Category: Society & Culture

PPM conditions development on by-election win

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has conditioned the development of five islands in the Meemu Atoll Dhiggaru constituency on a by-election win for the party on June 6.

Speaking at a rally on Tuesday night, PPM MP and parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan promised to include funds in the 2016 state budget for Dhiggaru constituency development if the PPM candidate Faris Maumoon is elected with more than 70 percent of the vote.

“God willing, if you elect Faris with over 70 percent of the votes we will include the extra money needed to develop projects of Dhihgaru constituency,” the Vilimalé MP said.

Faris is the son of PPM leader and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the nephew of president Abdulla Yameen.

The by-election was triggered by the jailing of former MP Ahmed Nazim, also a PPM member. He was convicted of defrauding the former atolls ministry and imprisoned for life.

The Dhiggaru constituency is a PPM stronghold.

Nihan said the people of Maduvvari, Dhiggaru, Muli, Veyvah and Raimandhoo are casting votes for their future development.

“On June 6 the people of Dhiggaru constituency is not deciding the future of PPM. They are not deciding to give a parliament seat to Faris. The people of Dhihgaru constituency are deciding the development of their constituency.

“I say to the grandmothers and grandfathers, our candidate Faris is the candidate number four. Probably it will be the last in the list. Tick the box only after careful consideration. Then, we will continue the development efforts of the constituency with Faris. PPM parliamentary group promises it.”

Some 2,555 people are eligible to vote in the by-election.

However, Nihan also said the government will not discriminate against constituencies which elected members of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

“We cannot discriminate against a certain group of people just because they have members of the MDP. The president wants development for all areas of Maldives without discrimination,” he said.

The PPM also announced MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla will gift air conditioning systems for the Dhiggaru mosques.

“Abduhraheem told me he had decided to gift eight air-condition system to the mosque by Ramadan. By coincidence this falls in to the period of Faris’s campaigning. But that’s totally different,” Nihan said.

Ruling coalition partner the Maldives Development Alliance has also decided to gift eight air conditioning systems to Madduvari Island, he announced.

“Isn’t this the joy of the vote?”

The by-election is expected to be hotly contested amid heightened political tension following the jailing of former president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim as well as the alleged unfair targeting of JP leader Gasim Ibrahim’s business interests.

The PPM has previously been accused of bribery over the delivery of an x-ray machine to Muli last week.

The government has also signed an agreement with state-owned Maldives Transport and Construction Company to build a harbour in Dhiggaru.

The ruling party was previously also accused of vote-buying after a high-profile handout of air-conditioners to a school in Raa Atoll Alifushi, shortly before an island council by-election.

The PPM and MDA hold a majority of the 85 member house with 48 MPs. The MDP now has 21 MPs and the opposition Jumhooree Party has 10 seats.

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Home ministry to bring out 100,000 students for parade

More than 100,000 students will take part in a parade in Malé and other islands on Saturday as part of Independence Day celebrations, the home ministry has said.

The ‘Independence 50 office’ under the home ministry revealed today that schools from all 20 atolls and the capital will join the parade to mark the golden jubilee of independence.

“We estimate than more than 100,000 students will participate in the parade. A total of 22 schools in Malé will join the parade,” state minister for home affairs Ahmed ‘Maaz’ Saleem said at a press conference this morning.

However, according to statistics from the education ministry, the number of students in government, community and private schools in the Maldives is 86,799.

The home ministry’s spokesperson Thazmeel Abdul Samad said the students will be dressed in colours of the national flag. In Malé, the parade will be held on the two largest streets – Majeedhee Magu and Ameenee Magu.

Students from the atolls will march in the biggest street of their island, he said.

The government has organised numerous events ahead of the upcoming 50th anniversary of independence on July 26.

Several events have taken place in recent weeks and the home ministry has said it will announce more events in the future.

The events include skydiving, swimming competitions, a sea sports festival, a world record attempt, parades, float parades, an international football tournament, a police football tournament, several music shows and the unveiling of new currency designs.

The government has also started decorating the streets of Malé with national flags and sacrificed 150 goats in a public ceremony in April.

The Independence Day celebrations have drawn criticism over the lack of transparency of expenses made out of the state budget.

However, Saleem said most of the work is done by volunteers.

“We organised the events in a way so that we can enlist volunteers in helping us. But we are handing out material costs and also wages for professional workers,” Saleem said.

Thazmeel also insisted that the expenses were legal and made in accordance with public finance regulations, but did not offer details.

