Demonstrators against the government’s new regulations governing the sale of alcohol on inhabited islands held the first of many planned protests on Friday afternoon.
The protest had been planned for the artificial beach area but was moved to the open space near the tsunami monument due to the Red Bull Street Style football stunt event.
Stallholders along the park estimated the crowd numbered 2000, while newspaper Haveeru reported that it reached 3000-5000.
Spokesman for the NGO coalition against the new alcohol regulations, Mauroof Zakir, said the protesters reached a peak of 5000.
“It was lucky we moved it to the tsunami monument, because we weren’t expecting so many people,” he said.
Many of the men present wore white while women were dressed in black to show their support for the fight against the new regulations, he said.
State Minister for Islamic Affairs and Adhaalath party spokesman Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, one of the leaders of the protest, said he would resign his post in the ministry along with other senior people if the government approved the regulation.
Sheikh Ilyas Hussain also spoke to the protesters, warning that the former government had been changed because it had “walked in the wrong path”.
If the new government also chose the wrong path, he warned, “we might have to work to change the government.”
Zakir reported that the organisers derailed an attempt by a speaker from the People’s Alliance (PA) to politicise the issue by removing the microphone from him.
“There were a lot of MDP activists there,” he said. “Adhaalath is not against the government, we’re just asking the president to remove the regulation.”
He said that yesterday’s protest was “just the beginning”, and that even larger demonstrations would continue if the regulation was approved.
The protest ended for Maghrib prayers at 6pm after a recitation of a ‘dhua’ by Sheikh Ilyas.
The government currently appears to be gauging public sentiment on the issue. The Ministry of Economic Development announced the new regulations would come into effect on 1 March, but the president’s office has responded that they would only apply once gazetted. Late last week President Mohamed Nasheed was reported to be seeking religious advice over the issue.
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up across the city particularly outside the president’s residence and the Holiday Inn, one of the hotels reported to be seeking a liquor license under the new regulations.
The issue has sparked vigorous debate about the country’s relationship with alcohol. Under Islam the use, handling and sale of alcohol are considered ‘haram’ to Muslims, and Article 10(b) of the Maldives’ Constitution states that ‘no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.’
However the country depends heavily on tourism for its economy, particularly resorts which profit from the sale of alcohol. Thus far the resorts have been separated from the definition of an ‘inhabited island’, however the Ministry of Economic development has argued the sale of alcohol to foreigners in these areas is essential to create an environment “conducive to foreign investment”.
Among those opposed to the regulation, the debate has split between those who believe the Maldives should move away from its reliance on an industry that profits from the sale of alcohol, and those who believe a compromise is possible while retaining the country’s national identity.
Minivan News will continue to cover the issue as it unfolds this week, speaking with the key players on both sides of the issue.
Images provided by Maapu
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we have made history in Maldives by having the biggest ever gathering in the country. thousands rose above party lines and heeded the call of Adhaalath and patriotic NGOs to say a big NO to alcohol and other un-islamic things and a big YES to islam. Allah Akbar
Could Minivan News also find out how Adhaalath, as a political party, propose to structure and develop the Maldivian economy?
their protest, far from being the 'biggest in Maldivian history' as Shaheem claimed it would be, was relatively small. Adhaalath have overplayed their hand. They can't organise a revolution - even on this, the most sensitive of all issues, they only musters a few hundred people. time for Anni to sack Shaheem, regain control of the Islamic Ministry and stop the spread of Wahhabi poison in our blessed land
The Wizard of Oz has been uncloaked! Shaheem is a pathetic, little bully who has been exposed as the extreme and marginal politician he is.
Adhaalath just can't muster the support to terrorise the populace into submission, even with all their lies about the new regulations will be able selling alcohol to Maldivians. Time to get rid of the Adhaalath once and for all
anni please be firm like attaturk.
This is ridiculous, I wish the government would organise pro regulation rallies, I bet we'd attract more people than this.
amusing that the Red Bull Street Style footbal competition attracted more people than the beardy rally
Islam is here to stay, so is adhaalath. no matter how much you hate us we will not budge.
we will not let the secularists get the upper hand in our nation.
see how much support we mustered within a few days. can the secularists get this much support? hmm i guess not.
and by the way its not only the "mullahs" and "fundamentalists" who are opposing the sale of alcohol in our doorsteps (as you claim). its all the maldivians whose heart is clear with faith and whose mind is not clogged with alcohol.
@ salim waheed and co. yes i am wearing white. so is thousands and thousands of my fellow maldivians who came out in the whole maldives against the sale of something forbidden in our dear religion.
