Comment: Maldives 1984
26 Feb 2012, 1:03 PM
Azra Naseem
Like Orwell’s 1984 society in which people ‘could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them,’ a large chunk of Maldivian society remains convinced that what happened on 7 February is nothing more than the replacement of one leader by another.
People are not wholly to blame for failing to recognise the ongoing authoritarian reversal for what it is. The new-old regime’s propaganda apparatus is a force to be reckoned with; at least in terms of audacity, if not professionalism.
It is clear, from the armed takeover of state broadcaster MNBC One by rogue police early on 7 February to the shutting down of stream.mv on Friday and the continuing efforts to revoke Raajje TV’s permission to broadcast nationwide, that using propaganda as a totalitarian state uses the bludgeon is a key strategy in the plans for regime change.
No facts, only interpretations
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