Parliament united in defense of Islam: MDN must be banned

A large number of Maldivian lawmakers showed a united front in condemning local NGO Maldives Democracy Network (MDN) for its report on the level of radicalization in Maldives – which was found mock the Islamic faith, the Holy Quran and Prophet Mohamed.

They have called for state authorities to revoke the license awarded to MDN to operate as a NGO.

The lawmakers issued their condemnation during a debate on the emergency motion filed by Nolhivaram MP Mohamed Nasheed Abdulla in response to MDN’s report this Monday.

The emergency motion calls for measures to counter attacks on the Islamic faith in Maldives.

The emergency motion sparked a heated debate at the Parliament. Many of the lawmakers who took part in the debate condemned MDN’s report and called for action against the NGO.

They said that no party should be allowed to mock the Islamic faith and the Prophet, or to express any opinion against Islam.

They threatened to stand up against any such attempt.

Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef said that no party should be allowed to release a report designed to deliberate enflame the general public. He said the report should be banned, and action taken against MDN if the general population found its content to be irreligious.

South Machangolhi MP Ahmed Haitham said that MDN’s report should not have been allowed to be published. He called for all social media pages found to promote islamophobia to be blocked under laws on hate speech.

“They have withdrawn the report. The report should not have been released in the first place. No speech must be allowed against the religion, and against the Prophet. These pages on Facebook and [other] social medias must be blocked. If this can’t be done, then ISPs needs to revoke their services,” said Haitham.

Vilingili MP Saud Hussain said that the spread of islamophobia was being carried out while Islam is “written and locked” in the Constitution as the state religion.

He said that the campaign on islamophobia wasn’t a recent endeavor, and must be stopped. He said the campaign to spread irreligious propaganda had reached extremist levels.

He said that MDN, despite withdrawing its report, continued to spread irreligious propaganda. He said that it proved it was a coordinated campaign.

“The work to spread irreligious propaganda is now fanatical… I call for MDN, this organization, to be banned,” said Saud.

Dhuvaafaru MP Ismail Ahmed described MDN as a “sinister network”.

He said the Maldives did not have just one sinister networks, but two.

“We have two sinister networks. Not just one network. We have two networks. Maldives has seen the birth of people working against Islam, and a NGO engaged in coordinated efforts [against Islam]. This is the reality. We have seen MDN continuously engaged in this. This is fearful,” said Ismail Ahmed.

He said that MDN should no longer exist if the law was enforced, and called for action against MDN under the regulation on non-governmental organization.

He said that the issue of extremism had reached alarming levels in Maldives – but that the definition of extremism wasn’t one-sided – and that it also applied to both religious extremism and heresy.

Makunudhoo MP Mohamed Rai said Maldives should not allow any room for any activity against the Islamic faith; and Vaikaradhoo MP Hussain Ziyad said he refused to accept MDN’s report, and condemned it in the harshest terms.

“We will stand up if you speak against Islam,” he said.