Can a nation that considers itself 100 percent Muslim also be a democracy without risking its Islamic identity and ideals, asks Vishal Arora in the Huffington Post.
That’s what this tiny island nation off the southern coast of India is trying to do. Two years after the country embraced democracy, a literary festival imported from the West shows the promise -and peril – of that experiment.
Every year, an estimated 700,000 tourists flock to this postcard-perfect chain of about 1,100 islands. Before they can hit the beach, however, they must complete a customs form that includes a list of “prohibited and restricted” imports, including “materials contrary to Islam,” “idols for worship,” pork products and alcohol.
The restrictions are lingering vestiges of the 30-year rule of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a conservative authoritarian who yielded power in the country’s first democratic elections in 2008.
Yet even with the change in government, there’s been little desire for a change in policy on religious restrictions.
