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DO Special Report

Naube' - the art of suffering;The extraordinary tale of Naushad Waheed (Naube') - one of Maldives most talented artists

First Published on DO report - 30 October 2004

[ Editorial Note: Naushad Waheed (Naube') and several others like him, Sheikh Fareed, Sandhaanu Didi and Zaki still remain in custody despite worldwide calls for their release. We demand their immediate release and no matter how hard Gayyoom tries, as long as prisoners of conscience remain in custody and in solitary confinement and as long as arbitrary arrests and detention is the tool with which he runs his police state, the world will not believe him nor will any Maldivian. ]

Friends call him Naube' and he is best known for being an outspoken critic of President Gayyoom, but Naushad Waheed, 41, is one of the greatest painters and illustrators in Maldives.

Naube's family has experienced many years of abuse at the hands of President Maumoon Gayyoom. In 1979 only a year after Gayyoom came to power, Naube's late mother, Aishath Manike, was summoned by the National Security Service (NSS) for telling a friend that she preferred former President Nasir to the new Gayyoom. This harmless expression of opinion was understandable, given that Naube's father Hassan Manik worked for former President Ibrahim Nasir for several years.

Gayyoom was furious and banished Aishath Manike to a remote island with a one month old baby, Naube's youngest sister. Naube himself was sixteen at the time. Even today, the family remember this cruel and needless banishment of their mother by Gayyoom.

Naube' is currently suffering from acute ulcers, kidney infection and spinal injuries, mainly caused by months of torture by the NSS. On Black Friday 13 August 2004 despite being under house arrest, Naube' went to the Republican Square after entreaties from many of his friends who were demanding his release along with other political dissidents. Naushad had been gaoled for 15 years in 2002 after criticising Gayyoom. He was temporarily under house arrest, recovering from health problems caused by torture.

In the aftermath of Black Friday, Naube' was locked in a 7 by 7 feet cell in NSS headquarters in Male' for 31 days. The cell had a bed, a toilet and less than 3 sq ft of empty space. He was asked not questioned before being taken to Dhoonidhoo island. Naube' stayed there for 29 days and then brought back to the same cell where he was locked up in Male' before taken to Dhoonidhoo. After three days, he was transferred to house arrest once again.

Gayyoom has been very personal and petty with Naushad Waheed and his family. Mohamed Waheed, Naube's older brother was hounded out of the country in the early 1990s after becoming more popular than Gayyoom. The Waheed family are respectable, educated and visionary. They will never submit to Gayyoom and his gangsters.

According to friends, Naube' is in good spirits but physically in bad condition. Naube' has two young sons who have grown to respect and love their father despite the years of despair and hardship they experience.

Here is a chronology of Naushad Waheed's treatment by Dictator Gayyoom.

2004 Solitary confinement for 63 days, while also serving a 15 year sentence for treason after a grossly unfair trial in 2003.

2003 15 years jail sentence for treason, no court defence allowed.

2002 Solitary confinement and house arrest for criticism of Gayyoom's dictatorship and lobbying for democratic reforms. Initially arrested for trying to become member of Amnesty International and providing them with information about torture in Maldives.

2001 Solitary confinement for 5 months - for being critical of the government.

1991 4 months solitary confinement and then house arrest for drawing a political cartoon in a local magazine.

Naushad Waheed has served more than 1,500 days in custody for simply exercising his constitutional right to criticise the dictator.

We must all demand his unconditional release because he is not a criminal nor has he ever being in trouble with the law for anything other than exercising his democratic rights.

Please visit www.naushadarts.com for a preview of his extraordinary work - a testimony to his gifts and talent.

t h e o f f i c i a l w e b s i t e o f n a u s h a d w a h e e d

"Naushad Waheed has been unjustly imprisoned"... read more

This is an inspiration from our own soil and bringing it to bear upon our fidelity to modern experiments in order to create standard works of art

naushad arts founded in 1996.view maldivian art from www.naushadarts.com

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