Tuesday roundup: president appeals against weaponising Islam

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih urged religious scholars on Monday night not to weaponise Islam for political ends.

Clerics have been leading a campaign calling on the government to ban the Maldivian Democracy Network over the alleged slander of Islam in a 2016 report on radicalisation. The government suspended the NGO after the Islamic ministry asked police to investigate but the campaign continued unabated and opposition parties have seized upon the cause with protests of their own.

Speaking at a function held to mark National Day, Solih condemned the misuse of freedom of expression to disparage Islam and Prophet Mohamed, which has “adversely affected our nationhood and daily lives.” Such people consider the lack of freedom of religion in the Maldives a deprivation of human rights, he added.