nasheed and I spoke for the opposition and the government respectively. I did my best to verify the data that were given to me, including personally interviewing a number of senior NSS officers at the scene. I have never knowingly misrepresented the facts, being a student of Joseph Nye and avid believer in his “soft power” thesis, a cardinal principle of which (unlike the Machiavellian precept) is, never lie or deceive, for credibility is of utmost value.



Today, I do not regret my role during and after the emergency. When I had to announce the charges against the detainees, I spoke in the third person because I found the charges quite repulsive. My job was simply that of a reporter of a charge-sheet. But behind the scenes, I did my best to bind the hands of the old-guard. I by-passed the Foreign Minister and allowed the first EU mission to visit the detainees at Dhoonidhoo. The second time, I was overruled and the Foreign Minister met the EU delegation and fought with them, blocked access to detainees and attacked the EU in a press release against my advice and invited the condemnation of the EU. Perhaps without my intervention, the regime would have fallen faster; but regime change, an event, did not equate with democracy, and a new regime would have many priorities other than reform.

A 25-old regime would be under a lot of international pressure to either reform or get out. A new regime would be given a lot of time before pressure is put on it to pursue reform. A dying regime would be under intense international pressure to quickly build democratic institutions. A new regime will have a lot of space for excuses. So logically, a dying regime must sell a lot of reform to buy time; a new regime need not sell as much reform to buy time. But of course, it was highly unlikely, but not impossible, that a 30 year-old regime can reinvent itself and buy another term; and I don’t doubt MDP’s commitment to human rights.

My role in explaining to the old guard how the modern world worked meant that I had to do a lot of intervention in domestic matters—lecturing the Home Minister and others of the infamous Sitcom.

On at least 2 occasions, I threatened to quit if I did not get my way on leniency or release for detained activists (on one occasion, on 5 June 2005, I even copied my threat to Ali Hashim, that I would resign if Anni was not returned home before 6 pm that day and Haruge re-opened by the same deadline).

Very often, I would engineer visits by the Jail Inspection Committee (on which Afeef and Aminath Didi served) to investigate reports of the status or wellbeing of political detainees. It was for this reason that often I received calls from family and friends of political detainees to intercede with President Gayoom on behalf of several detainees. (But of course, these behind-the-scene moves were not well-known, as you can see from the entry in DO on 7 June 2005 as “Letter from Dylan: A letter to the good doctor, Phd, on certain events on the night of 5 June” See http://www.dhivehiobserver.com/letters/Good-doctor-maldives07060056.htm )

The international community did not take sides in domestic political disputes. Their interest was in advancing reform. Sappe of DO and I would frequently debate on BBC TV or elsewhere on what should come first, reform or regime change. At the end of the day, this was what divided me from MDP then and later from DRP. Where I put reform ahead of regime change, MDP found me an obstacle; where I was willing to risk regime security for reform, DRP found me a threat.

Ultimately, it was my sense that there was a great opportunity to pursue reform in the Maldives that did not lead to me to quit the Maldives when many political heavyweights abandoned Gayoom in the months following Black Friday – for them, it was the endgame, or so they thought. For me, this was the last chance to usher in a modern democracy without bloodshed. Already, as it subsequently turned out, the change has been revolutionary enough; but it has still been smooth. Regime change without reform would have been far worse than whatever has happened since Black Friday. And it was the promise of that peaceful transition of power that kept me going even in the bleakest days following Black Friday.

Anyone remember the famous debate that MDP Chair Nasheed and I had at Giyasuddin School Hall on 30 June 2005? Nasheed said all that was necessary was regime change; and I said reforms were more important. Mercifully, what we got was both regime change and reform. Both of us remember Lord Acton’s famous quote: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely; there is no worse hearsay than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” On this, we both agree, and always have.

For the past several months, I have been advocating the erection of a memorial for victims of torture. As that memorial goes up, I want to remind my erstwhile colleagues on the Sitcom that the reason that they today have the right to remain silent, the right to legal representation, the right to protest peacefully, the right to actively oppose the government and many of the other rights that they enjoy today are the result largely of the reform process of the past five years. And I am sure that the most important thing today for those who were locked up 5 years ago is to find ways to make people power durable—and the way to achieve it is by building institutions. The process must go on.

Ahmed Shaheed for OSA

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109 comments:

Aminath said...

Did the government finally agree on the memorial? Damn shame I couldn't get them to agree on either a new commission or expanding the role of the current presidential commission to include crime in addition to corruption. It is so important to document those atrocious acts for history's sake and to provide some form of healing for those affected.

idrees said...

say not gayoom. cos Gayoom is one name of Allah(swt). instead say Abdul Gayoom cos it means the slave of Gayoom.
wa salaam

Anonymous said...

What a lord of bull this is.

Anonymous said...

Subject: Out damned spot! Out!

Isn’t it tragic that you have to go to this length to clean yourself? You see on that fateful day there were so many of you, all sitting on the fence almost enjoying the show, seeing us lose ourselves, our lives, our tomorrows. It must have been wonderful to sit there because a quick jump to either side could easily be done, and having made that small crawl you now have a story to tell as you did then.

Guilt Doc is a very powerful emotion; Lady Macbeth washed imaginary blood off her hands over and over again. We are glad we don’t have hands to wash.

Anonymous said...

You seriously expect us to believe this.

Anonymous said...

Your butt is as dirty as the so called old guards,

Don't try to be damn saint now.

With or without you we would get rid of those people who hurt us.

Working from within, what a load of crap. I have some filth for you but I want waist it on you. Punck.

Anonymous said...

You have done very well in a difficult political climate. As for the accusation that you are or were a hyporite, it seems you have cleared that up. However, under that type of tyanny, at some stage, nearly every Maldivian had been a hypocrite out of tghe fear of Maumoon except perhaps for a few radicals who had been so badly wounded as children emotionally by dictator's (Maummon or Nasir) that they had already faced their fears and were ready to do so again.

