"No room for other religions" - President Gayoom.

The current government of Maldives will not give place for any religion other than Islam, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said today. Addressing a gathering at H.A Atoll Ihavandhoo island (on a campaign trip for the upcoming presidential elections), Gayoom said that some foreign entities are unhappy that Maldives remains a 100% Muslim country and they are working to create a place for other religions (in Maldives).  He assure that "there is no place for that" in Maldives.

He also said that the government gives a  high priority to protect the Islamic unity in Maldives and that it has been the very first and one of the most important tasks he began after coming to power (in 1978).

During Gayoom's rule the constitution of the Maldives have been amended to make president of Maldives "the supreme authority to propagate the tenets of Islam in the Maldives” (Article 38, Constitution). He also introduced a “Protection of Religious Unity of Maldivians Act” under which; Maldivian convert from Islam, anyone that express views contrary to the government approved version of Islam can be penalized. It allows punishments for displaying religious symbols of other faiths and possessing religious books of other faiths as well. Gayoom himself an Islamic Scholar with a masters in Islamic Sharia and Civil Law from Al Azhar University of Egypt, came to power using religion to portray his predecessor as "western" and "unislamic".

[Source: Official Website of The President's Office]

Politicians and Freedom of Religion.

Freedom of religion, let alone a secular state is something all the political parties and almost all politicians oppose. Although there are some who personally believe in secularism or that freedom of religion is a basic human right, many of them oppose this because of their religious beliefs. Others fear a loss of popular support if they stand up for these principles.  And they are right to think so, because in the past few decades Maldivian nationalism (if we even have that now) was recreated around Islamist beliefs. Today a large majority of Maldivians believe that Islam(ism) is the basis of the nation's unity, freedom, and existence, they insist that this "blessing" should never be taken away and freedom of religion is the worst thing that could happen to Maldives. They also believe in a global non-muslim conspiracy to hurt and humiliate Muslims and Islam.  Our very own imaginary Emmanuel Goldstein.

While this is the ground reality, many a time does these politicians and parties try to portray themselves as the champions of freedom and democracy in the Maldives. Some of them show a 'democracy and human rights' face to the west/international community and a 'religious' face to the people. But the truth is they are against  freedom of religion all the way. Take for example the recent amendment against freedom of religion. Now lets see their stand on this matter straight from some official documents...

Islamic Democratic Party
IDP claims to be an Islamic 'moderate' party. and yet, "..to retain Maldives as a 100% Islamic , independent and sovereign country" is mentioned in the Party's Manifesto (3.1) as one of their main objectives. and the very first objective of the party mentioned on it's website is; "opposing the introduction of any religion other than Islam to Maldives and to retain Maldives as a 100% Islamic country forever".


Adaalath Party.

Perhaps Adaalath is the most open in their views against freedom of religion or their support for islamism. Formed by Salafi/Islamist religious scholars after vowing to bring about an 'Islamic Awakening' in the Maldives, this party is seen as the local Islamist vanguard party. The Party Manifesto, under Aims and Objective says:

(a) To establish an Islamic; political, social, economic, cultural and moral system in Maldives.

(b) To retain the Islamic and Maldivian (Cultural) tone of Maldives.

     (i) Striving to make Maldivians proud of their religion (Islam), obedient to the religious commands, and saving Maldives from all false creeds, and all irreligious currents.

and in the "permanent policies" section its says;

(a) In making any decision, the party's first priority will be to find out what the stand of Islam on the matter is, and acting accordingly. It is only a secondary matter to look in to the situation and what it allows us to do.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party

President Gayoom's DRP are hypocrites in this issue. They often accuse opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of spreading Christianity, but they also accuse them of having links to extremists, and terrorists. The first accusation is for popular support, second is for the international community.
In the DRP manifesto the first title after an introduction is "Religion and Nationalism". The text below that reads;

"It is a must to strengthen the pillars (fundamental principles) of Islamic Unity and Nationalism. Since ancestral times, the most important role in protecting our unity and freedom was played by the holy religion of Islam. Foreign forces will always strive hard to introduce and spread religions other than Islam to Maldives. Protecting the Islamic unity among Maldivians is one of the most important fundamentals of this party. This beloved nation must always remain in the perfect light of Islam. We will never give any space for any other religion on this land of ours as long as we have a pulse in our bodies. Therefore, it is our most essential and important duty to strengthen the Islamic creed of Maldivians.To perfectly protect the opportunity to raise the Maldivian children upon the most beautiful ways of Islam is a fundamental principle of this party."

