Total Anarchy

Januari 2009

Of course I’ve seen it in Holland. Someone hits a guy and, instead of reporting it to the police,. He will call some friends and next day the attacker gets beaten up by friends of the victim. Actually, that happens a lot. But it never happens with the blessings or official approval of the countries legal authorities. Well at least not that I have seen.

But watching the news, I sometimes saw examples in other countries. People taking justice into their own hand, because the legal system is just not working as it should. Corruption, bureaucracy or because the country just can’t seem to organize anything at all.

I don’t know if it is the first, second or last reason behind what happened tonight, but for me it was shocking, disgusting and heartbreaking. Tonight I witnessed anarchy.

Walking my daily walk around the island, watching the beautiful sunset and enjoying another day in paradise, I heard loud cheering. “Something exciting must be going on”, I thought. I walked towards the sound and noticed it was coming from the police station. Of course I could not constrain my curiosity and I went to see what was going on.

The people outside the station did not seem to know what all the fuzz was all about. So I called one of my friends. He knew. People are angry that some drug dealers were released from custody after being arrested while in possession of drugs. They are also angry that the drug problem in this island is increasing in rapid speed month after month and the authorities are not doing enough to stop it.

I am sure that at least once a week one good boy tries the stuff that they call “brown sugar” and by doing so, he signs his good life farewell and “welcomes” a life of addiction.

After a while, I went home….
I walked home and when I arrived at my house many motorbikes went through my street. Again I wanted to know what was going on and I asked some ladies on the street. They did not know. So I called another friend. He also did not know.

It gave me an insecure feeling, so I told my friend I would come to him. And so I went. Walking into one street, near the beautiful new build mosque, a big crowd had gathered. I walked towards them, because I needed to pass the crowd to go to my friend. And of course I wanted to know what was going on.

When I passed the crowd one of my friends grabbed my arm and said “ You better get out of here” . As I looked at the man, I also saw my other friend coming towards me. We stood there (from a safe distance) and were watching what was going on. In the beginning people were shouting to someone who is known to be the biggest drug dealer in the island. I often wondered why everybody knows that, but no one is taking any action against him. I think that I know why, but that’s a different story. But it’s related to reason 1 and 3.

After a minute or 20 or so, the crowds seem to split up and slowly many spectators went. Me and my friend also went and as we were passing the “discussion area” an ambulance was driving up the road. We stopped to see who would get in, but no one came. So we thought it was over. We heard some people had beaten up the drug dealer, but I did not see that, because I was too far away and too many people were in the crowd.

My friend and me went for a coffee. Talking about the event we just witnessed. After a half an hour or so, I wanted to go home, but saw some front lights of motorcycles in the distance. Strange, for this time of night. Usually you will not see a soul at midnight, but now many people were still on the road. So something was still going on, my friend and I concluded. And we went to see what is was.

Arriving at the same road where the action previously took place my friend asked some guys what was going on. It seemed that now some other dealer was on the list. ----A part is missing, due to privacy reasons--

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I heard shouting and people going and coming from the narrow alley the house is located in. I felt so bad thinking about that boy sbeing in that house. How scared they must be. And for one particular boy......how undeserved. At one point a man came running from the alley. One of the spectators tried to make him fall by stretching his leg, but he was not successful. He was not running very fast and he even slowed down, probably thinking that now he was part of a friendlier crowd then the one in his house.

He was mistaking. And some of the people in this crowd changed from observers into participators. So he started running faster. The crowd did the same thing. They caught up with him in the next street, which is only about 50 meters further. Probably because he’d use so many drugs, he could not run any further.

I also went there and when I arrived I saw the guy lying on the floor. The crowd around him in half a circle. “This can’t be happening”, was my thought. But my brain and heart knew better. My heart was beating in a way it has not beaten for at least two years. It was giving me a signal of hostility and insecurity.

My mind was shouting to my heart : “Don’t get involved…don’t do anything….don’t try to help that guy who is lying on the ground: helpless and probably in such a poor state of mind that he even could not add up one and one.” My heart was telling something different :”Do something ! Tell these people that this is not the way to solve problems. Tell them that this will be an example for the future. Tell them that their children will now think that solving problems is done with their hands and strength instead of their mouth and brain. Tell them that what they are doing is just not good…..”

My heart lost. My brain won. The winning argument was that of my own safety. Another argument had to do with the fact that this is apparently the way they do things here and it is not up to me, a guest, to interfere with that.

My friend and me went into the direction of my house. And as we arrived at the island office the crowd had gathered there. Two big boxes arrived, which contained bottles of water. I especially noticed one man who was handing out some bottles to people on the motorbikes. He was shouting and laughing en putting his fist up in the air. I said to my friend ”For some of these people this is just a party ..dho”. A short “Yeah” was his reply.

It was not over. There were more houses on the list. So anarchy continued. Arriving at the next house, a minute after the crowd arrived there; I heard girls screaming and babies crying. I heard guys shouting from the house to the people on the road. Some people shouted back, some just lighted another cigarette and continued their conversation with their neighbor spectator. This was too much. It was more than my heart and my brain could handle.

