Neighbouring Maldives has also been alerted in the wake of the blast in Sri Lanka. But how to stop fanatical religious groups? This question is bothering everyone.
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The repercussions of the Easter bombings in neighboring Sri Lanka were also felt in neighboring Maldives. The Maldivian government, alarmed by the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka, immediately convened a meeting of security forces to review the security situation. It was clear from the response of his defense minister that the Maldives was taking the incident in Sri Lanka seriously. "The Maldives is not at risk of terrorist attacks," Defense Minister Maria Didi told The Hindu. But in the wake of what happened in the neighboring country, we can't say for sure that this will not happen to us either. '
It has recently been revealed that 69 Maldivian nationals have fled to Syria to join the terrorist organization ISIS, which is trying to create a world war in the name of religion. In this context, the statement made by the Defense Minister is important. Some of these 69 citizens who were disillusioned with ISIS now want to return home. But waiting for their return is no longer easy. In fact, all those returning to the Maldives from the troubled region are now being thoroughly investigated. Neither the Maldivian government nor the security forces have the mentality to feed the terrorists by relocating them to ISIS. Therefore, the government and security forces are keeping a close eye on those returning home from abroad.
The previous Yameen government succeeded in effectively curbing religious polarization. Yameen's government has cracked down on religious fundamentalism or extremism in the country. Its salt did not spread across the country. Nor did it tailgate these aggressive ideologies. Therefore, the nuisance of extremists remained limited. Both mobile and internet can be blamed for the growing influence of ISIS on people's minds. No one can deny that these two simple things have helped to fuel ISIS ideology.
Now that both mobile and internet have become an integral part of people's lives, no government can force its people to 'use them sparingly'. The sparsely populated Maldivian government is no exception. But the solution is that the Maldives does not have as much unrestricted use of mobile and internet as the South Asian countries. The Maldives does not have that much freedom.
Despite a Sunni majority, the Yameen government has succeeded in cracking down on religious fundamentalists in the Islamic Republic of Maldives. Burqas were banned in schools during the Yamin government. The decision provoked strong reactions in the Maldives. Conservatives and conservatives strongly opposed the Yameen government's decision. But it was of no use. Although the Maldives is an Islamic country, women have the freedom to dress freely. The Maldivian government allows women to work in any field.
Former Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon is of paramount importance in the political and social life of the Maldives. Maumoon is seen as a symbol of women's freedom. Dunya has come from a family with a right-liberal and religiously conservative background and a political party. However, it did not make a difference in their modern way of life. In public life, she wore this modern dress. However, in recent years the majority of women in the Maldives, including the capital Mal मा, have been spotted wearing the burqa.
Urgent action
Immediately after the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, the Maldivian government reviewed its security arrangements. The security forces also conducted colorful training on how to deal with an emergency like the one in Sri Lanka and tightened security at all borders. The Maldives did what an archipelago with limited resources should do.
Acknowledging that there are flaws in the security arrangements in the Maldives, the previous Yameen government enlisted the help of India to address these flaws. Towards the end of his tenure, the Yameen government called in counter-terrorism experts in India. Exchanged information needed to strengthen security. In particular, despite tensions between the Yameen government and the Indian government, the exercise was carried out meticulously.
According to a recent report in the leading Maldivian newspaper The Independent, the Yameen government had clashed with the US-based Soufan group, which includes 200-250 Maldivians and is fighting alongside ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The Yameen government's accusation that Western governments have inflated the number of Maldivian nationals joining ISIS, assuming the country does not know the exact number of people who went missing at the time, seems plausible.
Speaking about this, Defense Minister Maria Didi presents her and the government's role to The Hindu. She says, "It is hard to give numbers on how many of civilians are pollinated throughout the country. It is a heinous crime to go to foreign lands and wage war against the elected government, for which the Maldivian law provides for life imprisonment. So the Maldivians, who had gone to take part in the war on foreign soil, were expelled from the country under the pretext of wandering in the Allies. While the Maldives is taking a firm stand on its missing citizens, the role of Sri Lanka, which has been rocked by a series of bomb blasts, is ambiguous. The statement made by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe is eloquent enough to underline this. He says the Sri Lankan government cannot do much about the masterminds of the Easter bombings.
Terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka are a matter of great concern for the Maldives, Minister Maria Didi said in a statement in The Hindu. "The leathality of the attacks, the level of association that has been achieved and the method employed by the terrorists to attack are all indicative parameters to know the extent to which the militants and terrorists can reach the new low of cruelty," she said in an interview. Maria added, "Our country's economy depends on our core competence i.e. the tourism and from the context of the given situation we have to deploy serious measures to the attack on our neighbouring nation. We are studying the attack at our level, and we are constantly discussing national, multilateral security measures. "
Maria goes on to say that contact numbers of Maldivian nationals who have fled the country and who are likely to be involved in ISIS terrorist activities are being obtained from their own relatives. Relatives of those who have fled the country to ISIS have reported the matter to the National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC). According to the NCTC, 69 people have defected to ISIS. That, of course, does not include women and children. The number of young people is huge.
According to a statement issued by the NCTC in February, some of those who left the Maldives with their families under the pretext of moving to Allied countries later secretly entered Syria. As a result, their bereaved families have now sought refuge in the homeland again. It includes a large number of widows of Maldivian youth who were martyred in the jihad in Syria. Maria explained that Maldives President Ibrahim Soleh is considering a national initiative to rehabilitate the people.
The Maldives' national security agencies are also expanding their counter-terrorism capabilities. In this regard, Maria Didi says, "Two senior level committees, the Anti-Terrorism Steering Committee and the Anti-Extremism Committee, have been set up to inculcate in the minds of the people the attitude of the government and the society as a whole towards terrorist incidents. These committees are working for capacity building at the organizational level and for the empowerment of vulnerable sections of the society as well as for the effective implementation of empowerment activities in key areas such as education and NGOs.
Preaching to preachers ?
While the defense minister has taken a hard line against those who spread religious divisions, the role announced by his party's top leader and former president, Mohammad Nasheed, is controversial. Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of the Sri Lankan bombings, was in the Maldives in 2016 and during the visit, he spread vicious propaganda among his supporters, Nasheed said. Nasheed said it was not known how or how Zahran had entered the Maldives on the basis of a fake passport and a false name. In a tweet, Nasheed said, "It is not wise to grant visas to those who enter the country in the guise of rich women abroad without any scrutiny."
Speaking to The Hindu at the time, Nasheed had said, "Zahran may have entered the Maldives using a false name and forged documents, but this shows that our agencies should think a hundred times before allowing preachers into the country." Of course, Nasheed did not provide any evidence to support his claims. Zahran had never visited the Maldives, a statement issued by the Maldives' immigration department said.
Re-hearing of the case against the former vice-president
Former Maldivian vice president Ahmed Adeeb, who is serving a 15-year sentence, will now be tried again. This was indicated by a three-member bench of the Maldives Bench of the Maldives High Court. So now the political controversy is likely to erupt again. Ahmed Adeeb was arrested for plotting to assassinate then-President Yameen. Adib, who was returning from an official visit to China, was arrested at Mal मा airport. Adeeb was later convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
An incident took place in September 2015 after President Yameen returned home from a visit to Saudi Arabia. After landing at Male International Airport, Mr. Spatnik was to return home by speed boat. A bomb was planted under the seat of the president in this speed boat. The bomber struck as the president and his wife, Fatima Ibrahim, were on their way home in a boat. The president was not harmed in the blast, but his wife was killed.
Yameen blamed his political opponents for the blast. In the ensuing siege, the needle of suspicion turned to Vice President Adeeb. The police rushed to the spot and sent Adeeb to jail. Adeeb was convicted of plotting to assassinate the president and spread terrorism in the country. Adib was put behind the bars for total of 15 years.
Now the question is, if Adeeb had no hand in that conspiracy, then who was? Was the action taken against Adeeb under the 1999 Anti-Terrorism Act justified? Numerous questions have been raised that a new case will be filed and they will be re-investigated.
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