Today, former President Nasheed stated that he does not want to develop churches in the Maldives. However, it is hard to trust him on this matter because, when he was the president, he asked the Islamic Ministry’s opinion on building churches in the Maldives.
During that time, Islamic Ministry even expressed concern regarding the matter. Also, a foreign ambassador met with Nasheed during that time, and then met with the Islamic Minister Dr.Majeed and requested for permission to build a church in Maldives. Dr.Majeedh told the ambassador that the Islamic Ministry cannot issue that permission and for that the constitution of the Maldives needs to be changed. Since the ambassador was so persistent, Dr.Majeedh finally asked him to refer the matter to the parliament of the Maldives.
In addition, it should be noted that around 20 people demonstrated at artificial beach calling for religious freedom during President Nasheed’s administration. Even though his government stated that they will investigate the matter, they never investigated it.
For reasons like this, it is very hard to trust Mohammed Nasheed when he talks about matters of religion.
