Day: September 15, 2012

Protests over anti-Islamic movie spread to the Maldives

Crowds of protesters gathered in front of the UN building on Friday, protesting against the movie “Innocence of Muslims”, perceived as offensive to the Prophet Mohamed.

Similar protests have erupted across the Arab world following the release of video offensive to Muslims on the the video-sharing website, YouTube. The UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that the video was promoted by radical Islamophobic Christians in the US and then broadcast in Egypt by Islamic activists.

Protests have occurred in Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Jerusalem and the West Bank, Kashmir, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Nigerian city of Jos. The most serious incident was in Libya, where demonstrators killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three embassy employees by firing a rocket-propelled grenade at their car. British and German embassies have also been attacked.

On Friday in Male’, a leaflet was distributed inviting persons to the protest at 4:00pm, titled “In Protection of Prophet Mohamed”. The leaflet did not specify who the organisers of the protest were.

Police had cordoned off the area ahead of the time, and protesters initially gathered opposite Billabong International School. Placards were mostly in English, and had a range of messages expressing their anger against the movie and the US in general.

Some of the placards in the front row read: “Behead those who insult our Prophet”, “Our prophet is dearest to us than our mother”, “May Allah curse America”, and “Maldives: Future graveyard of Americans and Jews”.

In less than an hour protesters broke through police barricades, shoving police away angrily and approached the UN headquarters. The few police officers present cleared the entrance of the building, but let protesters remain right in front of it.

Female protesters remained at the far end of the road, near the Billabong school.

A US flag was set on fire, with protesters surrounding it chanting “Allah Akbar”. A number of speeches were made, accompanied with chants. Some of the most repeated chants include asking President Waheed to return America’s US$20,000 contribution to restore the historical Buddhist artifacts in the museum, which were destroyed by a mob of vandals during February’s political turmoil. Some protesters stated loudly that if the idols were restored, they would promptly destroy them again.

At one point, protesters demanded the resignation of Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed.

A lecturer at the Maldives University, Sheikh Mohamed Thoyyib, was given protection by the police after his speech asking protesters to show patience and compassion like the Prophet enraged some of the people gathered there.

Young children accompanied some of the protesters, with some children and their parents holding toy guns in their hands.

The protest was adjourned in time for maghrib prayers, at around 6:30pm.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs released a statement on Thursday condemning the movie. It stated that the enemies of Islam had always used tools of the times to insult the Prophet, but that such efforts would not at all harm the character of the Prophet, as he was held in high regard all over the world. The statement called on people to show restraint and to offer prayers for the Prophet.

The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives also issued a press release today, stating that “Countless numbers of Muslims all around the world intensely revere the person of Mohamed, in fact they revere him more than their own lives, and therefore it is extremely offensive for them to defame Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).”

The Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs has meanwhile officially condemned the attacks on the US Embassy in Cairo and the US Consulate in Benghazi.

In a series of Tweets last night, the Maldives’ Islamic Adhaalath Party (AP) condemned the video, whilst urging Muslims not to resort to violence.

“AP strongly condemns the anti Islamic video ‘Innocence of Muslims’ which is highly provocative and highly insulting to Muslims,” said the party, before adding, “Islam forbids resorting to violence against innocents. We should not attack our foreign guests and/or foreign diplomatic offices.”

The protests come at the end of a week that has seen two visits from to the Maldives from both the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Michele J. Sison, and US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake.

Local media reported that threats were made against Sison during the protest.

There were also reports that the crowd had issued warnings against Commonwealth Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon who also visited the country this week to discuss the recently completed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) with leading politicians.

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MP Nasheed proposes bill criminalising sexual offenses

Independent Member of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has published on his personal blog a bill he submitted to parliament in June this year, proposing to criminalise sexual offences.

The bill defines actions to be taken against specific types of sexual offenses, including rape, spousal rape, prostitution, bestiality and incest.

Nasheed stated that he felt a bill like this is immensely important because of the serious nature of modern day sexual offenses. He states that the current legislative framework governing such offenses is too lenient, and that the proposed bill would provide a stronger penalisation structure.

