Wednesday, December 26, 2012

A Comment for 'My word against Capital Punishment'

Hey Ryloggers,
Yesterday, I posted maybe the most controversial post this blog has ever seen. I expected a lot of criticism, naturally living in an agitated society very much dominated by religious fundamentalists, it was inevitable. But what I didn't expect was this.

This comment, came to me in my facebook inbox from one of my best friends. A guy who , despite being one of my best friends I really didn't think thought about these things so deeply, which contributed to my amazement. But every word he said, had an honest basis to it. And it would be wasted if i didn't share it with you. So, in Zaan's words.
"Justice has no definition". That part alone makes this post. "You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb onto his skin and walk around in it". But for most people, the effort is too much. People who conform to the the majority will not run any risk of being different. Being outcasted. I don't ask people to throw away their ways of life. But only that they open their minds a little and ponder upon just how many things they just go along with cause everybody else does.

I like how the idea that questioning things one takes to be normal being taboo, or else being against the pack mindset, ties in with your start. I'll give an example you might not agree with. As you know Nazim, the atheist, was dragged of by the police and made to stand trial. The key thing you have to remember is that Maldives does not practice Shariah Law. From what i managed to hear; his own attorney, the guy responsible for his defense, gave Nazim an ultimatum. Either revert or die. I can't decide whether he was scared of earning the cold shoulder of Maldivians and labeled as an atheist like he was, or whether he let his personal feelings get in the way of his job. The main point is, this should not have happened in a court of law.

Another example you might not be particularly happy with. This deals with religion. As we all have been taught, the Quran is a miracle. But nobody really questions why. we are given many points as to why, but they are so pathetically hand fed to us. Take the point where the composition of the Quran, how the words have been weaved together is so perfect. Out of the 30 or so students in that classroom when it was taught, how many do you think even reads arabic? how many students do you think has even read the Dhivehi translation of it? Do you really think that the teacher knows, understands and fully grasps this perfect composition? And yet, nobody thinks to question it when a woman holding a textbook just stammers of a bunch of words, directly related with the faith that makes part of who we are and affects the very direction our lives should take, without proof! We were given all these corny questions about meeting a christian on facebook and arguing about whose religion is genuine. All those points we were taught? Guess what, without proof, they are worth nothing. And yet nobody cares about it. Society has dictated what we should think and that is what we are gonna believe. This, with no doubt, is also the case with religions like Christianity. I once asked my mother to put herself in a christian's shoes and view Islam as a religion. Keep in mind that social brainwashing happens everywhere. What do they see? Bearded men shown moments after explosions on news channels. Women being beaten for reasons unfathomable to them. This is an image that i think correctly symbolizes just what an effect your upbringing and environment has on a persons mindset. My mother immedietly freaked out, accused me of lack of faith and brought the issue to my father. and all through that, all i kept wondering about was just how much she knows about the religion Christianism? she sees america and she thinks thats how christians act. She hears of budhism and thinks of only a golden statue. How much do we really know about all these people we criticize? and in doing so, arent we all really closing ourselves off in a loop of hatred as the players of one generation dissapear to be replaced by the next. extremists and all.I feel that the point about social ignorance closely ties with this as well. If this is the reaction people get by simply searching for answers, for justifications to follow their purpose in life, who would dare to speak out?

The most saddening fact is that most of us have lost our religion already and does not know it. The teachings of the Quran are being replaced with instructions shouted at us by muslim extremists who use religion as a tool to achieve their own ends. They preach simply. We know the words and intentions of god. Either be a muslim with us, or suffer the wrath of god as an infidel against us.

Muslims are not allowed drugs. They are not allowed sex. But ask a person who regularly does both of these acts whether he really is a muslim and he will valiantly answer yes. This stems from the lack of a good foundation. A muslim with a good foundation would have no trouble resisting these temptations because he would not only be led on by the faith that he will be rewarded for his sacrifice, he will also be led on by cool, hard logic and facts proving that these acts prove harmful in the long term. Instead of dictating what we should do or not do in islam, people should concentrate more on what the result is when you dutifully follow Islam. And i'm not talking about Heaven. I don't think a misguided soul trying to find a religion in life is going to pick one based on what he/she gets when they die. A religion picked like that is alike to picking a data plan. They all have things he wishes he could change and he ends up picking the one where he gets to sacrifice the least for the most gain. Explain to him how the laws of islam maintain a stable society. Explain to him how exactly islam will make his life more prosperous. Explain to him why the punishments he deems cruel in islam is necessary. Not shower them with promises from. a god he doesn't believe in. Not point out the shortcomings of other religions like most religious advocates do so in other countries. A muslim who keeps all this in his heart would be led by logic as well as faith, and he would be twice as devout while appearing half as radical.

