Day: October 6, 2010

All the world’s a stage: Maldivian death metal band beats the odds and goes global

Death metal is the genre, Maldivian is the nationality – not the best odds for making it on the world music stage. However Nothnegal, a band of determined and passionate young Maldivians, have beaten the odds and are getting ready to perform at twenty different venues across Europe.

The band of young Maldivians Hilarl, Fufu, Avo, and Battery have been signed by Season of Mist, one of the biggest labels on the death metal music scene, who count music monolith EMI as a distributor.

They are going to open for Fintroll, one of the biggest bands on the contemporary metal scene, on their European tour. Starting from Europe, the band will perform gigs in various cities across Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Hungrary, Slovenia, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Their tour will conclude at the O2 Academy in the UK, supporting Fear Factory, a gold-selling band which tops the death metal scene. For band members it is a sweet success – Fear Factory is one of the first death metal bands they ever listened to.

“They were our heroes, and now we are doing support for them,” Hilarl, the lead guitarist and composer, told Minivan News. He feels the same about Arch Enemy, which they supported in July at Rockstorm in Male’.

Nothnegal started their career doing covers of Arch Enemy in 2006. Within four years, Nothnegal were their supporting act, an astonishing transformation by any standard.

Banging heads against a wall of prejudice

Nothnegal’s journey into big time has been difficult. The genre itself is a tough one in which to make it on the world scene. Being Maldivian has made it doubly-hard where musicians have to overcome not just the non-mainstream nature of the genre but also lack of support for music and youth as a whole.

“You are not a Maldivian band”, Nothnegal was once told by a local television station, which refused to give it any coverage. “You do not sing in Dhivehi”, was the reason given for their ‘un-Maldivianness’.

Without any institutional support to encourage the music scene in the Maldives, band members had to go to wealthy members of society with out-stretched hands, asking for sponsorship.

“It is a very subjective process – people fund what they are themselves into. If the head of a company likes football, football is the only activity that company will support”.

Even when a potential sponsor did like music, it was hard to find someone who had time for a death metal band. “It is easier for those who mime, or those who cover Bollywood music, to find sponsorship. Original work gets sidelined, because people are not prepared to listen,” Hilarl said.

They met Minivan News with a photocopy of their record label contract in hand, apparently a document demanded as “proof” by journalists.

“When we meet the media, they ask us to bring ‘valid documents’. They do not believe that we have a record deal”.

The general prejudice against youth manifested mostly in potential sponsors’ aversion to the length of band members’ hair, almost a must on the death metal scene. In Maldivian society, a ‘sure sign’ of a life wasted on drugs.

Nothnegal found an exception in Maaji (with Nothnegal people do not have surnames) of Le Cute, a businessman with a passion for music who looked beyond the long hair and the negative perceptions, to encourage and support Nothnegal. “Without him we would not have made it,” Avo and Hilarl were both keen to emphasise.

There were a small band of others who helped Nothnegal for nothing more than the love of music and belief in the band. Shamheed who did all the artwork and a soon to be released video for the song “Web of deceit”, Muhaa who did the photography, and Kudoo who does all the local promotion work, are people that the band wants desperately to thank.

A solo act

For the rest of the journey, they walked alone. Their last album, “Antidote of Realism”, was produced after many a sleepless night in a studio, which a friend had let them use for free. All of them were working, some holding down full-time jobs.

“Avo would come to the studio straight after work. He would stay up all night, sleeping for only an hour before going to work the next morning,” Hilarl said. They paid close to Rf70,000 (US$5500) for the album’s production in Finland out of their own money.

It was worth it.

“Antidote to Realism”, which they released on the internet, got Nothnegal noticed by the world death metal scene. It is also got them their new drummer – American Kevin Talley, and Finn Marco Sneck.

Both are big names in the world of death metal worldwide, and both wanted to join Nothnegal because their music is good. Greg Reely, a Canadian record producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in music including Coldplay and Fear Factory, is going to work on their next album.

Even the global recognition, however, has not been enough to get them noticed within the Maldives itself.

“We are still waiting to meet the Youth Minister [Hassan Latheef]. We asked for an appointment a long time ago. We are not even sure if he got the message,” Avo said.

Being left in the cold by the Youth Minister, however, is not the most pressing issue for Nothnegal right now. They have other, more important – again, uniquely Maldivian – problems to worry about, such as finding the right clothes to wear for the middle of winter in Europe.