Finally adhaalth who claimed moderate were finally exposed with the jihaadhee style fanatics and they are was seen to the whole Maldives. Despite been part of the ruling collision they mislead public on a good policy made by the government on alcohol. Anni should now realize these people of adhaalth are nothing more than jihaadhee style fanatics and should be dealt immediately to save the Maldivians from becoming algaedhaa and Taliban play ground in the Indian Ocean
Who said this was history. People even went twice the amount against gayoom too. It took years and two elections. Would some jihady fanatics lead protest do anything. If this dose it would ring a bell that extremism in Maldives need to be dealt and from one year now it would be dealt. Those people who stood against maumoon and who made the difference by standing up are still out there ( still moderate) and would nt let this country be in a worst situation than maumoon as a ruler. listen to me, people will come out against adhlaath, slafis, dots and Islamic foundation if this protest wins anything. And mind u all fanatics we would nt loose against your beards and nikaboks and money from terror groups.
@ mariyam reena, better get your eyes checked.
Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar!
The Maldivians showed Anni & his secular elements in the govt. that they do not want profanities to be allowed in the country. No matter how much these secularists want to impose alcohol & sexual promiscuity in the country, we will fight back by any means to stop it. If they want to drink & fornicate or to be gay then its they who should flee into a foreign country. Not us.
Despite various threats from the ruling govt. people showed in thousands to demonstrate against this ridiculous liquor license.
By trying to permit this anti-Islamic license, Anni proved that he is too a secular person who has no love for Islam. In fact, a person who loathes Islam. A person who want to destroy pillars of Islam, one by one.
As Prophet (saws) had told us that bonds of Islam will be undone one by one. The first being Hukm (ruling by what Allah revealed) & the last being Salath (Prayers). Anni has already voiced his contempt & disgust for some aspects of Islamic Shariah. The only reason he is even claiming to be a Muslim is probably because the Maldivians will not a Kuffar as their President. Anni does not show an iota of love for Islam. Otherwise he would not have said that not everyone wants to be sane 24-hours.
Even if, Anni takes back this license, Maldivians should not trust him. He & his gang of secularists will be looking for a moment to introduce some anti-Islamic thing into Maldives. Be ware my fellow citizens.
dear...On and ahmed: yesterday while and after the protest Im sure twice than 3000-4000 Maldivians would have either had sex out of marriage, had a glass of wine, had a red bull with vodka, smoked weed, chased heroine. And half of all malvians would have skipped there prayers for no reason. So whats a few thousand hypocrites matter and a bar in a hotel a national crisis. Don t u get it this is not Afghanistan and never will be. Beat it and leave to afganistah or suadhi. O not saudhi of coz they do not care about any other Muslim than there own .
if we are jihadhists and terrorists and fanatics you are clearly western mind erased drunkards who cant think clearly cox of the high alcohol level in your blood.
It showed how many people dislike the trade and use of liquor in our country. Most people didn't go there feeling sympathetic to Adhalath Party. But the idea of alcohol being sold and running bars on inhabited islands was disturbing. The new policy has its goods and bads. Like taking away of permits of over 800 expats residing in Male'. However, the permit to sell alcohol may open doors to abusing; alcohol by locals and the policy itself.
Lets not equate Islam with Adaalath party...the latter as I understand is a political party. Following the party or being a member of it, doesn't make anyone anyone a better muslim than the next person...after all what do we know about what's in the other person's heart and mind? Only Allah S.W.A knows that and its time we stopped acting so self righteous and superior! The regulations aren't allowing muslims to consume alcoholic drinks! So those who have all these years been consuming it, will still continue to do so and those who were never tempted to drink, will find no reason what so ever to start drinking just because a hotel in male' or any other inhabited island is serving alcoholic drinks! Its all about that individual's faith and "aqeeda". I can and I have sat with people who were having drinks, and never touched a drop of it. I believe, Adaalath would be better off trying to strengthen people's faith and belief in Islam as a religion, rather than making a whole political scene out of this. Afterall, they are a political party, so who are we kidding really?!!
some people are jealous of the sheer number and zeal of the people that gathered against liquor. that explains the tone some people are using here. anyone calling those who are try to stop the spread of 'mother of evil' a jihady fanatic should be admitted in a mental hospital.
It's sad that while the Western countries are struggling to restrict the availability of alcohol the government of Maldives is trying to make it more widely available.
