CES BRAVES MUZZ
Maldives: Blogger Critical of Radical Islam Stabbed
Maldivian telecommunications authorities had blocked his blog last year claiming it contained anti-Islamic material. PHOTO: AFP
COLOMBO: An outspoken Maldivian blogger
known for his liberal views on religion was in intensive care on Tuesday
after being stabbed by an attacker outside his home in the capital
Male, police said.
Ismail Rasheed, who is better known as “Hilath”, had his blog blocked
late last year by the Maldivian telecommunications authorities who
claimed it contained anti-Islamic material.
The 37-year-old, who has received death threats in the past, was
later arrested following a rally he organised in December in support of
religious tolerance and spent nearly a month behind bars.
“We don’t know who attacked him. His condition is said to be stable
now,” police spokesman Hassan Haneef told AFP by telephone, adding that
they were trying to track down the assailant behind Monday evening’s
attack.
The Maldivian government condemned the stabbing, but said Hilath should have sought protection.
“We condemn this attack. Hilath must have known that he had become a
target of a few extremists,” Human Resources and Youth Minister Mohamed
Shareef told AFP.
“We are not a secular country. When you talk about religion there
will always be a few people who do not agree,” he said, adding that the
government rejected the use of violence.
Hilath has received support in the past from rights group Amnesty
International and the Maldives Journalist Association over the blocking
of his blog and threats to his life.
Under the 2008 constitution in the Maldives, a holiday paradise
gripped by political unrest, Islam is the only religion its people can
legally practise.
Hilath practises Sufi Islam, a moderate mystical form of the
religion, and claimed his persecution was by Sunni hardliners who have
been gaining in strength in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
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