civilviolence4
MDP throngs disperse in confusion
Moonisa Easa, Political Analyst
Male’, Maldives, 18th January 2006 (olhuala.com) – Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters who flocked to MDP leader Ibrahim Ismail’s (Ibra) house earlier on the evening of the 17th of January dispersed in disarray as local residents expressed their disgust to MDP leaders. The crowd dispersed in confusion as information they had been fed proved irrelevant. Ibra had in his speech of 16th January invited these people to his house for a 'dinner'.
Confusion surrounded the whole event as at the meeting Ibra had called upon MDP supporters to help bring down the government. However, others had said that tonight's event was to sign a petition to demand Mohamed Nasheed’s (Annie) immediate release. Ibrahim Zaki had told yet others that he had called the gathering for people wanting the Fares-Maathoda incidents to be raised as an issue in Parliament or raise criminal charges against the police concerning the incident.
Ibra had also said that anyone concerned about the delays in the work of the Special Majlis should present the matter personally to Ibra.
At around 9.30 PM a group of youngsters started the now common-chants for the resignation of the government with the accompanying vandalism. "As soon as the chanting started, groups started digging around, trying to remove the paving stones from the tiny street outside Ibra's grand home", reported Ahamed Fatheen who was present at the scene as an interested onlooker. “Immediately they drove in a pickup truck with several bags in the hold. I think they were clubs and baseball bats [in the bags]. The pickup truck was used to block the road so that the Police vehicles could not come in” added Fatheen.
"Some heavy-handed men soon put a stop to that and a commotion occurred that threatened to get out of hand. Discouraged, these youths made off throwing expletive laced insults at Ibra and his family; the chanting stopped just as quickly."
Meanwhile, the majority of the crowd awaited some news from inside Ibra's home. There were no instructions; there was no police presence. There was a lot of honking of vehicles as cars and motorcycles found their paths obstructed on the adjoining Majeedhee Magu.
As the crowd swelled to around its maximum of about 1000, there was a line of people going into Boaganvilla, Ibra's residence and coming out the other gate with each individual not spending more than a few minutes inside. One lucky fortunate individual reported: "We had to file past Ibra, shaking him by the hand. It was good; he got the acclaim he deserves. There were too many people to greet him, but some of them were kept out for security reasons."
Another though was not so impressed: "There was a book made ready with some inscriptions and some people were given the opportunity to read through it and then sign a list. However, these were hand-picked. "Ibra sat there in all his glory. I know it is unreasonable to expect him to be standing all of that time, but he could at least have made eye contact or said 'Hi'. But he preferred to keep chatting to his attendants and on his mobile phone.
As a result of tonight’s goings on, MDP activists have started spreading rumours among Male’ residents, 'January 19-20 are the real dates for protests; this is just a muse to keep the authorities busy', was one of the more common and believable of them. Others included the D-O type side-splitter: 'Gayoom has resigned and will spend his life in exile in Kuwait. Zaki is the new interim-president', although these most probably were being bandied about in mockery of the MDP's media effort.
Some simpler souls could not make heads nor tails out of Ibra's plans. "We knew he was not going to feed us. That was just a figure of speech. But I thought we were going to get something to drink at least", said the MDP's Ali Faiz stepping outside Bogunvilla with a knotted brow and confusion etched on his face.
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Moonisa Easa, Political Analyst
Male’, Maldives, 18th January 2006 (olhuala.com) – Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters who flocked to MDP leader Ibrahim Ismail’s (Ibra) house earlier on the evening of the 17th of January dispersed in disarray as local residents expressed their disgust to MDP leaders. The crowd dispersed in confusion as information they had been fed proved irrelevant. Ibra had in his speech of 16th January invited these people to his house for a 'dinner'.
Confusion surrounded the whole event as at the meeting Ibra had called upon MDP supporters to help bring down the government. However, others had said that tonight's event was to sign a petition to demand Mohamed Nasheed’s (Annie) immediate release. Ibrahim Zaki had told yet others that he had called the gathering for people wanting the Fares-Maathoda incidents to be raised as an issue in Parliament or raise criminal charges against the police concerning the incident.
Ibra had also said that anyone concerned about the delays in the work of the Special Majlis should present the matter personally to Ibra.
At around 9.30 PM a group of youngsters started the now common-chants for the resignation of the government with the accompanying vandalism. "As soon as the chanting started, groups started digging around, trying to remove the paving stones from the tiny street outside Ibra's grand home", reported Ahamed Fatheen who was present at the scene as an interested onlooker. “Immediately they drove in a pickup truck with several bags in the hold. I think they were clubs and baseball bats [in the bags]. The pickup truck was used to block the road so that the Police vehicles could not come in” added Fatheen.
"Some heavy-handed men soon put a stop to that and a commotion occurred that threatened to get out of hand. Discouraged, these youths made off throwing expletive laced insults at Ibra and his family; the chanting stopped just as quickly."
Meanwhile, the majority of the crowd awaited some news from inside Ibra's home. There were no instructions; there was no police presence. There was a lot of honking of vehicles as cars and motorcycles found their paths obstructed on the adjoining Majeedhee Magu.
As the crowd swelled to around its maximum of about 1000, there was a line of people going into Boaganvilla, Ibra's residence and coming out the other gate with each individual not spending more than a few minutes inside. One lucky fortunate individual reported: "We had to file past Ibra, shaking him by the hand. It was good; he got the acclaim he deserves. There were too many people to greet him, but some of them were kept out for security reasons."
Another though was not so impressed: "There was a book made ready with some inscriptions and some people were given the opportunity to read through it and then sign a list. However, these were hand-picked. "Ibra sat there in all his glory. I know it is unreasonable to expect him to be standing all of that time, but he could at least have made eye contact or said 'Hi'. But he preferred to keep chatting to his attendants and on his mobile phone.
As a result of tonight’s goings on, MDP activists have started spreading rumours among Male’ residents, 'January 19-20 are the real dates for protests; this is just a muse to keep the authorities busy', was one of the more common and believable of them. Others included the D-O type side-splitter: 'Gayoom has resigned and will spend his life in exile in Kuwait. Zaki is the new interim-president', although these most probably were being bandied about in mockery of the MDP's media effort.
Some simpler souls could not make heads nor tails out of Ibra's plans. "We knew he was not going to feed us. That was just a figure of speech. But I thought we were going to get something to drink at least", said the MDP's Ali Faiz stepping outside Bogunvilla with a knotted brow and confusion etched on his face.
Click to read full article