Some of the reformists have the attitude that many are hypocrites but the radicals need to be more understanding.

Anonymous said...

This article took me back to Balck Friday and the dark days that followed. Coming from a family that has suffered enough brutality under gayyoom's regime, I hope to God you are telling the truth. So proud of president Nasheed and others who stood up against these atrocities.

Anonymous said...

Oh my god. Shaheed. As clean as a piece of cotton. Its natural that everyone wants to take credit. I think its the question who played a vital role. Definetely Gasim, Dr. Hassan, Jameel, Anni, Maumoon all played very important roles. So nobody can say that its me who played a better role. Ultimately being in the right time and right place Anni took the advantage of the whole process. When black friday occured Anni was in United Kingdom with David Hardingham sipping grape juice. He came back and played a drama the following black friday. Shaheed pls dont think Maldivians are fools.

zedzed said...

i guess even the old guards can justify them selves, and with a shorter essay.

Anonymous said...

Its not true. Simply not true.

Anonymous said...

Oh my Lord, can soemone tell me if there is a bright star over the horizon? Jesus must be back.

What a load of rubbish, is this why they call you "Janaza Kudey"

Let me tell you, you are a leach, leaches suck blood from humans Man, you will do the same when this Government goes and try to secure a Ministerial position in next government.

Oh my...oh my word..this man really thinks we are NUTS, maybe we are..LOL

Anonymous said...

Shaheed one can understand our need to say the politically right thing at this moment as you said the right things that moment. It is to protect your job and enjoy your life.

The truth is known to all. You are one of the key people who pushed most to have Anni arrested. You worked hard to let the charges go through to a sentence. You were the one playing all the games with MAG then. You left the Government because of then impending no confidence vote.

It is one thing to try to defend our actions. Its another to go this long to try to paint your image in another colour.

We remember the websites you operated. Factmaldives and Maldivian. We know how close you worked with MAG family. How you kept arguing that Anni using all tactics in books to bring down the Government.

We know you hired the Hill and something PR group. We know TVM has footage of all your interviews.

Even if you don't go down to this level it is possible to keep your job. You are still one of the best people in the Government. So rest well. You are safe.

What is all this stuff you are writing to please whom. Anni knows well those who worked within the Government for change. Anni knows you are not one of them. You were just the reverse.

Or are you having a certain syndrome that we should name something with.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Shaheed worked as the foreign minister during the dictatorship and was involved in making n implementing foreign policy. So, how could we blame him for what happened during the last months of the dictatorship.
In my opinion, Dr. Shaheed is the best foreign minister we ever had.

Anonymous said...

It is obvious that these hate-Doc-Shaheed posts are coming from Gayoomists! Even this morning at Dharubaaruge Anni was praising Dr Shaheed!

Anonymous said...

Doc, thank you for taking the trouble to write such intricate details of your role. It was quite evident what role Yameen and the Gayoom family played and what role reformists like you and Doc Hassan played. Bravo for speaking your mind!

Anonymous said...

Hey Docky, you are the Man, now we know that you are the mother of maldivian democracy, MAG claims he is the father,

Anonymous said...

are you the same shaheed who was the spokesmen that time. a clever person who wrote a thesis in bullshiting. supervised by gayoom. finally betrayed Gayoom as well. now almost going to ruin Anni.

Anonymous said...

The recordings are their when then spokesman convincingly tried to explain that what happened on August 12th and 13th was an act against the Government to overthrow a legal regime. Docky you are trying to kid who...

Anonymous said...

DR. Shaheed. You may not like it. But you should realize that most people see you an opportunist. You called the freedom gathering on that day an act against state. You went around Europe and Embassies trying to discredit MDP and its activities. MDP members know that well.

Most of us in MDP cannot help but laugh off at what you are trying to do. You are in cabinet today because of the coalition that was established. You are tolerated in that position today because you do try to help the Government now. That we appreciate.

But on that day you were a Gayooom's boy. You were trying hard to climb high so you said all those things on television. Remember that Janazaa stuff you said about MDP.

Our memories and short and we will forgive. We know that you were vocal against us and you spent a log of time at Theemuge and SHE building with Nasreena. We know you called Maumoon the Father of Democracy.

You are an educated and experienced man. So why not just do your job and say sensible things. What is all this blabbering.

Anonymous said...

Here it is.

17th July 2006 in Dhivehi Observer

17th July 2006



Gayyoom always uses terminologies like "Sweeping Reform" and "Road Map" to muster support within the international community as they happen to be widely used political terms of the time. So, with the new conflict in the Middle East, the conflict between Hizballah and Israel, and the most common term being used is "de-escalate", one wonders when Gayyoom will announce that he is to further "de-escalate" his so called "sweeping reform" agenda and the "road map" citing perhaps far reaching economic reasons, due to increases in fuel prices, for example, which will hit him and his cronies very hard over the coming weeks and months.



Gayyoom's advisors, like his Foreign Minister Dr. Shaheed, the founder of the "New Maldives Banana Boys", are quick to point out these things to him and Gayyoom is apparently easily persuaded when such international political terms are used in their campaign to salvage the world's secret dictatorship. To prove the point, although Dr. Shaheed got mocked live on BBC World in January 2005 - "He's been one party leader, one person leader, for 25 years, how can you say he is the Father of Reform?"- for babbling that Gayyoom was "the Father of Reform in the Maldives", what Dr. Shaheed got was a promotion, from being Gayyoom's Spokesman to Foreign Minister, hence Gayyoom must have approved of his performance and most importantly of the specific comment. Despite the fact that his performances on the world stage has done nothing but create more problems for the regime ever since he came on the scene, because all he is allowed to do is to lie to the world on behalf of Gayyoom. Many compare him with the famous Dr. Sahaf, the former Information Minister of Iraq, who defended Saddam during the time of his fall. I recall him even denying what was happening live in the background of the shot, as he gave live interviews to the world media.



