The SAARC monument designed and gifted to the Maldives by the Sri Lankan government, has been doused with crude oil.
The lion statue, representing the national symbol of Sri Lanka, was vandalised last night following the toppling, burning and theft of the Pakistani monument, which protesters had claimed was idolatrous.
Council Member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Ahmed ‘Marz’ Saleem, meanwhile today filed a case with police against the Maldives Customs Department for allowing ‘idols’ to be imported to the Maldives for the SAARC Summit.
The PPM is the party founded by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, following its acrimonious split with the major opposition party, the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP).
Speaking to Minivan News today, Saleem said that four acts in the Maldives banned the importation of idols, and that the Customs Department should be held responsible for letting the statues be imported into the country.
”It violates the Police Act, Customs Act, Contraband Act and the Religious Unity Act,” he contested.
“I reported the case to the police because it is a criminal offence which has to be investigated by police and sent to the Prosecutor General, to be taken to court according to Maldivian law,” Saleem said. ”We looked into the matter of these idols and found out that these things were not made here, which means they much have been imported from somewhere else.”
He said that displaying the items in public “is another offence. Citizens who love the religion of Islam will not allow such items to kept in public, and will seek to destroy them.”
”Police will have no lawful authority to stop citizens from destroying the idols, because they are illegal and against Islam,” he said, adding that the PPM has filed a second case in the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) demanding investigation of whoever gave orders for police to defend the monuments when citizens went out to destroy them.
”We requested the PIC investigate and find out who exactly gave the orders, who implemented the orders, and to take action against them,” he said.
He also alleged that the current government was attempting “to erase Islam from the country.”
”The current government dissolved the Quran Department, Arabiyya School and women’s mosques, all to erase the religion of Islam,” Saleem alleged.
Spokesperson for the Customs Department, Mohamed Ibrahim, did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam meanwhile confirmed that a case against the Customs Department was filed with police.
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Oh PPM has become the most entertaining party around. One thing we can say for Gayoom he is atleast providing us all this hilarity. The hypocracy is amazing, we have life sized manaquins of every size in the Maldives, we import dolls and little figurines. Its on display in all shops and most homes, and yet some people have a problem with gifted monuments from other countries.
President Nasheed really knows how to get PPM to make fools of themselves in the international community, he must be rubbing his hands in glee.
ppm is in this for politics. they have no zest for religion. but those who do have a real problem with these engraven images are also maldivians. And their voice shall be heard. MDP led govt is not going to get ANY votes by protecting this inconsiderate action. But they surely will loose lots and lots of votes over this. This shows how uncapable even our politicians are. a good general knows when to surrender. MDP still has not surrendered and are daily loosing precious votes on this.
The lion statue, representing the national symbol of Sri Lanka an idol? For whom?
i wonder what the culture minister will say about this
we cannot remain silent about this now.. i
Wonder if the the Police Act, Customs Act, Contraband Act and the Religious Unity Act give the citizens the right to destroy such items??
also i recommend u raid every store in maldives & burn all the idols(dolls) they find
barbie is a secularist idol sold to propagate feminism & homosexuality movement (carrot cumbers & other phallic symbols`tsunami binaa` should be included in this burn category)
next step should be reefside, they r selling instuments of mocking GOD!! music players, cameras, computers & HD 3D tvs!! all instrument designed by atheist-jew-christians to mock & belittle God's great creations, they should be severely punished!!
--
this is meant to be sarcasm but i doubt ppm & all the other lunatics would see it
on a side note please ban American idol, i HATE that show!!
Is your faith really that weak?
@"Police will have no lawful authority to stop citizens from destroying the idols, because they are illegal and against Islam"
So every Maldivian can take the law into his/her own hands and destroy things that are illegal and against Islam...it is a joke!
Take a good look on all the shops that sell movies that are illegal (pirated copy) and against Islam (the contents)...why all these shops are still there?
