Category: Society & Culture

Comment: Extremism threatens our economy

We’ve heard in recent news government officials referring to rising fear of Islamic extremism in the Maldives.

We’ve heard about children not being vaccinated or not being sent to school in the name of religion; women being provided with a single bucket of water for the day, again in the respect of religious norms; children being restricted from music and other types of art; male children being forced to wear trousers shin high; schools threatened for asking male children to shave their beards; the classifying of many immaterial matters outright haraam such as smoking, watching movies or cartoons (Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse), singing, playing or listening to music, women travelling of women without a husband or family member, the showing of hair or wearing of perfume by women; or news and blogs promoting genital mutilation of females.

Another serious threat is the increased preaching of hatred against the west. The west (the majority of whom are understood to be Christians or Jews) is portrayed as the singular prime threat to the religious stability of the country.

This is a paramount danger to our economy given our dependence on foreign money. We should keep in mind that an act such as the one that happened at Sultans Park a few years ago could cripple our economy, slashing our foreign income.

Currently, the government is committing the Maldives to large contracts with foreign nations, with majority populations of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others. The Maldives is not self-sufficient and therefore we are at the mercy of other nations who are willing to ally with us and help us bear fruit. We cannot afford to live on the annual ration of a few tonnes of Saudi dates.

During recent years, many industries and public services are being capitalised on foreign investments. At such a time, how can we even allow the thought to draw a religious boundary around ourselves? We have been selling liquor and allowing illicit sex on all our resorts for almost 40 years because we cannot let religious boundaries starve us to death.

Our main politico-religious party is Adaalath Party, who also has its presence in the government sphere, ruling the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. They are assigned the responsibility of upholding the religion of the country – Islam – with a reported US$16 million budget.

Adaalath recently held one of their statutory meetings at a prominent public space (Alimas Stage). The whole meeting was aired live on Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation’s TV channel, MNBC one. The station is well known for its pro-government programming.

I was watching intently one of the speeches of this meeting. I found it really distasteful and offensive, to hear one of the famous preachers in the country, Sheikh Ilyas, known for being arrogant and blunt about religious statements.

He was saying that Muslims should not trust Christians or Jews in any way for they are not reliable on their word. He went on to say that any agreement made by them would never be kept. He mocked human rights and women’s rights as tools used to evade Islamic prudence. Every now and then he raised a copy of Quran above his head and said that he was presenting the word of God.

It is hard to imagine why the government, on one hand, is acknowledging the spreading extremism in the country, while at the same time is assigning public funds for the spreading of such extreme and radical ideologies.

The reason is that it is constitutional for the government to uphold and strengthen Islam as the religion of the country. And the government fulfils this part very smoothly: sets up a specific Ministry (the first religious ministry of the country), puts the leading religious political group in charge, and assigns a significant chunk of budget for their purpose.

Here is something the Ministry of Islamic Affairs published on their website (in local language), followed by a translation (by a blogger) during the Haiti disaster:

“Are there any Muslims in Haiti? Do we have to gain wisdom from this [disaster]? Haiti is a caribbean island nation, located not far from America. A certain number of Muslims live there. It is reported that they are not good people. There is no doubt about this; such earth quakes are moral lessons for everyone. Such [disasters] are caused by God because of the actions of mankind.”

Now, the public is at a loss for words. Those who are assigned the responsibility of upholding and strengthening Islam in the country, are advocating against the government’s policies and also promoting extremism. They are outright in saying that no deals should be made with infidels (such as Christians or Jews, who are not trustworthy as per God). They mock human rights and women’s rights in public.

It doesn’t take one to wonder, why this could happen? Why is the government apologetic about growing extremism but still allowing such things to preached in the public? Is our government crippled from doing anything about this?

Firstly, the Islamic Ministry was a promise the ruling party made during the elections. Protecting Islam was one of the major five promises of the ‘Other Maldives’ campaign. Since Adaalath sided with the MDP during the coalition to overthrow Gayoom’s dictatorship, MDP duly handed the reigns of the ministry to Adaalath. On top of this, our constitution demands our government promote and strengthen Islam. As such the government is carrying out their constitutional responsibilities.

