Civil society activists at press conference on Saturday expressed concern over the events in Maldives, where an elected government was ousted in a coup following political unrest in the country.
The government of the now toppled president Mohamed Nasheed had come to power after the 2008 elections, ending 30 years of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
Those who addressed the press conference included former judge of the Supreme Court and peace activist Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Karamat Ali, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and human rights activist Iqbal Haider, chairman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Mohammad Ali Shah and Zulfiqar Halepoto of the Sindh Development Forum.
“The US government has announced that it is accepting the undemocratic government of Maldives, but the Pakistani government should not do the same and an urgent SAARC meeting should be called to condemn the new set-up there,” they demanded.
They said the political turmoil in Maldives and the unlawful ouster of an elected government in the country remains a matter of grave concern for the South Asian neighbours and the partners of Maldives as the event may have a far-ranging impact on the direction and the future of democracy in the region.
The coup d’état is a condemnable act and all South Asian states and civil societies must join forces against this undemocratic move by the security forces of Maldives.
“At least two countries in South Asia – Pakistan and Bangladesh – that have faced martial laws and coups in the past know very well how people suffer when democracy is brought down,” they said. “Not only did the military rule in these two countries compromised political and administrative institutions, it took them several decades back in terms of economic and social development,” they added.
“We believe that democracy and governance are two different matters and the failure of governance should not be equated with the failure of democracy. An elected regime is brought in by the efforts and votes of the people through the institution of elections and the exit of an elected government should also follow the same procedure. There is no way use of force or coercion should be allowed to overthrow a democratically elected government. We also believe that if South Asia is to progress as a region, it will have to adopt democracy as a system of governance.”
They said issues of bad governance, corruption, non-performing economic policies, and social marginalisation can only be addressed by the institutions of political participation and public representation that is made possible by democracy only. South Asia, as a region, has deep stakes in democracy as the region must forge a closer alliance for economic and social development in times of acute international financial crisis and economic downturn, and rising concerns over the future of natural resources in the backdrop of climate threats. Such an alliance is only possible if the elected and representative governments that are accountable to their public are in place in all South Asian countries. The common challenges faced by the region such as poverty, militancy, terrorism, climate change and economic and social underdevelopment cannot be fought by way of individual actions. All South Asian countries must work to strengthen their own and each other’s capacity to overcome the hurdles in the way of the region’s progress.
“We also stress the need for the Pakistani government to take a strong stand with regards to the events in the Maldives. There are a lot of similarities between the Maldives and Pakistan. Like Maldives, the elected government of Pakistan too came to power after a very long struggle against military rulers that had held power unconstitutionally for a long time,” they said.
“The growing strength of religious forces in the Maldives seeking to assert their political prowess and their role in the overthrow of the government is also a point where Pakistan could relate to its South Asian neighbour. The elected governments in Pakistan have battled and are still struggling with the same phenomenon. South Asia, as a region, has lost resources and valuable time over the quest by powerful military institutions to assert dominance over the state. This has to be discouraged and a culture of promotion of democracy needs to be cultivated,” they added.
“We also urge the government to call for the activation of the SAARC mechanisms to prevent the undemocratic move in the Maldives. A joint stand from the platform of SAARC needs to be taken to condemn the events in the Maldives.”
They demanded that SAARC should suspend the membership of the Maldives until the elected government is restored in the country or new elections are held. Furthermore, this is the right time to urge the SAARC countries to implement the Charter of Democracy for protecting and strengthening democracy in the region. The charter that was submitted by Bangladesh at the 16th SAARC Summit in April 2010 gives expression to the collective commitment of the member states to promote and preserve the ideals of democracy as well as the democratic institutions.
“We hope that the government of Pakistan will speed up diplomatic contacts with other South Asian countries and play its role in protecting and upholding the values of democracy in the region. We also urge all South Asian publics to take this matter seriously and support their respective governments in condemning the action.”
SRI LANKA: The civil society activists also expressed concern over the human rights situation in Sri Lanka that shows no signs of improvement since the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009.