“Not an easy task in the Maldives,” where wool is harder to find than even foreign currency. Nothnegal are in the process of procuring winter gear on e-Bay, and are hoping that it will get here on time before they leave.

Even wrapped up in wool, ready for a harsh European winter, Nothnegal remains Maldivian through and through.

Their new album, which they have just completed writing after a year’s hard graft, is going to be influenced by Maldivian sounds. Like Metallica, they have mellowed their sound from extreme metal to what they call ‘industrial thrash metal’.

Their new lyrics will tell the story of a post-apocalyptic world brought about by climate change. Their last album, ‘Antidote of realism’ tells the story of the political chaos of recent times.

“Singing in Thaana, to the tune of someone else’s music, is not what Maldivian music should be about’, Hilarl said. Nothnegal is going global as a Maldivian band, and are proud of it.

Listen to ‘Antidote to Realism’ online

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MPs clash over signing Convention on International Criminal Court

MPs clashed over signing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at a rancorous debate during yesterday’s sitting of parliament.

While MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) used the debate time to condemn the “unlawful and authoritarian” practices of the previous government, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party-People’s Alliance (DRP-PA) MPs accused the current administration of disregarding rule of law and negating parliamentary oversight.

Following an hour-long debate, a motion to send the matter to the national security committee for further consideration, proposed by DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom, was carried with 61 votes in favour and four against.

The issue was sent for parliamentary approval by President Mohamed Nasheed in accordance with article 93(a) of the constitution, which states that, “Treaties entered into by the executive in the name of the state with foreign states and international organisations shall be approved by the People’s Majlis and shall come into force only in accordance with the decision of the People’s Majlis.”

“Torturers”

MDP Parliamentary Group Leader “Reeko” Moosa Manik said the purpose of the international criminal court was to “arrest torturers like Maumoon [Abdul Gayoom], people like Ilyas Ibrahim [brother-in-law of the former president] who stole state property and funds, and Attorney Generals like Hassan Saeed who tried to hide it.”

Moosa compared legislation voted through last year to afford privileges and protection to former presidents to laws enacted in Serbia to protect war criminals.

The former president and his brother-in-law, along with former National Security Services senior officer “Isthafa” Ibrahim Manik, he continued, numbered among “the worst torturers in the country’s history.”

Moosa accused former Attorney General Hassan Saeed, leader of the minority opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), of unlawfully arresting and jailing peaceful protesters on August 12 and 13, 2004.

Further, he speculated that the current administration was “incapable of touching [the issue of the former government]” because people involved in the purported crimes were in the new government as well.

He added that “suckling babes” in parliament who “jump up to defend [senior officials of the former government]” would not be able to understand the “feelings of torture victims”.

Moreover, he argued, numerous custodial deaths and brutal torture in prisons exacerbated the national crises of drug abuse and corruption, adding that the new government would go the same way if “action is not taken now.”

Following Moosa’s tirade, DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom accused the MDP government of formulating policies only to “benefit certain people”, which he argued could be “considered a crime in international courts.”

DRP MP for Mid-Henveiru Ali Azim insisted that parliament needed time to carefully study the documents sent over by the president’s office, containing legal advice from the Attorney General, before reaching a decision.

Islamic principles

Minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur meanwhile noted that the absence of the United States and most Islamic countries from the list of signatories “raises some questions”.

Referring to article 7.1(h), which deals with persecution of minorities, Independent MP Ibrahim Muttalib argued that parliament should consider whether some articles of the convention were in conflict with Islamic principles.

“This article talks about discrimination,” he cautioned. “Today, international parties consider as discrimination the fact that people of other religions don’t live among us; the fact that we don’t have gay marriage. This is something we have to think about.”

Muttalib added that he was “certain” that secularists and followers of other religions in the Maldives would “come out openly after this convention is signed and start working for their rights.

“Those amongst us today who want gay marriage, once this convention is ratified, will begin work on getting married,” he continued. “We are certain that there are people among us who are scared of our religious scholars and rebuke them. They will make use of this court and begin work against the scholars.”

Vili-Maafanu MP Ahmed Nihan agreed that Maldivian citizens would “surely” take the government to the ICC “saying the government did not allow us to have gay marriage.”

Controversial religious scholar Dr Afrashim Ali, DRP MP for Ungoofaru, meanwhile warned that such conventions could be used “to shatter Islamic principles” and defame individuals “outside the bounds of law”.

