Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - "The inhabitants of the Maldives should be inspired by the movements of the Arab Spring and move towards a secular system, which protects human rights and religious freedom": this is what John Dayal, a Catholic intellectual, Secretary General of the NGO "All India Christian Council" (AICC), which protects the rights of Christians in the Indian subcontinent tells Fides.
Interviewed by Fides, Dayal commented on the fluid situation in the Maldives, where President Mohamed Nasheed has resigned, following a revolt by the police, and the power is temporarily in the hands of the Vice President. The protest has increased in the last three weeks after Mohammed Abdulla’s arrest, chief judge of the Criminal Court of the Maldives. The judge had ordered the release of a political opponent, while the President accused the judge of corruption. Former political prisoner and activist for democracy, Nasheed became president in 2008, in the first democratic elections after 30 years.
The Secretary of AICC tells Fides: "We look at the situation in the Maldives with extreme apprehension. The risk is that a new non-democratic power but dictatorial or military takes over. This could lead to a deterioration in human rights and individual freedoms already highly compressed. The Maldives is an Islamic state that bans churches, Christian worship and Bibles. A paradise for tourists, a hell for Christians". Dayal concludes: "Our hope is that people are inspired by the movements of the Arab Spring and promote a shift towards democratic openness, respect for human rights and freedoms of the person".
According to the Constitution of 1997, in the Maldives Islam is the state religion. To non-Muslims public worship is forbidden. Every Muslim who converts to another faith can lose citizenship. In 1998 all foreign Christians were expelled and the 50 Christian citizens in the Maldives were imprisoned and Islamized. In 2011, Shijo Kokkattu, a Christian professor of Indian origin, was expelled from the country after the police had found a Bible and a rosary in his house. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 07/02/2012)
