Talking Point

Government of the Maldives decided in October last year that World Press Freedom Day shall hereafter be a day officially celebrated in the country. The day has been celebrated since 1993 by UNESCO. I never heard of a world press freedom day until April 2006.

A year later we mark the day in the Maldives jointly with UNESCO and AMIC. What do we get from this? I would argue that we will all reap good dividends.

On the evening of May 2nd, I held a dinner at Paradise Island for over a 100 journalists and media personnel from Maldives and overseas. Local journalists from pro government independent and pro opposition papers all enjoyed the food, the music, and the ambience. They sang their tunes, their rhymes – some clapped, some danced. Some carried their slippers and shoes in their hands as they returned from a walk on the dim lit beach. The visiting journalists and media experts too enjoyed in their own way – getting to know local moods, local food, local people, local journalists, local politics, local issues, local pastimes and so on. I was moving from table to table and speaking with journalists from all shades of the landscape. I had my own fun – no music or dance for me – but heart to heart chats with journalists - sharing things we never did before.

Mr Ajay Makhan wrote quite a few things about me on May 2nd on Minivan News. I shall comment on some of them. The article appeared under the style “A gift for Press Freedom”.

There were three charges on Aminath Najeeb, Editor of Minivan Daily. Here I talk of the first of the three. In another post I shall talk of the other two.

Story behind First Charge

Prosecution of Editor and Sub Editor of Minivan Daily over an article of August 2005 has become an issue of interest for some within and outside Maldives. Prosecution of Aminath Najeeb and Nazim Sattar has become important for some press freedom organizations too. What is the actual story?

Qasim Ibrahim, Minister of Finance and Treasury, Vice Leader of DRP, and richest man in the Maldives today takes over the Chair of Peoples Special Majlis. Out of 80 members present, he got 72 votes in his favor. 6 said no. The Chair and one other member did not take part in the vote. The result is an overwhelming endorsement for Qasim. Both DRP and MDP members voted for him.

After nearly two decades at TVM, Ibrahim Khaleel, Assistant Director General of TVM, Head of News and Current Affairs has sought a transfer early this evening to Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The transfer is because he could not be at TVM as he ventured into private broadcasting. He holds shares in a media company that is in the process of applying for frequencies from Telecommunications Authority. In 2005 he had already formed the company. That was way before I came to Information.

Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Foreign Minister and a member of DRP is quoted in Haveeru today as saying that DRP would support inclusion of voters between 18 years and 21 years in the vote to determine the form of government. The reason attributed to Dr Shaheed in the paper is that DRP believes there are ways in which this vote can be taken without invoking presidential powers under Article 42 of the Constitution.

Quite strangely, the DRP spokesperson is not aware of that when I called him up to check on the new development. DRP parliamentary leader too has not spoken so far to the press so specifically of the good news. I just had a chat with her too. Perhaps, good news shall always come from “unusual” channels.

Mr Kalinga Seneviratne, a distinguished Sri Lankan journalist working with Asian Media Information Communication Centre [AMIC] who attended the World Press Freedom Day event in the Maldives has written from Male' about the biased International Federation of Journalists Report on South Asia. Incidentally, it is not only the Maldives Government which thinks that IFJ report represents an unfair and distorted account of media affairs in the region. Big names in South Asian media environment are taking issue with that IFJ Report. Have a look at this link:

http://maldiveslive.blogspot.com/2007/05/media-experts-criticise-one-sided-media.html

Editors and journalists working for local papers and magazines have often talked to me about the good and bad police officers they meet in covering demonstrations, rallies and other public events. While some talk of good police officers who allow journalists to do their job, others talk of bad police officers who send journalists away. While some talk of good police officers who respect their press passes and allow them to stay on, others talk of bad police officers who ignore those cards and send them away, anyway. While some talk of good police officers who speak with civility, others talk of bad police officers who use indecent language. Then of course there are those journalists who get into trouble, get detained, get arrested, and later get released. And there are those journalists who do their job and get away without falling into police hands.

We often talk of the fights between DRP and MDP. DRP and MDP dramas are topical subjects at coffee tables and smoking corners. The public gets swayed by emotions generated by the political rhetoric exchanged between those two parties. Hardcore DRP supporters think of MDP as enemies obstructing democracy, reform and peace. Hardcore MDP supporters think of DRP as nothing more than a bunch of mollusks.

Few seldom focus on the key players of the two parties – the relations they share or do not share. Where they have all come from and what they are destined to be. Every one gets carried away in rhetoric and polemics.

When 2nd May arrived this year, Aminath Najeeb had a total of three charges looming on her. On 5th May 2007, I talked about dropping first of those three charges on Minivan’s Editor. In that post, I talked about the charge in relation to the publication of a quote by Ahmed Abbas in Minivan in August 2005. Neither the Editor nor the Deputy Editor would face any prosecution in relation to that article now. While talking about that first of the charges which has been dropped now, I promised to talk about the second and third charges she faces. I will do that today.

