Minister at President's Office Ahmed Zuhoor has stated that extremism and the number of people going to Syria had increased due to some policies used by MDP government and called on the opposition to become more accountable.
Speaking in Sangu TVs "Habarah Fahu", the one time Home Minister Zuhoor said that MDP government had widely discredited scholars, allowing anyone to give sermons. He said this had created a fertile ground for extremism and extremist views.
Zuhoor said the people started to migrate to Syria before this Government came to power, adding that the full responsibility of this must be borne by the MDP government.
"That was the result of rise of extremism. Is this something the current President did? Did the rise in extremism and extremist views and the migration to Syria and other nations happen in the past two years? The responsibility of this must be taken by that Government who got elected first under a democratic system," he said.
"What we've seen is not the work of brainwashing in a day or two,"
Addressing on the work of the opposition MDP, Zuhoor said that they were currently presenting Maldives as a threat to other nations, a hot bed of extremism and jihadi recruitment.
"What happens when [they] go to European nations with this type of stories. They will latch on to this very easily. Which Islamic nations will accept this type of stories, how many Islamic nations are against the Government," Zuhoor said.
Zuhoor said that this had negatively impacted the nation, its identity and the citizens.
