Collective accountability

How exactly does SAARC help the common people of all of the countries of the region? It does not ensure that these countries have standards with regard to education, nutrition, health care or even democratic freedoms. As a Maldivian, these issues are of utmost importance to me. For the past four years, the Maldives has been going through a major political and social transformation, with many opposition activists having been jailed and tortured for protesting against the autocratic regime of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Where was SAARC then? No one used the platform to speak out against this dictator who has ruled for decades with an iron fist, all the while talking democracy but showing few signs of allowing political reform. Far from acting as conscience keepers and supporting democratic initiatives in the neighbourhood, SAARC countries, including neighbouring Sri Lanka, are still entertaining this president of 30 years' standing. India must share the larger burden of responsibility for doing too little, as it is a perhaps the only power in the region that could have truly pressured the Gayoom regime.

In order for SAARC to be truly effective, it is imperative that it lay down certain democratic and human-rights standards, which every member must uphold. Without such an agenda, certain countries will inevitably be weaker or stronger than the others. As for daily life, the general Southasian public has not benefited much from the existence of SAARC. SAARC nationals visiting or working in other SAARC countries still have to go through massive amounts of red tape, restrictions and complicated visa procedures. Here in the Maldives, labourers from other SAARC countries have no rights, and receive little respect. Maldivian health services are far below those of Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, as are our education standards. In this day and age, we do not even have a university.

Moving away from politics and social welfare, the realms of art, culture and individuality in general all bear scrutiny. It is fair to say that the Bollywood-isation of the region has been catastrophic. How does the Maldives, a country of some 300,000 souls, compete with the second most-populated country in the world? It breaks my heart to say that the Maldives, unless there is a huge effort to reverse it, now stands to lose much of what is Maldivian. Our films and songs are now mere copies of Bollywood. Meanwhile, alongside this wave of uniformity in culture comes the other extreme: the borrowed interpretation of Islam. Wahhabism, imported from both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, poses a massive threat to our way of life and culture. Even our clothing and liberal practices are slowly being taken over by conservative forces from across the ocean.

SAARC desperately needs to be effective. It is through the understanding of unique cultures that a properly functioning education and knowledge production system can be nurtured. At the same time, the SAARC countries must shed their hands-off policies when it comes to gross human-rights violations in member countries, and demand absolute accountability and humanitarian standards. Only then can a vision of solidarity, along with respect for individual cultures, be realised.

~ Jennifer Latheef is an artist, film producer and human-rights activist based in Male.