The Maldives Confront Environmental, Political and Religious Issues

Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer

The Republic of the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka, consists of a double chain of twenty-six atolls comprising 298 square kilometres. Its population of 328,000 people inhabit 192 of its 1,192 islands. The national language, Maldivian, or Dhivehi, is closely related to Sinhalese, spoken on Sri Lanka.

The Maldives were originally settled by peoples who came from South Asia and today’s Maldivians are closely related to the Sinhalese, with an admixture of Arab, Malay, and African background as well. Formerly Buddhists (like the Sinhalese), they adopted Islam in the 12th century and the Maldives became a devoutly Muslim country. The system of government was monarchical with sultans as sovereigns.

The islands become a protectorate first of the Dutch rulers of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and later of the British who took control of Ceylon in 1796. The Maldives Sultanate became an internally self-governing British protectorate in 1887.

The islands acquired full independence in 1965, but three years later Sultan Muhammad Fareed Didi was removed after a referendum and the country became a republic with Ibrahim Nasir as president.

In 1978 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was elected president and he would go on to rule in an increasingly autocratic fashion, winning five further elections of dubious legality. Amnesty International and other human rights groups accused his government of imprisoning and torturing its opponents, and he managed to survive three unsuccessful coups and an assassination attempt.

Forced by increasing protests to democratise the political system, Gayoom finally allowed honest elections in 2008, and was defeated by opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed, who had been imprisoned more than twenty times for his struggles against Gayoom. “In politics in this country,” Nasheed had told the British magazine the Economist in 2006, “you’re either in government or in jail.”

But Nasheed was forced out in February of 2012 after a mutiny by police and the military. He said his resignation had been forced on him at gunpoint. The vice-president, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, widely seen as a puppet of Gayoom’s, was sworn in as his replacement.

Nasheed was later arrested on a charge of illegally arresting a judge, a charge he dismissed as politically motivated. This past February he briefly took refuge in the Indian High Commission in the capital, Malé. Nasheed maintains that the charges against him are intended to keep him from trying to reclaim the presidency in elections set for September. He will be running against Waheed Hassan.

Islam is the state religion and government regulations must conform to Sunni Islamic law. Adherence to Islam is legally required of citizens following a revision of the constitution in 2008.

Religious parties had protested against policies advocated by Nasheed that they contended were anti-Islamic. On the day Nasheed resigned, a group of men swarmed into the National Museum in Malé, and destroyed about 30 Buddhist statues dating back to the sixth century.

The development of the tourist industry has fueled economic growth in the Maldives. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in terms of purchasing power parity was $8,700 in 2012.  However, many conservative Muslims frown upon the Europeans who come as tourists. As it is, most tourists are taken straight to a few uninhabited islands set aside for them by seaplane or speedboat, insulated from the populated Maldives, where alcohol is outlawed and skimpy beachwear frowned upon.

The current coalition government, led by Mohammed Waheed Hassan, which includes the Islamic Adhaalath (Justice) Party, could have a dramatic impact on the future of tourism in the archipelago. Growing Islamisation could lead to the banning of spas, same-sex beaches and alcohol from holiday resorts in the Maldives.

Nasheed has accused the current government of reversing “hard won freedoms” and awarding “Islamic extremists” with cabinet positions. (The Adhaalath Party dominates the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.)

The 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami caused severe damage to many of the country’s low lying islands. None of them measures more than 1.8 metres above sea level, making the country vulnerable to a rise in sea levels associated with global warming. There is a fear that as sea levels rise, island countries such as the Maldives, will simply disappear.

A documentary about Nasheed’s efforts to halt climate change, “The Island President,” was released in 2012, to worldwide distribution (including a showing at City Cinema in Charlottetown). He has also addressed the issue at venues in Europe and North America. It probably won’t help get him re-elected, though.