Trouble in Paradise - The Chair of Justice, the only Solution?

TROUBLE IN PARADISE               

IS THE CHAIR OF JUSTICE, THE ONLY SOLUTION?

Before I start off with this piece of rambling, I would like to take a moment in mourning to the death of Lawyer Najeeb, May Allah grant him paradise and give his family great patience in these troubled times.

Rest In Peace.


Now to the matter in hand, Maldives our beloved country and world famous Tourist Paradise, has as of recent times been stinking of dead bodies and mourning the merciless killing of one Maldivian brother by another and singing sorrowful tones about lost friends and loved ones.But, It would be wrong for me to say that this outburst of violence has been a sudden occurrence or has come as a surprise or due to recent events on the contrary it has been happening more often than we'd like to believe in the last decades. Gang Warfare, Revenge killings etc has been steadily increasing in number from a long time back. So whats the solution? A lot of people have speculated from the beginning, that these murders and acts of violence will never cease unless the hand of justice becomes more vigilant than now. After the murder of Ali Ishaar, some MPS in the parliament itself expressed their discontent in how the murderers managed to 'go in through one gate to prison and come in through the other.' It was the belief of many that these acts can only be stopped by abiding to Islamic Law and bringing these offenders to the Chair.

Time passed on and we hear about every lone murder or two, every other dead body found in a deserted island, one or two chopped up Maldivian brothers and sisters found in a dustbin container or something. But What did we do? Did we strengthen the Judiciary and try to bring an end to this madness? Did we revise the legislation and try to bring crucial means to stop these atrocities? No we didn't. All we did was we talked about it and abused these murderers and prayed for the souls of the dead. Then of course our political situation went more haywire than it already is, An Activist made President was removed from his position in what some call a Coup d'état and in what others call a freedom struggle. This directly lead to riots and mayhem in the streets of Maldives due to clashes between sympathizers of the former President and the Maldivian National Defense Force. Now, its beyond the point of this article who was right and who was wrong in these clashes, the fact remains is It was the ordinary Maldivian who suffered, It was this country which was lead in a miserable state of violence and bloodshed. Cops began using unlawful means against rioters, rioters began beating the living hell out of any lone police officer or MNDF officer that they find on the street, activists from both sides began targeting different political activists and their families. And Now the MPS realize that this violence is a problem, that it needs to be stopped, that it is ruining lives, that it is damaging the economy of Maldives while all the murders that took place before was happy go lucky. We saw a MP bringing in the bill to bring Capital Punishment to Maldives into the parliament and debate was ensured.

Now Rylog readers, all of you do know about these happenings but I felt it is an important basis to be highlighted before going on with the rest of this article. Last Sunday Night, when the whole nation was getting ready to watch the Euro 2012 finals, it was shocked and disturbed and saddened by the brutal murder of Lawyer Najeeb. It seems that the solution is now clear. Capital Punishment must be ensured for this violence to stop. As some have not-so-delicately put 'some trash must be taken out to ensure peace for the rest.' It seems in this heightened emotional state this country is, there is no reason at all why capital punishment must be delayed. But oh boy, we can never be more wrong.

True. Very True. In the current situation we are in, Capital Punishment may be the only way out, but another factor comes into play here. Say we bring in electric chairs and lethal doses and establish capital punishment in Maldives.. In the current political scenario  it is very probable for a 'purge' like scenario to happen. Our Judiciary isn't the most reliable organ right now we all must admit it is widely influenced by political forces. In such a case, isn't there a chance for innocent people to be sent to the chair for political motives after sabotaged court trials etc, just with the motive of removing them from the political arena? much like what Stalin did in the Great Purge of 1937-1938.

One more thing, President Maumoon made a lot of mistakes in his 30 year old rule but what was the instigating force against Maumoon? The one murder of Evan Naseem in jail. As it is sadly obvious for most of us, the mindset of the average Maldivian person is political biased right now. Say, President Waheeds government prosecutes a certain criminal for all the right reasons and sends them to the chair, with so much dissent against him right now in Maldives and the opposition just looking for a way to get him removed and hold a presidential election I'd bet my right arm (metaphorically of course.) that the opposition would use it as an instigation against the government to create further dissent and bring about a revolt. And I m not just talking about the current opposition, that's what the current ruling coalition would do too, roles reversed.  And sadly enough, Maldivians would fall prey to this And the families of the criminal would ofcourse unwittingly, become puppets and poster boys and girls against the government. We've seen this happen before, we'd see this happen again.

The Problem in Maldives is people really don't give two shits about bringing justice to victims, what they care about is using every little thing that happens in the socio-politcal arena for their very own color based motives. Yes, Maldives has reached a situation where capital punishment is becoming largely inevitable, but these are points which need to be considered before bringing such a legislation.


Now, I admit I have one great flaw. I have never managed to convince myself or allowed someone to convince me that Capital Punishment is an effective means. I find it slightly barbaric and not in tune with modern times. Call it my stupidity? naivety? strong lack of judgement or one sided humanitarianism but despite that Even I do Believe that now we must try and see if even bringing this unhumanly measure for the greater good could bring peace to Maldives. But I think certain preparations are very important before such a measure is implemented. First of all, political parties must at once pledge infront of the Chief Justice and Speaker of Parliament, with their hands on the holy Quran in front of a mass gathering of people and also in written form, that they would never whatever the circumstances whether they hold power or they are the opposition use capital punishment for their political motives. It would be a historical pledge taken by Maldivians for the betterment of Maldives as a country and to battle this social unrest. Secondly, a humongous
awareness campaign must be brought about to make the average Maldivian more aware about this legislation and how it is a double ended sword and we must only use these drastic measures with great caution and to never let the media or political leaders manipulate you into trying to achieve anything but Justice from Capital Punishment. Also its important for the public to know this legislation very well and know the circumstances in which capital punishment can be brought about. AND LASTLY BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE JUDICIARY MUST BE REFORMED AND MADE A RESPONSIBLE AND AN INDEPENDENT ENTITY BEFORE WE EVEN CONSIDER BRINGING IN ELECTRIC CHAIRS.