Maldives police raid resort, remove ‘idols’ ahead of heated polls

Male, Maldives – Guests on a five-star honeymoon resort in the Maldives caught a rare glimpse of the decades-long political and religious tensions rocking this island nation when policemen – armed with axes, concrete saws and ropes – stormed the Fairmont Maldives to destroy model human figures that had been deemed un-Islamic.

The unprecedented raid on Friday came as President Abdulla Yameen railed against what he said was a plot by the “Western-backed opposition” to undermine Islam in the Maldives ahead of a highly charged election on Sunday.

Standing in a tropical storm on the tarmac in a half-completed airport in northern Maldives, Yameen lambasted his opponents for promoting “Western standards” that “are intolerable to our values”.

“I bring you development and prosperity,” he declared as the rain and wind whipped coconut palms in the distance.

“What does the opposition offer? They talk of democracy… What do they do in the name of Western-backed democracy? They protest to seek rights for homosexuals.”

Breaking News: Qanoonaa khilaafah Siirufenfushee ga bahattaafaivaa budhu thah negumuge amalee masahkaiy Dhivehi Raajje ge salaamathee baaruthakun fashaifi. pic.twitter.com/h0m0cwUgXE

— News (@PSMnewsmv) September 21, 2018

Yameen, 59, is seeking re-election after fives years of rule marred by allegations of human rights abuses and corruption.

The president, who is facing sanctions from the European Union over alleged rights violations, has sought to portray himself as defending sovereignty and religion in the Sunni Muslim nation.

He has fostered close ties with China and Saudi Arabia, praising the two countries for funding his development agenda without interfering in the country’s affairs, and chosen as his running mate a cleric with close ties to Saudis, Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed.

His opponents, however, counter he is autocratic and corrupt. 

Over the past five years, Yameen has jailed or forced into exile nearly all of his political rivals, suspended parliament, shuttered critical and independent media, and declared two states of emergencies over alleged threats to national security.

He has presided over a crackdown on liberal voices even as scores of young men and women left the country to join armed groups in various conflicts in the Middle East, including fighting with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Meanwhile, a journalist was disappeared, a blogger was killed, and several rights activists have received death threats for criticising street crime and religious violence.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the opposition’s joint candidate, has promised to investigate the attacks, restore democracy, release dissidents and investigate corruption allegations against Yameen.

Ever since prison riots in 2003 led to a democratic uprising, those who seek to promote human rights and democracy in the Maldives have been “branded anti-Islamic”, according to Shahindha Ismail, executive director of Maldivian Democracy Network.

Since then, successive governments have used religion to legitimise authoritarian actions, she said, empowering far-right religious actors in the country.

That is why the art installation at the Fairmont has become a flashpoint, she said.

Sirru Fen Fushi resortgai hedhifaiva Coralrium gai insaanunge soora sifa vaagothah behettifaiva sculpture thah naga coralarium vany miadhuge 17:45 gai huskurevifai. pic.twitter.com/Yamgw4evCn

— Maldives Police (@PoliceMv) September 21, 2018

The furore over the statues began in July when clerics warned against “the sin of worshipping idols” after the art installation, called a coralarium, was opened to the public.

The Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, a Canadian chain, calledit the world’s first semi-submerged gallery, and Jason deCaires Taylor, the British-Guyanese artist behind the installations, said his aim was “to raise awareness for the protection” of Maldives’ coral reefs, which are under threat from warming oceans associated with climate change. 

Within days of the gallery opening, the president’s office ordered the removal of the nearly 30 submerged and semi-submerged sculptures because of “significant public sentiment against” them.

The civil court on Thursday issued a ruling ordering the resort to take down the sculptures, saying “the coralarium undermines Islamic faith and peace and order” in the country, according to local media.

The judgment ordered the police to remove the installation if the resort failed to do so within five hours.

Ismail described the police’s actions a “destructive and desperate” attempt by Yameen to court the religious vote.

Ibrahim Muaz Ali, the president’s spokesman, denied the claim, but refused to answer additional questions.

Ahmed Nihan, parliamentary group leader of the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives, posted a tweet with police destroying the statues and the hashtag #YameenShaheem2018. He had previously thanked Yameen for the removal order.

Sirrufenfusheega E Thanuge Management in Behetti Budhu Thah Dhivehi Sarukaarun Nagaa Nimmaifi. #YameenSaheem2018 pic.twitter.com/dZB7mfdmxY

— Ahmed Nihan (@ahmed_nihan) September 21, 2018

The Fairmont Maldives did not respond to calls for comment.

A similar outcry occurred in 2011 during a meeting of South Asian leaders in the Maldives’ southern Addu City over the installation of statues gifted by the country’s neighbours.

Several monuments, including a bust of Pakistan‘s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was torched while the head of Sri Lanka‘s lion statue was decapitated.

The police eventually took down all the monuments.

Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, spokesman for the Maldivian Democratic Party, which leads the four-party alliance seeking to remove Yameen, declined to comment on the removal of the statues from the Fairmont Maldives.

Isha Afeef reported from Male. Zaheena Rasheed reported and wrote from Colombo.