The Third Rail

If you believe that "news is what people are talking about" the biggest story here is the preaching of Dr. Zakir Naik. He's a Muslim scholar from India, and he would be comparable to the late Billy Graham in terms of his ability to fill a stadium for his talks on religion. Over two days, about one-fourth of the population of the capital city came to hear him, and the event was televised live on state-run TV Maldives. What you didn't see on TV was a Maldivian man who admitted he no longer believed in Islam. TVM didn't show the "huge brawl" that broke out, as the crowd proceeded to beat the man. Islamic law requires that a Muslim who becomes a non-believer must be hanged, but there's no death penalty in Maldives so a lengthy prison term is more likely. There's already a Facebook group dedicated to his punishment and a crowd gathered outside the police station where he was being held, demanding his beheading!
The Maldives constitution requires that all citizens be Muslims. TV coverage of this consisted of taking a picture of the relevant phrase in the constitution. I tried to help a young reporter develop the story with pictures of people worshipping and talking about the importance of their religious faith, but in a city where thousands answer the call to prayer five times daily in dozens of mosques, he came back with video of buildings, not people, and it was too late to make the news.
Dr. Naik also criticized Maldivian resorts for profiting from the sale of alcohol, which is "haram" or forbidden by the religion. He suggested that the resorts instead cater only to Muslim tourists and stop serving alcohol. To give you some idea of the huge profits involved, I paid $14 for one glass of Australian table wine on my resort visit. But the idea of doing a TV story on the revenue produced by alcohol sales was dismissed as too controversial. Religion is definitely the third rail for politicians here. An attempt to allow alcohol sales to foreign visitors on the roof of the new Holiday Inn backfired by causing the repeal of ALL liquor permits for foreigners in the capital city. On the rooftop of Male's highest building, with its infinity pool and sweeping view of the airport island and nearby resorts, you would swear you were at a Hollywood club, except that the drinks are "mocktails."

Public and Private Diplomacy

While I was conducting public diplomacy with Maldivian journalists, the real diplomats were busy a few blocks away at the president's office and the Holiday Inn, Male's newest and most posh hotel. For days, the story dominating the news in Maldives has been President Nasheed's decision to accept two former detainees from Guantanamo Bay. The government reasons that there's a lot to gain by helping the US meet President Obama's goal of closing the detention facility. The presence of the US Ambasador at a regional anti-terrorism conference indicates that Maldives will be getting US aid for its security concerns. However, the opposition party is fighting the deal and the battle has all the intrigue of a Hollywood thriller. The opposition claims the US has already smuggled the detainees into Maldives, and there are charges that secret diplomatic documents on the deal were leaked to the other side. The story has generated an endless stream of talking heads, as every politician in this country seems to have an opinion about whether this action will turn Maldives into a safe haven for extremists. It's one of those important stories that has few visuals, so I couldn't have picked a worse time to try to encourage the TV journalists here to get some B-roll once in a while.

Random parting thoughts

Missing my plane meant two unexpected days in Male, plenty of time to look around at the changes. Last year, TVM did a story on the construction of the new Holiday Inn, which involved pile-driving into the coral bedrock of the island. The hotel is open now, although it seems a bit pricey at more than $300 a night for a Holiday Inn Express! I can testify to the quality of their buffet breakfast, with fresh fruit and entire pots of coffee!For Maldivian fast food, I ducked into a little shop for a bag of "short eats."
I also had a lovely visit with my friend Ziyo, who is on leave from her job on the English desk at TVM. I met her husband and adorable new baby boy, and enjoyed the swing on her rooftop terrace, next to the open air kitchen.