Around 5000 supporters of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) marched down the main thoroughfare of Male’ yesterday in continued protests against the current government.
The party estimated that between 5,000 and 8,000 people marched round Male’ yesterday, Interim Chairperson MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik claimed a further 7000 took part in similar protests around the country.
The Male’ demonstration began at Usfasgandu at around 5:00pm and proceeded in a loop around the south of the island, heading up Boduthakurufaanu Magu and along Majeedhee Magu, past the social centre, before heading back to the MDP protesters’ current base of operations behind the Dharubaaruge conference centre.
An increased police presence was observed around the government buildings in the security zone on the island’s North, although the marchers did not pass near this area.
Former Education Minister during the MDP administration, Shifa Mohamed, said that yesterday’s protest focused solely on calls for early elections.
Shifa said that people gathered at Usfasgandu without being prompted via SMS, as in previous weeks. She said people turned up as the Friday protests have become a regular event, adding that the party intended to protest ever yday for the next two weeks and had a number of different events in mind.
Yesterday’s march passed the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) base at Kalhuthukkalaa Koshi, at which point, according to local media, security forces emerged with shields.
“We were very surprised,” reported Shifa, who said that this had not happened during the demonstrations of previous weeks which have taken in the same route. No physical confrontations were reported.
Shifa was accompanied at the head of the march by two people dressed as crows. The bird has recently come to represent the MDP’s disdain for the current government, and a cage filled with the birds has appeared at the Usfasgandu camp in the past week.
Male’ City Council (MCC), who lease the Usfasgandu area to the MDP, were informed by the government over one month ago that such activities meant that the land was to be reclaimed by the government.
Male’ City Mayor Ali Manik was informed on May 9 that the government’s security forces would arrive to dismantle the MDP’s latest protest site on May 14. The protesters have been on alert throughout the week after the proposed date came and went without incident.
Unrest near mosque
After the march had returned to Usfasgandu, MDP protesters are reported to have been involved in an incident outside a mosque on Majeedhee Magu.
Both Shifa and Moosa said they were unaware of this incident.
Clashes between the protesters and some of those inside the mosque led to the arrest of five people, reported Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef.
The unrest is said by an eyewitness to have begun when MDP supporters attempted to disrupt a sermon which the MCC has said was unauthorised.
A source from the council said that a request was sent to police requesting that the meeting be stopped at around 9:00pm yesterday. Sub-inspector Haneef stated that the arrests took place between 7:30 and 8:00pm.
“They didn’t get permission – if they are giving this kind of sermon, they need this,” said the council source. “We asked the police but they said they couldn’t stop it.”
Haneef confirmed that the police had received this request from the MCC.
Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali was unavailable for comment at the time of press.
The eyewitness said that attendees of the sermon emerged from the mosque to clash with the MDP protesters before handing them over to the police.
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Me estimate is around 30,000 to 35,000 I think most readers will agree with me.
we do not need to get the persimmon from Male' city council to have educate the people of Maldives on Islam and why would Ilyas require the blessing from MDP city council ?
This is why people of Maldives and even many of MDP members who are thinking rationally thinks that Anni and his thugs are trying to dilute Islanm in Maldives.
we need to remember that this is the beginning and not an end to this kind of protest. Anni had done nothing when Hillath openly criticize our religion and openly called for religious freedom.
May Allah , protect our nation and our people from this traitor Anni.
biased mdp propagenda.
its the MDP thugs that gathered around the mosque and created unrest. they threw rocks at the mosque and atleast one person in MDP crowd was heard telling to lock the doors of the mosque and to burn it down with the people inside.
i strongly condemn this attack on islam by MDP.
also its not an 'unauthorised' sermon. it was delivered by shaikh ilayas who is a licenced preacher and is a member of maldives fiqh acedamy.
i hope that the MDP thugs who were arrested while attacking people inside a place of worship face the most severe punishment.
Dear MDP you will not gain anything by burning down court houses, police stations, public halls, etc.. You will not achieve anything by vandalising mosques and clashing with the people praying inside. These are the sort of actions that can turn people's support against you.
@mode; its very upsetting and disappointing comments such as yours.. instead of using this forum as an opportunity to engage in intelligent discourse, you are turning it into an opportunity to express your personal frustrations.. As you very well know, Ilyass is not just a a religious scholar, he has used Islam to incite hatred and divide this community. he wants to further use religion to brain innocent Maldivians. nobody can dilute 'your' Islam if you don't allow it.. but also leave the rest alone as not everyone wants to dress up in Arab clothes and imagine they are sleeping with one at night.
