On Sunday (24th December), the Maldives Police issued a statement advising the public not to hold any Christmas celebrations on any inhabited island in the Maldives. It must be mentioned that Maldives is one of the neighbouring countries of India, housing 98% of the Muslim population.
The advisory by the Police stated that Christmas was a Christian holiday celebrated in connection with the New Year and that such activities are prohibited by the laws and regulations of the Maldives.
“Such activities are prohibited by the laws and regulations of the Maldives. Therefore, no activities should be held in any of the islands to celebrate Christmas and action will be taken within the legal framework against those who conduct such activities,” the official statement by the Maldives Police read.
The Police advisory mentions that anyone celebrating Christmas or any such related activity on the islands will have to face legal action.
Notably, this comes a month after pro-China Mohammad Moizzu has taken over as the new President of the country. The president-elect is widely regarded as sympathetic to China’s interests in the country and less so to India, Maldives’ giant neighbour and traditional security and economic partner.
Mohammad Moizzu, who believes in the anti-India agenda, first paid a visit to Turkey after becoming the President, whereas till now the tradition has been that after taking oath in Maldives, the President first visits India.
Maldives is an island country whose economy is based on tourism and people of different religions and communities from different countries around the world visit Maldives. Amid this, it sounds a bit strange to issue a public advisory against a particular religion in such a country.
It is to be noted that, the Islamists in June 2022 had also disrupted Yoga Day celebrations in the Maldives. Islamists entered the Galolhu stadium where people were performing Yoga on the eighth International Yoga Day. They uprooted the flags in the stadium and used them to attack the participants of the celebrations.
As reported earlier, the event was organized by the Indian Mission in the Maldives in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Development. Diplomats, government officials, and Maldives ministers were present at the event when the Islamist extremists barged into the stadium.
https://www.opindia.com/2023/12/maldives-police-bar-christmas-celebrations-on-inhabited-islands/
