Tag: vice president

Maldivian students recruited to wage jihad, confirms Vice President

Vice President of the Maldives Dr Mohammed Waheed Hassan has told Indian media that young Maldivians are being recruited by militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan to wage ‘jihad’.

The Indian Press Trust (IPT), among others, also reported that Waheed had claimed an increasing number of young Maldivians “are embracing a version of Islam which is more strict than the traditional Islamic values [of the Maldives].”

The vice president is currently visiting India, which recently signalled its willingness to increase defence cooperation after reports that extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, believed responsible for the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, was active in the Maldives.

At the time, Indian news portal Rediff.com reported Indian intelligence bureau sources as saying the group had “nearly 1,000 operatives active in the Maldives”.

Indian media reported that Waheed had asked for the country’s assistance in preventing the passage through India of young people suspected to be attending radical institutions.

“Some of these people are going to Pakistan and Afghanistan and are waging jihad. We want these people back,” he told PTI. “These are students and it is very easy for them to say they are going to pursue education.”

Presidential Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the vice president’s comments were based on “certain statistics from education authorities, police and Pakistani authorities.”

“This government estimates there are 200-300 unregistered [Maldivian] students in Pakistan,” Zuhair said.

“The government has made a point of checking up on any student travelling to Pakistan and making sure that what recruiters have told their families is accurate, and that the institutions are recognised by the Pakistani government,” he said.

However, “students are leaving the Maldives with the good intentions of obtaining an Islamic education, but are being told to bypass the government’s legislation and monitoring [processes].”

There was a requirement for someone travelling abroad to study to register with the government, he said. “In the latter stages of the previous government [unregistered] students would be brought back once they reach Colombo,” he noted.

The government was developing a range of Islamic scholarship programs for students at registered institutions in countries like India and Malaysia to try and address the issue, Zuhair explained.

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Umar Naseer questioned by police over MNDF “gate shaking”

Vice president of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Umar Naseer was yesterday summoned to police headquarters for questioning about his involvement in the protest outside the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) base and president’s residence on 28 January.

Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said Naseer was summoned at 3pm ”for questioning regarding his shaking of MNDF’s gate.”

He said the police were currently investigating the case and ”can’t give out more details”.

MNDF Major Ibrahim Afsal also said he could not comment on the issue because police were investigating the case.

However, Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair claimed Umar Naseer’s shaking of the gates showed he was illegally trying to enter president’s official residence and the MNDF base.

”It was not a peaceful protest,” Zuhair said, saying Naseer’s actions appeared on CCTV footage of the incident.

”The police are now investigating the case, so we better not say anything yet,” he said.

Naseer acknowledged he was taken to the police yesterday.

He said the police questioned him whether he shook the gates of MNDF and president’s residence, and ”I said I did, and I still do.”

Naseer said he shook the gates of MNDF to “enter there and make the MNDF take part in our protest.”

“Their main reason for [summoning] me was to shut down the opposition demonstration,” he said. ”That night we did not commit any crimes.”

Spokesman for DRP and also the party’s Vice President Ibrahim Shareef said the government had now started arresting protesters.

”They said protesting was fine before they came to administration,” Shareef said, ”and now that they have got the administration they have started arresting protesters.”

Shareef claimed he remembers a time when president Mohamed Nasheed used to come out for protests and shake the gate of former president’s residence Theemuge.

”The police should investigate that case as well,” he said.

Spokesman for the Maldivian Democrartic Party (MDP) Ahmed Haleem said the party would not comment.

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Vice president on official visit to India

Vice President Mohamed Waheed is on an official visit to India. He arrived in the neighbouring country on 18 February.

This follows close visits by Indian Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor, and MP Rahul Gandhi to the Maldives, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed by the Maldives and India.

On 19 February at a meeting held at the official residence of the Indian Vice President Hamid Mohamed Ansari, Dr Waheed thanked India “for its support in introducing democracy in the Maldives.”

Vice President Ansari assured Vice President Waheed of the continued support from India to the Maldives in the areas of social and economic development.

Dr Waheed then met with President of India Pratibha Patil on 20 February. At a meeting at the official residency, the vice president said providing education and job opportunities for Maldivian youth was “important to prevent them from the scourge of drugs,” and asked that Indian institutions assist in providing more higher education opportunities for Maldivian youth.

The vice president then met with Indian External Affairs Minister Shri S. M. Krishna. Dr Waheed asked for assistance in preventing drugs being trafficked from India into the Maldives and providing rehabilitation treatment for addicts.

Dr Waheed also met with Indian Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Prithviraj Chavan. They spoke of the issue of climate change.

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Vice President says improving standard of education is top priority

Vice President Mohamed Waheed said improving the standard of education was a top priority for the government, speaking at the 25th anniversary assembly of Jamaluddin School yesterday morning.

Speaking to the students, he urged them to be obedient and strive for excellence, assuring them that the government is working to improve the standards of education.

He spoke of the importance of good behaviour and social discipline, and said the school environment should facilitate extracurricular activities.

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