They brought knives to a pen fight - Who killed Yaamyn?

Maldives

Last time I wrote here was in January 2015 when we lost Ibthihal. Today, two years later, the case remains open. In August 2014, Rilwan was abducted and taken away. Today, over 1000 days later, we remain helpless. In October 2012, Dr. Afrashim was brutally murdered at the stairs of his home. Today, almost five years later, only but a scapegoat has been put on death row. 

Cover up or an inside job? Incompetence, ignorance or neglect? 

How long would hate mongers and murderers roam free in this county?

Will justice ever be served?

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Countless times he reported to the Police of death threats he received. Either they took it lightly or they deliberately ignored it. As I write this post authorities are yet to provide answers;

“What action was taken to prevent the murder of Yaamyn from taking place on 23^rd April 2017?”

“Who made those threats against Yaamyn?”

“If there was no proper investigation into the death threats, was this not but negligence?”

“Who killed Yaamyn?”

Yameen Rasheed (@yaamyn) - the disobedient writer was a friend, a blogger, an intellectual, a free thinker and a true humanitarian. Murdered at the entrance of his home in the wee hours of night, for the crime of practicing his right to freedom of expression. As @mjunayd puts it “They brought knives to a pen fight".

20 days since his murder, despite the many CCTV video surveillance available of the area, authorities have not been able to apprehend the perpetrators. Authorities failed him when he walked among us, will they continue to fail him after 35 stabs buried him 6 feet below us?

Never afraid to express or think, Yaamyn was someone who regularly spoke about the increasing radicalization in the country. His satirist writings mocked politicians. He was not afraid to write on topics that could easily make some people very “uncomfortable”. Yaamyn was a true advocate and a defender of human rights.

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My first interaction with the satirist writer Yaamyn was here on this blog in 2010, when I wrote about how ATMs ruined my day in Bangalore. Being someone who lived in Bangalore for some time, Yaamyn most certainly knew a lot more than I did about the public transport system in place, he explained the better options I had, which could have avoided all the fuss. 

I was a regular reader of his blog; Slicker Than Your Average. We were twitter friends or more appropriately "followers". I always admired him for his courage to speak up. Come to think of it, I don't remember reading a post he wrote that made me feel "uncomfortable". Which probably is one reason why some of us who kept track of his posts and tweets, felt the attack, as if it was directed towards all of us who believed in social justice and individual liberties. 

When Rilwan went missing, when his ‘friend’ Rilwan was “abducted”, he did not stay quiet. He kept on pursuing, he never stopped asking questions or seeking truth behind the disappearance of @Moyameehaa. Yaamyn was a known face at the #FindMoyameehaa events. He was at all of them, vocal and visible. A son to Rilwan’s mother and an advocate calling for justice, Yaamyn never backed out.

We came to know each other a bit better during Malé Water Crisis in December 2014 when Yaamyn showed up to volunteer with the Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC). We were trying to coordinate and manage the water distribution operation in Malé.

Volunteers were assigned different tasks, lead volunteer roles were taken up by MRC Emergency Response Team (ERT) members (who had prior experience or training), however, there was one exception; Yaamyn!

Though he had no previous ERT training or experience, he was tasked to lead the information management team, the team that handled media monitoring and analyse information, of course he loved it. Yaamyn was being "Yaamyn"; innovative and creative.

He put in place a system that was able to capture and analyse all information that was coming in, which then helped us coordinate better. Reports he compiled went straight to the National Taskforce set up by the government, little will they know about the volunteer who compiled information that was required to understand the situation. 

He spent over 10 days with us, leading the information management team and contributing to the overall operation. His inputs made us better, his enthusiasm motived many and he inspired many young volunteers. He was a humanitarian at heart and a committed ‘joyful’ volunteer. Undoubtedly a true team player, innovator and a leader. 

Over the years, we kept in touch, mostly on twitter of course. But when we do bump into each other he never fails to say "hi”. We would talk a bit about government’s plan to explore for oil or about Rasfannu. I remember him coming to one of our @sailevelchange sessions, where in a discussion he shared his thoughts on climate change and its implications on Maldives.

I remember having coffee with him, the one where he told me about how May Day arrest had affected his work at Dhiraagu. He told me he started at the Stock Exchange. Never pictured him working for the Stock Exchange, well he was not a stock broker, he was going to innovate the place, he made it sound so cool. 

Last time we had coffee was when me and @mjunayd asked him of a favour. To volunteer and help the Psycho-Social Support (PSS) Centre of MRC Malé Branch to set up their web page. He was up for it, ready to make it happen. 

Would have loved joining you at Shell Beans to work more on the web page, if only you were here.

Yaamyn’s work with friend @MohamedShuraih on the blood donation application attests the humanitarian in him. He will be missed by many and will be known for many things. His passion to write and his sarcasm. His compassionate personality. His energy and spirit.

But perhaps what most of us will miss most is his strength and courage and his willingness to continue the struggle for justice and rights in this country.

Maldives lost a true and genuine #DhivehiMeehaa.

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I am not interested in another Humam, another scapegoat. Justice will only be served when the true perpetrators are apprehended. When the true murderers of Dr. Afrashim is brought to justice. When we all know, what happened to Rilwan, when we all know who really killed Yaamyn! Until then "we" will continue to question! I join Yaamyn's family and his friends in calling for an independent international investigation into the brutal murder of Yaamyn; the blogger, innovator and human rights activist. 

#weareyaamyn