Victory Day: One Sacrifice Dwarfed by Another

“And reckon not those who are killed in Allah’s way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord” (Al-Imran:169)

As we celebrate the birth of democracy, today is another day which deserves commemoration. It has been twenty years since a number of Maldivians shed their blood for the independence which we rejoice today.

In the dawn of November 3, 1988, funded by a few power hungry Maldivians, Sri Lankan mercenaries belonging to the ‘PLOTE’ attacked the capital Male’. The chaotic images of the day are still visible to me. The thunder of gun-fire that woke me up is still ringing my ears. Living under-attack is not a pleasant feeling.

The mounted offensive by the NSS forces inside the headquarters repelled the ‘PLOTE’ attacks. The RPG blown wall of the battered NSS-HQ is a reminder of the strength in which the enemy attacked. We have to remember the courage of eleven soldiers lead by Capt. Moosa Ali Jaleel (now Brigadier) who went out on a recon mission outside the side gates while still under fire. The section lost four of their colleagues to enemy fire. These soldiers managed to complete their mission and re-enter the HQ still under fire.

Today we honor Cpl. Hussain Adam for the brave return of fire, which gave the HQ personnel time to get over the surprise attack of the enemy. Instead of hiding inside the guard-post, he opened fire at the enemy, pushing back their advance and giving our forces time to plan and retaliate. Cpl. Hussain Adam did save our independence on the day by giving away the advantage of surprise the enemy had.

We should not forget the courageous civilians who lost their lives in the line of fire during the attack and the hostage crisis which followed. They are truly martyrs who gave their life for the benefit of others. It saddens me to hear stories which accommodate the cowardly acts of few soldiers when much can be said about the brave. Our forces actually fought and protected this nation. Even under the hail of bullets and explosives, the soldiers inside fought bravely; the NSS-HQ was never taken.

Let us not forget the soldiers of the 50^th Independent Para Regiment of the Indian Army under, Col. S.C. Joshi, who landed in the Maldives, knowing the threat. The Indian Naval vessels INS Godavari and INS Tir did a commendable work in capturing the mercenaries and securing most of the hostages. On a military training to the US in 2000, I met a Malaysian Naval commander, who told me the story of how his ship was diverted to assist the Maldives in the wake of the attack. After the intervention by the Indian forces, the ship was told to abort the mission. Sri Lankan STF commandos and the Diego Garcia based US Marines were also on stand-by to assist the Maldives.

The day, 20 years ago told us a lot. It is us who writes history and remembers the courage of the brave men and women (military or civilian) who sacrificed for our prosperity and independence. Just as we remember the sacrifice some of us made to re-install democracy in the country five days ago, we should not forget that some of us did sacrifice a lot 20 years ago.

As the Victory Day is dwarfed by our celebration for a new era of democracy, we should take a moment to thank those who saved, protected and assisted us on 3^rd November 1988. As we pay tribute to the eight soldiers and eleven civilians who fell for us twenty years ago, we should not forget the fact that heroes of that day still live among us.