Afrashim insisted that the convention should not be signed if it could lead to “the construction of temples here under the name of religious freedom.”

Moreover, Afrashim reprimanded MDP MPs for leveling serious accusations at the former president, pointing out that he had never been convicted of wrongdoing in a court of law.

DRP Deputy Leader Ali Waheed attacked the government for refusing to enact legislation passed by parliament, such as the amendments to the Public Finance Act, which was passed for a second time after the president vetoed the bill.

Independent MP Ahmed Amir suggested that consultations should take place with stakeholders in the judiciary before parliament makes a decision.

Vilifushi MP Riyaz Rasheed of DQP questioned the President’s motive for proposing the matter to parliament.

Referring to the People’s Court protests carried out by the MDP, Riyaz insisted that parliament should pass a law before signing the convention to specify the circumstances under which a Maldivian could be tried at an international court.

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Importers concerned about dollar shortage

The growing dollar shortage in the Maldives has raised alarm among several commodity import businesses operating in Male’ today, after at least one bank ceased to allow the free transfer of rufiya into dollar accounts.

“The problem we have is that local buyers pay us in rufiya, but our bank has now stopped allowing us to transfer this into our US dollar account,” the manager of one enterprise told Minivan News today.

“Our overseas suppliers have to be paid in dollars. How are you meant to run a business in this place? Surely they can’t go on like this?”

The Maldives grapples with a foreign currency deficit due to a heavy import-export imbalance. Goods from overseas must be purchased with foreign currency, but the Maldives has little ability to earn this outside the resort industry.

This industry typically pays salaries in local currency, while commercial banking is conducted outside the country. As a result the wider Maldives economy sees few of the dollars that tourists bring into the country, aside from what tourists spend in local shops and the little that can be extracted from a compliant bank.

“Currently the resort owners and wealthy businessmen bank overseas,” Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair explained, adding that this was largely due to a lack of trust in the local banking system.

“There is a lack of trust in the government, insecurity, and fear of things like seizure,” Zuhair said, noting that the government was “trying to promote that trust.”

An unwillingness among the banks to sell dollars for local currency does little to promote this confidence, with many banks imposing withdrawal limits even on dollar accounts. Earlier this week local media reported that average daily withdrawal limits had fallen from US$500 to US$200, effectively denying account holders access to their own money.

This, and a distrust of the banks, leads many Maldivians keep their savings privately – effectively ‘under-the -mattress.’

“A lot of money that should be in circulation is not being circulated, because people keep their savings privately,” Zuhair explained.

Companies forced to deal with suppliers in dollars are compelled to use the black market, which currently sells at Rf13.5-13.35 to the dollar (the rufiya is pegged at 12.85), making access to foreign exchange a matter of ‘friends and connections’. Most people with a local mobile phone will have received circulated text message appeals for dollars in the event of a emergency requiring air travel and overseas hospital fees.

Large currency events such as the donation of Rf9 million in relief aid to Pakistan have a further impact, with one government official observing to Minivan News that the quantity of money raised to assist Pakistan flood victims had reached a size where it would have a visible effect on the economy, even if enough dollars were to be found.

“Given the small size of our economy that amount of money will have an impact. It doesn’t make a difference that it is in dollars,” he said.

“On the one hand we have a currency situation to manage, on the other hand there is a humanitarian cost. Neither answer is politically correct.”

Zuhair noted that the country’s foreign currency income was pegged to foreign grant assistance and foreign investment, “both of which are improving.”

“The government has forecast it will receive $90 million this year in donor pledges, soft loans and grants, which I believe will improve the situation.”

Banks have increased the debit limit imposed on Maldivians travelling overseas, from US$200 to US$600, he said.

Moreover, the dollar shortage was seasonal and typically at a peak before the tourism industry’s high season, he said, due to begin in the next couple of months as winter hits Europe.

But for companies buying in dollars and selling in rufiya, the inability to trade legally in currency is hardly an incentive for further investment. Such companies are forced to rely on the unpredictable black market – or bank overseas, and perpetuate the problem.

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PA joins Salaf in condemning co-education

The minority opposition party People’s Alliance (PA), led by the former president’s brother, MP Abdulla Yameen, has strongly condemned the idea of introducing co-education.

A statement issued by the PA claimed that the government was attempting to “douse the light of Islam” in the country, and called on the government to “immediately terminate this action.”