Now, you must know that during this drama, I many times asked my friend where the police was and if they shouldn’t do anything against this. I mean… there are other people in that house too ! Woman, children, fathers, grandparents, maybe some visitors or expatriates who are renting the place. He told me that many police officers are in the crowd and some people from MNDF (National Defense Force). Well that answer stopped more questions and increased my level of unbelief. I also remember what one friend who I met on the road said. I see him as a very respectable, clever and good hearted human. When I passed him, I said “ This is not good ..dho” His reply was clear and I knew he could be right. “The government can’t do anything, so this is the only solution”. And I can see his point. When you enter the Maldives, there is a big sign “Drug offenders risk a life sentence imprisonment”. But in practice, most of the drug offenders get 15 days in jail and after that they will be released. Why ? No one was able to tell me this in the past two years. My guess is that again it has to do with reason 1 and 3.

I had enough. It was more then I can deal with and it totally messed up my idea of this peaceful place. Most of all because I saw it coming and was hoping I would be wrong. But I am not, so the chance that I will also be right on future “developments” increased after tonight.

What happened tonight is typical for the way people do what they do in Maldives. They don’t think about the short and long term effects. Of course they blame the government. And they should. Because life imprisonment is a bit longer then 15 days. But … the community should also look at other things around them. Things that have a big impact and are surely one of the reasons this problem is increasing. Let me give some hints:

What about the people in the schools? What’s their role in this? Why are they not teaching essential life skills, “like how to say no” when your best friend offers you something bad, like drugs? Why is there no counseling program for students who are developing misbehavior? Why is school not helping students who have bad school results due to domestic problems? Why is there no trust person in a school ? Why is school not taking action against parents who neglect their children? Why is school denying students, 14-15 years of age, access to the educational system? Really I ask you….shit will happen if you don’t take care of your schools. So take a look at your schools, kick out all bad teachers and get some professionals to do the hard and difficult work. Promote those who are doing good. Make sure every single child who should go to school is also attending school (police !!) and start programs to support those children who need it, academically wise or behavior wise. Start a special class for students who need that extra different approach.

And what about the parents ? Why is there no proper counseling to go when they need help ? Why are there no workshops for parents given by professionals on how to influence their children’s behavior? Why do they always gossip about other people’s troubles, instead of asking others to help them solve their own mess? Why do parents allow their children to go out without knowing where they are? Really : its easy to blame the government, because they are so far away. But also have a look at yourself: are you really being the model parent? A difficult question…because you can’t get closer than that.

And what about the community itself? Why is there no youth centre, no library ? No decent place to go fishing or swimming or to have fun. Why does the community label people who make mistakes or think/talk just a little bit different? Why gossip about everyone and everything ? Why not organize activities for young people and children on a regular (weekly) base. Why not do something about the problems, instead of talking about it. Of course by using your hands to build something, instead of break something (or someone) down.

It can be there if you really want it. If you really want to keep your island a safe place for your children to grow up in, it can be like that. But like tonight…you should do it together…well planned, systematic, well targeted and determine to achieve.

My father was in the navy. Tough people. And in 1970 something…. We also had this rising drug problem. In one of our cities, Rotterdam, the Central Station was the place where all the users gathered. So one night, my father and about one hundred colleagues went to that station. In five minutes the “wiped out” all the junkies…. And not by asking them politely…

Did it help ? Yes..for two weeks. Then they were back again. Did my father and his group again wiped out that station ? No, because it was a onetime thing. He and his mates understood that fighters will always lose at the end and talkers will always end up with at least hope.

But this is not Rotterdam. This is Kulhudhuffushi. So will this work here? I don’t think so. Beating up these guys will surely lead to repercussions. God knows what those will be. These dealers will only be doing their thing more secretly. In the dark alleys where no one will see them. With young boys on the lookout and to be used to sell their drugs They will make sure that they will never have drugs in their possession. In fact, they feel bad now, a little bit hurt, but the broken jaw and wounds will heal again. But for sure they will be even less concerned about other people: people who live next door, who work in the shop in their street, and people they know from when they were young and everything was ok. What happened tonight will make their heart more cold and their brain sneakier. Tonight a crowd taught 4 guys a lesson…. Unfortunately I think they will benefit from that lesson, instead of stopping their business.

So in fact what happened tonight was bad in two ways. In short terms this will lead to more tension in the island. People will accuse others more openly and will not care much about evidence. And they will damage others in the process. In long terms, drug abuse will increase because it will be done more invisible, more secretly. More little groups will be born, all will have sub leaders and the network will spread more and more. These networks will be more difficult to infiltrate and the police will have more trouble caching the bad guys red-handed. Violence will increase as bad guys will use force and blackmail others to achieve their goals.

It’s 05:08 and the Imam is calling. I wonder what today will bring us. I am no fighter. So for me there will always be hope. So allow me to hope that anarchy will stop and people start talking about solutions.