And as for your points concerning how offenders are treated in maldives, i wholeheartedly agree. Our current penitentiary system is one in which we treat symptoms, not diseases. By incarcerating a person who abuses their child, we cannot simply brush our hands and get on with our lives. The cause has not been resolved. only the effect. And in all likelihood, that child is going to grow up with that trauma on her shoulders only to vent it on her own child. The cycle continues. And it will continue as long as we stand idly by. Another example. You might have heard of all the points i'm gonna raise but the Connecticut school shooting is the most fresh in my mind right now. A mentally unstable person, takes out her mothers gun and shoots her. Then he proceeds to barge into an elementary school and kill innocent kids and teachers. What does the media do? they spend the next two week showcasing his picture, documenting his biography and giving all of america somebody they can all collectively hate. They made a celebrity of a person who was not even a psychopath, evidenced by the fact that he killed himself in the end. Online social sites like 4chan, reddit and facebook were the first ones to even mention the victims names. Meanwhile the media channels were trying to shove microphones on 5-10 year old children, traumatized by seeing their friends killed right infront of them, and narrowly escaping death themselves just moments ago. I mean, it;s good TV, right? And even now, days after the shooting, what is the main concern on the congress's minds? Gun Control. instead of arguing about how to prevent guns from getting into the hands of killers, how about you decide on a course of action that will prevent killers being born in the first place? The sad part is, with the way the Republicans and Democrats are so cleanly divided among themselves with the issue of gun control, in all likelihood, the matter of gun control itself will be off the table in just a few short weeks. Politics trumps again.
Also, about incarceration. A prison in Brazil is employing a unique method of rehabilitation. For every book an inmate reads and writes an essay detailing his views upon, he gets 4 days off his sentence. Most people are calling it BS, but i don't know. A person grown into a life of crime might have the mindset that education is worthless. But they are now being forced to learn, like it or not, and more knowledge opens up more choices for them when they finally get out. what do you think? - Ismail Zaan
All I can say, is I'm very impressed and I agree with almost all of your points. Thank you, as corny as it sounds you've made me realize that its still too early to lose hope in Maldivian youth. 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Death Penalty, Social Escapism? My word against Capital Punishment.

Hey Ryloggers.
Merry Christmas, to those readers who might celebrate. And I wish you all an auspicious New Year 2013 too. Also, world didn't end, so glad that the poem wasn't my last post. I'd like my last post to be my own. Die in style you know. xD. And before we start, I apologize for the lack of activities, I've been kinda caught up. And I m also starting to write this novella, which I hope to publish in a few years. So yea, wish me luck.

Anyway, This is the fourth in the series of blog posts I've been writing. The first ones being, 'My word against JFK,', 'My rant on Society,' 'My word against Paulo Coelho,' and this one would be followed by, 'My word against Democracy.'hopefully.
I realize that capital punishment is a sensitive issue in moral, social and religious grounds so i ask you guys to keep an open mind and bear with me and I'd try my best to prove my point. So okay without further ado:

MY WORD AGAINST CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Since its slightly larger than the average blog post, here are the contents, incase you just want to read some bits of it.
Contents:-
Introduction
Small History
Why people believe in death penalty
Negativity and how we as a society have failed
Real problems leading to capital punishment
Religious Perspective - Islam
Alternative solutions.


What is Capital Punishment?The definition of Capital Punishment, itself becomes a matter of perception.
Capital Punishment as defined by Google, is 'The legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime.' What I see in this definition is, 'The legally sanctioned murder of a murderer, in order to punish murder by murder.


We humans were born only with our animalistic instincts, just like any other meek animal. We knew nothing, but to satisfy our basic needs. Then as time grew we formed groups, we built institutions, we wrote down moral codes, we evolved into social beings, we decided what is socially acceptable and what is not, we defined the boundaries of organized social life. Time progressed and these small moral codes became legal codes, we built judicial systems, we developed penal codes, punishments were instilled on those who go against these codes.

None of these codes have remained constant, for one simple reason. Justice, as we know it has no definition. My justice is injustice for you, my freedom fighter is your terrorist, your scholar is an indoctrinator for me.  But the death penalty or the capital penalty has been ever present in our societies, some form or the other. If we think about how this concept originated, I don't know what you may thing ryloggers but forgive me and correct me, if i m being one dimensional  here but i see one simple reason behind this. And it is not peace, it is not justice, it is not safety and law and order. It is our innate, insatiable desire for revenge. blood for blood right? It was mainly done, so that the second murder, the murder for revenge occurs in a controlled environment, sanctioned by the state, sanctioned by the seat of power; once again society's little way of making sure its in control and giving us the illusion that we just got what we want. But the question that comes to my mind, is what would the family of the dearly departed gain from this, would the aching, gaping hole left behind by their loved one disappear because we killed the one who killed him? Would their loneliness, their misery brought about by the loss of a friend, of a brother, of a sister dissipate because we have given the same loss and loneliness to another family, maybe? And what does this speak about our humanity?

When, the whole Maldives cried for revenge when an MP was killed recently, my best friend updated this in his facebook status.
"As for death penalty, yes it will make the murderers afraid to commit another murder. But killing another human being will not bring back the loved one that died by the hands of the murderer, nor will it give you the satisfaction for getting rid of the person who killed your friend. It will not comfort you. And you will not care that the murder has got the poetic justice that he deserved later on. You will still miss them and feel the same emptiness. Sentence killers to life imprisonment and let them regret doing the deed for the rest of their life while they slowly rot away inside a cage :)"   - Saif Saeed.
 Thank you Saif, Thanks a lot, I had started to finally give up and accept that society won't change and maybe an immediate relief is what we need, but that day when I saw your status I realized that everyone is not blind and there might be still hope. So despite what I said, in 'The Chair of Justice the only solution?' I won't support the death penalty. Here's why.

