Year: 2010

International Federation of Journalists accepts MJA

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) has become an associate member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), giving its members international credibility and recognition as media professionals.

Founded in 1926, the IFJ is the world’s largest journalist organisation with 600,000 members in over 100 countries, and speaks for journalists within the United Nations system. The organisation itself is apolitical but nonetheless promotes human rights, democracy and pluralism. It vehemently condemns the use of media as propaganda or to promote intolerance and conflict.

President of the MJA Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir said the membership was a “significant achievement” for the rights of the press in the Maldives, and a goal the association had been striving towards for since April last year.

While the membership grants international recognition, ongoing education and development of journalism in the country was still needed, Hiriga explained.

“I know the Faculty of Education is running a course in journalism, but I’ve heard it’s mostly history – I haven’t heard of any experienced specialists teaching there,” he said.

Seeking assistance for the development of Maldivian journalism was one of the requests made by MJA members during a recent trip to the embassies in Colombo.

“We asked for support to help give us training and fund scholarships for Maldivian journalists, but most said they had a tight budget,” Hiriga said.

“They did say they were most concerned about the situation in the Maldives following the recent gang attacks [on media].”

Hiriga said the MJA had also expressed its concerns about indirect oppression of the media “behind the scenes.”

“There is press freedom [in the sense] that the government is so far not directly jailing journalists,” he noted.

In a letter to the MJA, the IFJ said it was pleased to accept the MJA’s membership “and work with it to address the challenges and pressures the Maldives media faces.”

Editor of daily newspaper Miadhu, Abdulla Latheef, said he did not think the IFJ membership would be beneficial for the Maldivian media at-large as “because half [the MJA’s] senior members are from Haveeru [the daily newspaper of which Hiriga is editor].”

Latheef said after gang attacks on television station DhiTV and a Haveeru printery staff member, “the MJA did not even hold a meeting or even check to see whether its members were fine.”

”I believe the organisation is trying to take over the media,” he said. ”I am a member of it, anyway.”

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Vice President urges companies to fulfil social responsibilities

Speaking at the 15 anniversary function of Malé Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) at the Fen Building, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed urged all business organisations in the Maldives to give special attention to fulfilling their corporate social responsibility.

Dr Waheed said, as the largest water provider in the country, the MWSC was undertaking a great responsibility.

He called on the company to fulfill its social responsibility and keep in mind the greater benefit of the people, while still working to maximise its profit.

Dr Waheed said clean drinking water and more affordable and accessible services for the less fortunate of the country should be given special consideration.

He said access to clean drinking water and adequate sewerage facilities was a Constitutional right of Maldivians, and it is the state’s responsibility to provide these services.

Dr Waheed said the MWSC had been providing clean water for half the population, and added the government established provincial utilities companies to provide for the rest of the population.

Dr Waheed also presented the company’s annual employee awards.

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Investment in private sector to be worth US$1 billion over three years-President Nasheed

President Mohamed Nasheed has said in his weekly radio address on the Voice of Maldives last Friday that private sector investments in the Maldives will be worth an estimated US$1 billion over the next three years.

President Nasheed said this would be in addition to official development assistance, and discussed details of the investment areas and upcoming projects.

Some of the projects are the upgrade of Malé International Airport and Hanimandhoo airport, expanding Gan airport’s runway, establishing a waste management facility in Thilafushi, Apollo Hospitals taking over Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the proposed national ferry system, and a project to build 10,000 housing units.

President Nasheed also spoke of the recent Donor’s Conference, saying it “was very successful.” He added that it showed the trust the international community has in the current government.

The president said the US$ 313 million in pledges that was announced at the Donor Conference will go toward developmental assistance and budget support.

President Nasheed added that the sports sector will be restructured, and there will be a national sports institute to oversee development of sports infrastructure.

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Taxi destroyed in fire

A taxi parked near Hazarsh Mart in Galolhu, Malé, caught fire yesterday, report police.

Police said the fire started at 5 pm. Nobody was injured during the incident.

The Maldives National Defense Force Fire and Rescue team attended the area and controlled the fire.

Police reported that the car was almost fully damaged during the incident and are still investigating the reason for the fire.

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National football team player arrested

Police have arrested mid-fielder for the Maldives national football team and Victory club, Mohamed ”Bakaa” Arif, in connection with a drug-related case.

Sub-inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Arif was arrested last Thursday in connection with a police special operation.