Our constitution also says that Sharia is based on the Quran and those findings, judgments and rulings concurred by the majority of religious scholars. When the majority of the leading scholars of the country concur on hatred against Christians, Jews and other infidels, backed up by our Constitution, what should the government do instead of sleeping with the enemy? I think the government should change their partner, before its too late.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Maldives military to show off weapon skills with live ammunition

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) is hosting a special event to show demonstrations using armored vehicles and weapons with live bullets.

‘’We will use many weapons such as armored vehicles, RPGs and smalls arms such as rifles,’’ said Major Abdul Raheem. ‘’We will fire into the air and sea.”

Abdul said there would be targets in the sea and the military officers will fire at the targets.

“This event will be held at the end of Lonuziyarai Magu, the whole area including the park near it have been taken by the MNDF,’’ Abdul said. “MNDF officers practiced seven days for this event and at the same time MNDF has decorated the area for the event.”

Abdul said there would be safe areas marked for people who visit to see the event.

‘’It won’t be dangerous, we have taken safety measures and we have taken a large space for the event.’’

The event is schedule to be held from 4:00pm to 6:00pm this afternoon.

This is the first time the MNDF has held a public event using live bullets.

The area has been modified with camouflage paintings that match the combat uniform of MNDF to make the area appear as a military ground.

Male’ International Airport has delayed all its flight due to the event.

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Police launch operation to reduce crime during Eid holidays

The Maldives Police Service have said it has launched series of special operations to prevent crimes occurring during the Eid holidays.

Police said the operations commenced on November 4.

During the operation, police said they had been searching people whom they suspected were planning to commit crimes.

‘’Police have searched different places they gather such as guest houses,’’ the police said, in a statement. ‘’So far police have discovered weapons used for assault and battery, and four men have been arrested in connection with the case.’’

The Police said they had arrested one man with suspected illegal narcotics, and another on the street who was supposed be serving life imprisonment.

The prison escapee has been handed over to the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS), according to police.

Police said during these operations police will question children and other persons “roaming around the streets for no reason.”

So far, the police said it has arrested and released 71 persons, 18 of them underage, “after giving advice.”

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Government reportedly terminates Apollo-IGMH deal

The deal between the Maldives government and Apollo Hospitals to manage Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has fallen through, local media reported Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel as saying on Tuesday.

“We had to terminate the agreement because they [Apollo] were unable to meet the terms and conditions stated in the agreement. Every agreement specifies deadlines to settle certain matters,” Dr Jameel reportedly said.

“We have also informed them [Apollo] that the agreement has been terminated.”

Senior staff at the Health Ministry and Chair of the Privatisation committee Mahmoud Razee told Minivan News they had not been informed of the deal’s collapse and had only heard media reports. Minivan News contacted Dr Jameel but she was unable to confirm the reports as she was “travelling in the islands.”

The government reportedly terminated the agreement with Apollo after the Indian hospital giant was unable to invest the agreed amount to develop the hospital.

Apollo had estimated that it would cost US$25 million to bring the hospital up to global standards. The group also revealed intentions to make 80 percent of its employees Maldivian over a 15 year period, although it was unclear as to how this would be achieved given the lack of medical higher education facilities in the country.

Apollo planned to offer orthopedics, cardiology, gastro, neurology, acute care and trauma specialities in the first phase of the privatisation deal, as well as set up and operate a cardiology unit within the year, the Health Ministry stated when the deal was first announced in January.

CEO of IGMH Zubair Mohamed was not responding to calls at time of press, but expressed concern when the deal stalled in July, stating that uncertainly over the arrangement was making “little investments” more difficult.

“Apollo is an expert group and would bring a lot of benefits to the people,” he told Minivan News at the time. “They have the capacity to raise existing standards. But even if they do not come we will continue trying to improve services.”

However the agreement stalled after the private healthcare giant failed to submit a required operational management agreement by the July 2010 deadline. Both parties were required to cement the deal and sign the 12 year management agreement by the end of July.

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Maldivian women seldom seen by tourists: BBC Women’s Hour

Maldivian women are seldom seen by visitors to the Maldives, High Commissioner of the Maldives to the UK Dr Farahanaz Faizal has told BBC Radio 4, for the station’s ‘Women’s Hour’ program.

Dr Faizal and Olympic rower Guin Batten – who recently set a record for the ‘zero degree’ crossing in the Maldives and is trying to reintroduce rowing to the country – were interviewed yesterday by journalist Jane Garvey.

