Protesters attack Yoga Day event in Maldives

MALE, Maldives, June 21 (Reuters) – Police within the Maldives used tear fuel and pepper spray to regulate a crowd of people that disrupted a yoga occasion organised by the Indian Excessive Fee, or embassy, within the capital Male on Tuesday morning, an organiser stated.

The group stormed a stadium the place greater than 150 folks, together with diplomats and authorities officers, have been collaborating in an occasion celebrating Worldwide Day of Yoga, attacking members and vandalising the property, one of many organisers, who didn’t wish to be named as a result of he was not authorised to talk with the media, instructed Reuters.

Earlier, the protesters brandished placards proclaiming that yoga was in opposition to the tenets of Islam.

Islam is the state faith within the Maldives, a gaggle of islands within the Indian Ocean with a inhabitants of about half 1,000,000.

Police responded with anti-riot measures and later used pepper spray and tear fuel to regulate the group and safe the realm, Superintendent of Police Fathmath Nashwa instructed Reuters.

Six folks have been arrested in reference to the incident, Nashwa stated.

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated a police investigation into the incident had begun.

“That is being handled as a matter of significant concern and people accountable might be swiftly introduced earlier than the legislation,” Solih stated on Twitter.

Reporting by Mohamed Junayd in Male, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Modifying by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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