The opposition has criticised the government for holding independence celebrations soon after jailing opposition leaders including ex-president Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism charges.

The opposition had held daily protests and two mass demonstrations on February 27 and May 1. Nearly 200 people were arrested from the May Day protest.

The opposition halted its weekly protest march on Saturday to make way for a float parade.

“How can they stop our protest for a float parade? That’s depriving us of our rights. Any way no one had bothered to come and look at some floats,” MP Rozaina Adam said at a Maldivian Democratic Party national council meeting yesterday.

This article previously stated the parade will take place on Thursday. This is incorrect. The parade is to take place on Saturday. 

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Topless women, dead octopus and body paint: an art exhibition sparks controversy

A video of an art exhibition on violence against women, which depicted scantily clothed women with body paint and some posing with a dead octopus, has sparked controversy.

The project was commissioned in March by the vice-president of the Maldivian National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) Ismail Asif as part of his fourth annual exhibition on women and children’s rights.

The first half of the video shows female models, who work for the Austrian company WB Productions, at the National Art Gallery with traditional Maldivian dress painted on to their bodies.

The second half shows some models posing with a dead octopus on the beach while others posed topless with body paint and coir rope.

Maldives Art Gallery & Experimental Bodypainting Trip

Projects in the field of bodypainting is what we do. About 2 months ago we were invited to fill the Maldivian National Art Gallery with painted bodies. ///////////////////////More about the exhibition: In the week from 7th of march 2015 "WB Production" is invited with a team to the Maldives to be part of the Installation Art Project by Ismail Asif in the Maldives National Art Gallery. It's his 4th annual exhibition about "Abuse of woman and children" in his country.It's also the first time he incorporated Bodypainting into his art. The design of the Bodypainting was taken from the Dhivehi Libaas, the traditional Maldivian dress, elaborately adorned with a gold and silver neckline called Kasabu Bovalhu.Every day protests out on the streets against the government were almost knocking the plan of an indeed nervous looking Mr. Asif off.The team of WB Production with Alex and Anna Barendregt, Aga Glińska, Anna Tuzańska and Vitaliya Abramova is very thankful to be part of this great experimental trip and very glad that the exhibition in the end did happen. WHAT A trip ;)www.wb-production.com

Posted by WB Production – event.lifestyle.media on Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The video was uploaded on May 20 on Facebook and has been viewed more than 53,000 times.

CEO of WB production Alex Barendregt said: “Our team was able to be part of a very intense art exhibition in the Maldivian art gallery. Why intense? Because for the first time we did incorporate body painting in a very strict conservative Muslim country.”

Many praised Asif for the controversial exhibition, but others said the video contained “pornographic material.” Some censured Asif for what they called double standards, claiming he had criticized former president Mohamed Nasheed’s government for allegedly secular policies.

Asif was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

“Great work. Nice to see the artist who was happily branding the jailed president Mohamed Nasheed’s government as un-Islamic taking the daring step to hold a body painting exhibition in Malé’s Art Gallery. Sadly even for watching this video us mere locals would be arrested and charged with having pornographic material,” Munshid Mohamed said on Facebook.

Nasheed is currently serving a 13-year jail term on terrorism charges. His trial was widely criticized for lack of due process and triggered daily anti-government protests for three months.

Another expressed concern over the national gallery allowing Asif to hold an exhibition that “pushed public norms of decency,” despite having rejected art work by Maldivian students depicting Nasheed as a hero for an exhibition on the country’s golden jubilee of independence.

Screen Shot 2015-05-23 at 5.16.32 PM

One asked: “What would have happened if this had happened during president Nasheed’s time?” Many of Nasheed’s supporters feel his opponents unfairly targeted them by branding them as un-Islamic.

Others expressed concern over artists using an octopus in the photos, to which WB productions replied: “Don’t worry, it was a dead octopus from the market, and later one of our friends took him home to cook as millions other people do.”

A supporter of the exhibition, Faiyal Ahmed said: “Nice stuff, if this is what locals are calling shooting a porn video I think we should educate them more.”

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Some Life brand bottled water unsafe for use, says MFDA

The Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has warned against drinking some Life brand bottled water following complaints over the presence of dust and odors.

“We have noticed undesirable smells and dust in some of the Life water bottles produced and sold in the Maldives,” the MFDA said in an alert yesterday.

The authority has warned against selling and consuming bottles labeled Batch 226. All of them are 1.5 liter bottles.

