Category: Politics

Dear Editor,
For a moment, I thought they would do it right.
I watched as a “child abuse hotline” was opened to public use, and tie-wearing politicians made their little speeches on how we needed to “work together” to prevent it.
Then, this new “amendment” to the laws of Maldives comes to my attention.
Disgust does not even begin to describe my reaction to these new Mullah-pushed laws.
“A man who has married a child, and if the marriage is recognised by Islamic law, and after the marriage; the man who has has performed sexual acts with the ‘married’ girl will not be found guilty.”
I have nothing to say to people who would blithely stand by and watch this high treason unfold. This is a betrayal against every child of Maldives – no… the very racial bloodline of the Maldives. A mockery of these little “Child Abuse Prevention” events.
If “Islamic law” commands that we sacrifice our children to appease these filthy pedophiles; our Nation’s future mothers and fathers; then damn then to hell.
President Anni, show your vaunted ruthlessness and tear the parasitic leech of the so-called “clergy” off the Nation. No child deserves this state-sponsored child abuse. Crush the interloping Arab-wannabes, and consign them to what they deserve; a stay in a solitary confinement cell – so that they can experience the helplessness and despair they sow upon the citizens of Maldives.
Regards,
Anonymous

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The opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) filed a civil lawsuit against the finance ministry on Tuesday for failing to respond to a letter requesting information about expenditure.

The party are suing under articles 29 and 61(c) of the constitution, both of which relate to freedom of information except in circumstances where it is declared to be a state secret. 

“It’s the government responsibility. We are a party asking but even if it’s an individual, the government can’t ignore these things,” said DQP Secretary General Abdullah Ameen, adding the party was still awaiting the court’s acceptance notice.

In their letter sent in June, the party asked for information about official state trips abroad by senior officials of the finance ministry, including Finance Minister Ali Hashim and State Minister Ahmed Assad, up until 23 June.

The party questioned whether President Mohamed Nasheed had secured any of the US$359 million he said would be needed by the government in their first three months of power. 

Following his election, Nasheed said he would raise the funds within 20 days of coming to power, the party claimed. The DQP further requested a date by which the full amount would be obtained.
Elsewhere in their letter, the party asked the ministry for details of the employees of Gulhifalhu Industrial Zone, Gan Airports Company and Southern Utilities and their salaries as well as the value of the companies and copies of their regulations. 

Ameen said the DQP had sent letters to all government companies requesting information. “The government is trying to reduce the pay cut and all necessary expenses so before we criticise the government we have to know how much they are spending,” he said.

In August, the government introduced a raft of austerity measures to alleviate the budget deficit. These included a pay cut of up to 20 per cent for all civil servants, sparking controversy among opposition quarters. 
In their letter, the DQP also asked for a list of people who had been given cars by the government and details of their vehicles. 

Ameen said while some ministries had responded to the party’s requests for information, the finance ministry has been “reluctant”.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Assad said, “We will have to be answerable to the courts if the courts decide there’s a case to look into.”

President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair was unavailable for comment at the time of going to print.

In October, the DQP quit the coalition government and went into opposition, citing the government’s failure to bring about the change promised during last year’s presidential election as the reason.

“There hasn’t been any kind of negotiations or consultations or a policy of mutual advice since we joined the party,” said Dr Mohamed Jameel who was dismissed as minister for civil aviation and communication in May.

The DQP has had a rocky relationship with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party since the start of the government, culminating in the party leader Hassan Saeed’s departure from government on its hundredth day in power.