Okay, lets talk about why PEOPLE believe Capital Punishment is inevitable in the present day scenario.  And I'd try to be as general as possible but forgive me, my experiences are much limited right now in the region I was born in. We live in a world where everyday a girl gets raped, for no apparent reason. We live in a world where there are a billion childhood child abuse cases, both sexually and physically. We live in a world where those who look at the society objectively has to accept the fact that most of the unregistered cases are actually about boys. We live in a world where eve teasing has reached to a point where girls can no longer work alone safely on the road, because of the fear of being harassed. We live in a world where we must fear our own family members because they turn out to be the perpetrators. We live in a world where one can not honestly hope to identify a predominant reason for murder, a world where you get killed for no good reason at all. But then again, had there ever been a good reason to get killed? The world has reached the year 2013 now, and people are tired of waiting on things to change, hoping that humanity would awake from their mistakes and live in tranquility. Even, if our own efforts towards that end has been limited, at kindest.

This has created a feeling of negativity among the masses, which is utterly disheartening. Negativity towards, the perpetrators, It has become common belief in most our societies, that these 'brutal murderers,', 'these despicable monsters' deserve to be killed in the most brutal way possible. And if we make an example out of some of them, these crimes would miraculously stop. but if we claim to be the evolved species, the homo sapien sapiens, before evoking the law of the jungle, should we not sit back and think about the finer points here. The first being Who on earth are these brutal murderers and despicable monsters. Did they come in a space shuttle from Mars? Or are they a part of a frankenstein experiment, or are they a new type of evolved beings?

No, Harper Lee has already answered this question in the words of Atticus Finch, much better than I can ever hope to answer it, in a slightly unrelated matter though.

'That proves something - that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they are still HUMAN. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children. You made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes for a minute. That was enough.'

'First of all, If you can learn a simple trick, Scout you'd get along better with all kinds of folks. You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb onto his skin and walk around in it.'

Yes, at the end of the day, they came from us. It is our societies who created these people. If there is a monster here, it is our society. If our society, is considered to be the good father who teaches good morals and good ethics and good values but has also created a bunch of children, who he has neglected enough to turn out to become 'bad' in the traditional sense, at least for me it says much more about the father than the children.  If we are to truly stop, these heinous crimes, we must think from the point of view of the heinous criminals too. What made them who they are? How can we stop others from becoming what they have become? Don't believe for one second, that killing a bunch of people would set an example so deep that others would stop committing these heinous crimes. No, that is never going to happen simply because of the fact that we are not dealing with a mob here, where you arrest the ring leader and the mob becomes scattered.  Believing that some sort of revenge killing would ever solve this problems. I refuse to believe the cliche', kill one and they'd all learn. Its stupid. Its not about teaching a person a lesson. Hasn't religion and law been trying to do that for decades, instilling fear? has it worked. no. No, we are dealing with real issues.very real problems. These murders, rapes, violence is just the outlet we see. Behind each murder, behind every rape, there is a hidden social problem, a social disease corrupting the very essence of our social structure, which has lead to these outlets. And as I always say, if a tree is diseased, we may hack off the branches all we want, the new branches that grow out of it will still be diseased, the problem is within the roots and we have to cure the roots in order for the tree to be healthy.

The fact of the matter is this friends, Ryloggers: Every time a person is raped or murdered, all of us come together. All of us 'normal' people come together, we protest, we scream, we weep, we blame the government, we call out to kill that evil monster, we wonder and ponder how someone can be so inhumane, we demand the government to hang that monster and while we are busy about what violent things we can do to the monster, how many of us actually discuss what has to be done to the victim? Especially in rape cases and child abuse cases, No we do not give a damn about the victim. We are just here to punish the perpetrator, the essence of all evil. And once all the hue and cries down, and normal life is ensured how many of us wake up from our day to day problems look at the society, reflect and see the problems within the society that has CREATED this monster? No WE DON'T. We just eat our delicacies, drink our worth, love our beloved and wait for the existing problems in the society to create another monster, wait for another case to appear, so we can kill another person and get along with our lives. This is a vicious cycle. Brothers and sisters, the truth of the matter is that we are not doing anything for the victims or the society at large, we are just fulfilling our gut instinct for revenge, we lead by animalistic not humane need for revenge, we offer the criminal, to put in the words of one of my facebook friends, 'as a a blood sacrifice to the society to abate it.' Thats what we do, that's what our governments do. To abate the angry masses, we kill the perpetrator. But at the end of the day, friends, this is escapism from the real problems. This is state and social escapism. And how long can we go on like this.

I think I've vaguely mentioned, real problems, real issues long enough for you to wonder what real problems, what real issues I'm talking about here. My sister, (Her Beautiful Blog.) the other day very appalled (bless her), at the situation of Maldives, randomly wonders out, 'What is wrong with our country?' and my answer to her, is the real problems that I talk about. My answer being:
"There is a serious problem with our penitentiary and education system, our moral codes are hypocritical and our social system diseased. "

There are more problems today, than I can hope to write in a meekly blog post or you could be bothered to read. So here are some highlights off the top of my head in no particular order.