However Happy Market Pvt Ltd which produces Life says its water is safe for drinking. Life is one of the three locally produced brands of water.

A significant number of households in the Maldives now drink bottled water. Exact statistics are unavailable.

Neither MFDA nor Happy Market revealed details of how many bottles were produced under Batch 226.

The MFDA said it is “investigating the matter with further research and laboratory tests.”

Happy Market’s Ahmed Suad said the company has documents proving Life water is safe for use.

“All of our bottled water batches are approved by the authority [MFDA]. The statement is worded in such a way that it causes panic,” said Suad.

But MFDA’s Director General Shareefa Adam said the authority does not approve every single bottle of water.

“We do factory audits and give approvals to the factory. We also conduct random samplings. But we don’t test every single batch, it is not possible to do so,” she said.

The MFDA’s preliminary review noted odors in the bottles which means the water does not meet standards set by the World Health Organization, she added.

Meanwhile, one Twitter user who drinks Life water regularly says he has not had any reactions.

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Islamic ministry raises concern over religious divisions

Expressing concern over religious and social divisions in the Maldives, the Islamic ministry has warned the public against “words and actions that upset social and religious customs.”

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry stressed “age-old Maldivian unity” and said any act that may disrupt religious unity is an offense under the Religious Unity Act of 1994.

“The ministry has noted a spread in words and actions that create social and religious divisions and ideological differences. This has disrupted age-old social order and social customs. Such actions that are contrary to Maldivian customs and public interest facilitate divisions, quarrels and social unrest,” the statement read.

“We take this opportunity to remind and advice [the public] that any actions that undermine religious unity, sovereignty and independence of the Maldives is prohibited under Article 4 of the Religious Unity Act.”

The Islamic ministry’s media official, Ibrahim Abdulla Saeed, declined to reveal details of actions or words that have caused concern.

“This is just a reminder,” he said.

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party, which was controlled the Islamic affairs portfolio in successive governments, split from the ruling coalition in March and launched an antigovernment campaign over the imprisonment of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim.

Several scholars have since condemned what they call President Abdulla Yameen’s growing authoritarianism and warned of Allah’s wrath over “injustice and brutality.”

Islamic minister Dr Shaheem Ali Saeed resigned in early May shortly after Adhaalath president Sheikh Imran Abdulla’s arrest hours after he led a historic antigovernment protest on May 1.

Imran remains in police custody.

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Vice president defends Islam textbooks

Criticism of Islam textbooks from a Western perspective is “inappropriate for the education system of a 100 percent Muslim nation,” Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed said yesterday.

Jameel declared that Islamic sharia and history will be taught in Maldivian schools.

The vice president’s remarks comes after human rights NGO Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) published a report saying textbooks used to teach Islam promote anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and glorify jihad or war.

The report said only the textbooks made for grade one, two and three, introduced this year, are free from xenophobic narratives.

Criticism of the Islam subject cannot be accepted as “sincere,” Jameel said.

The new school curriculum was formulated to ensure that the Maldives remains an Islamic country, he said, and special focus was given to the Islam subject.

The new Islam syllabus and textbooks will help overcome “challenges” posed by changes the Maldivian society is experiencing, he said.

Punishments prescribed in the Quran must be taught in an Islamic country, Jameel continued, and all Muslims must take pride in Islamic history.

Muslims were the “main architects” of civilisation since the time of Caliph Umar, he said.

Jameel said it is obligatory upon a Muslim people to teach children about the successes of the Islamic civilisation, the challenges it overcame, and wars waged by Muslims in self-defence.

Human rights, freedom of expression, and other fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution must be exercised within boundaries set by Islam.

The constitution states that Sunni Islam is the state religion and that no law contrary to Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.

The vice president made the remarks in a meeting with heads of private colleges in the Maldives.

He urged the educators to “work together to maintain the Maldives’ Islamic identity.”

The MDN had said that from fourth grade onwards, “the xenophobic material gradually increases to the point where the radical outweighs the moderate.”

Two whole pages of the eleventh grade textbook were dedicated to “fruits” of jihad, claiming that the ultimate fruit of jihad is martyrdom, for which the reward in Islam is an eternity in heaven, the report read.

The textbooks describe the Ahmadiyya sect as a “plot by the British to destroy Islamic unity,” and says Muslims educated in the West, or Muslims who speak for secularism are considered co-conspirators with the West to undermine Islam.

“Due to the prevalence of these radical ideas, the text books fail to primarily instil a positive interpretation of Islam that is manifested in the [2008] Maldivian Constitution,” the report concluded.

