In a message of sympathy towards the victims of the France attacks, President Abdulla Yameen has said the massacre of 12 cartoonists demonstrates “yet again the profound need to counter radicalism, and to promote tolerance and moderation, which are the true values of Islam”.
On January 9, two masked gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles forced themselves into the Paris offices of French publication Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 cartoonists including the editor before escaping by car.
The message addressed to the French President, H.E Mr. Francois Hollande, condemned the “massacre at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, and other barbaric acts of terrorism unleashed on France in the last few days by a radical group of terrorists”.
Charlie Hebdo has a history of controversy due to its publication of satirical cartoons depicting Prophet Mohamed, which is strictly forbidden in Islam as it is believed to be akin to idolatry.
Audio from CCTV footage captured during the attack revealed that the attackers shouted: “We have avenged the Prophet Mohamed. We have killed Charlie Hebdo,” before departing from the scene.
Both the attackers were since killed at a later confrontation by French Security Forces, while a woman believed to be an accomplice to the attacks have been reported to have travelled to Syria.
In a tweet, Former President Mohamed Nasheed also strongly condemned the attack, while extending his condoleces to the families and friends of the victims.
Meanwhile, Bristish tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror reported that a Maldivian born man – believed to be an Islamic State Jihadist fighter in Syria – hinted that France would suffer a tragedy the day before the attacks in a tweet. Minivan News has not been able to independently verify these reports.
Speaking to the media last week, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed revealed that there are over 50 Maldivians fighting in foreign wars.
“These people leave the country under normal procedures. So it is not easy to identify if they are traveling to go fight with foreign rebel groups,” Waheed told the press on Thursday.
In the last two weeks, two immigration officers and a suspect in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali were reported to be among a group of twelve Maldivians to travel to Syria for Jihad via Turkey. The group also consists of two women and a one-year-old infant.
Maldivians are not barred from international travel, Waheed said, and so “it is not easy to figure out what motive they are traveling for”.
In November, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.
The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.
In November, a jihadist group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.
A protest march took place in the capital, Malé, in September, with around 200 participants bearing the IS flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.
In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon issued a press statementcondemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”
Related to this story
Two immigration officers and Afrasheem murder suspect among group of twelve jihadis
Police detain Maldivian jihadis caught in Sri Lanka
More than seven Maldivians fighting in foreign civil wars, reveals home minister
Six Maldivians reported as latest to travel for jihad, taking one-year-old infant
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Nice words. But your actions do not reflect those words.
Wahabi,salafis and the strict interpreters of islam should be under government survilence all the time to protect Maldives from radicalizing and to build a tolerant society.we all want Maldives to go forward not towards the middle age.
To all the habibis and Kashims and other als and bins.
How does it feel to be betrayed? You have been used, and then abandoned. If only your greed and lust for worldly power had not ruined it all for the rest of us.
This statement is soooo rich coming from the president of an intolerant 100% muslim country. A country that made 5000 Christian and Buddhist Maldivians stateless by declaring itself an Islamic state. A country where the worst excesses of wahhabi Islam are encouraged and where you can be deported simply for belonging to the wrong faith. A country that is sending its citizens on jihad to Syria. Radicalism, what radicalism?
The shocking Charlie Hebdo incident proves that orthodox muslims, even second generation immigrants, never successfully integrate into sophisticated western society and end up biting the hand that feeds them. You see the same pattern in all western countries that has given asylum to muslim immigrants. Muslim immigrants do not integrate and always try to change the culture of their adopted countries. Even when they constitute barely 8% of the population, they can cause havoc as we saw in France.
I wonder what will finish you off first, Islamic fundamentalism or global warming.
Either way you're doomed.
The camel beards need to learn and comprehend the FACT that there are people who do NOT believe their version of religion.
Religion is between you and your version of God.
The fact is these people want to continue the ignorance-violence-intimidation broth they brewed up centuries ago, for the sake of community cohesion and power.
In actual fact, nowadays, the community wants factual reality. No heavenly carrots. No intimidation. People want a cohesive community without restrictions other than those needed for their well being.
It's ridiculous to say music, pictures and movies haram. Fundamentally, as per the Beards, movies are haram on all fronts because they have idols, music, audio, moves people, wastes time...
People wants Health in the form of exercise, entertainment such as music, movies, exercise classes etc.
When people are disadvantaged, either by illness, ugliness, depravity, family breakups, being poor, they tend towards religion in hopes that they then will get elevated to the same as the more successful in the community. This gets exploited by the Beards. This then gets played very cunningly by the Beards.
I suggest to lock up these criminals, the Beards, and charge them with human rights violations, on exploitation of humans. They are all criminals.
No religion is divine origin, you need to stop radicalization from childhood with false ideas and myths of past. Myths and folklores should be treated as myths and folklores and, if there are certain people who treat such things as infallible divine origin without having second thought they can never be moderate. Islam is controlled by ignorant Mullahs who believe they have divine responsibility to rescue and protect Islam. They have no idea that Islam was a fact in a certain period of time in the past and everything loses its original value with passing time. If you don’t remodel it with current facts it will be obsolete
Of the two Yameen seems better off to deal with this issue. Nasheed will not hesitate to stroke fire just to raise more attention.
Nasheed played the extremist card first to bring down the BIGGER devil, Maumoon's 30 year rule.
Then Maumoon played the SAME extremist card againt Nasheed - remeber the Andalus sermons.
Now the whole society suffers. So who will pick the tab?
Dear Missing India
Do you ever wonder why a bigot like you is not censored from this forum despite your racist and hateful comments. That from a country where the prime minister takes total credit for massacre of thousands of Muslims while he was cm of Gujarat. Maybe you consider any good Indian Muslims to be dead Muslims
Also the west must respect islam. It is a too way street.
no no the extremist r the sean paul & akon supporters
Pleeeeaseee SAHEEEM make our society peaceful
Kashim on Mon, 12th Jan 2015 6:44 PM
The west does respect Islam, they allow Muslims to build mosques. They allow Muslims to carry out there traditions and celebrate holy festivals.
On the flip side of the two way street. Does the Maldives allow churches to be built? Does the Maldives allow people celebrate Christmas................hmmmm thought not.
Radicalism will only be eradicated from muslim countries when the preachers of hate are censored and semi literate mullahs stop brainwashing muslims into believing that they are God's chosen people and the epicentre of the universe.
The only reason India is a free secular democracy is because 80% of its people are Hindus like me. When Muslims outnumber other faiths, you get intolerant hellholes like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Maldives.
As far as India being irrelevant to Maldives, just look at most things in your shopping basket. Your very survival dele ds pn cheap imports