When There’s No More Room in Dhoonidoo, the Parteys Will Roam the Maldives
Just like elsewhere in the world, when the rooster begins to crow at Dawn, the people of Maldives wakes up. By 6am the fishermen emerges in the side-walks of the narrow roads and streets of Male’ heading towards the market hotel for breakfast – by 6:45am the housewives prepare breakfast for their husbands and the children for school, by 7:00am the market traders open their shops. By 7:30am, the CCTV cameras positioned at the President’s Office, and other Government organizations are at work, especially with zooming and panning. These high definition color cameras focus office girls to resolve minute detail, or lock onto a single girl and follow her. Male’, the capital city becomes one wonderful, noisy, exciting place which affects all the senses.
By noon, the disillusioned and the rejected class of men and women wakes up, they are mainly known as parteys (a Maldivian jargon for drug abusers and addicts). Unlike the civilized society in the nation, these people consider one or two cans of Power Gold (energy drink) and a Marlboro cigarette instead of milk, bread, cornflakes and beaten egg for breakfast, and “Pucelle” Eau de Cologne for the parteys in Addu atoll and other outlying islands.
Drug abusers and addicts in Maldives express considerable offense when referred to as a partey by normal people, but not if they are called the same by other drug abusers and addicts. In this case, the term may be seen as a symbol of fraternity, and its use outside a defined social group an unwelcome cultural appropriation.
Partey: The Beginning
On May 18, 2004, the dead body of Mohamed Shiyam was discovered at Fariva Inn, a guest house in the Henveiru ward of Male’. A female friend of Mohamed Shiyam discovered his body in room number 501, at about 11.45pm. Shiyam was from Gaafu Dhaalu Gadhoo, and his address in Male’ was H. Faruma, however for almost a month he resided in Fariva Inn, a guest house in Henveiru
On May 19, 2004, the Police revealed that Shiyam had previous records of drug abuse and that several stolen goods were discovered in the room where Shiyam accommodated at Fariva Inn, and also that he was overdosed and had blood coming from his mouth when he was found.
The following day a number of people gathered at the cemetery for the burial of Mohamed Shiyam and most of them were watching the actions of other young drug addicts who were Shiyam’s friends with surprise and amusement. Many of the addicts posed with the dead Shiyam for photos, as a last remembrance of a life lived on the edge. They were grief-stricken. As the burial ceremony was over one of the young people even suggested taking away the body of Shiyam. “Why don’t we take Partey with us?” he asked. The police stood guard at the cemetery on the night of 19 May because Shiyam’s friends might raid the grave to take him away. After the funeral, the police stood in uniform watching as the group made their way out of the cemetery.
Many of Shiyam’s friends who were at his funeral thought he did not die of an overdose but was killed by a rival group. They said they had passed on the names of the suspects to the police. Their story may not be true as many of them were intoxicated and high even when they attended Shiyam’s funeral.
Where is the Government?
As the government fails to tackle the issue, many people are taking a hostile approach towards drug addicts. Drug abuse is also a major problem in some of the islands. Monitoring is not done efficiently in such islands, and there are several young girls and boys who are consuming drugs. Many addicts use the large empty land in Hulhumale’ as a safe haven. The newly settled families there are afraid of what they may have to face in the sparsely populated island.
A government that receives considerable income through import tax and tourism, among several other sources, fail to allocate funds to address a problem that is tearing the society apart. This is especially true, as the very same government can afford to spend millions for military, the defense budget and for the luxurious lifestyle of its rulers. Shiyam may be dead and buried but the social problems that led to his death at a young age are still very much alive and searching for other victims.
Social Response
People in Maldives crave for opportunities to beat a partey till his clothes are torn. Each and every time the people punch and kick him, they all assume striking a blow for divine justice. When parteys get caught for stealing among large crowds, he becomes the centre of attention. People passing by would stop to focus on what’s attracting the crowd, and then the amusement begins. People would rip the parteys clothes and photograph him naked on public roads. After the maximum is been done by the people to punish the thief, arrives justice, the policemen to investigate the crime.
On the other hand, many parents send their children who are drug addicts to foreign countries, mainly to avoid having them detained at Dhoonidhoo jail. Most common choice for such parents is Sri Lanka, the parteys would arrive with their parents and they would be with him or her until he or she gets enrolled at a college and obtains a one year visa. Once the parents leave, the partey would make his or her first move in making friends, three-wheel drivers, the most direct source to locate cocaine dealers. By the time the partey completes his or her first year in Sri Lanka, the most likely place to locate him or her is a Sri Lankan jail, for failing to renew the student visa. How can one attend the Department of Immigration and Emigration when he or she is most of the time intoxicated due to excessive use of narcotics?
9:41pm, October 22nd, 2006
