The vast majority of Maldivians jihadists fighting in Syria are former officers of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), former President Mohamed Nasheed has claimed, warning of the rise of Islamic extremism in the Maldives.
In an interview with the Independent newspaper in the UK during a visit to London, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) president claimed that up to 200 Maldivians were presently fighting in Syria and Iraq.
“Radical Islam is getting very, very strong in the Maldives. Their strength in the military and in the police is very significant,” the opposition leader was quoted as saying in a story that appeared online today.
“They have people in strategic positions within both. Of the 200 people who have gone to jihad, the vast majority are ex-military. What’s happening is they are taking people in for training and they will go away [to fight abroad]. They are using the Maldives military to train their people.”
In May, the MDP claimed that extremist ideologies were prevalent in the security services and that most militants traveling abroad were ex-police and military officers.
The Ministry of Defence and National Security dismissed the allegations at the time as both “baseless and untrue” and intended to “discredit and disparage” the military.
Condemning the MDP’s statement, the defence ministry called upon the opposition party to “stop spreading misinformation in ways that could confuse the public”.
At least four Maldivians have reportedly been killed in the Syrian civil war.
Growing radicalism
Nasheed meanwhile blamed an influx of Saudi Arabian funds for the conservative turn of Maldivian society in recent years and suggested that President Abdulla Yameen might tacitly encourage radicalism.
“President Yameen feels he can deal with the Islamist threat later but first he wants to consolidate power,” Nasheed explained.
“He has the Islamists with him and he can’t do away with them. He would deny that but I don’t see the government taking any measures against the Isis flag being displayed on the street and all the indoctrination going on. They have allowed the military to grow beards.”
“They are very short-sighted. Their thinking is that Islam has a lot of support and you can whip up more [political] support with religion.”
Nasheed warned that the government’s position was untenable.
“If you look at how at how Mosul fell – the top brass ran away because Isis had already infiltrated the rank and file,” Nasheed said.
“I have a feeling that our police and military are already taken. Eventually the Islamists will create havoc in the Maldives. I have no doubt about it.”
However, there was no direct threat to tourists who visit the Maldives, Nasheed said, as the extremists did not want to draw attention to a fertile recruiting ground.
“The government wants the money out of tourism. Everybody wants the money out of that. How the tourists behave on their uninhabited islands is nothing to do with us apparently,” he said.
“They are not worried about the hypocrisy of it. Not all worried – they think it’s very clever, and it is. They have two tracks going. You have your money on one track and then you have religion on another track. They think they have found an excellent model.”
Nasheed also suggested that people were afraid to speak out due to death threats and intimidation.
“They are afraid to talk about it because the minute you mention Isis you get death threats,” he said.
IS
On September 5, a protest march took took place in Malé with participants bearing the Islamic State’s (IS) flag calling for the implementation of Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.
‘We want the laws of the Quran, not the green book [Maldivian constitution]’, ‘Islam will eradicate secularism’, ‘No democracy, we want just Islam’, and ‘Shariah will dominate the world’, read some of the placards carried by protesters.
In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon condemned “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”
Dunya’s remarks followed Islamic Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed’s declaration that the ISIS would not be allowed to operate in the Maldives.
“ISIS is an extremist group. No space will be given for their ideology and activities in the Maldives,” Shaheem tweeted on August 24.
The MDP, however, promptly put out a statement questioning Shaheem’s sincerity, suggesting that the words had not been backed up with concrete action by the government.
A Facebook page called Islamic State in Maldives promoting IS in the country was discovered last month, which shared photos of protests calling for a ban on Israeli tourists where protesters carried the IS flag.
A new site called Haqqu (truth) and Twitter account meanwhile sprang up recently featuring IS-related news as well as Dhivehi translations of a sermon by self-proclaimed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and other IS publications.
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Prez Nasheed.
You may be right. For argument sake, say you are, the question would then be, how in hell can we completely eradicate the extremists?
It takes a coalition to wipe them out. You know this too.
You need to be in the coalition.
Very Easy for Dunya and Shaheem to make statements to condemn ISIS. But do they have the integrity to admit that there is a similar threat in Maldives? Nope. PPM can't even acknowledge the problem.
PPM's stooge Hero will come here to enlighten us about Nasheed being a liar in 3....2....1.....
How on earth can can 'haqqu' mean 'truth' in Dhivehi?
Haqqu is an arabic word meaning rights.. it has no meaning that even close to the word 'truth'
How can people believe what you write if simple translation is wrong..
@haggu. Nasheed is lier and there is no question about it. We have seen Garudhiya and Rihaakuru pipes were being promised with dates when the idior was in power .
But the truth of the matter is that there are radical faction in Maldives and they got the power and become active when Nasheed was in power . Today what we were seen is the result of what Nasheed did during his power .
Now its not going to be easy task and will take a while to get this settled and Yameen will do it but not overnight.
But i don't believe that there are 200 people in syria and for sure out those 200 , ex-militray will be negligible. Go and check the background and then give the names to public and then you will see .
Nasheed is a traitor to this nation . If he knows where then training camp in Maldives and why then hell he can not tell to the news paper.