It is true that availability of alcohol in inhabited islands would attract some foreign investors as the government argues. Likewise legalizing prostitution or smoking pot would also make the Maldives conducive to some forms of foreign investments. If the government is bent on attracting foreign investment at any cost, I guess we would very soon turn into a Bangkok in the 1970s.
get your facts right, the guy using mohamed as a name. the people who stood against maumoon are not necessarily moderates. people of maldives among them adhalath party members brought him down and one reason why people turned against maumoon was because of his anti-islamic actions. and i hope this government will learn from that history. and insha allah, we will achieve our aims with these protests. cox this is a fight between good and evil and good will prevail over evil.and also i guarantee you that we will not tolerate people who stood for their religion to get oppressed under abused terms like "extremism” and “fundamentalism”. and mind you secularists, our will is much stronger than all of you combined and we will not loose against you because god with us.
As far as I am concerned we r eating alcohol, drinking alcohol, wearing alcohol. Naturally, as we r depended on tourism … mean alcohol.
dear fikry, what you wrote reflects well on you. the fact that people drink or have sex outside marriage does not put any blame on the religion, cox religion is perfect. and spreading alcohol which is the source of all evil is a big crisis that people ought to oppose. and u get this straight, this is not Amsterdam and never will be insha allah, and if you want to have sex out of marriage, have a glass of wine, have a red bull with vodka, smoke weed and chased heroine just go to a place like Netherland where u can do it and leave us alone.
"Zakir reported that the organisers derailed an attempt by a speaker from the People’s Alliance (PA) to politicise the issue by removing the microphone from him" ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT A PERSON LIKE SHAREEF WHO HELD RESPONSIBLE JOBS SUCH AS ASST PRINCIPAL OF MAJEEDIYYA, PRINCIPAL OF GHIYAASUDEEN, ATOLL CHIEF, PERMANENT SEC WILL KNOW BETTER.
I am a member of MDP but I do not support Anni on the sale of alcohol. We currently have a huge problem in controlling drugs in this country. If we allow availability of alcohol it will be a disaster. So, this is not only a religious issue. Say No to Alcohol.
The people who protested against the sale of alcohol to infidels is not representative of the Maldivian people. Last election showed that secularists overwhelmingly defeated religious Mullahs.
It would be more feasible if they protested against the drug abuse and the rising crimes rather the sale of alcohol to non believers.
They have no right to block progress taking the country back into medieval age when the world is getting evermore integrated. Their stand and positions will not work in the future because they don't offer us any viable solutions for problems that we face. These beards are hated all over the world and are known as terrorists. They hijack entire communities and their methods are cruel to make people follow their radicalized concept of Islam.
This country will no longer tolerate these hypocrites.
comon it turns out every tom dick and herry is now mdp..who cares. we want to have bars in Maldives thats it. and im sure many supports it. its just that people fear that the jihadhees trained in military camps and act as religious scholars might blow them up if they stand up against them
dear ahmed and fanatics: if Maldivians were so jihadee and so muslimee or so cautious about religion or maybe so keen to make this place afganisthan why was nt people like mulla iliyas and others from adhaalath or kulhey bebey from salaf NGO did not get elected as MPs..and why did Maldives elect a guy who smoked pot and drink beer ..over guys like who graduated from Azhar (muslims very first university) or a guy from Islamic democratic party or a guy backed by Adhaalath and supported by Mullah Shaheem coz he had 4 wives or a guy who graduated from Islamic university of Malaysia. Why of all the options a western educated drunkard ( as described here). Tell u why? coz the majority loves freedom including the freedom for other ways of life than jihadhees way of isolated and pervert life.
@fikry
You are the most disgusting person I've ever seen in this comments. Where did you get those figures? Around the world there are millions of young people who take drugs and does that imply Drugs need to be permitted around the world by the governments? Even the most european countries have severe penalties for drugs.
Also, you could not prove that the Islamic Sharia is wrong and you blabber all that like a moron.
Islam forbids everything for a reason. The devastation of alcohol is much higher than the pleasure that gets from it also it takes countless human lives and causes terrible misery to human lives throughout the world. If we allow alcohol today in the unstable condition of Maldives we will see the lives of our children infront of us. And you are still trying to conceal this truth for the sake of your pleasure.
hey ahmed, why don t u go to Pakistan. coz we use to be people who followed Buddhism few ages back and we are more towards western culture than what Pakistani military camp trained scholars preach us to be, so i guess it should be the minority bin laden’s who should leave than the liberals.
for gods sake, please educate the people on what the new regulations, mean, its not about allowing sale of alcohol in the islands. PLease Mr. president please mobilise the resources and tell the people about the differnce in the amended regulations, please dont let the Bold headlines in Haveeru mislead the public.
Guys, this rally should have happened in 1995 when the rule was made, but then...circumstances were different. I dont want to criticize anyone opposing this regulation but I do think this ratification would only help control the situation we currently face today...underage drinkers fighting,gang violence and black market monies.
