A threat to national security? It's your decision

Despite what everyone says to the contrary, Islamic fundamentalism was never an issue worth bandying about until President Gayyoom made it so. And by doing so little does he realize the kind of hornet's nest he has opened up.

In the Maldives, the country is faced with burgeoning social problems. On one side of the spectrum are the so-called parteys comprising of the majority of the nation's youth and on the other side, the bearded and the veiled generally referred to as the Wahhabi's who are being collectively being branded as extremists.

The definition of an extremist, according to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: a person who holds extreme views, especially in politics or religion.

Insofar as I am concerned, coming from a tolerant society, extremists too can have their niche in the social order so long as they do not become a threat to the society. They can hold any kind of extreme views, be it in politics or religion – a difference of opinion is not a problem – so long as they do not pose a threat to the rest of us.

Propagating violence and carrying out acts of violence are definitely a threat to any society. Yet today, in this community of ours, this rare breed of humanity known as Maldivians, violence is fast becoming an everyday occurrence.

Coming from a nation where there is more sea than land and according to the tourist brochures where even the sharks are friendly we have to be ashamed of ourselves today to acknowledge that violence has become a fact of everyday life.

Gang warfare conducted with swords, iron bars and flick knives, riot police high on speed clashing with protestors on the streets, the introduction of electric batons and pepper gas as a means of controlling peace loving citizens demanding for their rights has become the norm not only in the capital Male' but the disease has spread to the provinces as well. I wonder if all this has had any effects on the sharks roaming the Maldivian seas purported to be friendly at least up until now.

The military or the Maldivian National Defense Force (the abbreviated letters MNDF stands for Maumoon, Nasreena, Dunya and Farish according to analysts) can be seen in combat gear patrolling the streets of Male' carrying pistols since certain extremist elements blew a home made bomb of the kindergarten variety near the Sultan Park gate, adjacent to the MNDF headquarters. What was especially frightening was that the targets were European tourists, the major contributor to the nation's economy.

What was even more frightening was that President Gayyoom saw fit to launch an attack against a generally peace abiding community on Hemandhoo Island who up until now has shown no inclination towards violence. Sure – they held certain extreme religious views but they have mostly kept to themselves and weren't a threat to anyone until Gayyoom attacked them blindly. He has also launched a policy of unveiling veiled women – all in the name of security measures against terrorism.

And according to the latest news reports members of the Hemandhoo community have called upon the help of Al-Qaeda. Should Al-Qaeda decide to comply with the request of their Muslim brethren, and by doing so target European tourists it would destroy years of hard work by the likes of Champa Afeef, the Universal Group and of course Qasim Ibrahim not to mention a score of others with vested interests in the tourism industry.

I very much doubt we require the expertise of Condolizza Rice or General Norman Schwarzkopf to tell us where the problem lies or the direction the country is headed. A senile old man by the name of Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom and his reluctance to let a smarter younger generation take over the nation's helm is the root cause of the problems facing the nation and unless we consider it our collective responsibility to ease or tease him out of office, we could be facing a national disaster any day.

State terrorism has given birth to terrorism of the kindergarten variety. And we must bear in mind that from little acorns do mighty oaks grow.