Buruny islanders protesting for new mosque over refurbishment

Islanders of Thaa Atoll Buruny have been protesting since last Thursday demanding the government build a new mosque on the island.

Moosa Abdul Gadir, councilor of Buruny, told Minivan News that the protest began when the Islamic Ministry decided to upgrade an old mosque on the island instead “of building a new one with the Rf4.6 million that the government of Brunei gave the Islamic Ministry.”

”Our people are disheartened because the Islamic Ministry told us last year in October that they would build a new mosque for us with the money from the Brunei government, which would be large enough for 700 people. But later they said would upgrade the existing old mosque,” said Moosa.

Moosa said that 90 percent of the island’s population took part in the protests outside the gate of the island office, wearing white bandanna’s on their head to represent that they were peaceful protesters.

Moosa said that the protest was peaceful, and was proceeding according to the law, but warned that ”humans can only be patient for a certain amount of time.”

He said the Islamic Ministry had not discussed the change in its decision with either the islanders or the island office.

”When the protesters gathered on Thursday they gave a signal that they would build a new mosque,” Moosa said, ”but again now they have disagreed on building it.”

Moosa said there five mosques on the island: one of them which he claimed was large enough for only 10 people and was built near the graveyard, the second was 100 years old, the third “was built for Villifushi people who migrated after the tsunami incident” and the remaining two mosques were “woman mosques”.

”I think the Islamic Ministry is trying to make people hate the government,” he said. ”Why else they would do something like this?”

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed meanwhile guaranteed that the Islamic Ministry would not make a decision that would make the islanders unhappy.

”They were having a dispute among themselves over whether to build a new mosque or upgrade the old mosque,” Shaheem said. ”That’s why the Ministry was confused. We will do it according to how the people wish.”

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7 thoughts on “Buruny islanders protesting for new mosque over refurbishment”

  2. a population of 500 and they want a replica of Islamic Center. My foot.

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  3. ”Our people are disheartened because the Islamic Ministry told us last year in October that they would build a new mosque for us with the money from the Brunei government, which would be large enough for 700 people. But later they said would upgrade the existing old mosque,” said Moosa.

    The protest is the reaction one should expect, I think. If everything in this article is true, i blame the Islamic Ministry for this mess.

    When one things is said at one time and something else is said at another time, it disheartens people.

    Protesting was never an option in a dictatorship. But we are a democracy now. So we can protest.

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  4. hey they got the money for their project(as a gift ) so they should get all the money!!! their population is irrelevant. ...to build a new mosque , but of course Islamic ministry has more important things to do with our tax money like bring hate mongering half baked preachers

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  5. That's it. I'm naming my house, kids and possibly grandkids, in various phonetic variants of 'Buruny', 'Burunai', 'bruuny', etc.

    😉 Can do with a few millions.

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  6. This is but a sign of things to come. If each island is going to demand for facilities (health centres, schools, island offices, community halls, etc) how will the almost-broke country be able to sustain all? When the former administration came up with the population consolidation programme, many protested and the ‘common-sense’ programme was nipped in the bud. Zoom forward to 2010. The new administration proposed another ‘common-sense’ approach that would enable sustainable development of the nation – using provinces to develop regions of the nation. That too may not see the light of the day. I do hope that, rather than politicise everything, one day issues can be looked at on the value they would bring Maldives. Rather than spend millions of rufiyaa to build a facility or utility to serve a population of less than 1,000 (or even less than 3,000), why not give people incentives to move to bigger islands with vast idle spaces so that it is practical and sustainable to provide services? Since it is a constitutional right for an inhabited island to have basic services such as schools and sewer systems, would it really make economic sense for a government to provide such for an island such as Thaa Gaadhiffushi (nothing against the islanders, just an example) with just a couple of households? Mark you Maldives is not some oil rich country. Neither is it endowed with vast deposits of minerals. The backbone of the economy is one shaky ‘variable’ called tourism – and of course fishing. Come to think of it, Maldives may be ‘paradise’ but in reality there are many other destinations that offer similar attractions (some at more affordable rates) and with Sri Lanka opening up there will be a degree of competition. Throw in the intolerance that is gradually growing plus the slow growing ‘fundamentalism’ – both which will affect tourism, not mentioning effects of climate change – isn’t it a time true leaders start driving sense to the people they lead? Not all demands can be met, really. For a people to survive, there are choices to be made. That is nature. You will have to make sacrifices here or there to gain something here or there. The more face you wash, the less hair you comb – and vice versa.

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