Maldives bans NGO over ‘anti-Islamic’ report
The Maldivian Democracy Network will be dissolved in 45 days.
05 Nov 2019, 9:00 AM
The government has decided to dissolve the Maldivian Democracy Network over content in a 2016 report that was deemed contrary to the tenets of Islam.
The community empowerment ministry cancelled MDN’s registry on Tuesday and informed the NGO to settle its debts and matters related to its property within 45 days.
The unprecedented move came after the Islamic ministry and police concluded that MDN’s ‘Preliminary Assessment of Radicalisation in the Maldives’ mocked Islam and Prophet Mohamed, the community empowerment ministry announced. The 2003 associations law prohibits NGOs from contradicting tenets of Islam or undermining religious unity, it added.
Religious scholars launched a campaign to ban MDN in early October after screenshots of offensive sections in the report were widely shared on social media. More than 140 out of 200 local councils backed the calls and protest marches took place on several islands during the past four weekends. On October 10, the government suspended the NGO after the Islamic ministry asked police to investigate but the campaign continued unabated and opposition parties seized upon the cause with protests of their own.
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