15.1 S-O-S

Conga Nasr saw a flashing light of a bike rolling down the narrow path in the woods. It was Sardar Lahuth approaching with a police patrol.

Nasr yelled to his friends, “Oyi! They’re coming! Hide! Hide!” He grasped Sarah’s arm, “Get up! Get your clothes!”

Minors romping in the woods grabbed their partners and bedded deeper into the undergrowth.

Sardar Lahuth continued to blink his headlamp by switching it on and off to alert the youth out there of a police presence in the area. He continued to do it and the kids liked him very much.

Meanwhile, Officer Gold organised two boats with a team of guards and civilians to sneak into Addu under a British surveillance. Two boats with fifty men managed to cross the Equatorial Sea on sails and oars. A British reconnaissance plane spotted the boats and informed Addu Authorities in Hittadu.

Adaran sent a strong Diavola mob and seized the two doni. They battled with steel pipes and beaten the Haevola Force to smash their jaws. Five died. Fortunately, they did not carry guns. The men were placed in detention and fed one small piece of bread three times a day. They had to eat grass grown among the fronds on the floor.

This angered the central government in Malé. It was in August. Officer Gold arranged to construct a shelter to install a generator in Thinadu that Virgo would send. Afterwards, Officer Gold, Sardar Lahuth and many others returned to the capital, reducing the numbers of Haevola Force in Thinadu.

 

“Dhekunu Mala calling Malikurva!”

Operator Longbridge jumped to reach the radio to lower the volume.

“Who is calling?” asked the Senior Air Operations Control Officer who happened to be there.

“A bigaloo,” replied Longbridge.

“I hear you,” returned Sayye Saeed, “If three of you are present, we have the brass. Remember! There should be no mentioning of names.”

“Go on!” answered Habib, “Thirty-One, Thirty-Two and Thirty-Three are here.”

“Listen!” spoke a heavy voice, “This is for Thirty-One and Thirty-Two. You are issued with ‘Code SOS’. And your target is ‘Jack’. You have permission to use S-T-K if your lives are in danger. I repeat, you have orders to execute ‘SOS’. Target is ‘Jack’. Do at your own pace. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir.”

“Are you recording?” asked Sgt Ferner.

“No,” said Longbridge.

“Turn it on!”

“That is all for now,” Saeed concluded, “You heard him. Carry on at your own pace. I have to engage you on something else. I will tell you later.”

“Alright and out!” signed off Habib.

And there was silence. They were too late. “They stopped!” uttered Longbridge.

“That is not a bigaloo,” said Sgt Ferner, “That voice is very distinct. A voice with lot of weight. Boat crew usually shout on the radio. He was speaking in his normal voice. Do you understand what he said?”

“No sir, I heard ‘SOS’.”

“Distress signal?”

“No.”

“Next time, record it and bring to me. I want you to pass the frequency to the vessels and vehicles to find a position and location. I can’t engage an aircraft.”

“What did the Defence Minister say?” demanded Shakir, “What is all this about? An ‘SOS’!”

“Shakir!” spoke Habib, “You don’t want to know. I can’t put your life in jeopardy. You heard him issue an ‘SOS’ – Sultans of Swing. That’s all I can say and you stand witness.”

Shakir protested, “I can’t stand witness without knowing what it is!”

“It means, you pack a bag and be ready just in case we have to flee all of a sudden.”

“Are you serious! Even Adaran has not thought of sending us away! Deeni! Do you know what it means? What is an S-T-K?”

Mala patted on his shoulder, “Take it easy! That means Adaran will expel us pretty soon. We need to focus our minds on the next mission.”

“Walk streak in public!”

“Close,” uttered Mariam Mala.

“Saturday, if Deeni is free, we sail out and inspect the equipment like we did before,” Habib advised, “Make sure that you pack light. This is serious. I can tell you that order means revenge to what Adaran did to our men.”

“I see!” nodded Shakir.

 

Anger rose in the government and it turned out to be a problematic issue for the British to find a common ground. The Maldive Government made claims in heated arguments at the High Commission in Colombo that the British encouraged the establishment of a secessionist regime in the south of the archipelago despite an agreement not to interfere with internal politics, further more supporting the USIR by sending shiploads of foodstuff. Additionally, the central government claimed that RAF opened fire at the Haevola Force in Addu lagoon.

The United Kingdom denied all those allegations and returned with a strong response to say that they consistently adhered to the treaty and avoided intervention in internal politics and that they do not regard despatch of supplies to mitigate starvation as anything more than an act of humanity.

The United Kingdom stated that they learnt with regret of violent behaviour and incidents that occurred in the Suvadive Atoll resulting in serious loss of life during the operation carried out by armed men of the Maldive Government and inhabitants of the area. And stated that they would be most concerned if similar actions of bloodshed and violence in the neighbourhood of their installations at Addu Atoll were to take place. Any repetition of these events in Addu Atoll would endanger the Kingdom’s right of use of its installation besides threatening the safety of those engaged in completing the work in progress under the existing agreement.

The Agreement; as the Maldive Government now understood, was a fake. Every time Britain played the card, the Maldive Government demanded independence.

A battalion of the Cheshire Regiment based in Singapore was flown to Gan in the month of August. The government in Malé protested for it was done without notice that gave shelter even under 1953 Agreement to justify the landing of troops.

Keith West, the First Secretary of the British High Commission, in an argument said, “There is no obligation on the part of the UK to consult with the Maldive Government about day-to-day activities and the number of servicemen stationed at their places.” He went on to argue that Orchard’s visit to Gan in 1958 prompted this grim situation. “And Dirk Wyse Dwire was unfairly treated by womenfolk in a show of very poor and immodest behaviour.”

“We didn’t send the women,” Orchard released his voice standing in the hallway of the High Commission.

“No,” snapped West from behind his desk, “Cancer once said that he will not allow British to touch Maldivian women.”

“He is deceased.”

“He was lynched,” corrected West, “Go home! This has to stop! We do everything in accordance to everything written. Brits do it right. The problem is with you.”

“Women went there to clean him from sin because he was calling young men to his island,” he stepped away in a scurry.