Category: Society & Culture

Four expats arrested for missionary activity

Four expatriates were arrested yesterday for suspected missionary activity, police have confirmed.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the four men were arrested yesterday afternoon, but he could not give further details as the case is still under investigation.

A teacher at Maafannu Madharusa, Aishat Rameeza, told Minivan News that four men entered the school office at around 10:00am and gave a book to a teacher and a parent, while she was present.

Rameeza said that they asked if the teachers knew a place called “Higher Education.”

”We said there are many higher educations,” Rameeza said. ”We thought they were asking about the faculty in old Jamaluddeen School, so we told them how to go there.”

She said the men then asked them where the local market was.

”When they were about to leave they gave a book to a teacher and a parent who was here, called ‘A story of redemption and steps to Christianity’, and said ‘here is a nice gift for you.'”

”We immediately informed the police but they did not seem to care,” Rameeza said. “We still have the book.”

Deputy Principal of Maafannu Madharusa Ahmed Farooq confirmed that four men came to the school yesterday and gave a book “of about 470 pages” to a pre-school teacher.

He said the school immediately informed the police.

”I heard they were arrested yesterday,” Farooq said. “They looked like they were Japanese or Chinese.”

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Islamic Ministry expresses concern over isolated congregations

The Islamic Ministry has expressed concern at the rising number of privately-held, unsanctioned congregations.

The ministry said it was “advisable” for such congregations to immediately cease worshipping in isolation and conducting sermons administered by scholars not licensed by the ministry.

The Islamic Ministry said that private congregations were against laws protecting religious unity.

”The Islamic Ministry does not believe that there is any reason to perform isolated congregations as the state is based on Sunni Islam, and formal congregations in the mosques are approved,” the Islamic Ministry said in a press statement.

The ministry advised Imams not to dispute religious issues or get into disputes over ‘Madhab’ (way of thinking, persuasion) , and to instead follow the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and to believe and return to the way that trusted Islamic scholars had advised.

Sheikh Ali Zahir said that the issue could be spoken about for a long time, but that the Islamic Ministry was the authorised department and had said its word.

However, a man who follows Islam in a private congregation told Minivan News on condition on anonymity that his group had decided to isolate themselves “because the current government is following a law established in 1982 by the former government, a law protecting religious unity which is contrary to the tenets of Islam.”

He said that according to the Constitution Article 10[b], “no law can be enacted contrary to the tenets of Islam.”

”So we do not have to follow the law protecting religious unity,” he said.

He said that according to the tenets of Islam there were no different ‘Madhabs’ on the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).

”They force all the Imams to pray according to the Shafi’e Madhab, so we cannot follow the Imams who pray according to a Madhab, we follow Prophet Mohamed (PBUH),” he said.

He said another reason for the isolated congregations was that the former government ordered the Imams not to read ‘Gunooth’ during the fajr prayers.

”Now they read Gunooth when the Imams feels like it,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, the three powers of the government had been divided and Shari’ah Law had not been implemented in the Constitution and Penal Code, contradicting the tenets of Islam.

”According to Islam all the powers should be in one  hand,” he said.

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Man taken to hospital in critical condition following attempted suicide

Police have reported that a man was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) this morning in a critical condition after attempting to hang himself.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that police responded to the incident at 10:50am and said the man’s condition was “very critical”.

The man’s brother told Minivan News he was found inside the house in a house in Male’, and while his condition had improved he was still in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

”We do not know why he did it,” he told Minivan News, adding that the man had a wife and three children.

IGMH said it would not provide further information on the man’s condition as the family had requested privacy.

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DRP claims Lhohi arrests were politically motivated

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has expressed concern that five arrests made in Lhohi island, Noonu Atoll last Friday were politically motivated.

Police Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed five people were arrested in Lhohi last Friday night for starting a fight. He said they were taken to the island’s court and were being kept for seven days while investigations continue.

Two other people were injured in the fight and were taken to hospital, Shiyam said, but they were not seriously injured.

Shiyam noted the fight was most likely “unrelated to politics,” but added that as the investigation is ongoing, there was a possibility it this might prove otherwise.

