Translation: ‘President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic faith of Maldivians’
During the last few weeks, the Maldivian political landscape has seen a lot of chaos, but none of which more interesting than the “need to protect Islam” angle that a “united” opposition collectively followed.
From this chaos comes this story.
The link in this article is to “an English translation of the minority opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP)’s pamphlet, which this week triggered successive attempts by the government to arrest two senior members of the party and sparked a debate on freedom of expression and hate speech in the Maldives”.
I am a great believer of not saying more than necessary, or letting somebody else say it, if it’s said right.
Therefore, I would like to highlight the following comments from the same article that this links to.
“Impartial Comments on Fri, 20th Jan 2012 9:01 PM
two words in wikipedia style: [citation needed]” When you play stupid, you will get caught out;
And this comment;
“Hameed on Fri, 20th Jan 2012 5:08 PM
What the pamphlet fails to mention is that President Nasheed has vowed that Islam will be the only religion he would allow in the Maldives. He has distanced himself away from Israel by arguing that it was the previous government led by Gayoom that established diplomatic relations with Israel and not his government.
Nasheed was the first President to set up a Ministry to promote Islam in the Maldives, and embraced Mullahs into government. He was the first President to ban all the spas in tourist resorts on grounds that they may facilitate un-islamic activities. If the opposition did not a political rally, the size of which is unprecedented in the history of Maldives, President Nasheed would not have given a damn about the phamplet. After all he knows that he is the champion of Islam in the Maldives.”
Also this comment is noteworthy;
“Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb on Fri, 20th Jan 2012 7:32 PM
Where do we start? David Hardingham must be the first Christian Priest who is not even aware of being one!
This pamphlet is full of pathetic lies all dressed to look credible by quoting verses from the Quran. Every sensible Maldivian should object such falsification of our values and our democracy.
If there are accusations against the President or anyone of his cabinet engaging in un-Islamic acts, then why don’t they take the matter to the Courts? After all, everyone seem to agree about the due process of law here.
I am quite glad that the government took measures to limit the dangers of places like Mauhad and Arabiyya. These institutions are mainly responsible for the growing extremism we face today. Why on earth should a country segregate the education of its children? All children should have access to the same education, no matter where they are in the country. By establishing Mauhad and Arabiyya, Gayyoom mastermined a plot to throw an arrow at the heart of our children’s education system. We need to teach our children Islam and Arabic, of course. But ALL children at every single school must have access to that! Some people here are making excuses for the inexcusable anti-Semitic, sectarian and religious hatred pouring out from this pamphlet. One excuse is that this was for “local consumption”. Does that make the spreading of religious intolerance, hatred and anti-Semitism a noble and valid act? Is that not encouraging and planting the seed of hatred, terrorism and extremism? Does that somehow remove any responsibility towards the Covenants and Charters of international bodies that we have signed up for? If so, then we are giving carte blanche to “politicians” to demonise and denigrate anyone in the world without justification. That’s certainly not what a democratic society should tolerate.”
And I particularly like this one;
“Aisha on Fri, 20th Jan 2012 8:26 PM
Huh? – “In Nasheed’s visit to France on October 12 this year, when he met the country’s Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing Minister, she was wearing clothes that covered her face, arms and legs.”
Of course she covered her arms and legs – October in France is not a hot time to show bare skin.
BUT HER FACE????????? Look at this photo:
But this guy has actually lost it;
“People of Addu and Fuahmulah on Fri, 20th Jan 2012 5:09 PM
We urge the government to execute those who were involved in the preparation of the pamphlet for deliberately circulating untrue stories especially by taking incorrect meanings for verses from the Holy Quran.” Let me know in the comments what you think.