A flag mounting and guarding ceremony has been held at the Victory Memorial in honor of the bravery and sacrifice of the heroes who protected the nation from an attempted coup on November 3, 1988.
The ceremony was headed by the Minister of Defence, Uza. Mariya Ahmed Didi along with senior officers of MNDF and Maldives Police Service.
The flag mounting was followed by a seven-gun salute and a moment of silence in remembrance of all those who lost their lives on the fateful day.
MNDF officers also renewed their oath, led by Vice Chief of Defense Force Brigadier-General Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef.
Prior to the ceremony, officers stationed in all parts of the country participated in the Fajr prayer held at their respective locations, followed by the recitation of a special prayer.
The traitors who staged the coup – Abdulla Luthfee and Sagar Ahmed Nasir hired armed mercenaries from the Tamil secessionist organization PLOTE were captured and convicted of their crimes. Nasir is now free after completing his sentence while Luthfee has recently been extradited back to the Maldives after being on the run for nearly a decade when he got granted a medical furlough.
The attempted coup to overthrow the then president’s administration is marked as one of the darkest days of the Maldivian history where 19 Maldivians lost their lives including civilians.
