Selling/Leasing and Letting foreign countries to take over our Motherland is a Dangerous Gamble and a Threat to our National Security

As a political observer of what is happening in the Maldives, I could not refrain myself from commenting on the new propaganda pursued by our government. ‘Selling and leasing of our land /waters and letting people use it, is done in a manner’, as if we the citizens of Maldives has nothing to say about this. I am specially upset over the gloating remarks made by Indian journalists I feel as if the right to a piece of us has been given to them. The article, Maldives: Tiny islands, big intrigue By Sudha  Ramachandran India, Maldives Move Toward A ‘Privileged Partnership’ By Vivek  Raguvanshi implicates India as the superpower of the region. Let me say something to put these journalists in their own place. In the Maldives as their pronunciations goes “ourrrr   people neverrrr go to India to do cheap labor but yourrrr   people come to ourrrr country desperate enough to do anything  in return for a little bit of money”. One more thing. Our currency is unreachably stronger than India and Maldives as a country enjoys the highest GDP per capita in the region. Just because our government officials are  sitting ideal and letting the MOD of India take over our countries security does not mean that you journalists have a right to bring our morals and the status of our nation down.

Now that all the internal resources like government positions in return for support towards the presidency has all been used up, mobilisation by selling our land has started. This is an embarrassing and dangerous move by the government. This underestimates our freedom and liberty; as a country. This new approach of partnership with Indian government and other occurrences as such as selling and leasing part of our waters shows that the president’s manifestations feelings and perceptions are not of  somebody with his wits around. But his actions are channelled towards the presidents obsession for money and power. Furthermore  his reason for such moves is about protecting his own status and interest and maintaining it at any cost. I am worried about his sanity and ability to lead the country is questionable.

The Indian perception of the Maldives people as weak and in need of Indian help to exist as a country is  shameful to us Maldivians. The actions of the government that gives such impression  needs to stop right now. The government is belittling us, our morals are been mutilated and is jeopardising our security. We have a right to make decisions that involve selling and leasing of our land and water and letting other countries take over our national security.  Today I call on the government to involve the people to give them the opportunity to express their opinion in moves as such in some cases we are losing the right over our lands for decades. Definitely as a citizens and intellectual, of Maldives the governments move has heightened my fears of an Invasion of Maldives by the Indian and the like. I am sure there will be many other Maldivian  who will  feel the same way. If this is a display of good intentions by the government that is not how it is been perceived by the Indians. I think this move is a smack of manipulation for political purposes and the suspected agenda and intended outcome that appears to me is the government is acting on its worry over the high level of internal tension created by party politics.

In conclusion I would like to say that selling and leasing of our land and letting other countries to establish their strategic interest inside our boarder  for any purpose is a very unwise policy, and a very narrow – minded move that might in fact threaten our national security instead of protecting it. The whole policy is set explicitly for political and economic gain of the elites in the government. Additionally this is militarization of our country by India and  we feel bitter and traumatised by such moves imposed on us by our government and also by the way Indian media has portrayed it. It has created an outstanding,  damaging threat to our civil liberty and human rights. The legitimacy of these moves need to be determined by the people of Maldives and need to be discussed within the parliament, as I feel the government with actions of this manner over the past few years is untrustworthy and has lost its credibility to make decisions concerning our welfare. Now we are  seeing a government that will attempt to use and even sell our land and country for perpetuating the governments domination of our political system over opposition and  political parties and other perceived internal threats.