Category: Society & Culture

Man stabs child in front of police officers and flees on motorbike

Two men on a motorbike stabbed a 16 year old child in front of two police officers last night on Ameenee Magu near Imadudeen School, before fleeing.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that the two police officers were investigating a motor vehicle accident when the incident occurred.

”A car and motorbike hit each other and police were investigating the accident,” Shiyam said. ”The victim was the person on the back seat of the motorbike which hit the car.”

Shiyam said the boy’s condition was not very serious.

”He is now hospitalised in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital,” Shiyam said.

He said that the police ran after the two men but did not manage to catch them.

He said that case was under investigation and he was unable to give further details.

A witness at the scene told Minivan News the boy was stabbed in two places right in front of the police, at 8:45pm.

”He injured his lungs and arm during the incident,” the man said.

The witness added that bystanders ran after the pair when the boy shouted in pain, but the two men managed to flee.

He said a team of forensic police came and discovered a knife under a parked pick-up behind Imaduddeen school.

He said that the road was bright and there were a lot of people on the street when the incident occurred.

There was also a stabbing near the Central Hotel last week and a man was seriously injured.

He has since been taken to Sri Lanka for medical treatment.

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Departing doctors leave IGMH unable to provide outpatient services to children

An acute lack of pediatric specialists in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has forced the hospital to temporarily close outpatient services for children, who make up 40 percent of the hospital’s patients.

Zubair Mohamed, Managing Director of Male’ Health Services Corporation – formerly the Chief Executive Officer of IGMH – said that there were only four pediatricians left after many left claiming to have family and personal problems, while others departed on vacation.

Zubair said that low wages and poor allowances were leading doctors to resign and return to their own countries.

”Most of the good doctors we have are from India,” Zubair said.

”They get almost the same salary as if they worked in India, so it’s not worth it for them to work here.”

A recent salary increase for doctors in India has made it even harder for the Maldives to attract and retain qualified medical staff.

Zubair said that the remaining four pediatricians were now working 24 hours on-call in the emergency and IPD units.

”Forty percent of the patients who come to the hospital are children,” Zubair said. ”They are a large group of patients.”

He said that patients hospitalised were now being given more priority than the patients who visited for diagnosis or treatment.

A pediatrician and a second doctor – a talented psychiatric specialist – left the hospital last week on vacation and have not returned.

”They usually leave saying that they have family and personal issues,” Zubair said. ”Only a few directly say that they cannot work for the low salary.”

As a consequence there would be no outpatient pediatric services available this week, he said.

”Hopefully we will get new pediatricians for the hospital very soon and restart services,” Zubair said. ”We need at least six doctors.”

Future of IGMH

When IGMH begins running as a corporation the salaries of doctors will rise and allowances will increase, Zubair promised.

”Right now all the doctors classed are civil servants, ” he explained, ”so we have to follow the regulations of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and cannot provide them the allowances and salary as we would prefer.”

He said the new corporation had held a meeting with the CSC and discussed the matter, and estimated that it would take three months to start IGMH as a health services corporation.

Spokesperson for the CSC Fahmy Hassan said that the Male’ Health Corporation had held a meeting with the commission but ”it was not to discuss the doctor salaries.”

Fahmy said the commission in January asked the Finance Ministry how much they would be able to pay for the doctors salary and said that the commission was not legally authorised to pay any salary the commission wanted.

”We are now paying them the highest possible salary the Finance Ministry has agreed to give,” he said. ”We cannot pay a salary Finance Ministry disagrees with.”

Press secretary for the president Mohamed Zuhair said that the government had nothing to do with the CSC’s code of salary.

”The government will try to solve the problem somehow,” he said.

He said that the salaries of the doctors will increase when IGMH starts running under Male’ Health Corporation, “which was the main reason why we established it,” he said.Permanent Secretary for the Finance Ministry Ismail Shafeeq did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Dhiffushi divided: islanders concerned about anonymous man preaching Islam from bedroom

People living on Dhiffushi in Kaafu Atoll have expressed concern about an anonymous man living in the island preaching Islam to an isolated and growing congregation.

A authority familiar with the matter told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that the man claimed to be a resident of Male’, and said he had moved to Dhiffushi with his wife and two kids ”because he liked the island.”

He claimed the man “preaches Islam to people and convinces them to form an isolated congregations and to join him.”

”There are youths following and protecting him,” he said, ”he leads all the prayers, including Friday prayers, in his bedroom.”

He said the man claimed he is living the way Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) lived.

”He uses a mop stick as his staff,” the source said. ”People one day spied on them while they were doing the Friday prayers and found out that he gives the Friday speech standing on his bed with his crowd surrounding him,.”