Shiyam said the case was under investigation and he could not provide more details on the arrest.

Arif was recently transferred from the New Radicals club to the Victory, for whom he still has not played a single game.

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Maldives police complete judo course

Twelve police have completed their second course in basic judo techniques, organised by Maldives Police Services (MPS).

The judo course was conducted by Yukata Kakinooma from the Japan International Corporation Agency, running throughout March. The first course was conducted in January.

Judo, meaning “gentle way”,  is a popular Japanese martial art that emphasises immobilisation of the opponent through joint locks, holds and grappling.

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Donor Conference pledges now US$487 million, says Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Aid commitments following the recent Maldives Donor Conference have reached US$487 million, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed and State Minister Ahmed Naseem took to the stage this morning to dismiss claims made by the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) that the donor conference had raised less US$20 million in pledges.

“That is their own number,” Dr Shaheed said.

“If you add up the money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the UN system, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) it’s almost US$200 million. That is 80 per cent of pledges coming from these big donors.”

Shaheed spoke about monitoring and implementation mechanisms, which would ensure the funds are used according to the donor’s wishes and the government’s pledges.

Coordinator for the UN in the Maldives Mansoor Ali said the donor conference had been very successful and it was “not the time to be negative” about the results.

Dr Shaheed also spoke of the recent climate change meeting held this week by the Progressive Group in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, where delegates from 23 countries met to advance negotiations before the next international climate change summit scheduled to take place in Cancun, Mexico in November this year.

The Progressive Group brings together the countries with a “forward-looking and constructive attitude to international climate change negotiations,” and played a key role in last year’s international climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Delegates from over twenty countries came together in Colombia to “exchange opinions and promote active participation towards the next climate change summit.”

The meeting focused mostly on creating ministerial-level communication between countries, in hopes to ease dialogue between nations and to advance on key issues such as fast-start financing, adaptation, low-carbon development and verification of emission cuts.

Maldives proposed a second ministerial-level meeting to take place in Malé in July this year.

Dr Shaheed also spoke of President Mohamed Nasheed’s recent visit to Europe, and confirmed that German Police officers will be arriving in Malé “very soon” to begin training Maldives Police Service (MPS) officers to work in a democracy.

“They are the ones who retrained the Stasi in East Germany after German reunification, as well as the police force in Kosovo,” Shaheed said. “They are the best in the world at what they do.”

He said the German team will stay in the Maldives from one year to eighteen months, depending on when they believe the MPS is ready, “all at the German government’s expense.”

Dr Shaheed added that Icelandic President, Ólafur Grímsson, will be visiting the Maldives soon to promote sustainable green energy alongside President Nasheed.

Dr Shaheed spoke of the recently signed agreement with the Rothschild banking dynasty, which has agreed to help the Maldives in the bid to become carbon neutral by 2020.

“There needs to be a study on where we have most carbon emissions,” Dr Shaheed said, adding that “they will also try to carbon-proof our current systems.”

The Rothschild group will secure international financing to fund a carbon audit of the Maldives. Dr Shaheed said the surveying will take approximately nine months.

Dr Shaheed ended the press conference with news of the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to draft a new international human rights treaty as an additional optional protocol to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was proposed by the Maldives.

Maldives was chosen to chair the core group discussing the CRC in Geneva, joined by Slovenia, Slovakia, Egypt, Kenya, France, Finland, Thailand, Uruguay and Chile.

The CRC, which is the most ratified treaty in the world, was lacking in allowing cases regarding abuse of the rights of children to be submitted to international UN mechanisms.

The new treaty proposes to allow cases to be sent to international protection mechanisms to intervene when domestic institutions fail to offer protection.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story Dr Shaheed was quoted as saying the visiting German police trainers were  responsible for retraining the Gestapo after the Second World War. This has been clarified as the Stasi, the East German secret police, who were retrained after the reunification of Germany post-1990.

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DRP claims MDP activists sending death threats and damaging property

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Vice President and spokesperson Ibahim Shareef has claimed that Maldivian Democratic Party senior activists are sending death threats and damaging the property of DRP senior leaders.

Shareef claimed MDP senior activists had broke the glasses of his shop near Ahmadiyya by throwing pavement bricks at it.

”I have been receiving many death threats via SMS,” Shareef said. ”They are saying things like they would kill me and cut me into pieces.”

