No additional reporting by missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan
The militant organisation Islamic State (IS) is not only un-Islamic but anti-Islamic, former President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik said yesterday (September 30) at the UN General Assembly in New York.
“These are terrorist groups, not religious groups. Islam, our great religion of peace, compassion and tolerance, is being hijacked by radical and extremist elements to perpetuate hatred and violence,” Dr Waheed said in his speech as President Abdulla Yameen’s special envoy to the 69th session.
“We, the government and people of Maldives, condemn in the strongest terms, these groups, their ideologies, and their activities. We join our fellow Muslims around the world in saying ‘not in my name’.”
Ignorance was the biggest challenge to development, Dr Waheed said, and “violence, subjugation and eternal poverty breed ignorance.”
“Misinformed, yet talented, young people can be easily lured into fanaticism, radicalism, and extremism. Islam’s identity as a religion that supports innovation, knowledge, and scholarship is slowly eroding away, the golden era of our religion is almost forgotten,” he continued.
“Today, the world has a choice to make. Should we allow extremists to shape our future? Or should we take decisive actions to defeat these extremist ideologies? Our answer to these questions will define the way in which we deal with the so-called Islamic State and other terrorist groups.”
Islamic State
The Sunni jihadist group IS claims religious authority over all Muslims and has declared a caliphate in territory it holds in Iraq and Syria.
In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon issued a press statement condemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).”
Dunya’s remarks followed Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed’s declaration that the ISIS would not be allowed to operate in the Maldives.
“ISIS is an extremist group. No space will be given for their ideology and activities in the Maldives,” Shaheem tweeted on August 24.
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), however, promptly put out a statement questioning Shaheem’s sincerity, suggesting that the words had not been backed up with concrete action by the government.
The Islamic ministry has also provided a meeting hall of the Islamic centre for a religious sermon which was advertised with the ISIS logo, the MDP claimed.
The party claimed to have learned that police and army officers were involved in putting up the banners across the capital.
A Facebook page called Islamic State in Maldives promoting IS in the country was discovered last month, which shared photos of protests calling for a ban on Israeli tourists where protesters carried the IS flag.
Moreover, a new site called Haqqu and Twitter account sprang up recently featuring IS-related news and publications in Dhivehi as well as translations of a sermon by self-proclaimed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Last week, former President Mohamed Nasheed suggested that radicalised gangs were behind the recent “atrocities” in the capital, referring to the torching of the MDP office.
Several journalist were also sent a text message warning them not to cover “the incidents happening in Malé now.”
“This is a war between the laadheenee [secular or irreligious] MDP mob and religious people. We advise the media not to come in the middle of this. We won’t hesitate to kill you,” read the threat.
Extremist religious indoctrination of youth was a relatively recent phenomenon in the Maldives, Nasheed observed.
The opposition leader claimed that many young men from criminal gangs were seen in a protest march held in Malé on September 5 with participants bearing the IS flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Sharia.
Of the approximately 150 participants, Nasheed claimed most were “active in gangs.”
“So youth in gangs are turning to ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] ideology. That activities of ISIS are happening in the Maldives is becoming very clear to us. And while this is happening, the government is unable to stop gang activities,” he said.
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"Islam, our great religion of peace, compassion and tolerance"
Dr. Waheed, where is all this tolerance and compassion in the Maldives?
The more democracy is shown as the solution by the liberals the more democracy is used by the extremists to consolidate power..
Democracy is only helping extremists to come to power..
Egypt army is right after all.
Who is this guy again? Can someone remind us who he is?
It's pretty damning that a authoritarian anti-democrats are recruited to drum up the ISIS threat.
ISIS began as a false flag organization out of Israel. ISIS (Israeli Secret intelligence service), apparently that's what mossad means.
The unwitting masses on the left end of the bell curve now do the bidding for the Israeli cause, ISIS threat is the best excuse to level the infrastructure of Syria to ground Zero.
ISIS is a farce Al-Baghdadi has been only seen once and that is on a picture. The ghost operative heading ISIS is a amalgam, he dose not really exist like Bin Laden, well atleast not yet.
Feeling very clever, eh? Takaatakaa baigandu backing him for power, eh?.
HA! All you get for your devotion to the maumoonists, is a slap to the face, and a knife in your back.
Instead he should focus on true criminal like Israel.
Heheheheheh miee CIA innnaai FBI in hoadhaafa huri stale news eh. Dhen kon stale news eh thi kiyanee, maamolhu meehakah vegen???? Rayyithunge ethah bayaku leyaai dhalaa karuna ohoraigen genai democracy eh, eh fushun aneh fushah jehi meeheh ge gothuga dhivehi thaareehu dhekeyne.
Kiyavaigen huttas hilmeh neiiy. Ehen veematha rayyithunge bayaku vote laane kamah heekoh raees kamah kurimathilaanee.
Kon qaanoonee haisiyyathakun dhivehi rayyithun thi thamseel kuranee??? Ajaabeh nuvaane tha??? Rayyithun enme 10000 vote lee.
Why don't you talk about the journalist who is abducted by the Maldivisn ISIS. Why don't you contribute to help find the missing journalist. Hypocrite. Do something, at least on your level.
As the old Maldivian saying goes: "Ibiless bunyas thedheh vaanee thedhakah." (Even if the Satan utters a truth it will be the truth.)
So with regard to ISIS, what Dr. Waheed said is true. But the big question is why isn't there any effort at all being made in this country to counter the growing radicalism?
The government must back its words with effective action to deal with this menace facing the muslim word. The peaceful existence of this country will be at truth in the near future unless action is taken now.
As the old Maldivian saying goes: “Ibiless bunyas thedheh vaanee thedhakah.” (Even if the Satan utters a truth it will be the truth.)
So with regard to ISIS, what Dr. Waheed said is true. But the big question is why isn’t there any effort at all being made in this country to counter the growing radicalism?
The government must back its words with effective action to deal with this menace facing the muslim word. The peaceful existence of this country will be at risk in the near future unless action is taken now.
@Adam
They won't. They need a 'police force for hire' with loose values and desperate for cash to serve as the 'death squad' to kill the opposition.
If they use the police and army, they risk international sanctions. And we all know just how decadent the enemy's leaders are. What will they do without the latest vodkas, escort ladies and gold-plated toilets?!
We won't be able to resolve this issues as long as Nasheed and his thugs keep on helping and giving their support to these extremist.
Nasheed and his Gangs are the people who are promoting these extremism thinking that this will help him to topple the current Gov, and then India and Canada will put him as the leader of this country like Maliki in Iraq.
@ Rethink Democracy : Extremism is not limit to only conservatives.
Freedom, democracy, human rights in a Sunni majority country that does not permit freedom of worship and is still flogging women in the twenty first century?
Gimme a break!!
Ebola is killing people in Africa this threat is spreading.. anyone care??