Maldives takes steps to curb Islamic extremism

An article posted on Bloomberg .com, quoting a Maldivian government Minister has revealed that the assassination attempt on the president of the Maldives and a bomb attack targeting tourists has prompted the government to take steps to prevent Islamic extremism increasing in the country.

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of Maldives, escaped an assassination attempt on Jan. 8 when a boy scout grabbed the attacker's knife. A homemade bomb exploded in the capital, Male, on Sept. 29, in what Gayoom said was the country's first terrorist attack reported the article in Bloomberg.com

``We are trying to combat'' extremism, Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed said in a telephone interview from Male. ``Investigations into the September attack showed that there was fundamentalist thinking behind it” said the article in Bloomberg.com on the 15 of this month.

The government has ``long-term, medium and immediate'' plans to tackle Islamic fundamentalism in the Maldives, Nasheed said. ``We have a media campaign trying to neutralize any fundamental thinking and we are also closing down sources of finance to these groups.''

The administration intends to promote ``moderate thinking'' through the school curriculum and has banned veils in public places, in offices, courts and educational institutions, Nasheed said. It has also banned Muslim prayer groups without a license and will crack down on underground organizations, said Nasheed in the article in Bloomberg.com.

``Religion has never been the subject of debate in this country,'' Nasheed said. ``It has been the property of the clerics. Now we are trying to take that privilege away. By doing so, ordinary citizens can talk about issues they face as a member of the community or as a citizen of the country as far as religion goes.''
Sunni Muslims in the Maldives practice a moderate Shafi'i school of thought, Nasheed said. ``We do not have madrassas or religious schools, like you see in Pakistan, where militant thinking comes in,'' he said. ``In this country, fundamentalism is not spread through teachings.''

According to Bloomberg.com Nasheed has said “extremism is being fanned by a minority of clerics preaching a ``protest movement'' and some of the clerics may be imitating the trends happening in other nations”.