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| Southeast Asia |
| Christmas decoration gets restaurant in trouble |
| 2010-12-31 |
| A special Christmas promotion aimed at foreigners at a Maldivian restaurant got the restaurant owners into deep trouble. Islam is the official religion in Maldives and constitutionally, there is only place for Sunni Muslims; practice of other religions is prohibited. Display of other religious symbols attracts police action. In this case, the restaurant was decorated for Christmas with items related to the celebration. This led to protests from religious groups such as the Adhaalath Party and the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives, which led to the arrest of one restaurant employee, the independent Maldivian newspaper Minivan News reported. “Some people gathered and protested against the decorations, because it was like celebrating Christmas,” police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP. Mr. Shiyam added one restaurant employee was taken in for questioning on Tuesday and later released. The offending streamers were quickly removed. |
| Posted by:tipper |