“Majeediyya was a male school and Ameeniyya was a female school since the beginning, it is a big trait to the proud history of the two schools to introduce co-education,” the statement said.

PA said that co-education was implemented for island schools because there was no other way due to a lack of facilities, and that females and males were not mixed because people decided that way.

“in Arabiyya school two genders are mixed only when it becomes a basic need, however, we note that although students were mixed, girls and boys sit in different halves [of the classroom],” PA said.

PA referred to research conducted at Cambridge University claiming that single-sex education had better educational outcomes.

“The current government, as soon as they came in to administration, have cunningly attempted to douse the light of Dhivehi and Islam,” PA alleged. “It has given a deaf ear to the petition presented to the government with the signature of hundreds of concerned authorities.”

Minister of Education Dr Musthafa Luthfy yesterday told Minivan News that co-education has been a part of the Maldivian education system for a long time.

“When we studied at ‘Edhuruge’ [traditional places of learning, where classes were held at a teacher’s house] there were girls and boys mixed,” said Dr Musthafa. “There are currently only four schools in the Maldives that are not co-educational.”

Dr Musthafa said his idea was to develop an integrated educational system that comprised of science, commerce, arts and aesthetics.

“If anyone is in doubt, they can ask parents and school managements whether students have moved further away from religion or closer to it after I assumed office,” he said.

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Jails and parole bill sent to committee

Parliament today voted to proceed with a bill submitted by the government on jails and parole.

The bill was sent to the home affairs committee with unanimous consent of all MPs in attendance.

Presenting the legislation to the floor on Monday, Mahibadhoo MP Ruggiya Mohamed of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that a law governing prisons and the care of prisoners was essential to improve the condition of jails in the country.

The bill specifies rules for the management of jails and procedures for incarceration, rehabilitation and parole as well as rights and benefits due to inmates.

During the debate over the past two sittings, MPs expressed concern that convicts were loose in society due to the failure to enforce sentences.

Several MPs highlighted the need to segregate inmates based on the severity of their crimes and stop the inflow of illegal drugs.

In September 2003, the custodial death of 19-year-old Evan Naseem and the subsequent inmate uprising that resulted in the death of three inmates sparked unprecedented civil unrest in the capital Male’, widely believed to have been the catalyst for for democratic reform.

More recently, violent confrontations between the inmate population and the stand-by Emergency Support Group (ESG) led to riots in October 2009 and April 2010, resulting in costly damages to the country’s main jail.

While inmates petitioned President Mohamed Nasheed over deteriorating conditions in Maafushi jail in July 2009, allegations of torture and abuse surfaced after each of the riots were suppressed by force.

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President returns to Male’

President Mohamed Nasheed returned to Male’ last night after attending the opening of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.

Speaking to press upon his arrival, Nasheed revealed that the Indian government has pledged to build 400 housing units in the Maldives.

During his visit, the president met with the Prime Minister of India as well as business leaders and Indian infrastructure companies.

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Comment: Sharia punishments would be a sin given the current state of the judiciary

It is natural to want the Huddud (Laws of Qur’an and Sunnah) applied when one is experiencing so much death and tragedy as is happening in the Maldives.

But before the death penalty can be applied, the legal system must be absolutely objective. Unless there is a strong faith in the ability of the justice system, unless there is widespread faith that there are no incompetent judges or possibilities of bribery or subjectivity in the decision making procedure, it is a sin to implement Shariah Law which is a huge Amanah (trust) and MUST NOT BE TOYED WITH!

Before Maldives can implement Shariah, it MUST first establish widespread trust in the judiciary by through serious reform measures.

“O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.” [An-Nisa 4:35]

The law as we know it is believed by many to be a shocking betrayal of the Quran’s Amr (command) to ensure absolute objectivity. Adhaalath and Al-Qisas (social justice and equity for all) are a MUST before Hadd can be applied!

What if your children were put to death for a crime that was made up? False charges occur very frequently.

What if the drug dealers and corrupt ones who control court rooms in much of the world killed your son or daughter on charges of “terror” or manufactured charges of murder, zina or anything – but all your children really did was try to prevent the drug dealers from harming people? And were killed for that based on false charges made up that they committed zina?

As the Ummah is as one body, and one feels the pain of every other, I cannot but help fend for the potential victims of injustice under a system which sees the rich and powerful use the legal system to exterminate their enemies unjustly.