The Southern Periphery of Male’

I was born to an ordinary family that lived in a less than ordinary location. I was born to a house that was just few feet away from the sea that began from the periphery of southern Male’. On one side of the road was our house, “Raarohige”, neatly demarcated with palm hedges and a huge gate woven with stick and palm called fulhali. On the other side was the waste ground (“Gon’du”) where all in our neighborhood dumped their daily rubbish. With the waste dump began the sea that stretched as far as the eyes could sea. We would have to wade through few feet of waste each time we went to sea for a bath. Every evening I would be allowed to stand near the gate to watch rubbish being burnt, elderly men having their siesta under the shady trees that demarcated the rubbish dump and the road, and older women in the neighborhood getting together to hear the latest that was happening in their households. We called this women’s event “BBC negun” [capturing what is on BBC]. Sometimes I would see a sailing boat or a cargo vessel pass by in the distant sea.

School Years

My primary education was at English Preparatory and Secondary School (EPSS). At the end of 1982, I sat for JSC exams. The national exam was annulled a few years later. It proved too controversial, I think. From amongst those who passed the JSC in 1982, the top 10 boys were taken to the government boys’ school, Majeediyya. The top 10 girls were taken to the government girls’ school, Ameeniyya. I joined Grade 8 of Majeediyya School in 1983 and sat for GCE O’ level exams in 1986.

It is really frustrating at times when personal politics, meaningless squabbles and claims for competitive advantage cripple the process of reform and progress on difficult issues.

Special Majlis is now largely divided in to four main blocks: members belonging to DRP, members belonging to MDP, members belonging to Peoples Association, and members who are not formally associated with any party. If Special Majlis is to go forward, all of them have to be taken on board now and the Majlis cannot move except with a consensual approach. That means, each block having to come down on its positions, showing flexibility, and working towards consensus rather than pushing an ethnocentric agenda.

My 10 years of work in Parliament, my involvement in building procedures for Peoples Majlis and Peoples Special Majlis, my service to legal and parliamentary development in the Maldives all bundled up together made me a very sad person today. As populist political strategy dominated the Special Majlis, legal basis and parliamentary procedure went down the drain today.

Even as the last man standing, I would still say this: What happened today was blatantly wrong in law and procedure. I do not oppose involving 18 years in the public vote to decide the system of government. I just object to the manner in which proponents of the view have gone about dealing with the whole issue. I have no ill towards any member who pushed it so hard either by design or by accident or by being on the fence.

Should the revised Constitution be enacted as a wholesome document or in installments?

This was the question before the Special Majlis today. Members who spoke were as usual divided in their views. Some thought the document must come out as one full book. The others thought it should come out in chapters and even smaller parts. Some even spoke of articles that need immediate replacement and immediate enactment.

Thank you very much for visiting this blog of mine. I am fascinated with the amount and description of guests, comments and emails. Students, educationists, government officials, ministers, members of parliament, opposition activists, media professionals, undergraduate and postgraduate students studying overseas, officials from international organizations are visiting, leaving comments or contacting me via email.

Some offer support and admiration while others leave appealing comments and vibrant counter-arguments. I thank all of you profoundly for visiting this blog, for reading my views or sharing yours as well.

I have been away from Maldives since last Tuesday. I just returned to Male’ this Saturday evening.

I thought I must apologize for the sudden and unexplained absence. I must also thank those who have sent several emails asking why I had not updated my posts, not shown the comments and basically why I have abandoned the blog midway. Some of them have given their own reasons for my absence. They are all wonderful. Here are some real good ones. I am sure the President must have shut down your blog!!! The cops took you away right? I have a feeling that you must have landed in trouble!!! Are you devastated with the kind of criticism you have been getting from us? Have you run out of ideas? Is your propaganda over? You did not get what you wanted, Right?

After much anticipation, it is believed that the pack of media reform bills will now be taken up for debate in Parliament this June. The bills were submitted by the Government as part of the four tracks on which the media landscape is being reformed. The media bills were submitted as part of track [1] on creating the regulatory framework for the media environment. The other 3 tracks are [2] providing the necessary training [3] opening up the media environment for private outlets of print and broadcast media and [4] instituting confidence building measures.

Café de Press does not here in any way mean a café for depressed souls.

The café is meant for journalists and media professionals. It is not only a café. The café comes with a news briefing hall, reading room, individual workstations, editing booth, writing area, and a waiting hall for journalists and visitors. The place shall offer media kits on various stories, video and audio recording services, photocopying services, live telecasts and broadcasts. It will work as a factory to generate news for the day. It will work as the nerve centre for the country’s journalists.

One day, some six or so members of the Special Majlis entered a government department and demanded some work to be done right away. The department declined. The members shouted abusive words at the department, its officials and the minister responsible for that department. They said that they were members of the Special Majlis. They demanded the minister responsible for that department to be summoned there right away to solve the issue. The officer dealing with them said “sorry... please leave our premises”.