Spokesperson for the DRP Ibrahim Shareef said “the island councillor planned all of this.”

He said “the boys who were arrested weren’t even on the island” but were attending a DRP rally in Miladhu. “When they returned, police were waiting for them, and accused them of a mugging.”

Shareef said the five men arrested were DRP activists on Lhohi and the island councillor arrested them for political reasons. “The island councillor burned the DRP flag,” he added.

He said “very strange things are happening,” on the islands, most of which “the leadership in Malé doesn’t know about.”

A source at the Lhohi island office told Minivan News the fight was “nothing political,” but was rather an act of revenge.

The source said a man was attacked by five people “because he had tried to push another man’s wife earlier.”

After sunset, the woman’s husband and brother, along with some of their friends, attacked the man and beat him, the source claimed. “He was injured and taken to hospital,” he said, adding that the man was now recovering.

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HRCM report on persons with disabilities highlights gaps in equality

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) in conjunction with the UNDP have this morning presented their report on the rights of persons with disabilities in the Maldives.

The report, Activities Addressing Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is a “baseline assessment” of the rights and challenges concerning disabled people in the Maldives, as well as a number of recommendations from the HRCM on how to improve the lives of those with physical or mental impediments.

The report shows that in 1981, when the first ever screening was conducted in the Maldives, there were 1,390 people with disabilities, or 0.9 percent of the population.

In the 2000 census, the number rose to 4,728 which comprised 1.75 percent of the population. In 2002, the figure had risen further to 3.4 percent, or 9,216 people.

The most recent census (a preliminary report by Handicap International in 2009) showed 8.1 percent of the population has either temporary or permanent disabilities, including 4.7 percent with severe permanent functional limitations.

The HRCM report states that “lack of standard definitions of disability and different survey methodologies do affect the number of persons screened as having disabilities.”

The Maldives signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007, but the Parliamentary approval needed to ratify the convention was only reached in January 2010.

Although rights for persons with disabilities are part of the Constitution, the proposed bill on protecting rights of persons with disabilities was sent back to Parliament by the president for reconsideration in January 2010.

According to the HRCM, the bill was sent back “because it was found crucial to amend the bill in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).”

Education

The HRCM reported that approximately only one out of every ten children with disabilities is enrolled in school. This means 230 children out of 2,250 with disabilities in the entire country are attending school.

Jamaluddin School, Ghiyaasuddin School and Imaduddin School are currently the only schools in Malé which offer a full curriculum for children with disabilities. This began in 1985 when Jamaluddin School opened up enrolment for children with hearing disabilities.

There are currently eleven schools nation-wide which provide for children with disabilities.

The Ministry of Education had planned to set up “minimum one school in each atoll that enrols children with special needs by 2010” but the HRCM report says in most schools, “classes are accommodated with multi-handicapped children with a limited number of teachers.”

Training teachers to work with children with special needs is another major issue, as is creating an action plan for children with disabilities and improving special education policies.

The HRCM reported that “there is virtually no access to or transition to secondary level education for children with special needs.”

Health services

The HRCM has pointed out that “human resources and facilities required to address mental health is lacking.”

According to the report, there is no mental healthcare available in Malé; there are only two psychiatrists working in the country who deal mostly with drug rehabilitation.

There is also a lack of quality residential care. There were more than thirty-one persons with disabilities waiting for a place at the Home for People with Special Needs in Guraidhoo as of March 2010. In contrast, there were thirty-one other patients who had been discharged but not taken home.

The HRCM said “their families aren’t taking them home. Some have been there for over six years.”

There are currently 137 beds in six wards around the country. A seventh ward was built in 2009, but cannot start functioning until furniture can be brought in.

The government is also providing “approved essential psychotropic drugs free of charge to registered psychiatric patients.” Patients can send in a form to the Ministry of Health and Family to get approval for free medications, including anti-depressants and anti-psychotic drugs.

The government also provides assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, crutches, spectacles, hearing aids and special seats with children with cerebral palsy.