“The rule of law in Sri Lanka is severely undermined by the consolidation of executive power through the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution; there is increased militarization, especially in the North, and the issue of violence against women within the context of militarisation is critical; the culture of impunity remains in place,” they said.
“In January 2012, there have been at least four abductions in Colombo alone, with many other cases reported across Sri Lanka. Custodial deaths, torture and extra judicial killings continue across Sri Lanka. In January, threats against civil society groups worsened, with the state-owned media launching a vicious campaign against media freedom groups and human rights defender groups, calling them traitors and anti-national elements,” they added.
Hello can you please come to maldives before you mislead all the Pakistani public on Maldives. i guess you dont know whats going on here. Mr.Nasheed resigned when 75% of maldives public came on the street. off course he later said this is a coup for get foreign attention. but i am 100% sure he can not become Maldives President again. First thing the current government is having a clear majority in the parliament. After Nasheed came to power in 2008 , we had 2 elections. Parliamentary and Local Council Election. in both the elections he lost. Could you please check with Maldives Election Commission. Mr.Nasheed's Party has only 40% of maldivians behind him where as the current government has 60% of Maldivians behind him. The current government is a National Unity Government and Mr,Nasheed is Isolated at the moment.
Really? I am also a citizen and I was there I didn't see 75% and that 75% is with President Nasheed you must be blind or you are not living in Male' so please don't spread lies please when u don' t know nothing….
If the current government had a "clear majority in the parliament" they would have been able to impeach Nasheed rather than oust him in a military coup. Because impeachment wasn't possible (because there wasn't a majority support behind the Gayoom-loyalist parties), they resorted to an unconstitutional, illegal coup. Here's evidence of the planning of the coup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1I3qJf1sRM
Mohamed Rasheed I think you need to go back to school. As far as we the Maldivian's know it was about 3000 civilians joined with about 500 or so police and army officials. And they don't represent 75% of the population of Maldives. History is based on the facts, the truth. The truth that you cant change is we who were watching live tv that day saw a civilian (former army colonel) Nazim walking out of the Military head quarters and gave an interview right at the entrance; he said " we have demanded President Nasheed to resign before 1:30 without any option" . How can a civilian just walk in come out after a few minutes and give such an announcement. And when the President was ESCORTED by fugitives Nazim and Abdulla Riyaz (two civilians at the time ) with some army personal to the Presidents office where he announced the resignation. Nazim id the defence minister and Abdulla Riyaz is the Police commissioner of the coup government . We also saw on live tv, hour's before the resignation the hijacking of the state media by the military and police . After the hijacking live feed of VTV was telecast on the frequency of MNBC1 for a few minutes ( VTV is run by Gasim Ibrahim a coup leader and leader of jumhoori party) . On live telecast it was announced by Imran ( a coup leader/ Adhalath party prez) that MNBC1 then is now TVM ;TVM is the name used by the dictator Maumoon. What authority does Imran have to change the name of the State tv station when there was President Nasheed and his information minister, they haven't still resigned. Is it not hijacking media?? The new Commissioner of police Abdhulla Riyaz announced that he will make the police service a place that people fear off. And he showed it with the beating up of peaceful protesters in support of the former Prez Nasheed. Once again we saw blood on the streets like we saw under the evil dictatorship of Maumoon.
The above mentioned events was telecast live. We urge all the people who says no to violence against humanity to stand up with us, take our voice to your leaders before its too late.
75%? LOL. dude, there are videos available on youtube…this is not 18th century. there were always around 200 protestors but nasheed made a mistake of letting them go on long enough for dr waheed to execute his plans….
please before you spread these jokes take the percentages of what is true. not some numbers you take from air . LOL
i also add that 10% of the population is police and military which is also with the current administration and not with MDP or exPresident Nasheed. who is a big fat liar. and been on lieing to intentional media.
