Maldives celebrates the first day of the Islamic lunar month of Rabee-al-Awwal as its National Day. This was the day, according to our history, Mohamed Thakurufan of Uteem assassinated Andhiri Andhirin and seized control of Malé.
Who was this Adhiri Adhirin?
In 1558 after the sultan was killed, the Portuguese established a small trading outpost in Maldives, which they administered from their main colony in Goa. It is said that they tried to impose Christianity on the locals. The Portuguese rule only lasted for fifteen years when Mohamed Thakurufan defeated the Portugese regent Adherin Adherin.
In celebrating our National Day, what values are we really celebrating?
We certainly honour the dead heroes who fought for our freedom after years of being enslaved by Andhiri Andhirin. The same value of freedom and justice must be the values that we celebrate if history (even if the story is a myth) is to have any meaning in our daily lives.
In celebrating the National Day, there are few events, either official or unofficial that strike a cord with the younger generation demonstrating the significance of this day. It is turning out to be just another holiday when we escape to the islands or resorts to recharge ourselves from the drudgery of our warped life.
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3 comments:
"The same value of freedom and justice must be the values that we celebrate if history (even if the story is a myth) is to have any meaning in our daily lives."
Thats odd. Should the modern-day Greeks then mark the victory of the Trojan War? I may be wrong, but I feel that once we know a story to be false (myth) then it should not be treated as the truth (history). I also feel that few ppl actually derive meaning from this tale. Most ppl of my generation are either indifferent or ignorant of why we celebrate a day marked as 'NATIONAL' Day. They're more happy, as you say, to get another holiday to escape the daily work/school routine.
That said, if the story is not some hero-cult myth, (as the various sources to it attest), I still feel that the popular version is only a half-truth. The official version seems to contradict some of the sources. I may be misinformed, but I've heard that Andhiri Andhirin was a Maldivian who was welcomed by the nation and Muhammed Thakurufaanu was working for Hassan IX. The brutality of Christian conversion may be true, as was the 12th century Islamic conversion. But oddly enough, we view the former with disgust and the latter with pride. Are we that good at lying to ourselves or are we just blind and biased?
In my opinion, this day we should renew our efforts to learn more about our history and pay less attention to what is fed to us by the state media and cleaned-up school curriculum. An idea of a country's past is crucial to put events into perspective and to envision a future.
Hi anonymous. Tks for the comment.
1) By saying 'celebrate the same value of freedom and justice', what I meant was that we should stand up and celebrate the same values in different situtations of our life today. We should debunk any myth. Perhaps I didn't express myself very clear.
2) Adheri Adheri was a Maldivian and if there are contradictions in the popular version, we should expose them.
3) The brutality of Christain conversion and the forced conversion to Islam in 12th century should be treated the same. There should be no bias in how we look at both situations. Individuals have the right to choose their own religion and the state should not impose it.
4)Agree with your opinion in the last para.
Much appreciate the clearing up. We are in agreement.
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