We certainly can't wait for Gayyoom to announce a package to "de-escalate" the reform process, which is in fact something he has been doing from the day he announced it due to pressure from the world community, resulting from the works of the democratic movement which persuaded the international community to take action against this brutal dictator. But, like we said then, it is nothing but pure rhetoric, a showcase. Gayyoom is incapable of bringing any changes to the Maldives which will benefit the people, forget about reform and democracy. His only aim is to salvage his ruthless dictatorship, escape from justice and live like a billionaire Arab King.



"Sweeping Reform", "Road Map" or "De-escalate", whatever the term he comes up next, after 27 years of absolute tyranny, no wonder that we, the people of the Maldives, have no faith in this ruthless bastard, who continues to deprive us of our most basic rights.

Anonymous said...

fadaboe shaheed.

Anonymous said...

I have always been a supporter of Dr. Shaheed. He has a point and we should all agree and respect him. He is a first class diplomat who reads everything line by line. Many of us are politicians and our goals were very different than his. We are happy to have him in our team and gave him a "free ride" to run his office to the best interest of the people. I am a very senior government official sitting yards away from him during the cabinet meetings.

While we acknowledge the contributions of many who are still abroad, who helped us to bring these changes, for which Dr. Shaheed and all others in his party worked, we must not forget the people he worked to harm and to purge. There are many such names, but one such name came up to my mind, when I saw this article. I want to mention about Sodiq who is in US. Dr. Shaheed and his team worked hard with US government to bring him back and to torture, while knowing that his daughter was poisoned by Gayoom and his cronies.

My point here is very clear. While we all respect this fine diplomat, I think it is fair for the readers to know, he himself was not a saint, when it comes to change in this country.

Many of us know too well, that Sodiq started his opposition way back in 1983, well before, many of us left the soother in our mouth.

hussain said...

hey doc,
tell something about hussain salah

Anonymous said...

Dr Shaheed well done, well done.
All your actions in the past 5 years put you in a very bad light.Perhaps you have observed and read about people like Ibrahim Shihab who always remained in high office due to his slimy and double dealing nature and I should say that you are a modern day Shihab albeit without that extra ordinary liguistic abilities.All this crap was written to fool us and make us believe that your butt is as clean as a white cloth and you are as innocent as a new born baby.Nothing can be further from the truth.You are as dirty and guilty as anyoneelse in all of these incidences.The difference is that you have the ability to hoodwink others and change colours like a chameleon and thats exactly why you are in the MDP now.Remember this.Even the MDP bigwigs know your true colours.We all know that politics makes strange bed fellows and you are one little person with a big and deceitful mouth who is ready to bed any one ( man or women) inorder to secure your seat and selfishly hang on to power and still want the history to judge you very kindly and label as the messiah who convinced the big dictator to change and mend his ways but for any one even with a little intelligence all this is just a big joke.You will be known as the little parasite of the Maldivian politics in the first decade of this century and nothing more.

Anonymous said...

reading this beautifully written article made me relive that day. why was there a delay with mujuthaba from hrcm answering your call to accompany you? what happened on 30th june 2005?
what is clear is u played a big role...but different people will interpret ur role from different perspectives,atleast with this article,we get to know ur perspective to what happened and why what happened took place..in the way it happened

Anonymous said...

reading this beautifully written article made me relive that day. why was there a delay with mujuthaba from hrcm answering your call to accompany you? what happened on 30th june 2005?
what is clear is u played a big role...but different people will interpret ur role from different perspectives,atleast with this article,we get to know ur perspective to what happened and why what happened took place..in the way it happened

Anonymous said...

Ooooh lala Doc, what the F is this? you telling us that you are the "messiah"

Oh oh SAVE US messiah, SAVE US...Laughing my ass out loud.

You are nothing but a bloody vampire.

Anonymous said...

I dont believe you man.You have only one principle,survival, whether its helping a dictator or helping a monster dictator.

Anonymous said...

President Obama should have included you in his list for the Presidential medal of honor for freedom. Damn!

Oh perhaps, his intelligence chief told him that you are crook?

Anonymous said...

"It was not laws, but money that limited press freedom" says Dr. Shaheed

hivehi Observer, 08 April 2005

Dr. Shaheed needs to get a health check-up because lately he has been babbling nonsense in the name of the Maldivian people aimed at saving the rule of his Master, Gayyoom "the hypocrite of the millennium".

The most outrageous comment he has made to date was the one on BBC on 24th January this year, when he said "Gayyoom is the father of reform in the Maldives." Perhaps he was trying too hard to prove his point and got carried away. But, as Chief Government Spokesman he really should not get carried away on world media when billions are watching him.

And, just this week, he said on The Hindu that it is difficult to have press freedom in Maldives because we are all related to each other. He went on to give another reason too saying that it is not the laws but money that hinders press freedom in Maldives. Even after gruelling discussions and debate amongst some highly educated Maldivians, we have not been able to understand the message he is trying to deliver.

Let us take a close look at these two statements. What has family ties or inter-relation got to do with press media? And, I for one am a Maldivian and I am not related to all the Maldivians? Perhaps he is referring to Gayyoom's government ( a true family affair) so criticism and exposure of their deeds will be distasteful and Gayyoom will loose power if that happens, hence press freedom cannot be allowed.

The second point of money being an issue that hinders press freedom is even more absurd a statement. All we know is that even people with money who wanted to get into the media and publishing market in Maldives were denied the opportunity by subjecting them to torture. Let us recall some of them like Sangu, Hukuru and even Sandhaanu.

Of course, Shaheed cannot say that by controlling press freedom Gayyoom has been able to control the minds of the people and live off their money like an "Arab Billionaire King."

