To be a Fearful Force :: Maldives News :: Dhivehi Observer

Nashid Column

To be a Fearful Force

by Dr. Ibrahim Nashid - ibrahimnash@gmail.com, G. Keneree Ge, Male', 13 November 2005

According to the Maldivian Police Service their mission is to respect the constitution of the Maldives and to treat all citizens equally and with respect when working to maintain law and order in the country. They go on to state that they will act with patience and courage when called to protect the legally elected government, the citizens, their valuables and property. These are certainly admirable statements. But the problem lies in the translation of these honourable words into deeds. Swearing at elders in front of their children when making an arrest is certainly not the way we show respect to each other in our society. Breaking and entering houses with neither a search warrant nor pausing to knock on the door is indeed a strange way of protecting the property and valuables of a citizen. Perhaps the reason is that the Maldivian police officers are now so far removed from the society they serve that they have become alien to the time honoured culture and customs of the Maldives.

It is the vision of the Maldivian Police Service to be fair, kind, able and responsible in undertaking their duties as police officers. It is also the stated vision of the Maldivian Police Service to be a fearful force to any wrongdoers in our society. This vision and their idea of who a wrongdoer is, have created one of the major problems in Maldivian society today. In the view of the Maldivian Police Service anybody who has a different opinion from those who are in Gayoom's inner circle are 'wrongdoers'. By this definition, a big part of the Maldivian population are 'wrongdoers' and therefore should be fearful of the police. In attempting to instil this fear, the Maldivian police are increasingly brutalising a hitherto peace loving society. A squabble between two neighbours was not so long ago settled with a quiet word or two from the police officer who lived in the neighbourhood. Nowadays a lorry-load of police in riot gear is summoned to the scene and the conflicting parties are handcuffed and beaten before they are dragged away kicking and screaming. A couple of weeks later when they are released without charge, they return filled with anger and hatred towards the very people who were there to protect them.

A few years back the sight of a gun in the capital Male' was enough to disperse an unruly crowd. Now it has become common practice to disperse gatherings that the authorities see as illegal with tear-gas fired by officers in gas masks. Up until a couple of weeks ago such acts of brutality were confined to the streets of Male', but now we have learned that the vision is to spread it to the whole country. So far the security forces have killed unarmed civilians only in Maafushi Prison. But the way things are escalating it would not be long before somebody dies from a well aimed bullet from a police gun on the open streets of one of the islands. The only certainty in such an eventuality is that despite the stated vision of taking responsibility, Gayoom and his Commissioner of Police Adam Zahir would attempt to lay the blame at somebody else's feet and a junior officer would be made the scapegoat.

The police may be able to get a suspect to sign a confession statement by way of a couple of well directed blows to the suspect's body the first time, but the next time they will require a lot more effort. As quite often these suspects are the very young in the Maldives, they are hardened quickly to these blows and are quite prepared to exchange blows in order to settle arguments among peers. Thus gradually the violence gets ingrained into the fabric of our society.

The problem of brutalising our society is, now that it has been started it would be very difficult, if at all possible, to bring the peace and tranquillity back. These are not problems that will disappear with a change of the police commissioner or even the president. They will require a lot of effort from a lot of people from all areas of our society. Just for the police to earn the respect of the society could easily take ten to fifteen years. The cost of training the police not to see the public they server as their enemy could well run into millions.

Despite knowing all these problems, President Gayoom and his cronies are very willing to carry on brutalising the Maldivian public in order to satisfy their greed. President Gayoom and Adam Zahir may have the power now but sooner or later they will have to take the blame for the violence on our streets.

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