Opposition warns of ‘popular uprising’ as ban MDN protests continue

Recalling the campaign to “defend Islam” that preceded former president Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation in February 2012, the Progressive Congress Coalition warned in a statement issued on Saturday night that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party’s “obsession with recalibrating the 800-year-old norms and practices to related to the Sunni Muslim faith of Maldivians” could lead to the overthrow of the second MDP government, stressing the “people’s deep-seated devotion to the Islamic faith and their willingness to jealously guard their national identity.”

Religious scholars launched the campaign to ban MDN earlier this month after screenshots of offensive sections in the report were widely shared on social media. The government reacted by suspending the NGO after the Islamic ministry asked police to investigate. But the campaign continued unabated on social media and protest marches took place on several islands over the past three weekends.

On Thursday night, former president Abdulla Yameen joined a demonstration staged by opposition supporters outside the Progressive Party of Maldives office in Malé. The Maldivian people will not tolerate freethinkers or liberal ideologies in the name of democracy when it comes to matters of religion, the opposition leader declared.