such lies such lies. you call ure selves maldivians ? dont you see whats going on ? you say only 40% is behind nasheed ? oh you people must be blind to see whats happening ? or is it you all follow "yes sir we follow money" ? you people are such a disgrace to us maldivians. and your saying president nasheed is being a media whore ? as if others havent seen the videos and pictures and stuff ? how about when the al jazeera news caster was covering the whole thing live ? that is a lie too ? take a minute to review whats happening before you start typing. and btw maldives election commission is ready to start a election now even. do you live under a rock not to be updated this much even ?
the militry just forced the president nasheed to resign.at that time i was in the main headquarters of the defence force.so i have seen the whole picture n how they treated president nasheed.so yasir we cant say that the majority of the maldivians are against nasheed.cox it was been proved within 24hrs after his forced resingantion.there was thousands of his supporters marching peacefully across the capital city male'.
i am not from any political party but i will not accept how the change was brought its totally a coup,(from police and part of MNDF) and how they have treated a president of a country which they police and military should respect. in any means.
i totally agree with imran
He you Pak !! First why dont you write about your own back yard, before writing about Maldives!!! We are still a better country than m ost, including yours….we dont go bombing mosques, schools & Govt buildings, foreign embassies!!! Just because you've got a mouth and have nothing better better to do, please dont pick on us!!
dear pakistanis,
thank you for showing your solidary with the Maldivian people and showing your compassion for us and letting us know that you do not want us to suffer as you have. I apologise for the rudeness of the person claiming to be a "A True Maldivian". a True Maldivian, just like a True pakistani is humane and has compassion for his/her neighbour, and most maldivians, like most Pakistanis are peace loving people who understand that we have been robbed of our vote and have the mental capacity to understand the issues you have raised in this artical.
Thank u ibrahim for I didn't have explained that any better than u have. What happened on 7 th and 8 th and still happening in Maldives is nothing but the works of a military mutiny.
Pls watch the videos available abt this in the YouTube. Every day that passes by videos are being leaked on how things are happening in Maldives. So much violence and brutality from the police and military. Everything is very plain to be seen for who might care abt the people of Maldives.
Also I accidentally pressed the wrong button to vote your view. I totally agree with u and second u on what u have said.
Concerned citizen of maldives.
Reflects the true picture and legitimate worries of the Maldivian public
Its not about Nasheedh … Its about the Democracy…. We are not saying that the current government should give back the the presidential seat to MDP…. We are just calling for an election… a free and fair election to bring back the democracy, the rights which of-course we deserve…. Here in Maldives now it is A military government….There is no doubt about it…… If you guys are having that 75% than let's go for an election……? why are you guys so afraid ? 😛
اليوم لقد اتيتكم بموقع رائع انا اعجبني شخصيا وهو يحتوي على باقة من العاب بنات جديدة ومتجدد دائما ولمن لا يعرف العاب بنات فهي العاب فلاش تلعب على المتصفح بدون تحميل وتلعب مباشرة والعاب البنات هي بدورها فيها عدة اصناف وهي العاب الماكياج وفي هذا النوع يجب وضع الماكياج للبنت الموجودة في اللعبة وهناك كتير منها ويوجد كذلك العاب طبخ وهذا الصنف عنده محبين اكتر من السابق بفارق كبير وهو المميز عند الجميع سواء كانو بناتا او اولادا وايضا الصغار يلعبون فيه كتيرا وهو الاكتر انتشارا في النت ومواقعه كتيرة ويوجد صنف آخر وهو اقل منه قليلا في الشهرة وهو صنف التلبيس هذا الصنف ايضا يعشقه كتير من البنات وعدد قليل من الاولاد وكل صنف من هذه الاصناف توجد به العاب خاصة بشخصية معينة مشهورة فمتلا باربي ستجدها في جميع هذه الاصناف متلا العاب تلبيس باربي او العاب طبخ باربي او العاب ماكياج باربي وهكذا وهناك شخصيات كتيرة في هذه الالعاب وهي الاكتر شهرة طبعا عن باقي الشخصيات الغير معروفة وهذا الموقع يقدم جميع هذه الاصناف التي تندرج تحت نوع العاب بنات فمرحبا بكم جميعا
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