Supporting the 20K campaign!

The brutal autocratic government of Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom was replaced by president Nasheed by the peoples' choice. During the campaign Nasheed promised cheaper and affordable food, housing and transport. However within two years after he was seated, prices went high, private land was ripped away from the owners and we are witnessing rising air transport costs. More than 30% of Maldivians are jobless because they have no opportunity. And surprisingly the government is repeatedly "urging" the jobless but talented youth to come forward and be helpful to themselves and the country! OK, we came forward to find a few opportunities for youths holding the ruling party's membership. And now what? Members of the parliament are getting extremely high wages and bonuses. Recently they passed a bill unanimously approving a 20k bonus. Some MP's later retrained from taking the bonus due to rising public riots and campaigns against the 20k bonus. The following video is a part of the 20k campaign. Watch now!

Dhivehi Websites - all that I found.

These are some of the websites I came across. All these websites are in thaana font. You are most welcome to suggest more dhivehi websites or blogs to add to the list.

Girl slavery in Maldives

I came to know about the issue of "Jariya" or slave girls, after Television Maldives announced it. But numerous times I have heard that a certain socially isolated group of people actually support the idea of slave girls. Reportedly the issue surfaced when a girl(under 18 years of age) consulted a doctor in IGM hospital in Male'. The doctor who consulted her reports that the girl was sexually abused and she is pregnant. The Doctor also reports that the women who accompanied the girl informed that the girl was a "Jariya". But why would she say that? Interestingly IGM hospital had no records of her.

An article covering the story on "Haveeru" website showed a women in black clothes, which made me wonder whether there is any connection between the issue and black clothes. To the best of my knowledge many Muslims around the world wear black clothes including Saudis and Iranians, but it is not known that slavery is practiced in either of these countries.

This case is under investigation by the Maldives Police and Human rights commission. So far Maldives police remained silent about the issue, but Human Rights Commission of Maldives confirmed that "Jariyas" or girl slavery exists in Maldives.

In Maldives, the valid minimum age for marriage is 18 years. However, once in a while, illegal marriages(officially) are carried out by separatist groups in the society. So it is also possible that illegal marriage could be mistaken as girl slavery.

Slavery lasted in USA for as long as 3 centuries. Children, Men and Women were brought from Africa and sold for money. Slavery was ended in US by the amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865. If you read history you probably know the unspeakable suffering of children,men and women from Africa who served the US and Europe as slaves. Every human being has full rights to live free, as any other human being. SAY NO TO SLAVERY.
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