Shaheed obviously does not think through before he starts babbling away. On 5th April, an article in Haveeru Daily gave a detailed account of the Shaheed�s response to the call by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) for the withdrawal of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's comprehensive reform agenda. He said it "does not make any sense.� However, in his attempt to explain how inclusive and comprehensive the reform agenda is, he forgot to mention that his Master had promised similar sweeping reforms on several occasions before. He also forgot to mention that in fact almost all these reforms were proposed by member of the last Special Majlis during their 17 year attempt to amend the 1968-Constitution but were all rejected by his Master. He also said that these reform agenda is being carried forward with close consultation with international bodies such as the commonwealth and other foreign experts and not the people of Maldives who have to live by the constitution. Shaheed also forgot to mention that his Master is incapable to respecting laws and adhering to the current constitution and hence is in not in a position to respect any constitution not matter how democratic or fair it is.

Shaheed should think about what he is going to say before he makes these unsubstantiated and pathetic statements. It is one thing to defend a dictator but how can someone like Shaheed who claims to be a great diplomat and an expert in foreign affairs allow him to be a laughing stock of the world like what�s his face, yes! Al- Sahaaf, the former Information Minister of Iraq

Anonymous said...

Absolutely True Incident Docky
=========================
Sitaram then introduced Maldives government spokesman Dr Shaheed to respond to Ahmed Moosa's recorded remark that a free and fair election is not possible with over a dozen opposition members still in custody.

Shaheed smiled as he lied, 'The figure is absolutely untrue.' Only two people in detention filed papers for the election and they will be allowed to contest the seats they have applied for, he said. The uncharged detained reformists were being held for 'serious public order offences'.

Why are they still in custody after four months, Sitaram asked.

'One of them is facing charges,' Shaheed replied, 'and he will receive a free and fair trial.. The reason (the others are in custody) is the offences they have committed.'
Shaheed said 'judicial warrants' for a further 10 to 15 days of detention had been granted yesterday.

Only two filed papers, reiterated Sitaram, perhaps the others didn't file papers because they were in custody?

'There are three people who were arrested after the orders and who have filed papers,' replied Shaheed. 'There has been a sea-change in Maldives over the last year or so, and those who have chosen to live abroad may not be aware of the extent and scale and scope of the change, or the commitment of the government to succeed in the reform program.'

Sitaram asked if he was confident the elections would be free and fair.

'Absolutely!' he said 'The government is delighted the elections are taking place. Since the early 90s, every election has been monitored by independent observers, and this time around we have increased the number to include the Commonwealth observers as well. We would like to see a free and fair election. We would like to see no violence, no intimidation, no disinformation and no financial pressure on voters. We would like to see a free and fair choice. We are confident they will return moderate reformists who will carry out the president's reform agenda which has widespread public support and also the support of the British government, the US government, the EU, and Amnesty International and others who we are working with us to make the Maldives a twenty-first (century) society of freedom and democracy.

When are the reforms going to take place, Sitaram asked.

Well, reforms have already happened, said Shaheed and he mentioned the Maldives Human Rights Commission and the separation of the police from the army within the NSS.

At this point, Sitaram ended the interview

Anonymous said...

This is just another cheap attempt at self aggrandizing . The book covers of Huntington and Joseph Nye ’s books....WTF is that? And the name throwing… Lunstead, Colin Hicks Gavai, van Dyke, Sanjeev Srivastava Simon Gardner Dilip Ganguly, Amal Jayasinghe of Agence Abbas Faiz these names don’t add anything to the author's credibility.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness!

What a load of crap!

No one in his right mind will believe this. This is nothing but Dr Shaheed's sloppy attempt to save his face and after all the shit he did!

Anonymous said...

Thimaa ah heevaa gothuga thimaa varuge molhumeehaku neiy kan meegen dheyhavanee.

Unknown said...

I coudn't read past the third paragraph. Such a load of boasting!

Dr Shaheed, do you find guilty that your greed for power made you serve the wrong government?

DO should have never posted this kind of crap.

Sappe' if you are too busy to write for DO, do not let it be filled with this kind of crap.

Anonymous said...

Shaheed, you are worse than Kutti Nasheed!!

Anonymous said...

I am disappointed that this article did not have a warning on DO to say this is the product of Dr Shaheed's diarrhoea!

Anonymous said...

Shaheed, there is no need to appear as if you are a saint.

Itsn't it sad that you have to write an article this long to prove you are a nice guy? Isn't is more sad that in spite of this long an article, you did not appear as if you are a nice guy?

You were enjoying your new found power on that fateful day.

Anonymous said...

Doc, thank you for once again speaking up. You have always drawn criticism, but as you well know, you must doing something right to draw so much fire. It is evident that reforms do not come without an intellectual contribution; and New Maldives provided that input. People forget that you were the founder of New Maldives, that you have consistently opposed Yameen and criticised Ilyas. Why even MDP chairperson Mariya was busy writing charge sheets against Sandaanu and Jennifer Latheef and the Black Friday protesters!

Anonymous said...

When you say Dr Shaheed, we think of Kosovo, Foreign Minister, New Maldives, Open Society, Maldives Reform Movement, Dr Hassan Saeed, Watan Edhey Gulhun, Roadmap to Democracy, Reform Agenda, Sahhaaf, Father of Democracy... You are truly a man of many parts, some good, some bad. But the important thing is that you have the courage to put across your views. You did a good job defending Gayoom. Now I hope you will do a good job defending this government.

Anonymous said...

Dr Shaheed, you have said it yourself: those who wanted regime change hated you, those who opposed regime change, adored you. Now that you have changed sides, everybody hates you! But I know that you don't mind that!

Anonymous said...