He said the man and his followers had claimed that the imam of the government mosque was a sorcerer, and that there was a corpse buried under the mosque.

”Islanders are really angry with his behavior,” the source said. ”Some people have already told him to leave the island immediately.”

He said the man’s his acts were dividing the society of the island.

An official at the Island office said that the case had been reported to the Islamic Ministry and the Atoll Office.

”At first they did the Friday prayers in his room,” he said, ”now they do it secretly in other room.”

Spokesperson for the Islamic Ministry Sheikh Ahmadullah and Permanent Secretary Mohamed Didi said they had no information on the matter.

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DhiTV and VTV take 50% of media subsidies, Parliament reveals

Parliament has announced the distribution of one-off subsidies to be received by the media this year, with 50 percent of a total Rf 4 million being allocated to VTV and DhiTV.

35 percent has been allocated to radio and 15 percent to print media.

“I personally don’t think it’s fair,” noted President of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) and editor of Haveeru, Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, but said but could not give any further comment on the matter.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair explained the funds for the subsidies were allocated by the Parliamentary Finance Committee “after they made  amendments to the budget.”

“They should not be deciding administrative methods of how it should be given out,” he observed.

The country’s new media council, elected today and intended to regulate the media in the country, has the MJA more concerned, however.

The council consists of fifteen members, seven of whom have been elected from the public and the remaining eight from the media sector.

Hiriga said “we don’t agree with this sort of council [because] almost half [the members] are nominated from the government.” He added these members were “elected on a political basis” and it was not “a right thing to do.”

The eight members of the media to be in the council are: Saif Azhar from Haama Daily; Mohamed Nazeef from Atoll Radio; Shiyam Mohamed Waheed from VTV; Ahmed Abdulla Shaheed from Haveeru; Musoon Hilmy from DhiFM; Ahmed Muhsin from TVM; Mohamed Haleem (Sungari) and Ismail Rasheed.

Hiriga said the council would have the power, not to censor media, but to inform the public whether they believe a report “is biased or wrong.”

He said he was lobbying with the government to try to “block” the council, and are “sending amendments to the Parliament.” He believes the media should monitor itself.

Zuhair said the media council “is necessary” and because a majority of the members are from the media, “they will surely be fair.”

Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ali Sawad, said the the idea of a media council has been discussed before and there has been “legislation to that effect” proposed to Parliament earlier.

He said the council was meant to “regulate the media” and they would look at “ethical issues and all regulatory aspects of the media.”

Dr Sawad noted the council would not be politically influenced since members have been “elected by peers” from both the general public and the media. He added the council would be “an independent legislative authority” that would operate under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

Who got what

Parliament has released a list stating how much money each news company will receive. All the figures are in Maldivian Ruffiya and amount to a total of Rf 4 million.

DhiTV: 820,000.00

Villa TV: 1,060,000.00

Future TV: 120,000.00

DhiFM: 434,000.00

HFM: 56,000.00

Radio Atoll: 294,000.00

Sun FM: 364,000.00

Faraway FM: 252,000.00

Haveeru Daily: 246,000.00

Aafathis Daily: 162,000.00

Miadhu News: 102,000.00

Haama Daily: 90,000.00

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Thakandhu Island office hijacked over jackfruit tree

A group of people hijacked the Haa Alifu Atoll Thakandhu island office on Monday after were unable to cut down a jackfruit tree on the land where they planned to build a pre-school.

Island Chief of Thakandhu said that he could not give information as ”the person who gives information is not here.”

However a person familiar with the matter told Minivan News that the hijackers was a group who were trying to establish a pre-school on the island.

He said the group was angry because “they were asking for a court warrant to cut the tree, but the tree belongs to a man on Thakandhu.”

He said the island court ruled to that the tree could be felled after payment of RF2000 to the owner.

”But the owner wants Rf 8000,” the source explained, “and he went to appeal it in the High Court.”

”So they have to wait until the High Court rules they can build the preschool, and that’s why they are  protesting.”

He said the group entered the island office the day before yesterday and blocked the island chief and staff from entering.

”The staffs working in the office were not able to do their work,” the source said, adding that “yesterday also they gathered near the island office with microphones and loudspeakers.”

He said the police came and dispersed the crowd yesterday, although nobody was arrested.

Police Sergeant Abdul Muhusin said the crowed was dispersed at 7:00pm yesterday.

Muhusin said that the people were gathered near the island office when police arrived the island at 3 pm.

State minister for home Ahmed Adil said he had no information about the case.

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Licenses of false scholars will be revoked, warns Islamic Ministry

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has claimed it will be taking action against religious scholars who spread ‘false information’ about Islam, in a bid to tackle rising concerns over fundamentalism in the country.

State Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said this action would extend to revoking the licenses of these scholars once the requisite regulation in the Religious Unity Act was returned from the Attorney General’s office this week.

“We will investigate these matters and in the future an advisory board will be appointed to make these decisions,” Shaheem explained.

The first scholar to likely have his license cancelled under the new regulations will be Sheikh Nasrulla, Shaheem said, after the Islamic Ministry received complaints about the Sheikh from the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).

In a letter to the ministry dated last October, HRCM reported that during a Ramadan sermon to teachers in Gaafu Alifu Villingili, Sheikh Nasrulla encouraged people “to get their daughters married when they are nine years old.”

“We have information that he said ‘my daughter was also married when she was 9 years old’,” HRCM said in the letter, stating that this practice conflicted with human rights.

The commission also noted that “while it is not prohibited to get married at such a young age in Islam, when scholars speak and spread information like this, children’s studies are ruined and they are forced to marry when they are psychologically and physically unprepared for it.”

“We respectfully request [the Islamic Ministry] stop these acts as it confuses people about the Islamic religion and brings intense hatred towards it.”

President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem said today that the Islamic Ministry’s decision to take concrete action against scholars preaching such practices was “very encouraging.”

“I think the ministry has been quietly trying to do things in the background, but it hasn’t been working and they seem to have decided to go public,” Saleem said. “A lot of people have been shifting blame on the Ministry.”

HRCM sent the letter to the Islamic Ministry last year following complaints from the community that young girls were being married, and asked the ministry to investigate the matter.

“I don’t think Nasrulla is the only one preaching it; just taking action against Nasrulla is not enough,” Saleem said.

He agreed that there was “to some extent” conflict between human rights and certain interpretations of Islam present in the Maldives.

“My sense is that people understand human rights as a western concept, but that is not the case,” Saleem said.

“If you talk to some scholars human rights is very much part of Islam – Islam itself preaches human rights.”

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Cases filed with ACC against councilor who led funeral prayers

A man in Thaa Atoll Dhiyamigili has filed a case with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) against the island councilor Adnan Ali, for reportedly leading a funeral prayer.

An official at the Island Office confirmed an islander had filed two cases against the councilor. The funeral prayer was a Salaat-ul-Janazah bil Ghaib [Funeral Prayer in the absence of the dead body] which is disputed among the scholars.

An official at the island office told Minivan News that the councilor was not certified to lead the funeral prayer.

”Funeral prayers are always led by the Imam or island chiefs who are certified by the Islamic Ministry,” he said. ”I swear the councilor does not even know how to read and write Arabic well.”

He said the councilor led two funeral prayers for a pair of men who died in India.

”One of the men was a man of our Island and the other man was his friend from another island,” the official said. ”There were two island chiefs and an imam present on the island when he did that.”

He said that it would have been fine if all the certified people on the island were not present.

”The Islamic Ministry has said that it was all right for anyone to lead the funeral prayers,” he said. ”But why did they renew all the certificates of all the imams and island chiefs when they came to power and permitted only to certified people to do the Friday prayers? Why don’t they leave it for anyone to do?”

He said the man who filed the case called the ACC last week, who said they would be responding to him shortly.

Adnan Ali had recently ordered the island chief to stay at home while the Civil Service Commission (CSC) has claimed that councilors and ministers can’t take any action against civil servants.

Island councilor Adnan Ali told Minivan News that ”whether I did [lead the prayers] or not, I would not have to tell you,” adding that he did not wish to be advertised to everyone.

State minister for Islam Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that there was no certain regulation on the matter.

”If no certified person is available it is all right for anyone to do [lead funeral prayers],” Shaheem said. ”We have sent new rules and regulations to the Attorney General, which will include such issues.”

He said that scholars dispute the funeral prayer in the absence of the dead body.

”On both the sides they take the same incidence, the story of Najashi (the King of Ethiopia),” he said.

The ACC’s Vice President Muaaviz Rasheed and Director Umar Rasheed did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Maldivian scientist recognised for achievements in digital knowledge transfer

Maldivian Scientist Professor Hassan Ugail at University of Bradford in the UK has received the ‘Excellence in Knowledge Transfer Award’ for developing cutting-edge methods of defining and manipulating complex digital data.

Professor Hassan Ugail is the Chair of Visual Computing at the University, and has developed research ideas into a business in the UK and potentially into Europe and USA.

His two patents have led to his development spin-out company, Tangentix Ltd, which is currently developing technology for digital distribution of computer game content.

Tangentix is already growing rapidly in the region is predicted to grow rapidly over the next few months and create a significant number of new jobs.