Anyone who vandalizes state property should be detained, regardless of their reason for it.
And no party should be attacking monuments designed to promote better relations with other countries. Monuments dedicated to those countries. No political party who allows such action has the right to ask for aid from those nations, nor do they have the right to use the facilities that these countries have already provided us.
These actions shames our nation and our people.It is not traced to PPM, it is traced to Adhaalath. And for Adhaalath to have this much influence in PPM is whole disheartening.
lion is not Srilankan symbol iet is Sinhala symbol/sambal
The Mahuloof is a lunatic he should be locked up.
I just wonder why dirty-birded Mullahs are not worried about cable TV. These channels Hindi movies showing ritual with all sorts of goods. These movies every Maldivian sees twenty-four hours.
Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Adaalath Party (AP) members and supporters, you have just insulted each and everyone of us Sri Lankan.
Its time you took real good care when you walk into our hospitals, schools, shops, restaurants and the likes.
We are ready to greet you with open arms. Don't play games with our "Singha." we are proud of our signature sign.
This is nothing but Previous President's Madness; and this madness is ruining the lives of the non mad citizens of this country!
Not even a week after, the foundation of bridge building done in 17th SAARC summit is being destroyed by the idiotic Maldivians
run mahinda run.. you are going to get crudoil all over you too 🙂
From Sri Lanka? No wonder it exports trouble without any thought for other's religion or customs! It might even be a sneaky step to claiming ownership of the island.
Boys, hold on. Did you know the public is not talking about dolls, or mannequin of shop. here the public is talking about statues of Gauthama Budda or other religious idols which symbolize the religion. not the culture, not anything else. If you boys check in Pakistan monument there are this. This is unfortunately not allowed in Maldivian law. If you boys don't like it than i suggest to ask your lawmaker to change it, or if you cannot understand primitive feelings of these innocent Muslims then change your country. did you hear majority of americans don't like a mosque to be built on ground zero, french government and its ppl do not let a minaret to be built in France, and in many countries these things happen. and the whole developed world does not like somebody else to have nuclear.. get old. shit is everwhere..we all are animals, civility is defined with one owns way..
Where were these cartoons when Gayoom allowed a Buddha to a resort and printed and distributed the bible by Adam Naeem and stored at theemuge and aarah. If this is the quality of the opposition I think we should keep Anni for another five years. Shame on PPM
I think the time has come to arrest those who condone these types of violence. If Anni cannot resolve these issues let us take law into our hands and show Gayoom and Yaameen that we had enough
This is not a statue of lion . It is called a LIEon that is the national symbol of Sri Lanka
@Yameen According to my understanding Gauthama Buddha was not a lion, but a human. Religious statues should not be built in Maldives if the law doesn't allow other religions in the islands. Lion is a national symbol for Sri Lankans. It is not religious in Sri Lanka nor in any other country. I don't know the situation in Maldives.
Still you people want to live like "frogs in the well".
how about banning you people coming to Sri Lanka for medical, education, shoping, night clubs etc etc
This was probably done by remnants of the defeated LTTE terrorists who managed to sneak in to the Maldives. You can see a few members of their keyboard warrior division making comments here.
THIS IS NOT A CASE OF PEOPLE DISLIKING IDOLS....THIS IS A MATTER OF POLITICAL AMBITIONS..STAY CLEAR....STAY ALERT...THIS IS A FEDERAL WARNING!!!
hanging head in shame....such intolerance and disrespect....
PPM is involved in this issue to score political points. But the fact is that the majority of the simple muslim population of this country rejects this. If we shall have statutes in this country, then why don't we start with our own heroes? Why not a statue of Muhammadhu Thakurufaanu before Nehru?