This is why I am telling he is a big lier and all he want at this time is media coverage since no one is bothered about him and people don't even talk about him.
he is a gone case and no body dares to look at him even if he walks on the road now.
He use this tactics , Islam and Extremism whenever he want to get attention from media. But the guy have no proof or evidence to prove or at least show where those camps are.
i urge international community to ask him to give the details of those camps in Maldives and then proper action can be taken by International community.
@ hero, hey! Are you the ppm stooge ? LOL, nice one "falhu!!
One more dimbulb named kashim and voila! defending the Islam begins!! 3,2,1..
The truth of the matter is; radical ideology amongst some believers does exist in this country irrespective of time it originated!
It was thought that President Nasheed was a liar! But the very person who call him a liar very obviously have proven otherwise! Let the part of when it originated rest!
"Now its not going to be easy task and will take a while to get this settled and Yameen will do it but not overnight."!
Could it have not been possible that President Nasheed who was not given the full term did not want to do it the way some rulers had chosen in the past; but to settle matters through dialog in more compromising fashion?
Grammar and Semantics in Medieval Arabic. Haqqu min rabbihim 'As for the believers, they know it is the truth from their Lord'
The only radical who, is president Nasheed, radical against Islam who attempts to make deals with Zionists. What more can we say to a president who invites Israel airlines here?
what else we can say when Nasheed ordered his foreign minister not to vote in favor of Palestine.
The radicalism is not an easy issue to get overcome easily, especially if media is too afraid to publish materials of anti religious fundamentalism. The Fundamentalists simply take literal meaning of religious books and they believe what contains in it, rain down from the heaven, dictated by some supreme being. Most of these people are very ignorant and simply they are so weak in cognition, it is extremely difficult for them to understand that all religious books are not that unique to be considered something that special to be so serious about it. The only way you can make them realize the ordinariness of such thing by simply making fun of it and write the absurdity and foolishness of such religious beliefs and materials. But most of the secular media like Minivan , for political correctness don’t want to do this, they simply don’t want hurt these fundamentalist’s feeling , but the question is are you hurting the feeling of some ordinary religious folks? Most of these Islamic fanatics are motivated by criminal nature of fundamental Islam, these people are in nature very disturbed people, In Islam the moderate Muslims are regarded as apostates and these moderate don’t get hurt from religious sentiments. It is these extremists who get mad and go nut and lose their sanity from cartoons and reality shows and films that depicts Islam from critical view point. They don’t get hurt in their heart, they go crazy and start killing people and you should not have sympathy for such criminals.
I think the word i'm looking for i Islamic devilism now every society has its good & evil.
@asstar. You seems to be part of Nasheed gang. Prove where those camps are and give the name list of those 200 people.
If you guys know , then why are you hiding it. Nasheed is a lier and he in on drugs all the times and he does not understand what he talks after few seconds.
The only group that has utilized the democratic process for the fullest, are these guys. I mean do we hear the voice of other factions on the street with popular marches.
My guess is there is a growing support base for these sort of ideologies.
@hero, I am not on either side. I am just an observer of the happening.
judging by your attitude, I suspect that you might be on the anti-nasheed side. you just accused nasheed is on drugs, can you prove that? and how?
Problem with you guys is, when you try to do something, you go for the extremes. you people are ignorant enough to knock up a door, even though it is open. you always choose the stupid side.
This is religion based politics and it is dirty. no need to make a fuss about it.
@Hero MNDF training camp is called Girifushi
Nadheed feels left out from the news.He needs some attention like he always wants. Sadly he abuses maldivians spreading these false claims. President Yameen has done so much in such short time it shows 3 years of Nasheed presidency was a huge loss for Maldives.
@Hero seems desperate to spin the story of the Palestinian vote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_194#UNESCO
Here's the truth - the Maldivian delegation never arrived in the voting time.
I'm sure Hero and his ilk knows why. 🙂
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/ga11317.doc.htm
And the second time around, they were able to provide support to Palestine - despite Hero and his ilk's (December 23 ithihaad) best efforts to prevent the delegation from attending.
Just how much are they paying you to spin these false stories, Hero? Can't you work honestly, like everyone else? Your illicit money earned by lying will not save you on Judgement Day.
But lets set that aside - we all know you don't really care for the Palestinian people; their suffering is nothing to you but a tool to use in earning more dirty money for yourself.
So, you're not a hero. You're a zero - both to all Maldivians, regardless of party ideology and the people of Palestine.
Mr.Nasheed you must be out of your bloody mind.Everytime you go to the west we hear these baseless stories.Get your bloody head examined before you return.
Hero we need more comments from you.Such vile hatred looks comical when oozed with such DHINGLISH.Hero you seriously need to enroll yourself in a basic grammer class before trying to belittle a man whom 50% of the population beleieve the oppsite of what you project about him.You really sound like Umaru manik of DhiFm plus
Ismail Hameed,baseless stories" moscowge Jalee.Thuraabee,jundhalee and other countless baabarians who blow themselves up to get a shortcut to heaven
Islam is going though a refinement process in this world, the evil elements of Islam be it isis or al quaida are getting bigger to be sedimented which will defenitly be seperated as they are a threat to humanity as a whole .... is beyond doubt the work of satan.... or else how can one kill some one for the faith others believe in