Maldives crisis: A bitter religious divide has come to the fore

The Maldives is a tourist paradise. The island chain of 26 atolls attracts more than 1.5m visitors every year. But alongside the clear blue waters and perfect beaches, this is a country riven with deep political and religious conflicts. And now those conflicts are reaching boiling point.

After the country’s supreme court ordered the release of nine jailed opposition politicians at the start of February, the Maldivian president, Abdulla Yameen, declared a 15-day state of emergency. Yameen stated that the state of emergency was necessary since he wanted to investigate if a