QUESTIONING FORBIDDEN

We live in a society where questioning is forbidden. With sex a taboo, when a child first starts questioning about sexual issues, sexual drives, impulses or even basic sexuality or the simple question, how he comes to the world he is met with repression. And I m not talking about what is traditionally regarded as a bad type of repression, this is the simple, 'Don't talk about it. You'd find out sooner or later.' One must understand is that a childhood is the most curious age, a person can ever go through. And at this age, if questions are not answered at all, if questions are completely neglected, the child does not simply withdraw his impulses and his curiosity, he seeks other means in which he can find answers. So first of all our one sided morality and taboo is making sex itself an enigma. One does not have to be a genius to figure out, that once someone is forbidden something with no proper reason, they are more prone to do it. And our sex drive, doesn't disappear. But we are making the essential part of it disappear. the human part of it. the very thing that differentiates man's sexual behavior from animalistic sexual impulses. - our common values about sexuality making the ill advised child ignorant to what is acceptable form of sexual behavior and what is not. And this is not just restricted, with parents. We have an education system, which does not allow proper sex education.  So basically, in the development stage of man, a sexual being essentially, is given no proper information on the ethical or the better ways to deal with his sexual drive. And nobody, is more dangerous than an ignorant man. Can you honestly say, that this unawareness towards sexuality has nothing to do with increase in rape cases? Lets deviate from Maldives, for a minute here. If you take other countries where slums are more predominant, brothers and sisters all grow up together, maybe sleeping in the same room, using the same facilities, Isn't it natural to develop a curiosity and in the formative years, when the sexual drive is being developed, if this curiosity, is not abated properly, man is left with no cultural values just his raw sexual impulses and this is the case in some of our more rural islands too.

FAULTY MORALS CREATE LACK OF CONSCIENCE.

The next moral system I have a huge problem with is our very values. From day one, we are taught whats good and whats bad. And if one has the audacity to question, Why? Why is this good and why is this bad? The answer he would be met with is because we (parents/teachers) are telling you its good and bad. Or my favorite reason. Its bad because if you do that, you d go to hell. Its good, because when you do that you d be granted heaven. So basically, we grow up having a set of ethics, a bunch of social dictates and no understanding why we follow them. So, as he goes on with life and through the course of time when he is given the choice to do whats supposedly good but he doesn't know why its good, or whats easy and an immediate solution to his problem, he takes the easy way out. The point I m trying to make here is we do not tell our children what is right and what is wrong and we don't try to instill on their young minds why it is right and why it is wrong, instead we give them a hard and fast rule that something is either good or bad. Its the difference between a child knowing that if he plays with a knife, he'd cut himself and that would cause him pain and a child just being told that he must not play with a knife. It is incomplete morals that we teach our children. A person growing up, whose parents have through experience and advice instilled in him, in his conscience basic ethics would understand that he should not kill a man, because he does not have the right to take another life while a person growing up just with the dicta that it is wrong to kill a man, wouldn't have the same moral solidarity. You might say, that despite this when the person grows older he should have the common sense to know that taking a life is wrong. Yes, he should. But the fact is, he does not have the same value for life. We can see this in Maldives right now. In the gang violence, killing people just because they can. Cutting up a human being has become as simple is cutting your toast for breakfast. So it is high time, we instill upon our kids whats right and wrong, not dictate to them whats good and bad. And yes, there is a difference.


NEGLECTED SOCIAL ISSUES

Another problem I find is that we are making this whole murder/rape problem we have a political issue. It's not. It might have political basis at the face level but take it to the grass root level, and it is a bunch of social issues we have chosen to neglect.  For instance, take domestic violence. Until recently, we have not even seen that this is a problem. In some households, children as young as three to four years are beaten black and blue with broomsticks or pans for small mistakes, and if one questions the parent, Why did you just beat your kid up?, The answer would be along the justification of disciplining. Yes, disciplining. Domestic Violence, physically beating up their children in our societies is a socially accepted form of disciplining. In an island, if a woman comes out with her child and beats the living hell out of each other infront of all the citizens in the island, there wouldn't be even 25% who thinks its wrong and its doubtful that there would be even one person who would oppose it. Why should they? She is the child's mother. The child misbehaved, so she is disciplining it. But at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is this. This is violence too. This goes against human rights too. But you can't even exactly blame the parents. Its what they have learned from their parents, who disciplined them in a similar manner. It has created a vicious cycle, And we don't even see how wrong it is. These small things accumulating over the years, has lead to the mentality, the decorum in society which has lead to the violence we see today. For the love of god people, we did not develop a sudden disease of rape and murder over night. This has been a long lasting process. So stop blaming any particular government for it.