If this gives you some satisfaction, go on boasting Mr Shaheed (Dr)

But everyone knows you are a bloody liar, yes A LIAR

Just like Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, you are disgrace to this country, Its a shame that President appointed you as FM, He could have done a better job.

Anonymous said...

Why the hell is DO posting this. Is this site now run by Dr. Shaheed like the way he ran Maldivian and FactMaldives. Remember the lies that he used to write about us.

Dr. Shaheed is power hungry and wants to become the President one day. He is hoping that MDP is stupid to give him this role. Shaheed you are a selfish liar.

Shame to DO for posting this load of Sh...

Anonymous said...

Hey man you licked and fooled the Dictator. Don't think you can fool Anni. Not in your life time. Anni is smarter than that. He knows your tricks and now you think Anni is buys your deceptive arguments. Writing about these fancy books and the journalists names is useless. Some of those journalists will be laughing their heads off now. He are such a comedian.

Anonymous said...

I get it. You and Maumoon are both Skitzophrenic. I think that will stand in a court of law.

Anonymous said...

Hey man, we hated you for your role in Golhaa government. But we thank you for finally putting Golhaa down. And thank you for joining the coalition to defeat dictatorship.By the way, what was it that you said in Delhi recently that everybody yesterday was talking about?

Anonymous said...

Shaheed, you have hit some raw nerves here! But I think all this venom is being poured out not by MDP or the veterans of Black Friday, but by your recent colleagues in DRP! Why, MDP leadership seem to think very highly of you, especially today!

Anonymous said...

Doc, thanks for the post. Good to know that not everybody with Golhaa was a neo-Nazi. Why else will Yameen accuse you of courting George Soros? By the way, do you really have a line to George?

Anonymous said...

Sappe, have you teamed up with the Spin Doctor?

Anonymous said...

I can believe what Shaheed is saying. Is he not the one who held the famous Westminster Talks? Is he not the one who ran against Golhaa and Thasmeen? Is he not the one who is now speaking against flogging women? Is he not the one protesting against Dr Bilal Philips and the Wahhabis?

Anonymous said...

So how did you become Muslim Democrat of the Year? Are you not going to tell us that story?

Anonymous said...

Gayyoom had a reform agenda? Yeah right!

Anonymous said...

I feel like vomitting!
This is disgusting!!

Anonymous said...

Is Shaheed unhappy that he could not become the vice president?

Is this his propaganda for the next election?

Anonymous said...

Meegen ingenee Shaheed ge huri dhefuh keheri kan.

Golhabo aa ekeega masaiykaiy kuri iru eyna vareh neiy. Mihaaru Anni vareh neiy.

Eyruga Anni mennaa dheytherey kanthah kurigoiy handhaan naththaalan beynunvanee dhoa. Ehenve dhoa e chapter alun ehen gothakah miothee liyefa.

Anonymous said...

Just play the hold tapes from TVM and VOM and you will see spin doctors colours. MDP cannot be fooled by a slimy guy like you. U think Anni will give you a chance to be Vice-President. Dream on mr spinster.

Anonymous said...

Salhi kendi as mivaru thankolheh bodu!

Anonymous said...

Doc, its very unfortunate we dont have a mental hospital. But Guraidhu would be nice for you.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't you show this to someone else before you made this online?

Anyone with half a brain also would not have approved this.

Anonymous said...

I did not know what kind of a person Shaheed is before I read this.

But you have made the work so easy for me. I do not need to do anything more. Now I know you are one power hungry kid.

Anonymous said...

One thing, Shaheed.

You do not have to talk so much about how great a person you are if you can actually show it with what you do.

Anonymous said...

What is the purpose of this article?

To see how furious people can get after reading this shit?

Anonymous said...

I hope Anni knows the real Shaheed. And not listen to bullshit like this.

Anonymous said...

ch..ch..ch Shaheed,cmon, this is terrible. What happens when foriegn ambassadors read this? they will know that you are one deadly kid.

Anonymous said...

How does Anni tolerate this kind of arrogance?

Anonymous said...

Where is Kutti Nasheed?

He should rewrite his article on 'cognitive dissonance.'

Anonymous said...

"TV Maldives has asked me to give them an interview about Black Friday."

TVM is measuring how much of a hypocrite you can be. lol

Anonymous said...

Shaheed, my friend. I never thought you will go down this low. for the sake of pleasing someone, if you think you can please the MDP with this article, then you are dead wrong.

You know, King Hussein once said

"We should face reality and our past mistakes in an honest, adult way. Boasting of glory does not make glory, and singing in the dark does not dispel fear."

Hussein is 100% correct right

Anonymous said...

saabas shaheed thee hama fakkaa 2 fuh keherieh aharen hama hairaanvejje kaleyge article kiyaifi dhuniyeyge siyaasee leader in hithah araane kaleaky fakkaa anga findhehkkan

Anonymous said...

Shaheedhoo kamakuvaa dho, hama ladhu hayaathuge kanfulheh ves nethiyyey dho, aan buney viyya, ladheh hayaatheh nethiyyaa hithu hiri kameh kuraashey.

Ahary MDP jalsaa ga indhaa kaley (OK, manikufaanu) jalsaa ah vain than fenifa aharen ethanun nikumejjain, MDP ge is verin Kaley (OK manikufaanu) maa molhu meehakah vegen ethanah vedhdhiyas ahannah egey kaley (OK Manikufaanu) thee kihaavarehge baeh kulhunu meeheh (OK beyfulheh) kan. ehenveema aharen nukuthee, adhi MDP ah ves aharen vassalaam, Kale aa (OK manikufaanaa) karaa karu jassaa salaan kuraa meehakah ves kiari ah ves aharen vaeh neylheynan

Anonymous said...

Why is Sappe' interested in Shaheed's shit?

Anonymous said...