The other shortlisted candidates for the award included Dr P B Anant, Reader in Development and Economic Studies, Professor Andrew Day, Automotive, Modelling and Optimisation Research Group Leader, School of Engineering, Design and Technology, Paul Edwards, Head of training and Practice Development, Dementia Studies, Dr. Qun Shao, China Programme Manager, Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation.

Secretary General for Maldives Science Society and founding member Ajmal Shaheed said the award received by Professor Ugail was “very valuable.”

Ajmal said that the science society and all the people of Maldives should be “very proud” that a Maldivian has received the most prestigious award.

”His achievement will would encourage those Maldivians who work in the field of science,” Ajmal said. ”Scientists are very few in our nation.”

He said Professor Ugail had done much work that had been recognised worldwide.

”He has designed a space shuttle for NASA, and he is trying to develop a facial recognition system, ” Ajmal said. ”We hope this will encourage Maldivian scientists to work in the research science field.”

He said most of the scientists in the Maldives were marine biologists, and that the number of scientists working in research fields was very few.

He said the MSS was discussing how to recognise Professor Ugail for “the beautiful name he has brought the country.”

Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair said the government congratulated Professor Hassan Ugail for the success he had achieved.

”President Mohamed Nasheed also describes it as a very happy news for the country,” Zuhair said.

Zuhair said that the success of Hassan Ugail showed that Maldivians could achieve international awards if chose to go forward in the field of science.

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Strengthen Islam before introducing comparative religion, say Adhaalath and Salaf

The Adhaalath Party and religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf have said they will not support the study of comparative religion in the Maldives until understanding of the basic principles are strengthened.

The introduction of the subject at a tertiary level was proposed last week by State Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, who said it was taught in many Islamic universities across the world and would help Maldivians “learn how to deal with other philosophies, learn about what others believe, the differences between us and them, and what is the right side.”

“It is my belief that by the end of people should know that Islam is the truth,” he said.

In the lead up to the launch of the course, the Islamic Ministry is preparing to legalise the possession of books concerning other religions, such as the bible, “for educational and research purposes”, Shaheem told Minivan News on Thursday.

However President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed said today that the government should not introduce comparative religion to the country “before the people understand the basic principles of Islam.”

Sheikh Hussein said that before introducing comparative religion the government should teach Islam in more advanced manner.

”People today do not know the basic principles of Islam,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”It is not good to introduce comparative religion before people know all the basic principles of Islam.”

He claimed that Maldivians had moved away from religion over the past thirty years.

“As a result, today there is nobody to respect religion, teachers and leaders,” he said.

He said there were many people who doubted some religious matters, and the study of comparative religion would only increase those doubts.

Sheikh Hussein added that it was good to teach comparative religion at a university level, “but only after making the teaching of Islam more advanced.”

He also noted that there were no qualified teachers to teach comparative religion in the country.

”There might be a scholar who has studied it as a subject, but it does not mean he is qualified to teach it,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”I also studied psychology when I studied, but does not mean I am a psychologist.”

He said that in general principle the study of comparative religion at a university level was a good idea.

However he added that he had information that the government was trying to introduce comparative religion at a secondary level, which ”the Adhaalath Party will try to stop from happening by any means necessary.”

Shaheem emphasised on Thursday that the subject should not be taught at a secondary level “because [students’] minds are not [yet] prepared to deal with these philosophies.”

President of Jamiyyathul Salaf Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Ibrahim today agreed with Sheikh Hussein that people should understand Islam comprehensively before comparative religion was introduced.

Sheikh Abdulla said there were some necessary subjects of Islam many people in the Maldives did not yet understand or were not being taught.

”Only a few people understand the ‘Tafsir’ [exegesis] of Quran,” he said, adding that ”knowledge of other religions is already taught in verses of Quran and Hadith.”

He emphasised that people should be taught more about Islamic theology before it was compared with other religions.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the government would introduce the study of comparative religion “in anyway the Islamic Ministry prefers”, and noted the decision over whether to introduce comparative religion at a secondary or university level was yet to be decided.

”There are no disadvantages to teaching comparative religion in the Maldives,” Zuhair said. ”We will discuss everything [in cabinet] and we are looking forward to introducing the subject for next year.”

President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), Ahmed Saleem, said he thought that introducing the subject of comparative religion was “a good idea.”

“I welcome it. I think it’s a good opportunity for people to really understand Islam,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody else has talked about it [before it was raised by Shaheem]. You have a right to know – these books were all sent by God – even those about Christianity and Judaism.”

Saleem noted that it was technically legal for a Maldivian man to marry a Jewish or a Christian woman, as “they are all people of the book.”

However it was illegal for a Maldivian woman to marry a Christian or a Jewish man, he said.

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