Think about all those who stood up against tyrants in world history, and imagine if they had of been killed by the State in the name of Islam even though they were fighting for True Islam which is Peace and Justice.

Real peace cannot exist in the absence of justice – how many crimes were manufactured against the activists of history?

It seems that in the system we have, to be a Muslim, which implies standing up for the downtrodden, sick and oppressed, is to sacrifice yourself. This is because truth suffers in this unjust world, but that suffering must be embraced for others if one is to be a person of true leadership, as a leader is called to be ‘a shield for others’ (in Sahih Muslim, Book of Government.)

In many societies, the real criminals walk away from the courts – and in fact control the courts, and that does not look like it can be changed!

So, the killers and the drug dealers will be killing the innocent and oppressed in the name of implementing Islamic Law. Does that sound like Islam to you? That is serious Fitnah (dissension) from Islam…

The Hukm (Law) is deeply sacred, it is a massive Amanah (trust) which must never be taken lightly or under estimated.

Allah is Al Quddus, the Holy, and every injustice is made right in the Qiyamat. Read the Hadith about what is in store in Jahannum for Muslim leaders who missapply the Shariah Law for political ends, or for the wrong Niyat.

A judge is to be held accountable for his motives, and it is a massive Zalim (darkness – injustice) to missapply the Shariah Law.

I do advise anyone wishing to implement the Law to be aware not to play politics with the Sacred Law.

On many occasions, the Prophet (SAW) did not implement the death penalty (Rajm) for certain Hadd level crimes although others frantically pushed for it to be implemented. This was because absolute objectivity could not always be guarenteed in the decision-making procedure.

For example, in the Hadiths of Bukhari and Muslim, as narrated through Sahih Isnad (a reliable chain of narration) we read about some Muslims killing other Muslims because they were ‘not Muslim…’

They said Shahada only at the edge of the sword, it was claimed. In response to the claim that their Shahada was not genuine, the Prophet (SAW) said, “Did you cut their hearts open to see the Niyat (the quality of intention) of their hearts?’

The point being, if there is any chance that there could be a mistake, then only Allah (SWT) can judge in the Qiyamath, the judgement which is in the Akhira – the afterlife. Unless absolute objectivity can be guaranteed, the Prophet did not implement or advise Hadd.

On other occasions, according to Sahih Isnad in Bukhari and Muslim, it was obvious that a child was not the child of the father who thought they were the father. For Malsahah (social utility) the Prophet (SAW) said the child belongs to whom’s bed on which it was born. It was not beneficial to prescribe Hadd though it was technically due.

The Merciful essence of Islam and the Islamic intent of social harmony, social justice, would be betrayed by Hadd in such circumstances although Hadd was technically due.

A Qadi must be a qualified Mujtahid and must investigate the issue extensively before making a decision. Notice the word Mujtahid, notice how this word for study and decision making about the Law requires Jihad – striving or struggle – as is contained in the word. If a Judge exhausts all avenues of possible doubt, only then will he be rewarded for decision making, and those doubts include ones own heart’s doubts!

Justice and truth must exist in the heart of the people before it can be applied to the courts and the system.

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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491 students apply for Rf10 million loan scheme

A total of 491 students applied for the government’s Rf10 million loan scheme for Maldivian students to pursue higher education, the Ministry of Human Resources has revealed.

Deputy Minister Aminath Ali explained to newspaper Haveeru that 50 students in the country and 44 studying abroad will be chosen for the scheme, with loans ranging from Rf10,000 to Rf50,000 for the former category and Rf150,000 to Rf250,000 for the latter.

While loans were issued from the Bank of Maldives for the previous rounds of the scheme, Ali said the ministry was currently in talks with the Bank of Ceylon and hoped to process the applications within the next two weeks.

Loans amounting to Rf26 million were issued to 1,158 students in the first round.

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Rf10.7 million from Provident Fund savings invested in public companies

Some 522 members of the Provident Fund invested Rf10.7 million (US$832,680) in public companies following an announcement by the Finance Ministry of the opportunity to purchase government shares of listed companies during the period May-June 2010, reports Haveeru.

According to the ministry, 27,367 shares from the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), 11,517 shares from the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), 10,396 shares from the Bank of Maldives (BML), and 6,969 shares from the State Trading Organisation (STO), were sold during the three months.

In September, STO revealed that 16.88 percent of its shares was now owned by the public.

In addition to investing in public companies, the Finance Ministry has invited members of the Provident Fund to purchase bonds from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

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