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Years ago, I asked my father why he stopped going to the nearby mosque. He said there were people inside the mosque who were questioning his faith and he believes that his faith should not be questioned by a stranger. That was the first alarm I witnessed, 15 years ago.
A year later, I kept hearing religious lectures through radio and television of each and every house, followed by a radical transformation of almost everyone rushing to follow their instructions regardless of whether it made sense to them or not.
Years passed, I saw on the news that ‘religious scholars' were travelling to remote islands to give public lectures. Out of curiosity, I checked their social media accounts. To my surprise, they had thousands of followers.
After a while, public chats increased, and so did the social media groups on various platforms. They advocated for quick fixes to issues and quick answers to queries.
Years passed, I saw on the news that Maldivians have travelled to join extremist movements abroad. What next?
Years passed, I saw on the news that Maldivians have travelled to join extremist movements abroad. What next?
Now we see finger pointing to those who joined these movements and to those who recruited them into these movements. Blaming and excluding them further intensifies the situation. Maybe they felt that they belong with them more than us. Maybe they were excluded.
Maybe they were brainwashed. Maybe they had unfortunate past circumstances which they could not explain and overcome through another mean. Maybe we didn't have countermeasures and proper mechanisms in-place to rehabilitate and accept them into society after crises.
Maybe we failed to encourage thought and discussion accross our remote islands while our people resorted to indoctrination and seclusion. Whatever the situation is, its time to address the root cause and not take it at face value.