Nasheed has said that he believes it is equally important to criminalise sexual offenses against adults, similar to the existing laws criminalising such acts against children.

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Children’s home volunteers raise funding fears ahead of Villingili site expansion

A children’s home on the island of Villingili, one of three institutions presently housing vulnerable children in the Maldives, is set to expand its operations to a second neighbouring building to provide separate accommodation for girls and boys.

However despite the proposed expansion, some volunteers at the shelter have raised concerns over the available finance for a service that houses, clothes and feeds almost 60 vulnerable children and babies who are without family to support them.

Speaking to Minivan News during a visit to the home, Mohamed Latheef, a volunteer who has been visiting and working with staff at Villinigili for the last nine months, said that while the government over the last few years had provided a budget to cover most operating expense, funds were being increasingly stretched by the rising cost of fuel and other basic essentials.

The children’s home, one of three properties assigned by authorities to shelter adolescents, is currently funded and operated through the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights. Authorities added that the home is also supported with donations from a number of private groups and charities in the country.

According to staff working at the home, 56 children are currently kept at the site on Villingili. Of these children, 25 are aged between 10 months to six years of age, while another 25 are aged up to 12.

Latheef claimed that although the annual state financing was vital in covering fuel charges along with the site’s water and electricity bills, very little financing was left to improve amenities and services for the children.

Among several challenges faced at the home, some children who have learning difficulties such as dyslexia cannot be supported within the country’s the public school system, one member of staff employed full time at the shelter explained. This has required the need for specialist tuition to assist with the children’s learning at the home to help them catch up with pupils of their age.

Site expansion

According to Latheef, Vilingili’s MP had this year been able to secure a neighbouring building that could be used to house girls and boys once they reached a certain age. At present, boys and girls living at the shelter are kept in dormitories on separate floors.

“The local MP here has been able to secure the building next door. The boys and girls will still able to play and see each other, but when they reach a certain age it can be quite difficult to keep them under one roof,” said the volunteer. “The building is all ready to go and can start this year, however, right now there are not enough teachers and staff to assist in running [the second building].”

With limited funds available to operate the home, Latheef told Minivan News that while the government was already providing a large part of the funds to run the shelter, most of this funding was paid immediately back to state-run enterprises.

“Right now, staff are going to shops and having to pay GST on the goods being used for the children. This is understandable as shopkeepers may not know they work for the orphanage, but the electricity, water and public transport [to Male’] are all supplied by government companies,” he said. “Surely it is possible to produce passes for the staff and the 50 or so children we have here and assist with our utilities? They can give us that much.”

Latheef added that during the last year, the home had been getting assistance from local MPs and organisations.

He stressed that following concerns about a female drug rehabilitation clinic right next to the shelter, authorities had also helped to move the site.

“There was a recovery centre for female drug addicts right by us. The girls who were there, aged about 16 to 18 would be standing outside with cigarettes, sometimes just in their bras and underwear. The boys we have here would gather to watch at times,” he said, adding that requests were made to authorities such as the anti-drug abuse NGO Journey for assistance.

“The recovery centre has been moved now, we don’t know where it has gone.”

Latheef claimed that it remained difficult for staff at the centre to directly get assistance from senior politicians in the country – a constant feature under successive governments over the last few years.

“While it can be possible to speak to indivudal MPs here, we can’t go to the government directly and making appointments can be difficult,” he said.

Latheef added that difficulties in addressing problems faced at the home with senior government figures were exacerbated by what he claimed was a lack of standard inspections or visits from key officials.

When contacted today, the Gender Ministry said that the deputy director of the Children’s home was unavailable for comment at the time of press. However, the ministry added that the he would be arranging a date to meet with Minivan News in the next few weeks to discuss potential funding issues and challenges in housing the country’s vulnerable children.

Aside from the home on Villingili, two other children’s shelters are currently operated in the Maldives. These are the Education and Training Centre for Children (ETCC) on Maafushi and Feydhoo Finolhu’s Correctional Training Centre for Children.

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