Mob Smashes Buddhist Statues in National Museum

AL ARABIYA NEWS
By AFP

Historic Buddhist statue from Maldives, in display in Sri Lanka National Museum in Colombo 2011

MALDIVES - Police said Wednesday a mob had stormed the Maldives national museum and smashed Buddhist statues, an act of vandalism which former president Mohamed Nasheed blamed on Islamic radicals. “A mob entered the museum yesterday (Tuesday). They smashed many statues. This included some statues of Buddha,” police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP. In an interview with AFP on Wednesday, Nasheed said a mob including Islamist hardliners had attacked the museum because they believed some of the statues inside were “idolatrous.” Islam is the official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is forbidden and liable to prosecution. [link]