Information Ministry is a few meters from where I live. I walk home from office. One day not so long ago, I was almost approaching the door to my rented residence, when a young boy with long hair, a frail body, wearing a t-shirt that said “police” on its chest and riding a motor bike yelled “Golhaabo” at me. I turned back and looked at him. I smiled nodding my head.

“Like Jews were called vermin” was I think a different type of an article. It definitely caught a lot of attention. Comments I received were not bad either. Visitors put many issues to the fore. I could not reply to each comment. Comments were too many. Besides, a friend was saying the other day that my comments sometimes are too long - sometimes even longer than the actual posts. So this time, I thought I will not attempt commenting on each one of them. Instead, I thought of doing this post to give my reaction to the key points raised in comments of visitors. I am not sure if this is allowed by the international best practices on blogging. But here I go.

I have been having this blog for a while now. Of late, I have been getting some mixed reactions about having this blog. Here are some issues:

With some hard articles on politics, media and the constitutional review process, now is time, a friend told me today, to lower the tempo – to offer a different taste. Besides, it is the weekend. So here I am thinking of sharing a few more snaps from the album of my life. Earlier, I had written two parts on the snapshots from my life. Part Two ended with my education at Majeediya School. Here is what happened afterwards.

Transfer to Majlis

Six months into service, I could not stay at the Attorney General’s Office. Our senior brother Muizzu and Suood were more aligned towards each other. Because of that the Attorney General who was Suood’s brother too, was more aligned towards them. I wasn’t finding any job satisfaction there for reasons I prefer to keep to myself. I was getting sidelined. It was failing and frustrating me. Lot of issues related to work were also creating a large rift between Suood and me and the friendship we had. I did not want the friendship to break. So I decided to leave AG office.

Flickr Meetup at Central Hotel this evening was a meeting of creative minds. They were a unique bunch. They expressed themselves through impressive photography. It was indeed a celebration of Maldivian talent. It was a community of complementing interests and budding friendships often known till today through internet nicknames and pseudonyms at Flickr. Lot of them met only today for the first time. But all of them have known each other through the Flickr website. They were a very youthful, very cordial and very informal bunch. I liked their styles – especially the hairstyles of some.

I will be in Malaysia from 28th May to 1st June 2007. The visit is to participate in the Asia Media Summit organized by the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (“AIBD”). Please visit this link for the summit details: http://www.aibd.org.my/conferences/ams/

During this visit, I am interested in exploring the possibility of meeting with the Maldives students studying in Malaysia. I understand there are about 600 students. I have already made a request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Male’ and to the Maldivian High Commission in KL to facilitate a meet up with local students in KL.

She is a lawyer by profession. She is a lady active in enhancing women’s role and participation in the Maldivian nation. She is a friend of many years.

I received a phone call from her a few days back. This time she was not calling for a light conversation. She was not calling to see how I was doing. She was not calling to tell me that she had come across a nasty article in the media about me. She called me with an agenda. She called me for a reason. She called me with a purpose.

Often people ask me why I would want to blog. The reason is simple. By sharing my views and experiences, I open up a whole new frontier for thoughts and views of varying forms and shades. I learn immensely in the process. As one man, my knowledge is extremely limited. But through the medium of this blog, I am exposed to a virgin multitude of opinions, views and thoughts. They mould me, they refresh me, they correct me, they support me, they deny me, they reposition me, they belittle me, they enhance me, and they cement me. Above all, they make me a more complete man much closer to realities.

Greetings from KL.

The discussion with Maldives students in Malaysia on Maldives Reforms shall take place on 30 May 2007. Maldives High Commission in Kuala Lumpur has on its website publsihed an announcement with the details. The meeting shall take place at 8 pm. The venue is Ballroom 1, Crown Princess Hotel. The link to the announcement is this http://www.maldives.org.my/

One more thing. Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Minister of Foreign Affairs has made a comment on this blog that his visit to Pakistan as claimed by a student while commenting on my post of 25 May, has not yet happened. He feels that the Maldives student who put that comment may be misinformed. Dr Shaheed's comment is published in the commentline of the post on "Reforms in Maldives: Discussion in Malaysia"

The Oracle in an open letter to me on http://www.maldivestoday.com/archives/120 accuses me of having a “commandeering influence over the Maldivian photographers using Flickr”. That is even when I do not have a single photo on that website.

There are many reasons why a photograph of mine is not on Flickr. I never took a picture from a camera that I could happily share with one. I never claimed to be a photographer of any sort - professional or amateur or beginner or want-to-be. I do not believe anyone would even remotely associate me with photography.

The meeting with the Maldives students in KL was a good one. Very friendly, very informal and very cordial. The meeting began at 8 pm and went on past midnight. Some had to leave early. Some stayed back and continued the chat. About 50 students attended in total. Some had their exams. Some had gone home after the exams. Some had difficulty getting transport. Some lived a little far away and could not join. Given all that, 50 students made it to the meeting. It was very kind of them all. I for one was expecting a much smaller gathering. Profound thanks for all those who took the trouble and made it to Crown Princess.