Maldivian Democratic Party

MDP often accuse president Gayoom of being unislamic or disrespecting Islamic principles. but at the same time they accuse him to be an  Egyptian Azhar University educated mullah, who is the father of religious extremism in Maldives.  Just like DRP, an Islamist face for locals and an anti-Islamist face for international community.

MDP had one of the most popular extremist leaders in the country (Sheikh Fareed) preaching at their meetings, and yet with good PR they are successfully selling the pro-democracy/human rights and even 'secular party' image to the international community. For example; the writer of this article thinks MDP is a secular party. And this paper quotes the MDP draft manifesto which says the party will aim to create "a secular democratic society" in Maldives. However this draft manifesto, to this day, remains a draft manifesto. I believe MDP still does not have an official party manifesto (I have contacted senior party members, and i have contacted them through the official website requesting a copy of the Manifesto if there is one, but i didn't get any response). The 2002 draft Manifesto can be found here.

The constitution/bylsaws of the party published on their website states;

"3.3 The party will work to:
(a) Protect the blessed religion of Islam. And MDP will never give a chance to any religion other than Islam (to be practiced in Maldives)."

and yet they issued a press release (in English language, meant for the international community alone one could assume) about the "only Muslims can be Maldivians citizens" article passed by the Constitutional Assembly.

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The politicians and political parties are pushing Maldives into the darkness of intolerance and Islamist extremism, concerned only about their immediate and short term goals. Some of them seems to be only concerned about getting rid of the 30 years old dictatorship of Gayoom, even if it means to take away basic human rights of the citizens in the process. For Gayoom and allies, it is all about holding on to power. our politicians simply don't care about this issue, which is why those who do care should stand up and speak out. 

Non-muslim Maldivians could become stateless with the new Constitution

The Special Majlis (Constitutional Assembly) have passed an amendment stating that only Muslims can be Maldivian citizens. The amendment to Article 9 (Citizens of Maldives) of  Chapter One (State, Sovereignty and Citizens) of the Constitution was proposed by H.Dh member Abdulla Naseer and seconded by G.A member Ibrahim Khalil Abdulla.

Prior to the amendment (following another amendment proposed by Addu member Husnu-Suood) the article was as follows :

(A) The following persons are citizens of the Maldives:

1-Citizens of the Maldives at the commencement of this constitution
2-Children born to a citizen of the Maldives; and
3-Foreigners who, in accordance to the law becomes citizens of the Maldives.

(B) The citizenship of Maldives cannot be taken away from a citizen of Maldives.

(C) Any person who wishes to renounce the citizenship, can do so in accordance with the law.

Abdulla Naseer then proposed to add a 'D' to this list as follows:

(D) even if (A) of this article states so, none except a Muslim can become a citizen of Maldives.

From the 83 members (of the total 112) present at the time of vote; 78 members voted in favor, 2 members voted to remain neutral, but none of the members voted against this amendment.

A prominent lawyer and one of the members who voted to be neutral, Addu member Husnu-Suood said he feared that, with this amendment, a number of Maldivians may lose their right to be citizens of Maldives or even worse; become stateless.

"According to the current Constitution of Maldives, Children of every Maldivian mother and every Maldivian father are citizens of Maldives. Even I know of some Maldivians who are following religions other than Islam. Some of them are living in Australia, some even in Europe.They hold Maldivian passport. According to the current constitution the door to become a citizen of Maldives is open to people of all religions. That door is not closed. Things were like that, but when this was passed today, once the new constitution is passed and comes into effect; some Maldivians will lose their right to remain as citizens of Maldives" said Husnu-Suood. He also said this amendment "will lead to many legal problems".

Another lawyer Raa member and vice president of the Majlis, Shaheen Hameed said this amendment contradicts with the other points of this article. "Now we will have to see who remains as Muslims at the time of adopting the new constitution, before we take them as citizens of Maldives", he said.

Although the current constitution does not specifically mention this, any person found 'guilty' of following or preaching , or simply reading texts of other religions are punished till he or she reverts to Islam. Religious views contradicting the state's version of Islam are also not tolerated and a person can even be punished for praying in a certain way, or carrying a buddha statue, or wearing a crucifix.

[sources: haveeru, majlis website - pdf]