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Dear Editor,
I salute the UNICEF Representative Mansoor Ali for commenting about the reservations in the article 14 of the new child abuse law. This reservation is based solely on a corrupt interpretation of Islamic texts which, I believe, many of the fundamentalist ‘scholars’ (Adhaalath, Jamiyyatussalaf, Islamic Foundation etc) support. It is the same idea that Sheikh Abu Ameena Bilal Phillips expressed at “The Call” lectures; that a child who has reached puberty is ready to get married.
While I agree that children do not grow up all of the sudden on their 18th birthday, we should understand that laws cannot be made for individual cases, it would be general. Since we have made 18 years the age of consent, any form of sex between an adult and a minor (below 18) should be considered as sexual abuse. The special reservation is approval of child abuse, decriminalising a crime just because it is committed in the name of Islam. It is a shame to our nation and to all Muslims that disapprove of such evils.
I believe child marriage should be a more serious crime than child abuse outside of such a ‘marriage’, since the child will be under a lot of pressure as their community and parents support the abuse. The child may even have to give birth, do household work inappropriate for their age, or take care of a family at such young ages. They would be continuously abused by their ‘husbands’. The beliefs of most extremists give no excuse for women (or girls) to deny it when their husbands ‘need’ them. So the law should consider this to be continuous and systematic statutory rape of an innocent child!
I’m surprised to see that the concubine issue is so troubling to many people while child marriages in these extremist communities have been going on for a long time without anyone noticing it. Children as young as 13 have been given away in marriage to men as old as 50! But what sort of sentences do these people get? In one case it was just banishment under the ‘religious unity act’. The reason was that the extremists have produced all the documents proving the ‘marriage’ was carried out as Islamic Shariah requires (the child having reached puberty too). They just did it at home, with their gang members as hakim and witnesses instead of going to a court. So the Judges at court were obliged to consider this a valid marriage in accordance to Islamic Shariah. When he drafted the bill MP Mohamed Nasheed warned us about this issue, but I was hopeful that it would be solved by the time it become a law.
When Shariah overrides law, and this Shariah is the word of any bearded Sheikh; I don’t think this is a very democratic picture. We all need to uphold the law and respect it. But for this to happen, the laws should treat everyone equally, it should be clear and understood by all, it should not be too vague, it should not be overridden by anything (including the words of random Sheikhs). Since the constitution does not define ‘Islam’ or ‘Islamic’ Shariah, it is left for the gang of Mullahs who are in bed with the ruling government to define it as they wish.
Such unquestionable and absolute power held by one small group of people will never yield any good results. It is a door to corruption and absolutism. This is exactly why I support secularism, a state where religion cannot be used against people and for political gains. This is not the un-Islamic thing, but rather the only islamic thing to do. The Quran clearly forbids such worship of Sheikhs (9:31). it also tells that individuals are responsible for their OWN actions and that God gave us free will and intellect to test if we do the right thing. All the three estates of the state and the personal lives of individuals need not be policed by a bunch of Sheikhs who claims to be men of God. May Allah save us from his followers that have gone astray. Amen.
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor,
There are Jewish synagogues in Iraq and Iran, there are Christian churches in Egypt and Lebanon, there are Hindu temples in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
There are only two Muslim countries in the world that ban all synagogues, churches and temples – Saudi Arabia and Maldives. So the debate about banning non-Islamic places of worship is not about Islam against all the other religions, it’s about what sort of Islam we want in the Maldives.
Do we want the tolerant Islam practised in most Muslim countries or do we want the intolerant Wahhabi and Salafi Islam?
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor
It has been two months since Villa Foundation stopped paying stipends to their scholars in Malaysia, without proper notification.
When students place requests to Villa Foundation for stipends, they (Villa Foundation) replies that they are in a financial crisis and advise students to seek alternative means to meet expenses for undefined period.
The first indicator letter students received from Villa Chairman during the peak recession period in the first quarter of 2009 says that Villa Foundation will find ways of giving stipends to students who are in middle of their studies, even after selling his properties. The writer, feel that the time has come, to sell properties.
Villa Foundation has suspended stipends of their scholars silently, without officially making a public an announcement.
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor,
The bill on banning places of worship for other religions is totally pathetic. Do we need bills on all kinds of schizophrenia? This is like passing a bill that bans all places dark just because an MP is Achluophobic!
Since our Constitution is based on Islamic Sharia, no law can contradict Islamic Sharia. If these so-called God fearing and self-proclaimed people of knowledge prohibit something that is allowed in Islam, what do they stand for? Wouldn’t they become non-believers then for making Haram what is lawful in Islam?
Why are we so afraid to learn the facts and debate the pros and cons of issues rather than succumb into the coziness of the status quo?
Regards,
Haleem