Employment and financial assistance

The HRCM states “the most obvious gap in services provided to persons with disabilities is lack of employment services.”

They note that there is no support from the government in helping disabled people find jobs, and 72 percent of working age men and 93 percent of working age women with disabilities were not in work as of 2008.

The HRCM believes one of the biggest challenges with employment is that many employers have low expectations about what persons with disabilities can and cannot do, thus excluding them from the workforce due to discrimination.

The HRCM stated that “although assistive devices are available from the government, there is limited information made available to persons with disabilities.”

The government currently provides a monthly allowance of Rf 1,500 (US$118) for legally blind persons through the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, but “there is no income assistance to persons with other forms of disabilities.”

Access to buildings and transport

The HRCM has recognised limited access to premises and on transport as one of the major service gaps for people with disabilities.

They note that “inaccessibility of the built environment is a major contributing factor that decreases the number of workplaces available to persons with disabilities,” and suggests that homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, government offices, courts and shops be “more accessible and user friendly.”

Although they note there is “evidence of genuine attempt to address this issue” in the Family and Children Service Centres, the National Building Code must be amended in order to eliminate obstacles to indoor and outdoor facilities.

“The roads, pavements, road signs and traffic lights are not designed to be friendly for persons with disabilities…it’s lamentable that wheelchair access is not possible even on ferry services between Malé and the airport.”

The HRCM suggests that improving roads and transport to be more accessible will not only help those with disabilities, but will also benefit the elderly, parents with prams, and people carrying groceries.

The HRCM made numerous recommendations in their report, including how to improve leadership and commitment from the government and community; teaching sign language to staff at the Ministry of Health and Family and the Maldives Police Service, among others; and improving access to information for people with disabilities on how their lives can be bettered through government policies.

NGOs

There are several NGOs working to improve the rights of disabled people in the Maldives, such as Hand in Hand, Association of Disability and Development, and Handicap International among others, but the Care Society is currently the only one who provides services and has been working with people with disabilities for eleven years.

Shidhatha Shareef from the Care Society said “clearly, we have a long way to go. Many services are still not available [for persons with disabilities].”

She said the NGOs are also facing many challenges and limitations, especially regarding staff training and public awareness.

The Care Society runs a school for children from zero to twenty-five years of age with disabilities. They are currently catering to 55 children and are trying to promote education services on other islands.

Shidhatha said one of the bigger problems with education concerning children with disabilities is that most schools only take children with very limited to moderate disabilities, and not those with more severe disabilities.

She said the best way the government can help improve the lives of persons with disabilities is by “prioritising the issue,” and added “we do hope the bill [on protecting rights of persons with disabilities] is ratified soon.”

Shidhatha said despite all the work being done to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities, such as signing the CRPD, “people with disabilities do not have equal rights.”

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Islamic Ministry expresses concern over Akon’s SuperFest

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Ahmed Shaheem Ali Saeed has said the ministry has received “many complaints” from people concerned about the upcoming Akon concert, which is to be held in the Maldives on 23 April.

”We have received many phone calls and complaints from people asking why we are doing nothing when a person who sings explicit lyrics is about to perform in the country,” Shaheem said.

”Our opinion is that we do not like explicit singers to perform in the country.”

He explained that scholars agreed that singing was allowed under the tenets of Islam, ”but with a good level of discipline.”

Akon is no stranger to religious controversy, after he was denied a visa to Sri Lanka by the country’s authorities because of a video clip in which he dances around a Buddha statue with scantily-clad women.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the government had no valid reason to reject Akon from performing in the Maldives.

Zuhair said if the Islamic ministry had any issues against it, “they can either send a letter or speak about it in the cabinet meeting.”

”It would be very unfair to say that Akon might do this or that before he actually does it,” Zuhair said.

He said a private company had spent a large amount of money investing in the performance in the Maldives, and that many Maldivian companies were also involved in the event.

Zuhair has previously stated that President Mohamed Nasheed is keen to attend the concert, which the government hopes will lead to further performances in the Maldives.

Event Manager in the Maldives for Akon concert Fathmath Raufa said the organisers were “fully confident” that nothing against the tenets of Islam would take place during the event.

