President Abdulla Yameen has called on the public to become inspired by the courage displayed by the armed forces 29 years ago, and to be vary of continuing threats, both internal and external, to Maldives’ sovereignty.
President Yameen said in his victory day address that ‘even today we are continuously getting equally dangerous threats both internally and externally’ in reference to the events of November 3rd in 1988 where a group of Maldivians attempted to overthrow the then government with the aid of Sri Lanka’s Tamil mercenaries.
Yameen also went as far as to say that there ‘are traitors among us today’ and that the attack had only been thwarted because ‘the people dutifully complied with their leaders’. The leader then was President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had promptly enlisted the aid of the Indian military.
The Indian military began its ‘Operation Cactus’ on the night of the November 3rd, and launched an attack on the mercenaries forcing them to flee on a hijacked vessel – which was intercepted by Indian naval vessels that captured them.
President Yameen reiterated his unwillingness to ever be under the subjugation of a ‘foreign ruler’.
