The Island experience helped me reach the top

(Reports www.island.lk)
Various epithets have been used to describe the Maldives new president Mohamed Nasheed,but to those at The Island,who have known him since 1990,he is very much the restless journalist looking for the next big story.
Speaking exclusively to The Island on Sunday, in his 19 th floor Colombo Hilton suite,while his aides kept checking their watches and signaling that it was time to leave for the airport,President Nasheed did not forget his former bosses and colleagues and humbly recalled that we were "kind enough to accommodate him."
Nasheed,has come a long way since his days at The Island,but remains the down to earth person he was and humble to the core.On more than one occasion,he apologized for not being able to allocate more time for the interview, amidst his busy and tight schedule.

Educated in the Maldives and United Kingdom,Nasheed at 41, is one of the youngest South Asian leaders.Amnesty International described him as prisoner of conscience in 1997 after being jailed and ill treated on several occasions for leading the revolt against former President Gayoom’s administration,which he described as a corrupt dictatorship. Nasheed, was one of the earliest and boldest dissidents in the Maldivian archipelago of 1192 islands.Prior to his stint at The Island, he established a reputation for his political commentaries in the Male based "Sangu" magazine, at a time when vocal criticism of the Gayoom regime was almost non existent. "Sangu" was subsequently banned.

Though short on experience in governance,Nasheed has shown signs of statesmanship and a case in point is his refusal to be revengeful and resisting pressure from certain quarters in the Maldives, to try Gayoom for alleged corruption,abuse of power and human rights violations. "My first mission",he says "was to oust a dictatorship.Now my task is to root out corruption and develop the country. I am focused on the future,where democracy will thrive and all Maldivians can enjoy the fruits of development."