Did you know Male’ means blood bank in Divehi? This is a striking insight with consideration to the sudden rise in street violence over recent years. However, apart from information the tragic deaths or type of injuries sustained by victims or the government response to send military out onto the streets, few seem to have considered the broader causes and issues.
Such causes, which may not be immediately apparent, include the housing crisis as lack of space in homes means young people are forced to roam the streets.
Lack of social dialogue is another possible cause. Difficulty in talking about personal issues (such as drugs or sexual relationships) among families may explain why feelings of anger, depression or loneliness often develop and these then manifest themselves in fights on the streets.
So, what do you think are the underlying causes of street violence? Do you think addressing the housing crisis in Male’ would make a difference? Is it true Maldivians rarely talk about sensitive issues? And, do you think a non-militant, non-confrontational approach with consideration to the broader picture would be the most effective to combat street violence in the Maldives?
Please post your thoughts, I look forward to seeing the dialogue develop…
8 comments:
t is likely the comment deleted above was linked to a virus. This is the only instance when OSA moderates this blog and it is in efforts to protect you who provide interesting and insightful comments. Keep them coming...
Just a sugestion....
In Australia there was an organisation called Reclaim the Night or Reclaim the Streets....something like that anyway. They arranged peaceful marches through areas where violence had been known to occur. Typically it would be mums with strollers who would gather together hold a bit of an event maybe some music being played or some stalls and get the press along... basically people power saying that we dont want the thugs to ruin our public spaces and we dont want people to be couped up at home afraid to go out.
With 45% of population under 15 and of those just over half male that give about 25 to 30 thousand kids with, let’s face it, not much to do in Male’.
Don’t think they’re doing anything kids in other parts of the world don’t already do. Kids naturally form social groups or ‘gangs’ and these can be productive sporting or friendly. They can also be territorial, fuelled by drugs and booze (or fuelled by the anger that they can’t get either) and lead to violence.
25% of the population of Male’ (roughly) are young men who are bored and probably p-d off at the lack of things to do, unsure about the future and repressed in other social aspects.
Just my observations really. I have spoken to a few of the ‘gangs’ just in passing when asking directions or because they generally hang-out on my street and it’s nice to be polite. They ain’t a particularly bad bunch but can take things too far. Is this really any different from the streets of Glasgow or New York? I think not. Doesn’t mean it’s right… but also doesn’t mean it’s unusual.
Who are the people kids really listen to? Family? Peers? Radio stations? Religious figures? Probably all of these so a broad-ranging appeal through positive messages would be needed to make any effective changes I think. Make these kids proud to be Maldivian and maybe they’ll think twice about damaging their own reputations.
Well, over the 30 years of reign of the bloody dictator Gayyoom these social problems came into existence. And that dictator has done nothing to the nation as a whole. His borhter Yameen Abdul Gayyoom is still sunning his gangs and selling narcotics to the youth. The dictator didn't purposely build enough flats and cities and left two third (2/3)of the population to be over crowded in the capital which is just one square kilo meters. So WHO IS TO BE BLAMED? Are the parents of the kids or the dictator who literally sucked the blood of the people and deliberately left these things for his own political reasons. (i.e. it'll be easier to play BUY votes when people are in poor conditions)
Who started street violance and who bought the weapons to combat street violance?
Why is there gangsterism? Simple, because humans are driven by the will to power and will get away with whatever they can get away with. As Freud said, a toddler given absolute power would be far more tyrannical than Hitler.
Modern Maldivians are undisciplined and spoilt. Rich so suddenly with no understanding of the ascetic discipline and saving which stabilized Northern Europe (modern Europeans are also lost because they have lost that discipline and China will rule because they have that discipline!) Parents don't smack their kids according to any pattern, they swing from letting them get away with murder for foolish humanistic, lazy reasons to smashing them apart in moments of frustration. Violence, the will to power, is deeply rooted in all, but pushed to the surface in Maldives due to the tension created by the lack of space and freedom. Every one is desparate to control everyone else because at the core we are desparately insecure, no space no resources, its crush or be crushed!!!
I believe Honorable Shihab had some good ideas about ending the control of gangsters by politicians. I hope and pray IF he is voted out that whoever takes over can pursue this. Don't know how this can be done, but it must and can be achieved! One question (of a million questions I have) is, why has everyone been saying for many years Yamin controls gangs? Why has no Government ever acted on that? Why was it said known gangsters went to Thimarafushi once Yamin got involved in Gassan's campaign? Rumours seem too many to be totally made up...
Think about this, when that young boy Shanid was killed for distributing anti-Maumoon stuff... If Maumoon was a good man, he would have wept for this boy, and said, publically, please, don't hurt innocent people for me, don't defend me in that way, I do not want to lead with violence, terror and gangsterism, but with justice. Maumoon's narcisistic character was exposed by his lack of compassion, if we study clinical narcisism it fits. Let me elaborate.
Maumoon certainly had not done anything to deter these gangsters, this is a symptom of narcisism, blindness to any bad that may come from your pursuit of power and those who assist that pursuit, accompanied by a delusional belief in your own benevolence no matter how many people are killed in your name. Selective perception.
The dangerous thing is, with this type of power comes oppression as where there is power there is resistance and so, for absolute power to happen, oppression must occur, and yet to justify that power to oneself one must delude oneself into believing in the benevolence of ones cause to the point of blindness.
Yamin's use of gangs was not ordered by Maumoon, but Maumoon was certainly not opposed to it, it was allowed to happen because Maumoon's will to power blinded his perception of it. Yamin exploited that for his own selfish ends and to vent his own frustration.
The only way to end gangsterism is to not give them any power, do not fear them. Faith, the type of faith where only Allah is feared, not man, is the remedy for standing up to these gangsters.
But this creates another problem...Hmm, where does it all end!!!!!!!!!
t is likely the comment deleted above was linked to a virus. This is the only instance when OSA moderates this blog and it is in efforts to protect you who provide interesting and insightful comments. Keep them coming...
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