NEGLECT OF THE ABUSED - OVER EMPHASIS ON ABUSER.And here, I m talking more about rape than murder. In an year, thousands of people get molested and hundreds get raped. From this comparatively speaking, only a very few cases get reported. Why? There could be many reasons. A lot of guys, for instance do get sexually molested, some in more patronizing and impactful ways than others but the 'male ego' or 'pride', among other reasons often causes them to voluntarily not talk about it ever again because of the fear of getting ridiculed or repress these memories.  Another reason, is those who get abused by family members are coerced into keeping their mouth shut in the name of family name. There could be many reasons, but the fact is irrespective of the degree of the incident, it always leaves an impact. And people are different, both in their biological and social make up. People deal with things differently. A lot of these children who get abused in their young age, without given the proper care and counseling grow up to become the 'monsters' we talk about. As much as I don't like the book 50 shades of Grey, (god this is the third blog post I'm mentioning it. But it's just a good example. I really don't like it.) it portrays a very good example. The guy, Trystan Grey was used in a bondage relationship as a child by his mother's friend and when he grows up, he who was the submissive, wants to be the dominant in all his sexual relationships. So nothing really works for him other than Bondage. Its what gets him turned on sexually. And this is a very real reason a lot of people become child molesters. Mainly, those who are abused as children are left with a complex where they have to exert their dominance over the opposite gender, sometimes even the same gender sexually. This is a reason why a lot of them actually abuse children, who will be more innocent and submissive than a child? I do not say all this to justify their action, there can be no justification but to merely explain why people become what they become. And the drastic action we must take to prevent others from becoming the same. As I mentioned earlier in the post, people do not bother about the one who really needs their attention, care and love but are too bothered in trying to punish the perpetrator. But the truth is, twenty years from now these very people become the perpetrators, I don't say all of them do. But some, do. So to prevent them, they should be given the necessary care and psychological therapy.

IGNORANCEIn direct relation, to the above point, we are also very ignorant to the plight of the abuser. We must understand, that he too is the product of the system we live in. Something must have gone wrong, in our own values and social structure, to create such monsters. He did not emerge from somewhere else, it is our society that made him the person that he is. And that is why i call it social and state escapism. Instead of, dealing with the problem we choose to send him to the chair. Commit state sanctioned murder until the next person emerges, also created by the same system. Is this the empathy and sympathy that us normal people brag about. Should we not wonder, why these people become who they are and not just end their lives, without reflecting on it. Doesn't this reveal a lot more about our humanity than his? Food for thought.

NEGLECT OF YOUTHThe heinous, sick, twisted truth is the youth of our country has been not only neglected but also used by two regimes for their political motives. Our youth population consists, of a huge chunk of people, who are not aware or does not give a damn about the social and political problems prevailing in our societies and another chunk who had fallen to the prey of either extremist beliefs or drugs and alcohol. And both extremes have been used by political power players to commit their crimes for them, as their personal hit men. We heard a man who is credited to bring democracy to Maldives, a champion of so many people, a president our beloved country on audio tape, claiming that he wants a bunch of youth who can beat up the cops and thats the only solution. What do these politicians think? We are their stooges. This has gone on for too long. In Maldives, the country where basic education is guaranteed to each man and woman, we are so politically unaware that the youth and even the supposed intelligentsia among the youth are being used by religious figures, by political figures to get their dirty work done for them by bribing them with money, drugs or heaven, I don't know what is worse.

FAULTY PENITENTIARY SYSTEM

Our Penitentiary system is despicable. I can't understand how the people who had such a big problem with  Maumoon's torture cells, don't see how wrong this whole system is. First of all, our biggest mistake is we classify drug addicts as criminals, they are not. They are patients. They should never even be sent to jail. We are creating that mentality not only in ourselves, but within these patients and within the society that they are criminals and that they need to be treated as such. This is when they become criminals, ryloggers. At the state in which Maldivian jails are in, a person who did nothing wrong other than use drugs, after fulfilling his sentence in jail, would have a hundred more issues with him. This is not helping them to be rehabilitated. This is making them worse. Jail itself has a bigger market for drugs, than the open public. What is happening here. And because these patients are not properly rehabilitated, their thirst for drugs becomes so high that they would do anything to get the substance, and this is where another reason for murder comes into play.
Another huge problem, in the penitentiary system is, drug patients and criminals taken for petty theft or fraud etc, are put into jail cells with child molesters, murderers, highly damaged individuals. They do not deserve that, it is dangerous for them. And we must not impose that upon them.

For these reasons, among many I claim that it is our society who creates a lot of these so called monsters and we are responsible for them as much as we are responsible for ourselves. And we can't shake our hands of these responsibility by committing, yes committing, capital punishment. If the bill for capital punishment is passed, Maldivian society, all of us have failed. We have failed because we are admitting defeat. We are admitting that we can't fight the problems within our social structure, so we are just going to appease the society by paying a blood payment. The society has failed because we still don't understand. Cause, the average Maldivian is still ignorant to all the social problems that we do have. They think the problems we are facing erupted yesterday, after the democratic movement. That all of this are political murders, political reasons behind everything. That the rapist, is a different person from who we are, its just the way they are and the society would be better off, if we just did off with him.

There is one more very important reason why we as a society, condone capital punishment.

RELIGION.
This just deals with the Islamic attitude towards Capital Punishment, so any non muslims who might read this may choose to ignore this section.


The biggest slap on the face of those of us, who are against the death penalty by religious men, is that how can we while claiming that we follow Islam and we believe in Allah and his messenger (PBUH) go against such a fundamental of Islam as the death penalty.  My answer to them is simple, I do not agree with your brutal interpretation of this principle. Islam has always promoted the medium standard, to accept both dhunya (world) and the ahirat (After world) Muslims are not supposed to be extremist or brutal in anything, the basic principal by which our prophet that we claim to follow as an example, lived day in and day night was forgiveness. Can any of us claim to have faced as much torture as he faced in Mecca? As his sahabas faced in Mecca? In the hands of his own people? They finally made him flee from his own home. And when he got support from other people in Medina, they came looking for him to kill him, just because he claimed that he worships a god other than the gods they worshipped. Despite all this, when he got success over these people and he entered Mecca and his rule established, what did he announce? He announced that he forgave all of them except a handful, most of whom he ended forgiving too. Or have you forgotten that? Is this not the Islam we believe in? Islam that has stood for peace and solidarity, or an abridged version of Islam given to you by Salafis and Preachers and Extremists? Is Maldivian muslims following the Sheikh Imran version of Islam now?