I noticed that DO has been minimally active for a while. Is Sappe' going to make us read this kind of stuff from now on? I am going to ignore DO in that case. I cannot bear reading this kind of shit. My blood pressure is already high by the time I read five paragraphs of this shitty article. I don't know how the others read this shit!

Anonymous said...

This is so interesting.Sappe has published an article by this Shaheed and the responses are just overwhelming.Not over whelming with support for Shaheed but disgust at what he has done and is still doing.He can in the best of circumstances be described as a crooked con man.The MDP grass roots have every right to be irritated and upset because this hypocrite is in their midst and enjoying both the worlds.He was with Qayoom in his hey day and soon left him when it was obvious that the government will fall.Now he is again scheming and making plans to consolidate his position and by pass many MDP loyalists to remain in power.In this process he is trying to get credit for many things he has not done and cleverly avoiding the blame for many nastier things that he has done.A real Munafiq.In Qayooms government he will get the credit for destroying it from within and this crooked spin doctor is again repeating the same with the new government.One thing is for sure.He will have no love lost for MDP guys and he is again back to his old game of destroying the new government from within.It will not be a surprise if he is infact the master mind of some of the new and unpopular policies of the MDP government.We remember how he strongly opposed the idea of giving voting rights to 18 year olds and after antagonizing the youth he was again seeing advocating it and made comments in such a way to show the public that he was helpless in the first place but its he who finally convinced Qayoom to relent and let the 18 years too vote.This was the type of dirty game that he is specialized in.Policies and plans of discrediting who ever he is associated with except offcoarse those close and dear darlings( the infamous trio) who are his bed fellows in politics.MDP government should have enough sense to see through this gigantic imposter and should not get carried away by all his deceiteful talk.

Anonymous said...

Aruvaali Aadhanu,

MDP has no wright to claim Aug 12,13 as there exclusive event.

The MDP has officially celebrated Aug 12,13 in Alimas Kaanival stage last night with YELLOW.

Aug 12 is Maldives day of Democracy & 13th is Maldives day of Human rights.

The way MDP & its Government has celebrated the event colorfully but PEOPLE participation was very less.

That may be a responsible of event manager in MDP.

The people expected to hear key notes from people like Ibrahim Ismail,Gasim Ibrahim & rest of Majlis members lecture or there feelings about the matter.

President Nasheed was apear on the stage as a president not in the mood head democracy movement which may be not a bad concept according to present political situation.

People expected to have mike on the stage to share just public saying few words.

After math of what has taken place in local political atmosphere in Maldives has lot of barriers & challenges of initiating other than MDP members to participate the event. This ICE has break from MDP members & Government to make this event as PEOPLES EVENT not MDP & its Government exclusivity of Aug 12 & 13.

The reality is present MDP 80% members & there leaders has mega contribution to make this event happen in a extremely DANGEROUS atmosphere.

wowmaldives@hotmail.com
Aruvaali Aadhanu

Anonymous said...

Or Shaheed. You are the greatest. You brought democracy from inside. You are the smarted intellectual in the country. While you were in the Government you supported democracy. You never advocated anyone to be arrested. You did not argue with Gayoom to keep those guys under arrest. You are the greatest. You dont like the perks in your job, you are just doing it for Maldivians. You are a true hero of the Maldivian people.

With Gayoom you struggled for democracy. You risked your life like Anni for democracy. Today you are the greatest asset Government has. You happen to be the best diplomat this country has ever seen. In this region, you are praised as the best international affairs expert.

One day we are sure you will become the Secretary General of UN. You are that smart. You never try to please anyone to get what you want and where you want to be. You earned everything from your hard work.

You are the best. We are all indebted to you honorable Dr. Shaheed. You are so concerned about the Pakistani-Maldives you have posted the best diplomat Dr. Shehnaz to the mission in Pakistan. She is not known to you in any personal manner. You selected or on her merit and experience in international diplomacy.

As you said you are reducing costs in you ministry. You have reduced the no of foreign missions. As you said you have closed down the office in Singapore. Appointing a new high commissioner was done not with you blessing. You closed the office in Japan and did not appoint a new person their. You did not appoint a new person in Malaysia.

You are the best. The brightest and the best writer. When you speak in places like India and US people listen. You are the Muslim man of the Year. The organization that gave you the award is a real muslim organization that does good work in US. It is not an organization supported by Jewish interest such as Soros.

You are the greatest. You are the only person who knew how to bring democracy to Maldives. We the MDP members are thankful for you for eternity.

Anonymous said...

Making me read this load of shit is a breach of my human rights. Now, Kudey, go talk to Amnesty International.

Dhen la-la-la.

Anonymous said...

Interesting! Many of the comments probably have not read the article. Life is never simple. No body is entirely bad or entirely good. I always wondered where Gayoom learned about Paris Principles. I also wondered why a young educated man like Dr Shaheed defended the old regime. Now I know. In the end, the outcome determines whether or not your role was justified: you did help to determine the outcome; thank you for quiting Gayoom and joining the opposition. From the comments I can say that at least,what you say still matters to a lot of people. So keep writing,,,

Anonymous said...

blundering dim witted egomaniacs is the best of description of anni's cabinet and his party officials...not that we want Gayoom back.

Anonymous said...

Anni must be an A..hole himself to associate with a F..k like this. Damn shame

Anonymous said...

Lets give some credit to Dr. Shaheed.
He may have switched sides, but regime change may not have happened without the crucial role of the 3 doctors in the cabinet.

I think MDP should accept Dr. Shaheed with the circumstance in which he had to operate.

Anonymous said...

Important thing is that political reform and regime change happened.

Does it matter who was at which side when it started and that person was finally on the other side? And there is no need to justify either.

Its done and lets go with it.

Anonymous said...

Well, this is an interesting article by Dr.Shaeed.Great read! Thanks Doc.

After all we are free from gayoom's brutal dictatorship.