Dr Faizal explained that since the introduction of tourism to the Maldives, women tended to stay on their home islands to look after their families while the men went away to work on the resorts: “There is also little in the way of commuting on the islands so it’s not easy to travel to resorts to work on a daily basis. This has meant that women no longer have the economic empowerment they used to have,” she said.

Reiterating her comment last week in the UK House of Parliament that religious extremism was “among the greatest threats to democracy in the Maldives”, Dr Faizal suggested that the rise of extremism in the Maldives was attributable to people being allowed to vocalise their views more in the new liberal democracy, “whereas in the previous autocratic regime – who were by no means radical, they were quite liberal actually – they were simply locked up.”

Garvey raised the issue of the flogging of a young girl for adultery in the Maldives in 2009 and asked whether this was still occurring in the Maldives.

“No not really,” Dr Faisal said. “The penal code hasnt changed for decades, and a new penal code is in the process of being revised. The judges applied the old penal code that does include some sharia punishments.”

“What was more horrifying was that although the girl got flogged, the man got away ‘scott free’. If there are penalties against people for this sort of thing then they must be treated equally and there is no excuse when we now have DNA testing. After I raised this issue in the Maldives they (the radicals) called for my head.”

The Maldives, Dr Faizal said, had historically been “a very forward-looking Muslim country: we’ve had queens and female football commentators, I don’t think even Premier League can beat that.”

Dr Faizal noted that former Attorney General Husnu Suood had expressed concern that radicals had been calling for female genital mutilation in the Maldives, and telling people to avoid vaccinations as they contained alcohol. “Although this a small minority it is growing and we have to tackle this now.”

Garvey also interviewed Batten, former schoolfriend of President Mohamed Nasheed and Sports Coordinator for UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives, who explained that she had been inspired to bring rowing back to the Maldives after seeing a picture of a Maldivian boy rowing a home-made raft.

“Rowing is a very popular sport for girls around the world especially in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Rowing was [historically] used in the Maldives as a method of transport,” she explained.

Dr Faizal noted that rowing competitions used to be held in the Maldives, and that the challenge was being taken up by the local community and not imposed upon them.

The Rowing Association of Maldives, based in Addu Atoll, this week became the 131st member of the International Rowing Federation (FISA).

Batten and Dr Faizal spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour program November 9 2010. Listen to the podcast.

Correction: An earlier version of this report quoted Dr Faizal as saying the Maldives had a new penal code. She actually stated that the new code was being revised.

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Public losing confidence in democracy because of parliament’s delays, says HRCM

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has said the delay caused by the deadlock in parliament is obstructing citizens obtaining the human rights promised them under the constitution.

HRCM said laws and rules are necessary elements for people to obtain their basic human rights, and other services the state should deliver the citizens.

“As it is the constitutional duty of the parliament to legislate, [this delay] causes the citizens to lack their rights and also causes a loss of confidence in democracy, and obstructs the establishment of the rule of law in the country,’’ HRCM said. “When the necessary laws are not passed, it becomes an obstacle for the state to fulfill tis the constitutional duty as stated under article 18, to protect and promote human rights.’’

HRCM noted that the Witnesses bill, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Bill , Law on Taxation and National University Law were yet to be passed, as parliament entered its third week of inaction following clashes over the cabinet endorsement issue. Today’s parliament sitting was also canceled after the MPs clashed over the cabinet endorsement issue. The 10 day public holiday begins on Thursday.

HRCM called on parliamentarians and political parties to work in the best interest of the nation and its citizens.

The opposition and the ruling party have blamed each other for the cancellation of the parliament sittings, and each session is derailed on points of order.

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JSC reverses tack, says it will investigate all allegations of misconduct

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is reviewing its earlier decision not to investigate allegations of misconduct against three judges made by Treasure Island Private Limited.

The Treasure Island case against the JSC, which began in early October this year, implicates three judges in miscarriages of justice against the company.

Treasure Island alleges that the JSC neglected its Constitutional responsibilities in failing to investigate the company’s subsequent complaints against the judges.

Now Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed, Interim Supreme Court Justice Mujthaz Fahmy, High Court Justice Ahmed Shareef Ali and Senior Magistrate Ali Naseer, alleges Treasure Island Chief Ali Hussein Manik, abused the justice system to wrongfully take, and pass the ownership on to someone else, a resort island belonging to him.