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Islam text books in Maldives breed hatred and fundamentalism, says NGO

Maldivian school text books, sermons and other published materials on Islam breed hatred and Islamic fundamentalism, says rights NGO, Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN).

The report, which is the first of its kind, analyzed text books used in Maldives for primary and secondary education in order to identify the prevalence of radical narratives in the mainstream academic discourse.

The report noted that the school text books cultivate anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and glorify Jihad or war against those who allegedly “obstruct” Islam.

All Maldivian students are required to take Islam as one of the four compulsory subjects, alongside Dhivehi, English and Mathematics from first grade through twelfth grade.

Islamic studies text books are prepared by specialists at the ministry of education and approved by the ministry of Islamic affairs.

The government is struggling to prevent an outflow of Maldivians seeking to join the civil wars in the Middle-East. The police in January said over 50 individuals have left the country, while the opposition puts the number at 200.

In addition to analyzing text books, the human rights NGO held public forums in several islands to ascertain whether the public view human rights and Islam to be compatible, and conducted interviews with Islamic ministry officials and heads of schools.

Glorifying jihad

In the eleventh grade Islamic studies text book, jihad is defined as “to endeavor greatly,” or “to bravely confront enemies,” and the definition is supported with verses from the Qur’an and prophetic verses or Hadith that stress the importance of a ‘Holy War.’

MDN noted that two whole pages of the book were dedicated to “fruits” of Jihad, claiming that the ultimate fruit of Jihad is martyrdom, for which the reward in Islam is an eternity in heaven.

The text book claims that Muslims who hesitate to perform this “obligatory religious duty have produced bitter results in the past and it will continue to do so if left undone.”

“These discussions fuel hatred an depict the religion as one that is set on building hegemony,” read the MDN report.

An autobiography of a Maldivian man, who was killed while waging Jihad at Syria posted by Bilad-al-Sham media group, claimed that many students studying at the main secondary school, Center of Higher Secondary Education, had chosen to engage in Jihad.

“Though it has a secular curriculum, so far from that very school has come out many shining stars in the path of Jihad and students whose hears filled with the love of Islam. Allah Akbar!” read the biography of Abu Dujanah, who reportedly died in battle in Syria in September 2014.

Us vs. Them

MDN noted that Islamic textbooks for grade one, two and three contain material instilling love for Islam and rarely incites hatred through xenophobic narratives.

“However, from grade four onwards the xenophobic material gradually increases to the point where the radical outweighs the moderate,” the report read.

In the grade five textbook, Jews are described as “devious people” who “do not hold any value to their promises”, leading to stereotyping and has made anti-Semitism the norm in the Maldives.

The text books also incite hate against pagan religions and other Abrahamic religions, and depicts all Islamic Sects expect the Sunni sect as “heresies.”

“For Instance, the grade nine text books dictates a lesson on “deceivers” or “liars” from the Muslim world or Ummah,” read the report.

The books describe the Ahmadiyya sect as a “plot by the British to destroy Islamic Unity,” and says Muslims educated in the West, or Muslims who speak for secularism are considered co-conspirators with the West to undermine Islam.

“Due to the prevalence of these radical ideas, the text books fail to primarily instill a positive interpretation of Islam that is manifested in the [2008] Maldivian Constitution,” concluded the report.

Meanwhile, the ninth grade text book appears to dismiss women’s rights and feminism as part of a ‘western agenda.”

The tenth grade textbook says “slaves must work tirelessly to fulfill their masters needs,” and the eleventh grade textbook outlines discriminatory penalties under Islamic penal provisions for victims of a crime if they are a slave or a non-believer.

“Such discriminatory and racialist attitudes in relation to religion should not be endorsed by educational literature in the modern world where slavery has been abolished,” the report read.

MDN recommends the removal of “discriminatory content” from school books in order to create tolerance and good will to all members of the globalized world.

The assessment was conducted with the assistance of Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives from December 2014 to March 2015.

 

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President sets terms for negotiations, rules out ex-president’s release

President Adbulla Yameen has set terms and representatives for talks with the opposition amidst growing domestic and international calls for dialogue.

Two teams of seven ministers will hold separate discussions with the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), and with the Jumhooree Party and the religious conservative Adhaalath Party.

President Yameen’s proposed agenda focuses on three aspects; political reconciliation, strengthening the judiciary and legal system and political party participation in economic and social development.