”Our main purpose is to promote our country and to introduce entertainment tourism to the Maldives,” she said. ”This is like any other show held in Male’.”

She said there was no reason to stop this event, and noted that Akon and both his parents were Muslim.

Islamic NGO Jamiyathul Salaf did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

From Akon’s song ‘Senegal’:

‘So what you know about how God comes first in our lives, everything that we do is for Allah

So what you know about that Holy place called Touba where Prophets were born

So what you know about comin’ here, gettin money and investing it back home.”

From Akon’s song ‘Bartender’:

” Don’t smoke, don’t drink, that’s why I don’t be by the bar, baby

Just lookin’ at you from a distance, lookin’ like a goddamn star, baby

So my girl don’t see me, T-Pain, can I get those keys to the car?

‘Bout to go and bang bang boogie with my cutie and I’ll see you tomar’.”

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President grants clemency to self-exiled ‘Sandhaanu’ Luthfy

President Mohamed Nasheed has granted clemency to Ibrahim Moosa ‘Sandhaanu’ Luthfy, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for writing against the former government.

Luthfy escaped imprisonment by the former government when he was taken to Sri Lanka for medical treatment in May 2005. He undertook self-exile in Switzerland where he was supported by the United Nations and the Swiss government.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said Luthfy was a man who was “on the front line” when the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) started its work “to reform the government.”

Zuhair said that  according to the new constitution, “freedom of expression is not illegal.”

”In the constitution people have freedom of expression,” he said, ”so [Luthfy] has committed no crime under the law and so should not be serving a punishment.”

Speaking from Switzerland, Luthfy told Minivan News the charges against him by the former government were “unjust and made by force.”

Luthfy said he had been charged for “misleading the people and defaming a former government cabinet minister.”

”At first we started dropping papers on the ground to let people know about the condition of human rights and the judicial system in the Maldives,” Luthfy said.

“Then the internet was invented, and we started our work as an online, unregistered magazine based in Malaysia called ‘Sandhaanu’.”

Luthfy claimed the former government put him under life imprisonment “because they had no other way to stop us from working.”

”They tried to catch us in many ways, including sending CID agents to Malaysia, but they could not,” he said.

”Then during the time of the September 11 attack, the former president [Maumoon Abdul Gayoom] gave out an international red notice that we were terrorists.”

He said he was then caught and brought to the Maldives.

”Criminal court judge Abdulla Areef [now a judge at supreme court] gave the verdict without giving me the chance to use a defense lawyer or to present any witnesses to defend myself,” he said.

Luthfy claimed that the serious injuries he received while in prison led to international journalism organisations pressuring the former government to take him out of jail for medical treatment.

”They brought me to Male’ where doctors said I needed to go abroad for treatment, so the former government took me to Sri Lanka along with two guards,” he said. ”The doctor at the Sri Lankan hospital gave me two options: either stay in the hospital for seven days for observation or to come back after seven days, and said I preferred to come back after seven days.”

He stayed in a hotel with the two guard, but one morning he managed to escape.

”One day after fajr prayers when I came out of my room, the two guards were sleeping so I ran away,” he said.

”I sought for help from the United Nations and other organisations via e-mail, and meanwhile sent messages to the former government saying that I would let people know about how people were being tortured in the cells if any international notice was put out to find me.”

He claimed the former government tried to find him, assisted by the Sri Lankan police, but were unsuccessful.

The United Nations protected him in Sri Lanka for six months before sending him to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Switzerland.

”I have been here for seven years but will be returning to the Maldives very soon,” he said.

Spokesman for the former President, Mohamed Hussein ‘Mundhu’ Shareef, said as far as he was concerned Luthfy was “not a person”, “a nobody [who will] remain so” and he would not drop his reputation to the same level as Luthfy by commenting on the matter.

Furthermore, Mundhu said that news outlets reporting on “these kinds of unprofessional people” also risked being categorised as unprofessional.

“All you achieve in giving this clown space in the media is giving him unwarranted attention and importance. I do not wish to have any such part in such an exercise. Scum will always remain scum,” he said.