He names influential figures in the tourism sector during the previous government as having been involved in the case.

The three judges he named, Manik alleged, abused the law to rule against Treasure Island in its civil case against the parties he alleges wrongfully took the island from him.

Responding to the allegations of professional negligence, the JSC initially told the court in October that two of the complaints were not within its Constitutional mandate for ensuring the ethical standards and principles of the judiciary.

The third complaint, it said, was pending a decision at the time the case was filed.

Faththah said today, however, that the JSC had decided to use existing legal mechanisms to review its earlier decisions not to investigate the complaints and to re-assess whether or not the complaints should be investigated.

“What the company asked the court for is a legal mechanism under which to review the JSC decision not to investigate its complaints. We have now provided that mechanism by beginning the process to review our earlier decision”, Faththah said.

Deciding to re-open complaints against members of the judiciary represents a shift in the JSC’s earlier stance which suggested that allegations of misconduct by some members of the judiciary could be outside of its Constitutional mandate.

The JSC said today that it does not need a court ruling to make it perform its Constitutional duties, and stated that it will examine every complaint of misconduct made against every member of the judiciary without a court having to make such an order.

“Since the Commission is reviewing every complaint received by the appellant, the Commission does not feel that a court ruling is necessary any more,” Faththah said.

What Treasure Island wants from the JSC, it was already providing, he said. A court ruling was both obsolete and irrelevant, he said asking for dismissal.

Treasure Island Limited, however, insisted on court intervention.

It’s chief Manik, who had earlier told the court he did not have any trust in the JSC, said he wanted the court to make an order allowing him to see the agenda of the meeting in which JSC members decided not to investigate allegations against the three judges.

Treasure Island had asked the court for the same ruling on 17 October 2010, when the court last sat on the issue.

What the JSC told the court today is that since Treasure Island is asking specifically for the court to order JSC to provide the documents as evidence, in the absence of such an order by the court, the JSC was not obliged to provide the documents.

The Constitution requires any decision taken by the JSC to be one reached by a majority vote at a meeting in which more than six of its ten members are present.

If Judge Nihayath orders that Treasure Island should be allowed to see minutes of the meeting, it would be able to verify whether or not the JSC followed proper procedure in making the decision, twice, not to further investigate the complaints made by Treasure Island.

The JSC is yet to adopt a Standards of Procedure according to which all its duties would be performed, leading to dissent and tension among its members, and between members and the Secretariat.

In the last few weeks, a rift has appeared in the JSC between members who want the JSC to adopt its Standards of Procedure as a matter of urgency and allege that the Chair of the Commission is systematically evading the issue.

Two weeks ago JSC Chair Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed walked out of a meeting when four members demanded that he table adopting the Standards of Procedure at the Commission’s next meeting.

The four member group pushing for adoption of the Standards include the Attorney General, the President’s Member, Member of the Public, member of the law community and member of the High Court.

A day-long meeting to adopt the Standards of Procedure scheduled to be held outside of Male’ on Saturday, the next time when the matter was put on the agenda, was cancelled as various members excused themselves citing other commitments.

Three meetings of the JSC have since been held but none included discussion of the Standards.

Although it is a group of the same members who happen to be unavailable for any discussions on the Standards of Procedure, none of the members have publicly declared whether or why there is a reluctance on their part to adopting the Standards.

The Secretariat of the JSC, meanwhile, is also in a state of chaos after Chair Justice Mohamed reportedly intimidated the Interim Secretary General Moomina Umar and other members of staff over their decision to speak to the media without prior approval from the Chair.

The claim by Justice Mohamed is inaccurate as the JSC unanimously adopted a declaration on 2 September, authorising three members of the Secretariat, including Moomina to speak to the media.

Taking over from his lawyer to represent himself, Manik appealed to Judge Nihayath for the court’s intervention as he did not trust the JSC to do its duties.

“Without an honest JSC, we, the people of this country cannot have our right to justice,” Manik said.

Judge Nihayath adjourned the case to 5 December 2010.

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Maldives joins the International Rowing Federation

The Maldives has been welcomed as the 131st member of the International Rowing Federation (FISA), following the association’s congress in New Zealand.

