Is Maldives under MDP Means, Back to yellow, after 800 years?  : Abdulla Sameer

It was 853 years ago; Maldives officially became an Islamic state.Theemuge Maha kalaminja, later known as Sultan Mohamed bin abdlla,  took this decision because he was convinced by an Arabic scholar called abul barakathu Al barbari. However, according to a famous Maldivian historic, Mr. Hassan Ahmed manik Maldives converted to Islam so easily because country needed to be free from the influence of neighbouring countries which is India, a Hindu majority country and Sri Lanka, a Buddhist country. Maldivian people knew that if they continue as a Buddhist country they will always  be under Sri Lankan influence, and if they continue practicing Hinduism they have to be under Indian influence. So Islam came as a god’s gift to Maldives, when they were in need of such a faith.

With this faith of Islam we said goodbye to the colour yellow which is important for Buddhists and Hindus. From that day since today we never look back. We are carrying our life, as a proud independent nation with the help of our Muslim belief. We live under the shade and shelter provided by a flag that  has green red and white in our, representing peace, our martyrs who fought for our country, and our beloved religion. Each of these colours gives us a good feeling. We  identify ourselves, as Maldivian, Muslims and peace loving human and we feel protected.

The question is after 853 years do we have to look back or are we going to look back?  If the answer is NO what are all these yellow colours of flags   doing all over the country. This has created a fear in me that this colour is a representation of what may come in future if the people who choose this colour come to power. Is everything represented by our own flag going to be jeopardised. The fear created by this invasion of our country by yellow is troubling me so much, I cannot refrain myself from contemplating over this issue in this manner. As the colour yellow is associated with Buddhism and Hinduism and represents this religion, we no longer have any association with this colour. The question arises why a political party, of all the colours chose this particular colour. If my worst fears are not to be confirmed, that is  the connection with MDPs yellow flag with their support for Buddhism and Hinduism, this colour need to be changed immediately. The sooner they change it the better for them to gain credibility and trust by our people to function as a political party in line with the Maldivian culture and belief. As already in the grapevine and in gossip columns photos we have seen of members of MDP worshipping lord Budda there are grounds for our worst fears to be confirmed. Continued use of the colour yellow means MDP might loose its status in our society as a party worth voting for. It will be of everyone’s best interest if this confusion over MDPs use of yellow be clarified and replaced as soon as possible.