Yes, I agree despite all that, religion does give the right to the victim's family to allow the person to be murdered. But look closely on this verse.

[42:40-43] The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah: for (Allah) loves not those who do wrong. But indeed if any do help and defend themselves after a wrong (done) to them, against such there is no cause of blame. The blame is only against those who oppress men and insolently transgress beyond bounds through the land, defying right and justice: for such there will be a grievous penalty. And whoever is patient and forgiving, these most surely are actions due to courage. - Holy Quran
Allah, almighty has praised those who choose not to invoke capital punishment, as courageous and don't we claim that it is his love and admiration that we all seek, at the end of the day? He has also said, that those who forgives and makes reconcillation would be rewarded by Allah. Subhan'Allah. Isn't his reward, that all of us seek? Then I ask this question back to the Sheikhs and the preachers, why not  promote forgiveness, when religion too says its the better way. Religion teaches us, that forgiveness is much better if we understand? Why do we not understand, brothers and sisters?

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who we believe to be the greatest man to have ever lived, his sunnah shows us that if he was given the choice, he had always chosen to forgive than to punish. I don't know why some of you choose to only accept, the more seemingly brutal parts of Islam and neglect the loving grace of god and his messenger.

For me, in my own personal belief, having been given the choice to either kill for kill or pay the blood payment, is a test our humanity by god. It is left for our choice, so that we will choose to forgive our brother. And that is why Capital Punishment will never be in my good graces.


Now, to be honest I m not particularly well versed in the penitentiary and legal system. But from my little knowledge, here are some alternative ways I think we can deal with this.
  • First and foremost, when a person is raped, murdered we must give immediate professional counseling to the victim (in case of rape and torture) and the victim's family.
  • We must identify the social problems we face and bring about better awareness at grass roots, so not only intellectuals but the average maldivian would understand how this could be a problem.
  • Educational reforms. We must give more attention to civic studies and sex education too.
  • Penitentiary and Rehabilitation reforms. Drug addicts, should only be given a rehab sentence not a jail sentence. better penitentiary laws can be drafted so that each crime has a punishment in par with the crime in nature and degree.
  • Instead of giving everyone a jail sentence, community service can also be an imposed punishment on more mediocre crimes
  • Improve the quality of jails.
  • Prevent Youth brainwashing, engage youth in productive activities, try to change the mindset Maldivians have on superior and inferior jobs. So that more job opportunities can be opened giving the youth less time to decay wastefully. (This could also in the long run, help reduce expectorate workers. but major mindset change needed.)
  • Punish indoctrinators and political figures who use youth for political motives, severely.
  • Rapists and Murderers to be segregated from the average criminals and special regiment camps to be created for them consisting of heavy physical labor, professional psychological diagnosis and counseling etc.
  • But first of all, we seriously need to stop associating everything with a political reason and stop dealing everything with a political bias. We need to treat each problem as it is not as we are in order for this country to change.
Lewis Lawes, warden of Sing Sing prison in New York once said, "As if one crime of such nature, done by a single man, acting individually, can be expiated by a similar crime done by all men, acting collectively." And that is what at the end of the day, death penalty really is. A crime. Because of our own incapability and social problems, a man is created who is ready to take another man's life and instead of saving him from himself, we kill him. This is not acceptable to me. But thats just my opinion. I m as flawed as the next guy. So I just ask you all to think twice on this. And if thats not enough, think thrice. One may claim, that I am against death penalty because I do not have had someone who i know who got murdered and that claim would be wrong. My direct maternal uncle, was the first person to be murdered in the series of gang murders. And I've known someone who is really very close to my heart, who got molested and nearly raped. I do not say, what I say because I don't understand. I do not say what I say inspite of the pain of the victim and their family. I say what I say about capital punishment, because of the pain of the victim and their family and our pain as a society. Until next time, Ryloggers. Be safe and Merry Christmas.