President’s office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali, however, ruled out negotiations over the imprisonment of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim, insisting the president has no role in the pair’s release.

“The President’s Office has sent letters to the Maldivian Democratic Party, Adhaalath Party and Jumhoory Party today. In the letters, the government has officially requested for discussions,” he said.

“The discussions will proceed within legal limits. The problem before was the president does not have the legal means to meet the demands of the opposition,” Muaz said, referring to president Yameen’s earlier comments ruling out any dialogue with the opposition over jailed opposition leaders.

“Now, the president’s interest is to protect the country and its people. The president will consider the interest of the whole nation rather than that of individuals,” Muaz said.

The terms set by the president are:

  • Seek solutions within the perimeters of the Maldivian legal system to ‎resolve existing political tensions and differences of opinion towards ‎establishing political reconciliation, and to explore avenues to strengthen ‎national solidarity; ‎
  • Determine measures needed to further improve the constitutional, ‎legislative and judicial models within the country, for the purpose of ‎strengthening the Maldivian democratic system based on our own past ‎experiences and international best practices;‎
  • Encourage the cooperation of all political actors within the country ‎towards the nation building process, and in securing the social and economic ‎development of all Maldivian citizens

The opposition on Thursday welcomed President Yameen’s call for talks, but had separately demanded the release of leaders who were detained from the mass antigovernment rally on May 1.

MDP’s chairperson Ali Waheed and Adhaalath president Sheikh Imran Abdulla were remanded for an additional seven days and 10 days, respectively, by the criminal court yesterday.

JP deputy leader Ameen Ibrahim was released last week when the high court overturned the criminal court’s 15-day remand.

The government has proposed home minister Umar Naseer, fisheries finister Mohamed Shainee and minister of the president’s office Abdulla Ameen to hold talks with the MDP.

A team of four state officials including tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb, minister of the president’s office Mohamed “Mundhu” Hussain Shareef, housing minister Mohamed Muiz and environment minister Thorig Ibrahim will participate in the talks with the JP and the Adhaalath Party.

The Adhaalath Party had previously stated they will not sit down with the tourism minister, who Imran has accused of corruption and illicit connections with criminal gangs.

But Muaz said no party has officially set any conditions for talks with the government yet.

Of the 193 people who were arrested from the May Day protest, only a few remain in police custody.

The prosecutor general Muhthaz Mushin yesterday said only 30 will be charged for now, and that a committee is reviewing charges against 98 protesters who are “first time offenders.”

The charges range from disobedience to order, obstructing police duty and assaulting police officers, and carry a penalty of MVR3000 or a six-month jail term.

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Public outrage after two children suffer burns in fireworks display

Two children and an adult suffered burns during a government organized fireworks display at the Raalhugandu area in Malé last night, sparking public outrage.

Local media reported that a father, his child and another child were burned from falling gunpowder. The father and child were treated at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, while the other child was taken to the Senahiya military hospital for treatment.

Pictures of the burn victims circulated on social media last night, showing that all three of the injured suffered burns on the hands.

Only the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) is allowed to operate fireworks in the country, with all profit from the fireworks going to the military welfare company the Sifainge Corporative (SifCo).

Speaking to Minivan News , MNDF spokesperson Major Adnan Ahmed said the military operates fireworks with stringent safety precautions, and is investigating the incident from last night.

“We cordon off the area during fireworks. Spectators are only allowed to stay at 300 feet distance from the fireworks operating area,” said Adnan.

Adnan said the three who were injured last night were standing outside of the cordoned area when they got burned, but refused to comment further on the incident. Meanwhile, minister of defence Moosa Ali Jaleel expressed his condolences to the victims in a tweet last night.

However, several social media users have slammed the government over the mishap, with one questioning as to why the government was holding children’s day fireworks six days after the actual date.

Fireworks displays have become commonplace in the Maldives during the past year, with the government and ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) using such displays to celebrate “victories.”

Most recently, the PPM used fireworks on May 2 to celebrate the government’s “victory” over the May Day protesters the previous day.

Nearly 200 individuals were arrested at a mass anti-government rally on May 1, including opposition Maldivian Democratic Party chairperson Ali waheed, Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla and Jumhooree Party deputy leader Ameen Ibrahim.

The government also used a fireworks display to celebrate President Abdulla Yameen delivering his presidential address at the parliament, amidst protests from opposition MPs over the arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Nasheed has since been sentenced for 13 years of imprisonment over terrorism chargers for the military detention of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed in 2012.

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