Murdered writer and blogger Yameen Rasheed’s father has gone to India in order to ask the government to help fight religious extremism in the Maldives.
As the Indian newspaper, Times of India, reports; Hussein Rasheed is in Delhi and has made appointments with government officials there. Rasheed is appealing to the fact that his four children, including Yameen, had been educated there.
"There is growing radicalisation in the vicinity of India. India should help” the paper reported Rasheed to have said.
The same article names Maldives to have the ‘highest per capita recruitment numbers’ for the Islamic State.
On May 9th, the police had arrested an individual who had raised a flag resembling that of the Islamic State. The police have yet to reveal any further details about the individual.
READ MORE: Individual arrested for Islamic State flag raising
As a result of the amendment brought to the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2015, it is now a crime for Maldivians to join or attempt to join or fight in any overseas conflict.
Maldives has garnered international attention for a rising number of locals leaving to fighting wars abroad.
Fanatical elements within the country have posed credible threats to journalists and those who preach a more moderate form of Islam or criticize religion.
The Maldives’ official policy on terrorism states that the government will have a zero-tolerance policy on terrorism and violent extremism.
“The Maldives pledges to take swift measures against anyone committing an act or acts of terrorism, or financing, joining, encouraging or providing any manner of assistance or support to, terrorists and violent extremists” the state’s policy says, while also acknowledging that more work needs to be done to strengthen identification and investigation processes.
The police have arrested seven individuals in the investigation into Yameen's murder and had assured that it would give the investigation maximum priority in order to ‘create a safer environment for the Maldivian community’.
Yameen’s family is seeking an international and independent investigation into the murder, especially as the police had previously been negligent in investigating death threats against him.
The writer, who was vocal about several political and social issues through his twitter account and satirical blog The Daily Panic, was found stabbed over thirty times in his home on the early hours of 23rd April.
