Human Rights Activists

"Many industrialized countries claim their emissions are on a pathway compatible with 1.5 degrees, but the devil is in the details. , December 4, 2023"

"We will work within the legal ambit to ensure that the transition of power takes place through an election. I believe that the judges at the courts played an active role in the coup. I think [the judges] were under the assumption that our government was planning on dismissing all the judges and was working towards replacing them. In fact, some judges have even told me that they thought that this was our plan. The judges thought that we were trying to take over the judiciary."

"For us, climate change is real. We are already relocating people from 16 islands affected by rising seas to other areas of our country [Maldives]"

"In short, I believe the future is ours to shape. Our economies are booming. Our political influence is growing. And our ability has never been stronger. Our populations are youthful and energetic. Our thinkers, researchers and scientists are globally renowned. Our culture is internationally acclaimed. Our private sector companies are some of the world’s largest and most profitable. We can only achieve [these] goals, if we work together… because our success, is dependent on our neighbour's success; economic stagnation in one part of our region, dampens prosperity in another; instability in one member state, causes insecurity for us all."

"Do not consider either the security of your personal lives or the transitory happiness of your wives, husbands, children, parents and relatives; for the security of all of your children and their children is in jeopardy."

"If the UK is not in the European Union, there is no way we could speak to countries such as Estonia. As a former British colony, as a former British protectorate, as someone who can speak English, we would not be able to articulate [our positions] or have a conversation. Of course we can have a conversation with Estonia or any other European government but collective decision with the UK at the forefront helps us."

"India is a huge country but it always listens to us, the smaller countries... I trust democracy far more than any other form of governance."

"Even the figure of 40 is quite big for a country the size of the Maldives which has a population of just 3,50,000. Even one Maldivian becoming a terrorist and killing people is enough to shake our society."

"My message to you is continue the protests, continue despite the odds, and eventually, together, we will reach that crucial number, 350."

"One time they said it was terrorism, another time they said it was acting against the constitution, another time they said it was alcohol."

"Well, if I did cooperate with Waheed, this country will go down the drain immediately. The people of this country elected a leader, and that was me. I have been removed forcefully and they want me back. But, I’m saying “Okay, let’s have new elections and see who the people want again”. If I step aside, if I join the Rebel Government, the people of this country will lose faith."

"Sanctions imposed can easily be rolled back. But unless they are imposed, President (Abdullah) Yameen will have no incentive to take further action. It is only a question of time before the Maldives witnesses an incident comparable to the tragedy that occurred on the beaches of Tunisia last year. I will definitely go to the Maldives. But only the question is how and when."

"Mohamed Nasheed: No, I am not disappointed, because we take the long view. I feel that India will in time understand what is best for India, the Maldives and the Indian Ocean. At present I am not convinced that it has understood this. But to assume that appeasement towards dictators would help bring stability -- it’s a tested hypothesis [that it does not]. How far do you appease? What do you achieve out of that? We would expect all countries in the region to be decent and supportive of democratic processes, and India too. Irrespective of India’s policies, we would still argue for an India-first policy. This is not to do with India, it is to do with the Maldives, with us. I am under pressure from within my own party by those who tell me that we keep articulating the same thing, while President Yameen says he is going to be let off the hook by India and Pakistan. Our view is this – whatever India does, our views and principles are not based on our fortunes. We would want to have good relations with India and always argue for an India-first foreign policy."

"Interviewer: Do you think that India should have come out in support of the restoration of democracy in the Maldives in a much stronger way? Are you disappointed with India’s response?"

"In February, India and Pakistan agreed to restart peace talks on all issues. In May, Indian parliamentarians visited Islamabad to advance the cause of peace. In July, Foreign Minister Rabbani Khar visited New Delhi. A month later, MPs from both countries met in India to continue deliberations. In September, Pakistani and Indian railway officials met to help boost connectivity and trade," he said at the eight-member regional summit that opened here in Addu. And in the past few days, Pakistan improved trade links by deciding to grant India the status of Most Favoured Nation. Today, the Pakistani and Indian Prime Ministers met in the lovely setting of the Shangri La in the Maldives."

"We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood,the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work."

"While predicting the future is a rare gift, testifying for the truth is a duty for every woman and man of conscience. …A prophet, Romero added, is one who has an “undisturbed conscience.” This is an interesting statement. Only those who are firmly rooted in conscience as their moral compass may calmly tell the truth about injustice and corruption, no matter the risks. And risks there are since prophets easily make enemies."

"The real lesson of Romero is that there are no legitimate reasons to deny [civil or natural] rights. His government in his time believed that [civil] rights could be somewhat “suspended” to protect El Salvador from Communist influences coming from the Soviet Union via Cuba and Nicaragua. Romero was certainly not an admirer of the Soviet Union, but believed there should be other ways of protecting his country, not suspending [civil] rights. He taught us that those who advocate for [civil or natural] rights are “for” their countries, not “against” them. …Romero wrote that religious persecution happens because “truth is always persecuted,” and that God blesses those who protest and fight for freedom. But they should know they should suffer, because “pain is the money that buys freedom.” …Romero’s key teaching, that there is no reason good enough to justify the violation of [civil or natural] rights, is relevant for both religious liberty and the Tai Ji Men case. There are governments that claim that limiting religious liberty is necessary to protect social stability or the harmony of the country. Romero’s message is that this is not a valid justification. [Civil or natural] rights protection defines what a legitimate social stability is, rather than the other way around."

