By Our Correspondent in Haa Dhaal Atoll

An angry mob forced Minister of Environment, Energy and Water Ahmed Abdulla out of Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll on Friday evening. Abdulla, who is also one of the two members representing Haa Dhaal Atoll in People’s Majlis (Parliament), was meeting with the youth of the island when frustrated islanders approached him about failure to keep promises of a sewerage system for the island.

The heated exchange turned into violence as the Minister was dragged out of the meeting with his chair, and angry people hurled sand into his face. The mob hit him on his back and marched him down the streets and on to the jetty where he was put into a speedboat and asked to leave the island.

As the Minister in charge of delivering sewerage services, and as MP for Haa Dhaal, Abdulla is said to have promised a sewerage system for the people of Kulhudhuffushi on several occasions; a promise that has not been fulfilled yet.

This is the first time a top ranking official of Gayoom regime has been forced out of an island in such a disgraceful manner. Abdulla was marched in traditional Maldivian style of Gan Hingun, in which a person is shamed and marched through an island by a mob.

Abdulla, who was the Maldivian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka for over a decade before he was given a minister’s portfolio, is very close to Gayoom. He had served Gayoom regime as Minister of Health and as Minister of Information. Abdulla is also used by Gayoom as a front man to operate Gayoom’s daily newspaper Miadhu.

The people of Kulhudhuffushi are known for their daring acts and rebellion. On 4 March 1943 the government in Male’ was shocked to see the harbour full of vessels from the northern atolls which stealthily arrived to protest against food shortages. Although the government was able to control the Northern Uprising and punish its leaders after an initial amnesty, the rebel leader Bodu Mohamed of Kulhudhuffushi is held in high esteem in the north.

During the early years of Gayoom’s rule, legends of witty acts of Kulhudhuffushi people were often narrated by people. In one instance, they were said to have decorated the island with British flag Union Jacks to welcome a government official. Their explanation for this peculiar thing was that since the government of Maldives was not offering them adequate services, they were hoping that a different government would cater to their needs.

However, in recent years, despite several burning issues in the island left unaddressed, the people of Kulhudhuffushi were seen by others as timid and resigned, if not obedient to the Gayoom regime. However, on Friday evening the islanders called for the resignation of President Gayoom along with the resignation of Ahmed Abdulla.

Today, as the Maldives is struggling with rising food prices, a Northern Uprising might once again be brewing, and Kulhudhuffushi is the most fertile ground to spark that. Gayoom’s ministers will think twice before they venture on campaign trips to islands where years of false promises have left islanders frustrated and angry.

Further Reading
http://www.kulhudhuffushi.com/newsindetail98.html
http://www.vaikaradhoolive.com/beta/index.php?news=655