This country is getting worse every day. Soon tourist will stop coming because of the games everyone plays and then what will you do?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
the sinhalese in srilanka customs also ban all buddist statues in keychains !.. the lion is for the sinhalese and not for the tamils or muslims of srilanka
I think we all should understand , that state's constitution take president over any privilege or sentiment. do not get carried away by comparing religious issues, and the state's act, as it is clearly stated ”It violates the Police Act, Customs Act, Contraband Act and the Religious Unity Act, each country has its own mandatory system and regulation in place.so please RESPECT
Oh my Lord Mr Lion statue, Please give me 50 Virgins, 3 bottles of Wine! I bow down in front you! Please please grant me my wish!
Oh shucks! i forgot, I also wish everybody else to perish too.
Next Rajapakse will install a Budhist statue and a Bo tree in the Maldives and say that Budha visited Maldives 2500 years ago and the language spoken was sinhalese!!!
Statues are not what the South Asian people want. They want peace and prosperity. SAARC governments are out to smokescreen:
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/10/30/%E2%80%98big-and-small%E2%80%99-brothers-gang-up-against-people%E2%80%99s-rights/
‘’.... At the 16th Summit(April 2010) of SAARC, the Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed addressing the Summit for the first time, said: “…we all face challenges consolidating democracy and strengthening human rights. I believe SAARC should consider establishing a regional human rights mechanism, similar to the one being developed for the ASEAN region. This mechanism could help States promote and protect rights and freedoms in their jurisdiction. It could ensure that international human rights laws are observed and implemented by SAARC members. And such a mechanism could help people in our region develop a common understanding of universal human rights issues and perspectives.”
This proposal on democracy and human rights, was not only ignored by the major players at the SAARC Summit, but was not even taken seriously by any media. ....’’
Hey guys. Let's burn down the sun and the moon as well. It's worshiped by people across the world! I bet Allah would reward you guys with an extra 72 virgins if you could burn the sun and the moon!
"Next Rajapakse will install a Budhist statue and a Bo tree in the Maldives and say that Budha visited Maldives 2500 years ago and the language spoken was sinhalese!!!"
Let's be honest here, there's a better chance some Tamil 'scholars' will suddenly find The Maldives to be yet another one of those "traditional Tamil homelands". With a bit of revisionist history like the "Tamil Eelam" myths about Sr Lanka, The Maldives would become an easy target for their next land grab project.
Bravo Nandasena! You said it!
what is wrong with this one. Lion is also an idol? All along I think humans are better than everything. How wrong I was,some of us are no better than an ostrich. I mean you adaalat and PPM. You dont need to bark everything, as an opposition party you need to be more responsible.
@Pft Pft on Thu, 17th Nov 2011 7:29 PM
Cool one!
THe only thing is Maldivians do not know (how wud they? chanting everything and anything without knowing what it is) Islam is a drilled down version of Moon & Sun worshippers, with everything, such as ramazan, eid, prayers based on these ancestral beliefs.
But, you are right. I would not be surprised if we start hurling stones at the moon!
We need not to be disheartened by the stupidity of a few. It showed how ignorant and weak they have been. As a whole the Maldivians are considerate and courteous. In every country, there are a few who may bite, when you extend your hand of friendship and cooperation.
Where we these people when Gayoom allowed a Russian billionaire to import a Buddha image. Are we Maldivians so intolerant to other religions.We have to live in a world where we can tolerate others including other religions.This is going way too much.
the ppl who vandalized these budhas are neither intolerant or ignorant. But rather the ppl who allowed this to happen are the ignorant ones. Probably it was okaed by some ignorant fool in the saarc organizing comittee. when the initial designs were proposed for these monuments, then, someone could have pointed out that Maldives "happens" to be a muslim country. But if the ppl in those committees are not aware of it then what to do?
Maldives is the anglicized name of "Maalai Thivu" Maalai means chain or garland and Theevu means island in Tamil. ie. chain or garland of islands!!!
Ponniah Mahalingam has confirmed that Tamil was the oldest language in that region!!!
Didn't MAG once come back home from the UK with a cross? I don't have a problem with that, but why aren't the same who's got a problem not looking for that cross?