When former president and independence hero Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan, NGIV, resigned in 1978 Maldives, he had modernized the fisheries industry with mechanized vessels and started the tourism industry. He is credited with many other improvements such as introducing an English-based modern curriculum to government-run schools.
As a person from Havaruthinadhoo, I strongly believe that former president/prime minister Nasir was wrong to impose collective punishment and expel everyone from my island. His actions were brutal and unjust against those of my island who were imprisoned without any trial and died in custody. I support the protesters of Havaruthinadhoo who are demanding an apology from the Government and a suitable form of compensation.
That said, it is time to pay a tribute to former president Ibrahim Nasir recognizing his stature as a national leader of our country who died in Singapore and was laid to rest in Male' with full honours on Monday, 24th November 2008.
Ibrahim Nasir ran an authoritarian government that maintained discipline and a clean record. He held regular elections that was fair and reflected the will of the people. He did not interfere with the electoral process to rig the elections as was done by the Gayoom regime during its thirty year rule starting in 1978. When Nasir relinquished power Maldives was debt-free to the international community. Under his watch, the national shipping line with more than 40 ships that were plying the oceans of the world remained a source of national pride. It was a remarkable success story among the maritime nations of our region.
After experiencing the Gayoom government during the last thirty years, many people now feel it is time to restore discipline and run a corruption-free government.
It is time to revitalize the old values of thrift, hard work, saving and living within one's means. These values did us good as a nation when we faced difficult times before. The world is facing perilous financial challenges and Maldives is going through a political transition and reform process and needs to take every step with caution.
2 comments:
i think u r right, thank god that at least there is one person who is willing to see all the sides of the late ex president, while some cant be just in their thinking. we the citizens dont owe anything to these people, they owe us a peaceful and developed country. so we should always have the courage to say what bugs us in regard to the existing administration, then now or in the future. bye.
hi the sage
Thanks for the comment.
I agree with you that we, the citizens don't owe anything to the politicians but they owe us a peaceful and developed country because they have undertaken public service. They are paid fat salaries to protect our interest and serve the people. They have failed to do it and our streets are full of violence and our younger generation is getting killed by addiction to illegal drugs.
President Nasheed needs to show strong leadership to get us out of this mess.
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