“If you want people to believe that Minivan [News] is anything but Anni’s mouthpiece, it’s advisable to stay clear of such [an] exercise to give cosmetic makeovers to people like Luthfy.”

He noted that MDP Chairperson Mariya Didi was a State Attorney at the former Attorney General’s office at the time of Luthfy’s  conviction.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and DRP MP and former cabinet minister Abdulla Mausoom failed to respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Unregistered marriages leave children unable to inherit, warns Family Court

The Family Court has claimed that unregistered marriages occurring in the Maldives are denying children the legal rights of those born to ‘registered’ couples.

According to Maldivian law, children born out of wedlock can face difficultly obtaining legal recognition for matters such as claiming their inheritance.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Didi confirmed that children born to couples who exchange vows in unsanctioned private marriages do not have the same legal rights as children born to those who marry legally.

“It’s a serious problem,” Didi said, explaining that such children can experience problems claiming inheritance and tracing their family.

“The children cannot find their family line or claim their property,” he said.

There were “certain religious people” giving false information to others in small communities, he said, who were instructing their followers to marry “according to Islam and not Maldivian law.”

Didi noted that although these marriages could technically be recognised by Islam, “the country’s law says we have to register a marriage.”

He said the ministry is running “awareness programmes giving proper information to people,” as well as providing education through the media, information sessions at the ministry and during Friday sermons.

Didi said the ministry “has not found clues” as to why certain religious scholars are marrying people outside the law, but he thinks the only reason is “they want to have a bigger group of followers.”

The Family Court confirmed it was dealing with some cases involving private marriages, and said if the marriage was not registered at the court, it was not technically legal.

Couples receive a certificate through the court which proves they are married, she explained.

Children born to couples who are not registered will not appear under the father’s name and “will not have legal rights”, the court registrar noted.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said the problem was all down to the “concubine business.”

According to legal procedures concerning polygamy, for a man to marry more than one woman, the first wife must give her consent for her husband to marry someone else. In this event, his finances and ‘level of commitment’ will be examined by the court.

Zuhair said some men who did not pass the requirements were getting married outside the law.

“The problem is that divorce is then also not legal, and children are unable to claim their inheritance,” he said, noting that although the marriage could be recognised under Islam, it was not recognised under Maldivian law.

Zuhair noted the greater issue behind these ‘private marriages’ was the discussion by Islamic scholars over whether State laws should stand alone from Shari’a, although “of course State law is influenced by Shari’a law.”

“The Constitution gives power to the State,” he said, “but certain Islamic scholars believe this shouldn’t be the case.”

A source who wished to remain anonymous from an island “well known for these type of illegal marriages” told Minivan News that “there is a group of people who believe the Constitution of the Maldives should not be followed because it is not based on Shari’a law.”

He said these people claimed that judges at the courts were “apostates” and that marriage under a Maldivian court could not be recognised under the tenets of Islam.

He said people who do not follow this group “would also be considered apostates.”

He said many people involved with this group were also not sending their children to school because they would have to sing the school song “as they believe singing is haraam, and also claim the school uniform is not very ‘Muslim’.”

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Civil Court fines supermarket Rf1 for overcharging customer

The Civil Court has ordered the Mahchangolhi branch of prominent Male’ supermarket Agora to pay Rf1 (US7 cents), after a distgruntled customer filed a lawsuit against the economic ministry and Agora’s owners, the Bright Brothers company.

Hassan Suwad of Sulha in Henveiru sued the shop for selling him a bottle of ‘Biore’ facial foam for Rf1 more than the purchase price mentioned on the product.

Civil Court Judge Hathif Hilmy ruled that Agora pay Rf1 to the Civil Court within five days, so it could be returned to the customer.

Furthermore, Judge Hathif said that according to the witnesses it was proved that Agora had tried to return the Rf1 to Suwad when he purchased the product.

Judge Hathif said that without presenting the economic ministry in court, the Civil Court cannot order on them in their absence.

Agora and Bright Brothers did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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