"For many years, repression, torture and murder were carried on in El Salvador by dictators installed and supported by our government... The story was virtually never covered. By the late 1970s, however, the US government began to be concerned about a couple of things... In El Salvador in the 1970s, there was a growth of what were called "popular organizations"-peasant associations, cooperatives, unions, Church-based Bible study groups that evolved into self-help groups, etc. That raised the threat of democracy. In February 1980, the Archbishop of EI Salvador, Oscar Romero, sent a letter to President Carter in which he begged him not to send military aid to the junta that ran the country. He said such aid would be used to "sharpen injustice and repression against the people’s organizations" which were struggling "for respect for their most basic human rights" (hardly news to Washington, needless to say). A few weeks later, Archbishop Romero was assassinated while saying a mass."

"You say that you are Christian. If you are really Christian, please stop sending military aid to the military here [El Salvador], because they use it only to kill my people."

"Jung believed there was a large pattern to life, that it wasn't just chaos. Our song Synchronicity II is about two parallel events that aren't connected logically or causally, but symbolically."

"Daddy grips the wheel and stares alone into the distance He knows that something somewhere has to break He sees the family home now, looming in his headlights The pain upstairs that makes his eyeballs ache Many miles away there's a shadow on the door Of a cottage on the shore Of a dark Scottish lake"

"Dissent is a legitimate and essential right in any democracy and modern politicians must accept this fact with tolerance. A sense of proportion — and a sense of humour — is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness."

"Mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration But we know all her suicides are fake Daddy only stares into the distance There's only so much more that he can take Many miles away something crawls from the slime At the bottom of a dark Scottish lake"

"A star fall, a phone call It joins all Synchronicity It's so deep, it's so wide You're inside Synchronicity Effect without a cause Sub-atomic laws, scientific pause Synchronicity...."

"If we share this nightmare Then we can dream Spiritus mundi If you act as you think The missing link Synchronicity"

"With one breath, with one flow You will know Synchronicity A sleep trance, a dream dance, A shared romance Synchronicity A connecting principle Linked to the invisible Almost imperceptible Something inexpressible"

"We must not lose this battle."

"The war in the Ukraine is an absurdity, based upon a lie. If we swallow that lie, the lie will eat us. The lie is terrified of the truth."

"Disagree with the tyrant and you risk imprisonment, torture and death. Yet that is what we must do, all of us. We must protect our right to speak the truth."

"The alternative to democracy is a nightmare, a prison, of the mind. That alternative is tyranny. All tyranny is based on a lie. The greater the tyranny, the bigger the lie."

"Democracy is under attack. It's under attack in every country in the world. It's in grave danger of being lost unless we defend it."

"I know a great deal about Indian music and I have tried to understand its intricacies. I am aware how complex ragas are and how specific the rhythm is. I will spend the rest of my life discovering this wonderful India. I’ve become addicted to it."

"I am the first male in the family not having had to shoot against another European"

"We are a parliamentary democracy; we don’t function by plebiscite. It’s dangerous. I don’t believe in referendums – Hitler and Mussolini organised referendums"

"A rising economic power that violates human rights is a threat to peace."

"[Marxism-Leninism is] a worn-out dress that should be thrown away."

"All of us have direct experience of the Supreme."

"If every one of those good words — liberty, equality, fraternity, democracy, human rights — has been called "bourgeois", what on earth does that leave for us?"

"The more we own the less we have."

"Ulcers, high blood pressure and heart attacks, insomnia and depression, all stem from trying to do more than we can in a situation that has lost its humanity."

"Anxiety is often related to having to perform and act an acceptable role in order to be admitted into relationships."

"All our emotional scars and mental stress come from the pain of being fully accepted and cherished in ourselves."

"The deepest and most enduring thirst common to us all is the desire for love and happiness. You and I spend a great part of our lives struggling towards self-fulfilment and joy, while at the same time we are very occupied in the daily responsibilities to our families, our work, the countless little things that absorb our time."

"“There is a dangerous deception within international organizations, called Participation of local communities. This is essentially based on a lie. Communities are invited to participate on the terms of the donor who has the money. Unless all the choices and decisions are owned and made by the communities, there can be no authentic lasting development.”"

"“The ICROSS philosophy has always been that change occurs by empowering women. You can only empower women by educating them. This was a part of our policy twenty years before it became development sector."

"If we are ready to tear down the walls that confine us, break the cage that imprisons us, we will discover what our wings are for."

"A loving person is one who is awakened and transformed into empathy."

"The most important language of personal joy is the often complex linguistics of silence"

"Remind yourself of your vision, keep your hopes close yo your heart, be passionate about them and always, always always be true to them"