Dear R. & Mariyam, can you please go to doctor and check your eyes. I'm pretty sure your eyes are "BLIND" or you have problem in counting....HEHEHE LOL....Maldivians are not blind though you 2 are......!!! ALLAH AKBAR, ALLAH AKBAR, ALLAH AKBAR, ALLAH AKBAR...!!! And still we want to protest we will do so INSHA ALLAH...NOBODY CAN STOP THAT INSHA ALLAH.....And we are ready to protest in front of HOLIDAY INN tooo...INSHA ALLAH!!!
Generalisations are not rational, whether they come from self proclaimed liberals or anyone else.
I am a Maldivian and my brain is not and has never been 'clogged with alcohol'. Yet, I have no issues with permits being given to large city hotels to serve liquor to foreigners, provided that the regulation is enforced to monitor potential leakages into the community. This view does not impact upon my Iman, nor make me crave a drink.
So please, speak for yourselves when you make pronouncements. All of us are humans, all of us have a brain and can form our own opinions, but in the interest of coexistence, we must all learn tolerance and respect for each other's opinions even if we disagree. Otherwise we are no better than animals who end up at each other's throats for the slightest thing.
And please do not proclaim that this view will land me in hellfire or pronounce that I am not a Muslim. After all, none of us is Allah and none of us have the power or the ability to make judgements of anyone else in those matters, be it of me or of the president. But we should all be open to discussing our opinions and why we hold the views we do on issues, so that rational outcomes can be achieved to safeguard our common future. Our elected leaders will have to find ways to maintain the balance in their decision making based on the various opinions expressed by the general population.
I just don't get it why some dick heads think maldivian tourism depends on alcohol. yous Maldivian economy largely depends on Tourism. If you take a poll aming the tourists who travell to maldives majority will admit they don't come there to drink alcohol. They get it at home cheaper and better quality. This whole saga of trying to justify a completely wrong fact is the work of a few in MDP who are alcoholics so by allowing alcohol in inhabited islands they can drink alcohol as they wish. This is a ill though out plan. The economic minister Rasheed has touched a very senstive nerve of most maldivians. I don't see that Nasheed been foolish enough to go ahead with this plan given the unpopularity of this at the grassrrrot level.
We will never bow to adhalat and turn our country into another afghanistan............the pictures of these fat beardy and lazy people is enough to make me vomit.
within these 3 years, some idiots in presidents office is trying very hard to bring democracy as our religion not Islam, yes sure 3 years is left for this government which goes on making mistakes day by day,.. when compared the blunders to dictator maumoons 30 years .. anni's 1 and half years is the same, but i wasn't expecting this cause it creates space for the blood hungry maumoonists to come to power, all our sacrifizes will go waste .. please anni come to yous sense, you have lost your touch with people .. please don't listen to those opportunits roaming around you everyday or else you will be in the same position as dictator gayoom vaanu vaaneygi ..
Islam has become an important asset in the political toolbox. We are talking of Liquor and Churches in our backyard. Maldives had been Muslim for the past 900 years. Portuguese invasion did not kill it. Eighty years of British colonialism did not kill it. Thirty years of RAF in Gan, with bars and full fledged churches did not push a single Adduan to convert to Christianity. There were one or two religious scholars at any given time in earlier times. Now we have a Medina University graduate for every five Maldivians vocalizing on the fragility of Islam in the country and the existentialist threat it faces. If Islam survived in this country for 900 years, I can only conclude all the sermonizing and preaching is nothing spiritual or religious, but only politics for worldly gain. The alcohol issue is nothing but a litmus test for how much the government would push back on the relentless march of the mullah agenda disguised as Islam. God, please save us from these hypocrites using Your religion as their ammunition for worldly power.
A little American history on Alcohol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNs9om1W9g
American government tried to stop Alcohol sales in the US with all its power, but failed. When the Prophet (pbuh) declared Alcohol is Haram, all the Muslims listened with complete obedience.
i strongly suggest to make maldives an alcohol free country. it should not be sold even in tourist resorts. if it is sold in resorts i see not point in not selling in inhabited islands to FOREIGNERS.
regarding shaheema's comment i have to say shareef is a very uncultured man who have no morals. because he was related to ibrahim ismail he got all the posts.
hussain, when you say allow availability of alcohol, have you read the new regulations which restricts the sale, stocking and everything to hotels to serve only to foreigners which vigorously can be scruitinized and have you heard of private licenses given to expat currently which opens the door to sell alcohol in the black market. perhaps you are involved in the black market:) just a playful thought:) don't get nervous.
anyway, So Anni is seeking advice from MoIA? what! Is he deaf? we all know what MoIA is saying.
and when did this happen that to become a muslim we have to follow Adalath?