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Dear Editor,
I can’t undstand why you give so much importance to Azima!
She is not an angel or saint. Nor is she a person capable of saying anything so great to be put in a newspaper headline.
Former is former! It would be very sensible to keep thoes stupid names out of your headlines!
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor,
I am appalled at the ease with which Muslims in the Maldives and all over the world take offence at the slightest indication that there is an opposing view expressively forbidden by Islam. Constitutional law dictates that all tenets of Islam should be observed strictly and nothing else can supersede this entrenchment. Unfortunately, we do not do that. We have adapted and inherited a watered-down version of Islam and rally in Islam’s names as hypocrites. Hypocrisy is the Maldivian National Identity.
I strongly appeal as a Muslim moderate to open up a dialogue and invite the public to educate and inform about the numerous cases of openly homosexual, atheistic or agnostic Maldivians, who by law are stateless. The purpose of this is not their persecution, but the need to create awareness among the public on how to use tolerant means to either get these segments of society to respect our constitution and the growing need to secure rights for minorities without necessarily secularising the Maldives.
As Maldivians, we have to acknowledge that there are Maldivians who are either apostates or non-practicing Muslims, for a milder word. We need to respect their rights. And they in turn need to respect the Islamic sentiments and sensitivities of the Maldivian People. Without it, we are doomed to anticipate religious conflict which will be perpetuated by extremists on either end of the table.
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor,
I find all this political rhetoric being promulgated about Islam extremely disturbing. In my view, Islam is about personal faith and spirituality, about individual closeness with Allah, about a way of life that is honest, decent, clean and tolerant. Whether it is the DRP or the MDP or the IDP or Adhaalath or whoever that uses Islam as a political tool, it is a gross insult to the beauty and sacred nature of religion. Even in the last presidential election entire campaigns were run on creating fear using the name Islam as a political tool – that people will lose their faith if a particular party comes in, etc etc. Islam forbids not just alcohol, but corruption, greed, opulence and dishonesty. Islam forbids sex outside of marriage and many other things that are harmful to individuals and society. Yet these are all things that are endemic in the Maldivian society. These are all traits that many of these politicians themselves seem to overtly display. My understanding of Islam is that it is only Allah who would know what is in our hearts, and what our intentions are – and yet many of these politicians run around claiming each other as infidels and non-Muslims, and harbingers of other religions or atheism and whatnot.
Having lived overseas, in multicultural societies, within multi-religious households, having attended ceremonies of various religions numerous times, having lived in environments where alcohol and other things were freely available, I personally believe that today I am more confident in my faith and my belief in Allah and the values of Islam. Many of my friends from outside Maldives are non-Muslim, yet none of them try to convert me or I them. Most of them, whether they practice any religion or not, live decent lives, earn an honest living, and are neither alcoholics nor sex maniacs nor axe murderers.
Many of today’s Maldivian politicians have themselves lived overseas, studied overseas in multi-religious societies, and just like me, I am sure would have friends from various ethnic and religious groups. So unless they believe themselves to have lost their faith as a result, I cannot understand how they can assume that their compatriots would lose their personal faith at the sight of a bottle of alcohol or a non-Muslim or a place of worship of another religion.
Having said that, I feel that over protection and over regulation in religion as in many other things has created a population in the Maldives that has lost the confidence to believe in themselves, or their direct access to Allah, that has lost their resilience and become dependent on others and external factors to meet many of their needs. This is the reason that people are so easily led, whether it be by politicians, religious extremists, gangsters or others. Politicians so often exploit this weakness in the name of religion, which to my mind cannot be anything but irreligious in itself.
I am not advocating for setting up churches or temples or kovils, I am not advocating for legalising alcohol; I am expressing my absolute disgust with the antics of politicians with double standards. My hope and prayer is that Allah will open the hearts and minds of my countrymen and women, strengthen our Iman, Ihsan and Islam, enable us to think for ourselves and not be exploited by those seeking to make sheep of us.
As Rabindranath Tagore so eloquently worded it:
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls
Where words come from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward into ever widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, let my country awake”
Regards,
Anonymous

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