Monday, December 17, 2012

My Favorite Dhivehi Poem :D

Hey Ryloggers,
Okay so this has been my favorite dhivehi poem for a long long time. I saw it in Grade 6, and was like totally sold. I might translate this some time later, seeing that my stats show i don't have much of views from Maldives but rather from India, US and Greece O_o. And excuse the typos ^^. i still suck at typing in dhivehi.
Anyway, here you go :)
ލޭ ހުސްވެ މަރުވެ މިދަނީ މާލޭގެ ބިން މަތީގާ
                               ހޭ ހުރެ ކުރީމެ އާދޭސް އަހަރެންގެ މަރުމަތީގާ
އަދަކީ ތިނެއް ނޮވެނބަރ އަށްޑިހަ އަށެއް ނަވާރާއިން
                                އަދަކީ ފިސާރި ދުވަހެއް ދިވެހިންގެ ކުރިމަތީގާ
ދެލޮލަށް މިހާރު ފެނެޔޭ ދިވެހީންގެ ކާމިޔާބީ
                                މިލޮލަށް ނެތޭ ނަސީބެއް ނަސްރުގެ ދުވަސް ދުށުމުގާ
އަހަރެންގެ ގައިން އޮހޭލޭ ދެއްޔަށް ކަމަށް ހަދައިގެން
                                އަހަރެން ކުރާ ވަސީއްޔަތް ލިޔެލީމެ ބިންމަތީގާ
ތިޔަހެން ނުތިބެ ޒުވާނުން، ތައްޔާރުވާށޭ ޖިހާދަށް
                                މިޔަކީ ނިމޭކަށް އޮތް ކަމަކަށް ނުވޭ މިތާގާ
ބާޢީންގެ ރޭވުމެއްގާ ނުބެދޭށެ ދިވެހި ފަރުދުން
                                ބައިބައި ވެގެން ނުދާށޭ ލޮބުވެތި މިބިންމަތީގާ
މުސްތަގްބަލްގެ ދަރިންނޭ ތިޔަހެން ދެއަތް އުރާލާ
                                 ހުސްކޮށް ނުތިބެ ހިނގާށޭ ގައުމީ ސިފައިންގެ ސަފުގާ
ބޭރުގެ އަދުއްވެ ދުޝްމިން ޢައްދާރުންނާ ދިމާކޮއް
                                 ބޭނުން ގޮތެއް ހަދާލަން ތެދުވާށެ ދިވެހިލޭގާ
ބައިގިނަ ކުރާށެ ސަފުގާ، ނޫކަށި ޒުވާން އުމުރުގާ
                                  ގައިބާރުގަދަ ޖިހާދެއް ކޮއްލަން ޖެހޭ މިކަމުގާ
ދަރިފަސްކޮޅާ އެކީގާ މިނިވަން ދިވެހި ކަރާމާތް
                                  ދަރިފުޅު މެނާ ހަވާލޭ ދެން އޮތް ތަނަށް އެކީގާ
ހިޔަހާސް ފަށުން ސަލާމޭ ފަހު ނޭވަޔޭ މަގޭމީ
                                   ލިޔެލާ ދިނުން މިއާދޭސް އެދެމޭ މަހާނަ ގަލުގާ
Once again excuse the typos and other mistakes here and there :(

And I dedicate this post, to one of our greatest hero, Shd. Hussain Adam.. truly a hero that will never fade from Maldivian history.

                                   

Friday, December 14, 2012

We accept the love that we think we deserve

We accept the love that we think we deserve. - Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of being a wallflower.

I'm glad that Hollywood didn't mess up, Perks movie. It was almost as good as the book. Almost. 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Grieve as one world.. Heal as one world.

For Gaza.. For Tibet.. For Kabul.. For Syria.. For Myanmmar.. For War torn areas everywhere,

                                Peace on our EvolvingPath

My last blog post made it quite clear what Peace on our EvolvingPath was so no need to go into that. Here, I am going to talk about my experience in these 15 minutes. But before that, I would add the reasons why i was enthusiastic about this event. Having just written an article being overly critical about Colhelo one might even wonder whether I m being a little bit hypocritical too (BTW, i got a lot of criticisms for that article. Valid ones too, i d just like to say i said in the beginning of the article I like Colhelo as a writer and there are some parts of his work i m ok with, but i maintain my stance on his over optimism)

Anyhow, Why I supported this event was for a couple of reasons:-
      1. Having experimented with meditation myself, I have seen its benefits.. I have seen how it truly relaxes you and brings inner peace.
      2. I believe in the Individual. Sure, governments and large organizations can do a lot of things to maintain peace in the world. But as an individualist, i've always believed it must start from you and me.. from all of us.
      3. Every day we go on with our lives and we don't even think of the people suffering in Africa and I will never blame us for that.. As my 'The Perks of being a Wallflower review' said, at the end of the day for each of us our own problems will take center stage. That's just human nature. So such a 15 minutes of thinking about War torn areas, about peace allows us to take a break from our lives to think about those who are suffering.
     4. It showed solidarity. In over 9 countries, even if one person was meditating at the same time with us, it showed unity and that there are people globally, who believe in the same sentiments.. who themselves are taking a break out of their lives to think about the people suffering.
     5. I have always found that my best ideas come to me when i m alone and lost in thought. And that folks, is what meditation really is. Its not religious. Its spiritual. Its going deep into your psyche and finding answers within it, unlocking our own good ideas. finding our potential.
    6. ETC!

THAT being said, over to my experience

I meditated with HMHanyf. With the lack of someone to take a photograph, unluckily thats not there. For the first five minutes i worked on what i always do when i meditate. Finding that part within myself, that is not distracted from the background situations; delving deep into my psyche. Once I was there, then i thought about everything thats going around the world. Myanmar, Arab Springs, Poverty, Corruption, Syria, Gaza, Child Abuse, unrest back at home in Maldives etc. I guess when I started thinking about how to end all this, i was lost. In a perfect world, I could whip up a magical solution where everyone would drop their weapons immediately and embrace.. But we do not live in a magical world. And the fact we have to accept is it would never be entirely peaceful. There will always be forces at play, working to make us fight each other. So the path to peace must be a consistent effort.
I m not fond of the guy but the late Neil Armstrong when he supposedly stepped on the moon said,

"One Small step for man.. One Giant Leap for Mankind"        
 and also to quote from the famous hindi movie, 'Main Hoon Na' , there is a quote that caught me.