Can Shaheem please resign and move to Afghanistan? Thanks
I fear there may be a false dichotomy in political opinion being created in Maldivian society today. That of liberal vs. conservative vis a vis perspectives and views on what is Islamic and not. If these positions are allowed to coalesce into full-scale divisions then the country may have to face hardship in continuing with the reform agenda and the democratization process.
This issue may appear to be divisive for many reasons. Chief among them being the Adhaalath Party's attempts to increase its support base. Second, the attempts by the business community (both active in black and "white" markets) to continue to profit from the unregulated sale of alcohol and the engineered protest of a credulous yet large section of the populace on the issue.
Although the need for dialogue and compromise is integral, this divisive issue may prove useful for a variety of reasons - To truly gauge the "extremist" elements in Maldivian society in terms of numbers and perspectives held and to initiate a national dialogue on how to continue the socio-economic development of the country, being among them.
Although I am in support of the proposed regulations on the sale of alcohol I also agree that the current administration is making attempts to secularize Maldivian politics and style of government and also globalize (which also means "westernize" to a degree) Maldivian society. I reserve a blanket judgement on this shift but there are certainly great benefits and also possible division of communities along religious lines.
One must wait and see how these shifts and transitions take place. This issue may act as a harbinger of conflict to come. It may also the signal the end of outward religious legitimation of Maldivian rulers.
for gods sake we are in Maldives which has been a 100% muslim country for the past hundreds of years. when this country was occupied by the Portuguese and when they tried to play with our religion by 'putting alcohol in Maldivians throat' they were forced out of the country. let the history be a lesson to the wise. and by the way do these secularists think our national hero mohamed thakurufaan as jihadhe fanatic? if not, what we are doing is not different from what he has done. because we are standing for our rights and our religion.
why not first try and stop what the fanatics are doing under the name of Islam..they just like to wear some afgani clothes or pakistani clothes and pretend to know everything about Islam...after going to India fr a month ..hahaha..and the stuff the women do under their Burugaa..is unbelieveable...
awwwww my Holiday Inn.
live n let live... pls..
I'm not a supporter of this regulation but if it means fighting the beardies I will back the government.
Anni if you are reading this, we'd like you to know that there are plenty of people who will follow you to push a liberal/progressive agenda. We shall come out in droves if you ask us to. Do not give in to these idiots.
See a small example from our closest neighbour, India.India is a country of several cultures and religion.In India cow is considered a godly animal so in areas in North India where Hindu population is a majority, cows cannot be slaughtered by muslims who eat non veg food.So Maldives being a 100% muslim nation selling alcohol in inhabilted islands hould be banned.It should not be sold to even non muslims residing in inhabited islands.I still remember when there was a bar in Alia hotel in Male' those days,the foreign teachers visit there for drinking and the next week they come to class to teach with the after effect of alcohol and instead of teaching they get wild with students and do on shouting abusive words or beating the students for slight problems in the class.This is what we have seen and gone through when there was a bar in Male' that time.Mandivians wake up and stand against Alcohol and drug abuse.We are a 100% muslim society and we have a religion,culture and tradition to respect.
What do Muslims believe regarding freedom of religious choice? A Koranic verse (2:256) answers: "There is no compulsion in religion"(in Arabic: la ikrah fi'd-din). That sounds clear-cut and the Islamic Center of Southern California insists it is, arguing that it shows how Islam anticipated the principles in the U.S. Constitution. The center sees the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof") as based on concepts in the Koran's no-compulsion verse.
In a similar spirit, a former chief justice of Pakistan, S.A. Rahman, argues that the Koranic phrase contains "a charter of freedom of conscience unparalleled in the religious annals of mankind." To a Western sensibility, this interpretation makes intuitive sense. Thus does Alan Reynolds, an economist at the CATO Institute, write in the Washington Times that the verse signifies that the Koran "counsels religious tolerance."
so does that mean our constitution is in contradiction to Islamic teachings?
@ athif: The differences between the Maldivian and Indian economies might be one of the underlying factors which demands our focus on creating a more welcoming environment to our foreign investors and tourists.
The Maldives is almost completely dependent on its tourism industry for state revenue and also very much in need of foreign partners in all sectors of development. India, on the other hand, subsists on its own agricultural produce and also is a strong player in the export market both regionally and internationally.
Therefore, I believe that we, unfortunately, are not in a position to emulate India, in terms of our economic development.