Malé, Maldives - Justice Minister Mohamed Jameel has lashed out at the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for religious freedom, Asma Jahangir, accusing her of trying to undermine the Islamic unity of the Maldives.
In an interview with Haveeru Daily on Tuesday, the ‘New Maldives’ minister strongly condemned Jahangir’s visit:
“I have been told that she [Jahangir] is asking people why this is not allowed in Islam and why that is not allowed in Maldives. It’s because of her attitude that I am condemning her visit. I condemn anyone who comes to Maldives under the shadow of human right activists while challenging the Islamic unity in Maldives. It doesn’t matter even if it is the United Nations or any other organization.”
“For a people who have accepted Islamic Sharia’ as their law, to try to bring in freedom of other religions by talking rights, is a challenge to the freedom of Islam and respect to Islam. It is not permitted in Islam. Looked at in this way, it is compulsory upon Maldivians to stop this.”
“It is their [non believer’s] own thing not to visit the Maldives because they can’t live a certain way or they can’t spread a certain religion. It is not an advantage to the Maldives to have these kind of people visiting,” Jameel said.
President Gayoom is often accused of using religion as a weapon to discredit his political opposition. During a public speech on May 19, the president said the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was made up of “Communists and Christians” whose sole purpose was to destroy Islam.
In contrast, the president likes to portray himself as ‘the defender of the faith’. The implicit message to Maldivians is that if his 28 year-old regime falls, so will Islam.
Many therefore find it odd that President Gayoom took the initiative to invite Jahangir to the Maldives in the first place.
As her four day visit draws to an end, it is equally surprising how little public attention she has attracted. When Minivan News published an article on Jahangir’s visit on Monday, the newspaper, unusually, did not receive any comments or letters to the editor regarding the topic.
As Jahangir prepares to leave the Maldives on Wednesday, after a largely uneventful visit, many find the Justice Minister’s last-minute outburst highly suspicious.
“Jameel made these comments on the same day that the Majlis passed the Human Rights Commission Bill. This is devious engineering by the regime to discredit all human rights activism,” said MDP Chairperson Mohamed Nasheed.
“Gayoom is trying to rally public support against the international ideals of human rights. He is trying to portray adherence to human rights standards as an erosion of our national identity,” Anni added.
If Gayoom can whip up a public outcry over Jahangir’s visit, Anni says the president could refuse to ratify the human rights commission bill. Gayoom could also renege on the roadmap pledge to sign the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The President could then portray the decision not to ratify the legislation as a response to ‘public concern’.
Others within the MDP point to simpler motivations on the part of the justice minister: “I think he is just trying to score political points. He is trying to turn himself into a budding politician by taking pot shots at the Special Rapporteur,” said MDP Secretary-General Hamid Abdul Gafoor.
Minivan News telephoned Jameel on Wednesday. We asked him whether his comments were made in a personal capacity or as a serving cabinet minister. Jameel declined to comment. Other government sources were also unavailable for comment.
While it remains unclear whether Jameel was speaking in a personal capacity or on behalf of the government, his remarks have certainly put him at odds with cabinet colleague Hassan Saeed.
The Attorney-General has been a vocal supporter of freedom of religion. In his book Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam, published in 2004, the AG calls for ‘absolute’ freedom of religion to be permitted in modern Muslim societies and says punishments for apostasy should be discarded.