Now we need a sincere team to re-build the nation. Gayoom's so called "sweeping reform" has swept everything from us. He must have used a Sweeping Broom.

What surprises me is that after 30 years, still the old man is not able to quench his thirst. Behaving like a psycho, he is in a dream world and he does not seem to accept the facts of life.

Can someone make him sit somwhere and convince him that he is no longer the president of Maldives?

Anonymous said...

I really do thank Dr Shaheed for sharing his thoughts and insights about Black Friday. I don't think that most of these hate comments have come from anywhere other than Alivaage-- no where else is such bile being poured out today. Let's face it: Dr Shaheed was very much like MDP- this is what Juliana Rufus of Al Jazeera said in her programme People in Power which was televised in July 2007. She said that the Foreign Minister sounded so much like Mariya Didi. So there!

Anonymous said...

Very true! If reforms are to become durable, it is necessary to build institutions. Had there been regime change in 2005, there would not have been an MDP- there was no party at that time.

Anonymous said...

Kudey is loyal to no one. The minute he thinks Anni is not doing things the way he likes, he will join yet another party. And after yet another government is formed, he will go on boasting how great he is.

Anonymous said...

The problem with Dr. Shaheed is that he has gone to the extend of fabricating his role to show to the world he was working within to bring change. Those who observed him would know that was not the case at all. He was working within to very much crush the opposition. He was one of the most vocal people who would try to hide what was really happening.

He tried to classify Anni as a terrorist and spread that news to embassies abroad. Check the foreign ministry files and emails sent out those days. They may be destroyed now that he is in power in that same office. He used to send communications all over the world saying that Anni and MDP are terrorrists.

Mondhooth was Shaheed's creation. Shaheed did everything he can to discredit MDP. It did not work because MDP was working much harder.

Shaheed is and was a man who was looking for his own glory and benefits. The article could have said that he regrets how he behaved then and said sorry. Yet he goes on in the article trying to convince that he was a master reformist who was working within and supporting MDP. That is bullshit. Anni knows this bullshit and MDP core people should know.

Anonymous said...

yes very true. soft power is about getting what you want from others without threatening or seducing. yes shaheed wanted to be a minister. he did that by saying exactly what maumoon wanted to here. yes maummon thought shaheed was a loyal supporter of his regime and gave him everything he wanted. shaheed was able to do what he did with hill and knowlton and you know the rest.

Anonymous said...

gayoom didnt allow institutions to educate people in this field,his team has always opposed to the idea, sitting in his class 14 years ago i can remember him lecturing a group of political science students in SEC, that was the last batch of students he could teach and the subject was abolished. i call on the president to open a center for political science and democratic studies, develop it under the foreign ministry until it can take shape so that maldivians will have knowledge and enlightenment ,have opportunities to develop themselves to become good politicians and parliamentarians..it is not his fault....good that he didnt leave maldivies...he doesnt have blood in his hands , all these corrupt rich people does ...and by the way ....who doesnt have blood in hands

Anonymous said...

for a few it may seem that shaheed had a legacy of tourture..but its not true , the truth is that he seeked academic solutions ...maldives survived such a big media crisis because of few educated peole like him, we should stregthen the institutions and give people their due respect and i think he loves his country , dont say that.

Anonymous said...

"Simply not true" - you Doc is a real opportunist. Any agenda threatening your position or pace is of no importance to you. Shameful, right? Why are you calm in a government whose actions are forcing the country in to deep shit because of their own actions. What is good about Anni? I feel nothing. He is a liability for the Maldives. We cannot be hanging on to 30 year story all the time. Honeymoon is over. And don't say that a new regime has more excuses and time to recede the progress. You have compromised your conscience long back, don't shout loud and imitate that you are all good.

Anonymous said...

Doc, don't mind the critics,and I know you won't. You are one of the bravest people this country has ever seen: standing up for your convictions. I saw you during the presidential campaign last year-- it must have taken guts to attack a regime you once defended. Did anyone notice that there was nothing that Gayoom could do to discredit Shaheed! Not many people can come out of a shit hole that you came out of, and not have any baggage. Look at others, even some of the MDP bigwigs who had earlier served with Gayoom. I say, do write some more about your time with Gayoom.

Anonymous said...

Reeko Moosa Maniku, MP for Hulhu Henveriru had said that some political factions are spreading the rumors that the government could be overthrown.

The defence force of the Maldives would never denigrate themselves to the level of overthrowing the democratic will of the majority. To think that they could commit such an act of tyranny is an insult to the integrity of the highly disciplined, very self sacrificial members of the forces.

The philosophy behind the duty to protect the Maldives is deeply rooted in the Islamic principle that the suffering of any Muslim is felt by every Muslim. The Maldivian forces live by that, and are prepared to give their lives for that whenever necessary. Their duty is to protect you, and this noble ideal is esteemed by every officer of the defence force.

To support an overthrow of the present Government, especially if those who wished to overthrow the Government supported Judges that protect gangsterism, would not be possible. The violence that is being protected is violence that could be perpetrated against the family of the police and security officers, no officer would sink so low as to risk the lives of their Mother, Brother, Sister, Father or child by supporting gangsterism. It would be something so far beneath the dignity of a Maldivian officer of the law to violate their own families like that that it hurts me for their sake that one could even think it possible.

Think of this. A police officer who was sent to protect Maumoon when Maumoon was arrested was viciously beaten up. This is the way certain people wish to treat those who duty it is to protect you. In return for sacrificing their lives for their beloved Brother's and Sisters, certain people repay the forces with cruelty.