Daniel Bosley why didnt you write that the number was 50,000. After all thats what you are paid to do. Lie for MDP.
After burning down public buildings MDP now attacking mosques. They are clearly an insane cult.
and my estimate is between 500,000 to 800,000
May Allah , protect our nation and our people from this traitor Anni.
Mode, so you are against democracy, but so is *Islam, no surprise there then. * that's fundamentalist Islam, your sort of Islam, not Islam per se.
The sheikhs are preaching Wahhabi war against the Sunni as they do everywhere around in the world.
It are not white christian foreign missionaries, but our own so called "Muslim brothers" who are brutalising, abusing, jailing, killing our own same "Muslim Brothers" in ... Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunesia, and so on ... all of it incited by the same kind of sheikhs and mullahs who misuse religion in Maldives to do the same here.
Confirmed 🙁
maldives arson party trying to burn a mosque?? my god. and that too with all the people praying inside!! whats wrong with these people? worse than israelis. no wonder they are so close to them.
All is going well for the Maldivians.
We need fun. We crave entertainment. We yearn conflict in the hope that it will liven up coffee talk.
You see this daily. Words spew out endlessly at each other. Democracy, traitor, Coup, baaghee, islamic fanaticism, jihad, yahoodhee, scandals, swindles, yet more and better democracy, anti islamic, corruption, drunkard... so on and on..
We want the country to swing from one to the other. left to right. MDP to DRP to what ever else.
For what we really want, is not so much the advantage each faction gets when their party is ruling; nor the alignment for a better country; but a desperate need for some form of entertainment to keep ourselves going crazy from the monotonous ways of life, in this god forsaken land.
At the door, the people of Maldives, proudly presented themselves "Open the door for the holy Maldivians", for which God replied, "Huh? you still live there? I thought I wiped you away with that Tsunami; the islands were never intended for you. I made them up for the herons. In any case, you dont qualify for heaven, you are far too ignorant."
Reeko Moosa for president
Attacking a mosque, verbally abusing the people praying inside &threatening to burn them is a new low for MDP.
I'm never voting for them. And i hope they never come to power. I hope more divisions are created among them. I wish them the worst.
Freedom of expression requires intelligence and self respect. Only the MDP allow this. Election now to save our country from the coup dictators!
All you baghee commenters, accusing peaceful protestors of burning down a mosque. You fall into one or more of the following categories:
1. You are Intellectually challenged
2. You are dr khaulath
3. You are topy
4. You obtained a PhD from a certain Malaysian university
5. You suffer from frequent spells of schizophrenia, thinking that an inspirational international hero, ousted from an elected post illegally by the dictator who he fought for decades to remove is in fact himself the highest calibre of a "cult" dictator
6. You directly/indirectly benefit from the gayooms being back behind the wheel
7. You have no ethical values whatsoever
8. Your self interest overshadows the human rights of an entire population.
9. You indulge in propaganda on social media
10. You couldn't care less about anyone else other than yourself and your immediate family
11. You are a liar and find it difficult to sleep with all that hanging over you
12. You are a bit of a loner
13. You are Tsk Tsk aka dr hassan saaed or another one of the propaganda brigade
14. You never quite could understand what the word 'coup' actually means
15. You never stopped to think that, instead of accusing someone of being unislamic just because...ehhhh you said so without a single shred of evidence, that the whole society around you has changed from a beautiful moderate peaceful form of Islam to something which is hell on earth and allowed to become this way because of the very same disgusting bunch of small minded self obsessed crooks that you support
16. Money is everything to you
17. You preferred to skip school. What has education ever done for anyone?
18. You just landed from mars
Daniel, I was there and I was counting...the number of supporters were at 25,232 in Male' alone...in the atolls it was 12...Yes 12
Did any of the MDP half-wits who comment here even bother to research the topic of his sermon? It was forgiving in Islam.
MDP was right to stop Mr Sheikh giving a sermon , what if pope decides to give a sermon in a mosque , shudt be allowed . simple as that
basher
and u r no one other than yameen. the devil himself..
Basher, hahaha and No 19: Mr Basher is a faithful follower of the CULT Leader Mohamed Nasheed... I hope he takes you all to death (all at once) soon (He can do that by taking you all to a deep cleansing near the raalhugandu)
YES! REEKO MOOSA FOR PRESIDENT thats our only way into a peaceful future