Shareef said all the attacks were “due to the hatred MDP activists have towards the DRP leaders.”

”They have been throwing stones at my house for a week now,” he said. ”If these acts are continuing we might have to become strict.”

The MDP “has a responsibility for them to stop these violent acts of their activists” Shareef said.

DRP MP and Vice President Ali Waheed said he had been receiving threats for more than a year, and was “quite used to them by now. I don’t care about it much.”

Waheed said he received threats via SMS and in person.

”One day a group of people entered my house when I was not at home,” he said. ”They took a knife and threatened my Mum.”

Spokesperson for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Ahmed Haleem said the claims from the DRP leaders “are lies”, and an attempt to attack the dignity of the MDP.

”I am sure than none of us would attack or threaten the DRP,” he said. ”They are just trying to gain political support bhy spreading rumours.”

Haleem said he had seen people “burn their own house and rebuild them just for political purposes.”

Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam from the Maldives Police Service (MPS) meanwhile confirmed that police had received “many reports from politicians saying they are being threatened.”

He added that police were currently collecting more information on the cases.

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‘Muslims of Russia’ exhibition on display at Islamic Centre

The Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation to the Maldives has organised a photography exhibition showcasing Muslims in Russia, in partnership with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The exhibition, ‘Muslims of Russia’, opened last night at the Islamic Centre and will close on 3 April. It is open to the public from 10am-12pm, 2.30-6pm and 8-10pm.

The photographs give a glimpse into the culture of Russia’s 22 million Muslims and give colour and life to the white exhibition room under the Mosque at the Islamic Centre.

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Vladimir Mikhalov, gave a speech at the opening ceremony held yesterday.

exhibition2
Muslims of Russia exhibition

The ambassador asked for a minute of silence in the memory of those killed in the terror attacks in Moscow on Monday morning.

Mikhalov said Russian police had confirmed the attack was carried out by two female suicide bombers from the northern Caucasus Mountains.

“This region is populated mostly by Muslims and unfortunately about twenty years ago…some selfish local leaders decided to take advantage of the weakness of the central government…and declared “jihad” to Russia and started their fighting.”

Mikhalov said most people, including Islamic spiritual leaders of the region, condemned their actions.

“That’s why they were defeated and peace in general was restored,” he said, but noted that the remnants of the group had been financed from overseas in order to destabilise the situation in Russia.

He assured guests that Russians had never associated terrorism with Islam and believe “terrorists have neither religion nor nationality.”

He said Islam is currently the second most widely professed religion in Russia, and Russians wanted to show “Muslim men, women, their children and elders in every day life.”

He also wished “the friendly Maldivian people…all the success in their development, as well as peace and prosperity.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed also spoke before guests explored the exhibition room.

The exhibition

symbols of faith
'Symbols of faith' and Khan's Mosque

The photographs are set out around the room, printed on canvases, depicting Muslim festivities, gatherings during Ramadan, Qur’an reciting competitions, Islamic architecture and Russian mosques, Muslim schools, prayer, sermons, Russian pilgrims in Mecca, and even an Islamic fashion show in Moscow.

A beautiful blue-lit photograph shows one of Russia’s oldest mosques, Khan’s Mosque, in the town of Kasimov in Ryazan district. Next to it sits one of the most captivating photographs, named ‘Symbols of Faith’ which shows a crescent-shaped light display on a mosque’s dome.

Another photograph shows a conference named ‘Russia-Islamic World: Partnership in the Name of Stability” held in Moscow and the 2009 International Contest of Qur’an Reciters.

The photographs depict everything from geese seemingly flying towards a mosque, to Russian dancers in a National Dance, History and Modernity Festival.

Russian Muslims

The first Russian Muslims were the Dagestani people in the current region of Derbent, after the Arabs arrived in the 8th century. The modern Tartars inherited the religion from them. European and Caucasian Turks also became followers of Islam.

Many churches and mosques were closed down during Soviet rule of the country, but started reopening in the 1990s.

In 2005, the Kul Shariff Mosque in Tatarstan was rebuilt in celebration of the 1000 year jubilee of Kazan. It is now one of the biggest mosques in Europe.

Kazan has the second largest Muslim population in Russia after Moscow, and is the location of the Russian Islamic University at Tatarstan.

The St Petersburg Mosque will be celebrating its 100 year anniversary in 2013. It was the biggest mosque in Europe when it was built in 1913 and is still one of the largest in Europe.

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