The officers of the police force and the MNDF support the Presidency of Mohammed Nasheed because whilst he is not perfect, his actions reflect that his heart is truly for the well being of his people and not for himself. That is to say that President Nasheed is a President who lives by the Islamic principle given by the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) that a Muslim must not eat to his full whilst another Muslim is hungry. This is exemplified by the President's refusal to live in Theemuge', because, in accordance with the principle derived from the Hadith above, a true Muslim would not live in the nation's most spectacular palace whilst other Maldivian Muslims live in overcrowded, desparate conditions.
The courage shown by the reformers on Black Friday and its anniversary reveals that those who were arrested have the courage of soldeirs, they understand the meaning of sacrificing themselves for the wellbeing of the country. In this sense, the reformists are truly one with the spirit of the soldiers and the police.

Though the reformists of the Maldives rejected violence as a means of reform, being that their love for their people was too deep to perpetrate violence, their hearts were as brave as lions, and they are truly also soldiers with the same heart as the forces.

The current Defence Minister, the Honorable Amin Feisal, is also a great warrior of peace and freedom, and for that he commands the respect of the forces. By going on a hunger strike when in prison, Amin won a fierce battle against his own self, the winner in Amin's battle was you and your freedom. Our Defence Minister is truly a grand prince, he is our own wonderful people's Prince. Yet he is deeply humble, demonstrating that he is truly a servant leader. He emphatically insists that he is not a Be'Fulhu but an ordinary man. He is as strong as iron yet as humble as a leader should be.

These are the men, the President, the defence minister, and the rest of the Government that the forces of this nation recognize as the worthy leaders of the Maldives. Any attempt to use the forces to overthrow these men will not be supported.

Anonymous said...

LETS ASSUME THAT MDP GOVERNMENT CHANGES IN 2 YEARS (IN THE MIDTERM ELECTION) AND SHAHEED IS MADE A MINISTER AGAIN IN THE NEXT NEW GOVERNMENT.

WHAT THEN WOULD BE THE NEW JUSTIFICATION?

Anonymous said...

the fanatics in mdp and drp wont understand. you should never allow sappey to publish you articles since the sites caters for brainless fanatics who are kind of crazy with hatred and have too much free time. i guess your thinking is with everage maldivian who are not hellbent on regime change but wants better life, better education, better democracy, better health and corruption and drug free country. current president and former president knows that. but the current president wont admit it.

Anonymous said...

What nonsense. Average Maldivian would puke reading this article. We know who Shaheed is.

Anonymous said...

Dont be fooled. People seem to accept Dr Shaheed because President Nasheed has taken him under his arms.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading the article. It is good to learn new things everyday. There is no doubt that when Shaheed was foreign minister first time around, the Maldives signed all those human rights treaties that Gayoom had always rejected. I always wondered how Shaheed got Gayoom to do that. I see a lot of people expressing hatred to this article. They seem to miss the point. Shaheed is not denying that he defended the old regime; that everyone knows. Let us see if Ali Hashim denies that Shaheed threatened to quit his job if Anni was not released in June 2005. Many of the claims that Shaheed makes are verifiable, and therefore scientific. Most of the comments are just senseless bile!

Anonymous said...

Wah! What an article! What comments! And what a discovery-- OSA has not censored any of the comments! Good for you, Shaheed

Anonymous said...

It is refreshing to know that Shaheed remains true to his ideals-- such is in not censoring the comments that have been posted here. And I urge him to write more about his time in the gayoom camp and with Hassan Saeed. These past five years have changed the course of this country; I am sure that everyone of us has many interesting tales to tell; some about the fights, the frustrations, the heartaches, the pains, the sufferings, the successes and the victories. No matter where Shaheed was on Black Friday, he was the one who was visible, and accessible. And long before he wrote this article, by quiting the regime, by joining Hassan and by giving unconditional support to MDP in the second round of the elections, he has redeemed himself; and I am not surprised that he can draw a straight line from 2003 to 2009, as he does in the article.

Anonymous said...

Doc, we love you. We met you at the last MDP meet at Alimas Carnival. Thank you for your support to our cause.

Anonymous said...

I know the role you have played when in Gayoom's government. I also know your contacts with the MDP stalwarts during the dark days of Gayoom's regime. I also know that the actions you took on the Namoona dhoni incident saved lives but because of you Gayoom's regime lasted longer. It amazed me to think that you of all people would try and keep Gayoom in power. I guess you were taken for a ride by him and Afeef and most people were right that he would never bring democracy to Maldives. At least you are on the right side now.

Anonymous said...

Doc, I don't want to judge you or anybody else. But thank you for sharing your perspective. It is, to say the least, very unexpected and I guess that is why there are so many negative comments. The hallmark of a true leader is to do what he believes is right regardless of criticism. That is why great leaders are frequently martyred. You are getting martyred here- because you stood up for what you believed. No one doubts your intellectual ability or skills as a diplomat.

Anonymous said...

A few are starting to forgive you Dr. Shaheed and trust you, DON"T Betray them again or else these will hate you forever... Even if Maumoon or Yamin comes into power you MUST not try and get cozy with them. Yamin will never let you close to him and use any power he had to destroy you anyhow, that is for sure. Maumoon wouldn't use you because he knows nobody would believe you have a heart at all if you suck back up to Maumoon now. No, you must support democracy and only help thoe who are genuinely concerened for democracy which you know Maumoon and Yamin are not.

Anonymous said...

I listened to some of your campaign rallies last year. What you have said here is consistent with what you were saying at those rallies. But you were also saying that one day you told Mohamed Hussain that you would quit if there was any emergency again. You also mentioned that you upset Shuaib at the wedding of one Sheikh Rasheed's kids by joking that the President has just announced another emergency and locked up all the lawyers!I guess there is a lot still to be said!

Anonymous said...

Hey, doctor, thanks for knocking Yameen off the Cabinet; and Fathulla, Hameed, Umar Zahir, Zahir Hussain, Anbaree, and Samaray!

Anonymous said...

mee hama salhi baisaa! ekakuves gabooleh nukurathi.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Let us hear more about it.

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