Prominent blogger Hilath Rasheed in critical condition after stabbing

Prominent Maldivian blogger and journalist Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed is in a critical condition after he was stabbed in the neck near his house in Male’ on Monday evening.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that Rasheed was stabbed around 8:15pm and was undergoing emergency treatment in ADK hospital.

No arrests have been made, “however there is CCTV in the area and we are trying to get something on it,” Haneef stated.

Police had cordoned off the area around the blood-stained pavement at time of press. There was on Monday evening no indication as to the motivation of the attack.

An informed source at ADK hospital said Rasheed was bleeding but conscious when he was brought to the hospital, and that he was expected to remain in surgery until 2:30am.

“They slit his throat clean through the trachea, and missed a vital artery by millimetres,” the source said, around 11:30pm, giving Rasheed a “five percent chance …  It doesn’t look good.”

Early on Tuesday morning the source reported that Rasheed’s condition had stabilised: “He’ll be in intensive care for a couple of days. He’s breathing through a tube now.”

Sub-Inspector Haneef said a second individual was stabbed in the back at 11:00pm near Male’s garbage dump and had been taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in a critical condition. Local media reported that the victim was believed to be a Bangladeshi national.

Second attack

Rasheed, a once outspoken blogger against extremism and former editor of newspaper Haveeru, was previously attacked by a group of men on December 10, 2011 – Human Rights Day – while attending a protest calling for religious tolerance.

A group of men attacked the protesters with stones, and Rasheed was taken to IGMH with a fractured skull.

He was subsequently arrested by police for questioning over his involvement in the protest gathering, and jailed for over three weeks.

Amnesty International declared him a ‘prisoner of conscience’, and said it was “dismayed that instead of defending Ismail ‘Khilath’ Rasheed, who has peacefully exercised his right to freedom of the expression, the government of Maldives has detained him. Moreover, the government has taken no action to bring to justice those who attacked the ‘silent’ demonstrators, even though there is credible photographic evidence of the attack.”

The Foreign Ministry subsequently called for an investigation “by relevant authorities” into the attack on the protest.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned both the December 10 attack on Rasheed and his arrest, noting that he was not only one of the country’s leading free speech advocates, but one of the few Maldivians bloggers to write under his own name.

“The Maldivian constitution bans the promotion of any religion other than Islam but guarantees freedom of assembly and expression as long as it does not contravene Islam. Rasheed professes to be an adherent of Sufism, which emphasises the inner, spiritual dimension of Islam,” RSF stated at the time.

Censored blogger

Rasheed’s popular and controversial blog, www.hilath.com, was blocked in November 2011 by the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM) on the order of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The Ministry made the request on the grounds that the site contained anti-Islamic material, CAM confirmed at the time.

Hilath claimed he was being censored for expressing his version of Islam, and called for more freedom of interpretation within the faith.

“I call upon all concerned to amend the clause in the constitution which requires all Maldivians to be Sunni Muslims only,” his statement read. “‘Unto you your religion and unto me my religion,’ and ‘There is no compulsion in religion’,” he said, quoting Qur’an 109:6 and 2:256.

Hilath claimed at the time that the blocking of his website had a political edge: “If Sunni Muslims are the conservatives, then the Sufi Muslims are the liberals,” he told Minivan News. “I think this is a conservative attack on the site. They think if you’re not a Sunni, you’re an unbeliever.”

Following the blocking of his blog and his attack in December, Rasheed became less outspoken on the subject of religion and withdrew from the public spotlight.

On May 12 he tweeted his intention to stop blogging altogether, and stated that he had “repented and am now a Muslim. But a very tolerant one at that.”

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55 thoughts on “Prominent blogger Hilath Rasheed in critical condition after stabbing”

  1. Sad that this small nation is converted to a place where there is nothing but everything is there for the sake of name
    Human rights politicized
    religion misinterpreted and misguided by the modern sheikhs specially this adhaalaath Munafigs like Imraan Ilyaas Shaheem etc
    peace destroyed by politicians started during Maumoon regime gangs recruited and started by Yameen Gayoom
    and all the dangerous and bad thing here happening all day
    surely god will punish KOFAA will be sent here don't forget this sooner than later a punishment from god will sent to us

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  2. @Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb on Wed, 6th Jun 2012 1:28 AM

    You Wrote:"And who’d that be? Who is this Great Creator that you speak of? Stop smoking crack and come down to planet earth!"

    SAME TO YOU! Dear Fake buddy! 🙂

    Again I'm writing " THE SURE REALITY IS THERE'S NONE GREATER THAN THE CREATOR"

    If you can figure that out! Please call me, even if not, please call me,

    Hint: Look at your hand in front of you and wish for it to be black, or white, or red!, .. did you do that? .. again let's try!... 🙂

    AND then, think about your eyelid, and press it hard, close your eyes and wish for your favorite "destination".... ok, u didn't do it properly!

    NOW you Think of what you are and why you are here! ... AND Answer for yourself "Who you are actually".. if you get the answer correctly,.. You will have the answers for your questions.

    Btw, Please calm down, keep your temper down and just relax, that is more beneficial for you. Have Peace with your self, with the environment you live, with the Creator!.. if you can't then , go get some sleep! it'll help you a lot.

    Take Good care of yourself, Have a Peaceful time till the end!.. Peace! 🙂

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  3. “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Nasheed, for he will save his people from their sins.” — In Reeko 1:21

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  4. Well the Maldives are now off my holiday list - sounds like it is turning into an intolerant hell like Pakistan etc...

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  5. @Hani,
    Well said my friend. I wish you and you country all success in your battle against the stupid aggressive hatred that is extreme, radical Islam.

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