"Raastaa kitne bhee dhoor ho, shuruwat tho ek gadam se hoti hei
Translation :- However long the road is, it must start with one step."
So to prevent myself from going on about this and boring you all to death, i d get to the point. We can all take this one step every day in our lives. By being more tolerant. By waiting to hear the other person out before reacting. By being patient. You might wonder how this has anything to do with the big problems in the world? But the big problems have all escalated out of larger ones. If we are to inspire our leaders to be tolerant, we must learn to tolerate other people too.

The next way forward with peace is understanding. Knowledge and Peace go hand in hand. The reason why we are in a continuing chain of conflict is cause, quite frankly its human nature to be scared of what we do not understand. And people that we have heard rumors about and had never actually met, scares us. We'd rather believe that they are bad people then allow our age long beliefs to fall, rendering us vulnerable. So ryloggers, i guess what i m trying to say is if you have a problem or a prejudice with a certain type, race, nation of people the best thing to do is get to know one of them. Do not generalize an entire race, for the actions of few. As a muslim, it d be my initial instinct to hate jews but I don't. I know better. I know they've wronged muslims. But we have wronged them too, and quite frankly we are scared of getting to know each other.
This sounds very idealistic but its not. I've seen this happen. Only over a month ago when I saw Pakistanis and Indians meet and lets face it, there are few other countries who have had a long history of conflict than these two. They got to know each other and they knew how they were not so different. So Yea, Knowledge shatters Prejudice and A Prejudice free life leads to Peace,


I'd really  like to talk a lot more about knowledge and peace, but this is a post about Peace on our EvolvingPath and yes, those were some of my recollections from it. Much thanks to Hardik from India, a friend and a fellow delegate in South Asian Youth Conference 2012 for coming up with this amazing event. In this spirit lets take some time each of us from our every day life to sit back and think about the world we live in. It doesn't have to be long. 15 - 10 minutes can impact your day.

So, yes ryloggers from my 15 minutes of reflecting what i think is a way forward with peace is Knowledge, Tolerance and Acceptance. If you have got a problem with someone get to know them. If someone goes against your views tolerate them too and if you were to re-butt them do it in a peaceful manner. And accept, other people.  After all, "There is Your  way. There is my way. As for the right way and the only way it doesn't exist."

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Peace on our Evolving Path

Hey awesome ones,


Peace on our Evolving Path

Some of the delegates of SAYC 2012 has taken up this initiative to spend fifteen minutes of a day meditating and reflecting on the world we live in. The chaos, the violence, war. It would be fifteen minutes for peace. And it would be carried out globally. Here is a message from the team:


Initiative by delegate of SAYC 2. .

EvolvingPath is an initiative that helps to bridge the deficit in Leadership and Peace slowly and steadily via Meditation.

At the heart of EvolvingPath is a simple thought: To have a happier, fulfilling and a less stressful life by taking right leadership actions in the company of right people. Leadership is not only about delivering results and manning the everyday processes, it also means, zoning out from everything and looking at the bigger picture by taking time o
ut for ourselves.

In the recent wake of intense unrest globally (Conflicts between Israeal-Palestine, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Greece and many more), a group of young Leaders who had gathered in Islamabad from the different SAARC countries in early November at the South Asian Youth Conference to discuss on a myriad of tough issues felt a pressing need for responsible Leadership and internal peace to progress further.
The idea behind EvolvingPath felt exactly aligned with these problems.

We at EvolvingPath decided that we are going to standby our core philosophy of creating happiness and reflecting on our own actions of what we can do in our little universe.

In this direction, we are observing 15 minutes of reflection and meditation to harness the power of the collective across the world. We believe that to change the world, we don't need to change others. We need to change ourselves.

Following are the guidelines for the event:
1) 15 minutes of meditation typically means, that where ever you are, you will close your eyes, sit silently and get in touch with yourself and your actions, that you are taking to make this world, your world, a happier place for others and for yourself.

2) Ideally, you should come together in groups of any number you want and meditate with others. Its immensely powerful to sit and meditate together. That’s the idea of EvolvingPath.
------
3) We are not going to make this a random activity and would like to measure the impact. We can feel counted by doing a number of things.
a) Take photos of your group. Group accountability is more authentic. Post it here on the page.
b) Blog about this feeling of harnessing the power of the collective. 15 minutes of global meditation.
c) Share your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook about what actions, big or small you will take to make sure you are doing your bit.
d) RSVP here so we have a count of the current number. We believe you will honour your word after you RSVP here.
e) Post a video of your group sharing your thoughts.
f) Reach out to as many as you can and spread the word. Involve everyone you can.
g) Any other way that you feel you can do something to further this, please feel free to do so and let us also know about it so that we can evolve.

Details:
Date: 5th December 2012, Wednesday.
Place: Global.
Time: 19.00-19.15 Indian Standard Time (UTC + 5.30)

Twitter Hashtag: #EvolvingPath


So awesome ones, i sure hope you d make it.


"Most people dont realize it, but loneliness.. Its underrated." - 500 days of Summer.

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