Author: Minivan News

Groom arrested for being in possession of narcotics

A man who had travelled to Hoarafushi in Haa Alif atoll to get married was arrested during his visit to the atoll for being in possession of narcotics.

The man – who was under island arrest in Malé under the state’s drug rehabilitation program – had gone to the island with a special permit from court for the purposes of getting married.

Police revealed that the 27 year old man was arrested in a boat travellling from Hoarafushi to Nolhivaram in Haa Dhaal Atoll.

The man is currently in custody at the Kulhudhuffushi police station, with the island’s magistrate court having extended his detention by 15 days.

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Quilliam states female genital mutilation has “no Islamic sanction”

A press statement by the Quilliam Foundation has contested the comments made by Dr Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef that endorsed female genital mutilation (FGM), arguing that it has “no Islamic sanction.”

The statement – released on March 14 – asserted that FGM is symbolic of the “archaic forms of religious conservatism” that threatens to undermine “fundamental human rights.”

According to their website, Quilliam is “the world’s first counter-extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalised world.”

The statement comes after the Vice President of the Figh Academy, Dr Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef has endorsed female genital mutilation in response to a question posed by a reader on mvislamqa.com. Latheef argued that several credible hadiths from the Prophet Mohamed demonstrated female circumcision is obligatory in Islam, and stated that circumcision “applies to both men and women.”

Quilliam’s Senior Researcher in Islamic Studies, Dr Usama Hasan, said: “FGM has no Islamic sanction – there are just two traditions on the subject, both of which are strongly disputed, with many jurists throughout history discounting them as having nothing to do with the Prophet of Islam, but, like the blasphemy and apostasy laws of medieval Islam, FGM became a theoretical juristic position even though it was rarely practiced. Contemporary Muslim scholars are increasingly opposed to and dismissive of FGM”.

There have been recent uncorroborated reports of the rise of FGM in the Maldives, however, Minivan News has been unable to verify the extent to which the practise has grown in recent years.

Thilmeeza Hussain from the local NGO Voice of Women commented that they were “extremely concerned” by the comments made by Iyaz, but they did not have any data on the extent to which FGM is practised in the Maldives.

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Taxi driver arrested for sexual assault

A 56-year-old taxi driver was taken into police custody last night after allegedly attempting to sexually assault a 21-year-old female passenger.

According to police, the 21-year-old hailed the taxi near the Social Centre in Male’ around 7:30pm.

A family member of the victim told Sun Online that the same taxi driver had tried to molest the woman on Thursday.

“My sister said he was referring to himself as brother. Where can brother take you, he said, and he tried to touch her. She told him to immediately stop the car. That’s when my sister got out,” the family member was quoted as saying.

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Three Maldivians arrested in Malaysia

Three Maldivian have been arrested in Malaysia from the Future Music Festival Asia on Thursday (March 13), local media reports.

The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the three were arrested during the music show at Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

According to Malaysian daily The Star Online, 22 people in possession of illegal narcotics were arrested at the festival, including three foreigners and seven Malaysians.

Malaysian media reported that six people died of methamphetamine overdoses at the festival.

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Man injured in STO oil tanker fire dies

Local media has reported that the man injured in an STO oil tanker fire incident has died, after receiving treatment in an Indian hospital.

Adam Gasim, 61 of Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll is reported to have passed away on Friday (March 14).

Newspaper Sun Online quoted STO Managing Director Adam Azim as saying that the man was admitted to one of the best hospitals in India to treat his injuries, with the STO covering all the costs of his treatment.

Sun had reported that the fire incident occurred while Adam Gasim was welding on the deck of the oil tanker.

MD Azim was reported at the time of the accident as describing the incident as “not very dangerous”.

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MDP meeting hall set on fire in Haa Dhaal Kuribee

A youth meeting hall (jagaha) of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on the island of Kuribee in Haa Dhaalu atoll was set on fire in the early hours of Friday, local media reports.

Three motorbikes were also set ablaze around 3:30am in what is believed to have been a deliberate act of arson.

One of the motorbikes was reportedly damaged beyond repair while a sound system, two television sets, and two chairs inside the meeting hall were destroyed.

The case is currently under investigation by the police.

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Police searching for man who refuses to hand over 5 month old baby

Police have launched a search for a man accused of refusing to hand over his five month old baby to the mother.

Police stated that they are looking for the man after he failed to follow a court order on March 10 which asked him to hand over the child within a period of 24 hours.

In accordance with a Family Court order, the police are looking for Ahmed Sharuvan of age 32 years from Kanmatheege in Seenu Atoll Maradhoo.

Police have appealed to the public to report any information held about Sharuvan to the police at the earliest.

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In democracy, we must welcome people with varying ideologies: Gayoom

Former President and leader of ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has stated that a democracy is a system in which people are free to work with their personal political ideologies, and that in such a system people with varying ideas must be welcomed.

Speaking at a campaign event of PPM’s parliamentary candidate for Villin’gili constituency Saudh Hussain, Gayoom expressed concerns that residents of some islands harassed contestants campaigning for the party’s coalition.

“Since we are in a democracy, we must welcome people with different ideologies. We have to listen to what they have to say. It is a completely different matter whether you accept what they have to say or not,” Gayoom said.

Gayoom further said that it is very important to acquire a majority in the next parliament, stating that the reason for this is that the current government is led by the coalition.

He opined that failure to garner a majority would cause difficulties in fulfilling party manifesto.

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Gasim asserts importance of Majlis majority for the Maldives’ development

Jumhooree Party leader and resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim has stated that, in order to lift the Maldives out of its current situation and to ascertain it has a better future, President Abdulla Yameen needs to be given his five years of governance.

Speaking at a campaign event of the Progressive Coalition’s Villin’gili constituency candidate Saudh Hussain, Gasim said that everyone needed to cooperate to provide Yameen with a five year term to make right the current situation of the country.

Gasim added that this will be made possible by ensuring that there is a Progressive Coalition majority in the upcoming 18th parliament, adding that Maldives will find itself in severe hardship if the majority cannot be achieved.

Speaking of the past ten years, Gasim claimed that the development had failed to go according to plan.

“The first five years were spent in establishing democracy within political chaos. In other words, it was spent in the establishment of reasonable norms and democracy within a peaceful environment. However, not much thought was given to economical matters within these five years, and not much was achieved on that front,” Gasim stated.

“The last five years were spent to bring economical stability within democratic norms, but even that failed to go according to plan,” he continued.

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