Posted on 12/23/2011 11:57:30 AM PST by Steelfish
Thousands Demonstrate in Maldives Over Islamic Law
December 23, 2011 Thousands in the Maldives protested Friday, calling on the government to halt what they called "anti-Islamic" activities, including a plan to allow direct flights to Israel. More moderate supporters of the president rallied as well as debate swells over the future of the state's religion.
The Indian Ocean archipelago of 300,000 Muslims prohibits practicing any other faith.
The protesters want authorities to stop the sale of alcohol in the islands, shut down brothels operating in the guise of massage parlors and demolish monuments gifted by other countries marking a South Asian summit last month because they see them as idols.
More than 3,000 people heeded a protest call by the opposition Adhaalat, or Justice, Party and several other groups that accuse President Mohammed Nasheed's government of compromising principles of Islam and call for strict Islamic law.
"Islamic Shariah is equal to peace," read some placards carried by protesters.
Though the country is known more for its exquisite island resorts and does not allow stoning or executions, it is under scrutiny for its absence of religious freedom and for punishments such as public flogging.
Debates on religious issues have emerged since a group vandalized a monument gifted by Pakistan marking a South Asian summit last month with the image of Buddha. Buddhism was part of the present Islamic republic's history. An angry protest last month followed a call by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for the Maldives to end the punishment by flogging of women who are found to have had sex outside marriage.
Other residents also rallied Friday in support of the president, who said he stands for a brand of moderate Islam traditionally practiced in the country and that it is vital to preserve...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
At least for us tourists it is an island paradise, but leave to Islam to take a good thing and mess it up and return to the stone age.
At least for us tourists it is an island paradise, but leave to Islam to take a good thing and mess it up and return to the stone age.
At least for us tourists it is an island paradise, but leave to Islam to take a good thing and mess it up and return to the stone age.
President Nasheed needs to take a stand against this Salafist nonsense.
If I were President of the Maldives, I’d say this; “No one is forcing you to drink alcohol, or visit bordellos, or pray to Buddha. We are a Muslim state; we are also a part of the rest of the world. If you sincerely wish to live in an environment where the strictest Sharia law is followed, move to Saudi Arabia. My government will cheerfully provide you with not only all the required documentation you may need for your emigration, we’ll even pay for your trip. One way. So you can have your perfect Sharia utopia - but you can’t have it here. To paraphrase the Americans, ‘The Maldives.....love it or leave it.’”
And if they riot, then the usual measures virtually every government on earth takes to put down civil unrest.
Is it just me, or are the Maldives a waste for a culture whose women wear burkas?
And we'll kill anyone who says otherwise!
The west needs to take away their airplanes, phones, cars, televisions, all inventions for modern man as they are un-islamic.
Well, if this is the Maldives’ attitude, I say
Let ‘em sink!
I think they spend a substantial amount of their time bitching about the ocean’s rise, etc.
Well, halting alcohol sales will put an end to the Maldives as a UK holiday destination. Good luck with that.
Global warming will handle this problem for us.
I agree, except I think they are planning to move to Australia.
It maybe a paradise but I can think of other just as beautiful destinations where I’m not supporting a government that is one of the most oppressive to Christians.
"To build our economy we need foreign investments and we need to create an environment in which foreigners can invest," Nasheed said.
"We can't achieve development by going backwards to the stone age or being ignorant," he added.
"Should we ban music? Should we mutilate girls' genitals? Should we allow 9 year-olds to be married? Should we forbid art and drawing? Should we be allowed to take concubines? Is this nation building?" he asked.
Funny how they are worried about their future as a resort destination when they are supposed to disappear any year now.
Oh yeah.
Now that’s puttin’ the smackdown on these fools. And he’s absolutely 100% correct.
I genuinely hope he stands firm, and his supporters with him. And I also pray that President Nasheed doesn’t have something bad happen to him. I admire a man who’s willing to take a stand, even if I don’t entirely agree with him. Having some principles deserves respect, and it seems President Nasheed has some.
More primitivism.
The headline makes it sound like they are protesting against Islamic Law, but as I suspected, they are protesting in favor of their backwards system of suppression and terror.
...calling on the government to halt what they called "anti-Islamic" activities, including a plan to allow direct flights to Israel.The Islamihole activities in the Maldives have gotten worse since Thor Heyerdahl's book about his investigation of pre-Islamic navigation and settlements. One statue of some deity or other anthropoid critter had a local name which translated literally as "the owner of the fish". Some Islamihole in the village took it upon himself to downplay its origin, answering Heyerdahl's inquiry with, "a piece of fish can be any shape".
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