The landmark membership comes as British Olympic rower Guin Batten returned to the Maldives last week with a team of four champion female rowers, to try and break the record she set for crossing the equator between Huvadhoo Atoll and Fuahmulah in March.

Batten crossed the 60 kilometre ‘zero degree’ channel in seven hours 16 minutes, in an epic struggle against the the swells, tides and currents of the open Indian Ocean in her 35 kilogram rowing boat.

The 42 year-old silver medallist, who also holds the world record for her solo row across the English Channel, attempted the crossing again together with elite rowers Rachel Woolf, Ali Gill, Elise Cope and Louise Wymer.

The aim, says Batten, “was to trash my record for the single crossing, in a quad (four rowers, one coxswain).”

“Unfortunately the weather against us. We started quickly, and might have managed it in 5.5 hours, but we were not fast enough for currents and it began to look like it would take us 15 hours – which meant the support vessel was going to run out of fuel,” she says.

The team had trained for an endurance slog, but the brief window in the weather had closed and conditions rapidly began to deteriorate and the attempt was reluctantly called off after three hours.

“But the record is still there for the taking, and there’s a good chance somebody local could break my time of 7:16,” Batten says.

Batten may keep her title for the meantime, but the main purpose of the visit was to inspire local islanders – particularly women – to pick up the oar and re-embrace the country’s traditional mode of transport.

British Airways' quad rowboat is unloaded

Acting as the Sports Development Coordinator for Friends of Maldives (FOM), Batten arranged for two four-person ‘quad’ rowboats to be brought to the Maldives, with the support of British Airways (BA), British Rowing and Westminster School.

Meanwhile, the mission to reintroduce rowing to the country has been ticking away ever since Batten left her rowboat behind following her attempt in March. Primary school teacher and coastal rower James Cowley has been working as a volunteer based in Thinadhoo to develop the sport of rowing in the Maldives, and has already established the Rowing Association of the Maldives: “I believe it’s the first national sporting association to be based outside Male,” Batten says.

Cowley told World Rowing in October that getting appropriate equipment to the country remained a key challenge for the project: “It is amazing how much the young people have learnt using only Guin’s rowing boat, a canoe and the goggles Speedo sent out last month,” he said.

The equipment problem was been somewhat addressed with Batten’s latest visit, but other challenges remain: “For starters, a lot of people here don’t swim, which was quite surprising, so James taught 30 young people to swim and got them rowing in the lagoon while they developed safety procedures.”

Currently Cowley is training a group of male rowers and some younger men, as well as four girls “who are facing a lot of pressure because James is a male coach,” Batten says. “Elise Cope will spend three weeks coaching, but we need to have a female coach based out here too.”

Rowing, she notes, “is one of the fastest growing sports for women worldwide”, and an art not entirely lost to the Maldives, “but most of the people who know how to do it are in their 60s, and there’s a risk the knowledge will be lost with this generation,” says Batten.

Despite the challenges locals have really taken to the project, and the arrival of the new boats will get many more out onto the water. Saad Ibrahim, representing the Rowing Association of the Maldives, observes that “the boat allows us to take multiple young rowers out at the same time so they can learn to row together and develop their team skills”.

Batten describes it as a “fantastic opportunity to bring rowing back to the Maldivian community. The vision for this long term initiative is to bring sport into the community to encourage life skills such as team work amongst the local people and to give them the chance to see more of their surroundings.”

Locally, the project’s ambition is to set up six water sports clubs throughout the Upper Southern Province. Ultimately, Batten says, the Maldives may one day look to host the World Coastal Rowing Championships, “which will introduce a lot of people to the country who would not normally visit otherwise – it’s quite a different group of people to the surfing and diving community,” she adds.

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Man sentenced for possession of pornography

The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced a man to six months imprisonment after the court found him guilty of possession of pornography.

The Criminal Court identified the person as Ali Jinah of Gulhi in Kaafu Atoll.

The Court said the police officers who went to search Jinah’s house on last year October discovered eight magazines containing pornographic pictures, one file containing  large number of pornographic pictures and one CD containing pornography.

He was sentenced for possessing contraband.

The Court said Jinah denied the charges, claiming that the police did not find the materials inside his room and that he had never showed such materials to anyone.

The Criminal Court said that according to the word of the police officers who went to the scene, “it is known that the materials were found inside Jinah’s room.”

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