Words by Jumana

After staying awake all night, the members of a boat bound for Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi (north) woke up groggy and before the hours of dawn. For no apparent reason, usual routines were broken  and everyone aboard quickly performed the Fajr prayers on the vessel itself and readied themselves to weigh anchor. The anchor needed to be brought to the vessel from another location. A young man of around 22 years of age was one of the people who went to retrieve the anchor his sister was working as a caretaker in Esjehige .

During the wait, an older gentleman abroad can be heard grumpily complaining about hygiene and indecent exposure – for there were some 10 men along the coastline of the capital city Male’ who were urinating into the harbor freely. His youngest daughter was studying in Egypt. After the anchor was brought aboard, the ship left as they witnessed guns being wielded.The National Security Service must be preparing some training exercises for November 11 celebrations”, they pondered. President Gayoom was after all going to take over office for his third consecutive term. Inklings that something may be wrong surfaced when they failed to receive a signal from the radio at 6 am – it had never failed to bring up the early morning broadcast before. The boat had merely made 28 kilometers away from Male’ Harbor near Kaafu Thulusdhoo when they received a radio message warning all nearby vessels to not approach the capital city. “Male’ is under attack”, is all the information they got.

Male’ port , 1988

It was in the early hours of that same cold November morning during school holidays when everyone in the suite of the girl’s hostel at Al-Azhar University in Egypt woke up to loud banging on the door. Their housemate from Sri lanka who religiously listened to early morning BBC news on the radio has just heard horrible news. “Wake up! Wake up! They’ve taken Maldives!”. Soon she had told her Maldivian roommates that BBC reported the death of at least 250 people after attacks by militant group, the “Tamil Tigers”. Then commenced the long wait without food or drink, worried about the lives of loved ones so far away, immovable except for instances where any news may be spared some 5000 Kilometers away from the isolated ‘Hidden Paradise’. One of the girls was unaware that her father and future husband had a near miss with the militants.

Interior of Al Azhar University- Egypt

A girl of 18 at Esjehi ge woke up to the sounds of fighting in the darker side of dawn. Her brother had just left Male’ on a boat to Thilamdhummathi Uthuruburi. While it was hard to see what was going on in the pitch black darkness, residents were aware that this was not ordinary. It was during this time, while just as this dark when a 20 year old soldier from Maldives bravely defended the National Security Service. Successfully killing the leader of the Tamil militants, Corporal Hussain Adam’s magazine still had 16 bullets left when he died, leaving a legacy that will be remembered for generations.

Those that died defending the country.

The gun used by Corporal Hussain Adam of Hd. Kulhudhuffushi showcased in 2016
Source: Avas

The girl at Esjehige described the quiet confusion of the day as broadcast channels were cut off. They had found the fallen body of a civilian who went to open Dhivehi Rajjeyge Adu radio building, surrounded by a pool of blood. It was then that Mohamed Ibrahim Didi jumped into the home with the keys to the vital weapons-hold inside NSS headquarters. The officer advised all residents of Esjehige to lay low on the floor to evade any rogue bullets. He soon went to the main gate of the home and with a “Bismillah! Allah Akbar!”, flung the keys across to the adjacent weapons-hold. Upon hearing a thud, the girl heard him say “Alhamdulillah!”. Around 11 am, the insurgents were attempting to break through defenses by smashing the NSS headquarters wall with a hammer – the remnants of which can still be seen today. She and a boy that accompanied her from Esjehige asked the insurgents, “What do you think you are doing?”, to which they got no response. At around 1 pm the entire area was covered in a bone-chilling announcement from the Masjid’s megaphone typically used for Azan by one of the Maldivian leads in the coup, Sagar Nasir.

A little ways to the South, hearing the announcement had only increased the fear felt by a family of four – who had just had a terrifying morning. Upon hearing what sounded like “two coconuts banging, but louder” in a distance, the residents of the household behind the Engine ge had peaked outside, only to be met with an attack with a massive piece of metal against their door. Scared, they barricaded themselves inside the house, begging the children to be quiet in the blanket of deafening silence. It is rarely this quiet, for the engine was always up and running, creating a deep rumble – until it was cut off that day.  A neighbor tearfully arrived at the household and told of his escape while being used by insurgents as a human shield, staring down the face of rifles.

For all of those in Male’, relief came at the expense of 19 innocent lives taken that day, when Operation Cactus from India made its way after parachute landing into Hulhule’ Island’s airport. They soon secured President Gayoom and rounded up any insurgents that hadn’t made their way onto Progress Light. Some of the Tamil Insurgents were also dragged out by the Indian Military while hiding inside kitchen chimneys.

Indian Troops were in the Maldives within hours of receiving the message from President Gayoom.(Photo Courtesy: Simply Decoded)

To this day, it is vital to remember that betrayal is always far worse and deadly, from within the nation. It was later, that one of the Maldivians who led the massacre, Abdullah Luthufi retorted to India Today, when asked if he thought such a mission would be successful with, “Why not? Anyone can be the President of such a country. If only luck had been with us. If only the Indian troops had not come for a few more hours…”

INS Godavari faced off against Progress Lite