Maldives suspends ministers for calling India PM Narendra Modi ‘terrorist’, ‘clown’
The Maldives has taken action by suspending three deputy ministers who made derogatory remarks about India and its Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In response to a social media post from Mr. Modi, the officials referred to him as a “clown,” “terrorist,” and a “puppet of Israel.”
A spokesperson from the foreign ministry emphasized that these comments were personal and did not reflect the government’s stance.
The decision to suspend the officials followed an uproar on Indian social media after Male’s response. President Mohamed Muizzu’s office spokesperson stated, “All government officials responsible for the comments have been suspended from their posts effective immediately.”
Tensions between India and the Maldives have been escalating, particularly after President Muizzu asked around 75 Indian troops to leave the country upon assuming power last year.
The three ministers facing suspension are Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid. Despite calls for their dismissal, Maldivian media highlighted that they have been temporarily suspended.
The trio made these controversial remarks in reaction to Mr. Modi’s post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), which featured photos promoting tourism to the Indian island chain of Lakshadweep. Ms. Shiuna went on to make an unfavorable comparison between India and cow dung.
This sparked outrage on Indian social media and got hashtags such as #BoycottMaldives and #ExploreIndianIslands trending.
Some said they would cancel their holidays to the Maldives – Indians were among the largest tourists visiting the Maldives last year.
The CEO of Indian ticket-booking site EaseMyTrip said his company had suspended all flight bookings to the Maldives.
Prominent Indians, including Bollywood star Akshay Kumar and some cricketers, expressed dismay at the comments.
Former Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih strongly condemned what he termed as “hateful language against India” by the three officials.
“India has always been a good friend to Maldives, and we must not allow such callous remarks to negatively impact the age-old friendship between our two countries”, he said on X.
Another former president Mohamed Nasheed called the language in the social media posts “appalling”.
The controversial posts were deleted following the uproar.
Mr Muizzu’s trip to Beijing is considered a high-profile snub to India as previous Maldivian leaders first visited India after being elected. He chose Turkey as his first international port of call after he took over in November.
This will be seen as a diplomatic setback for Delhi, which is trying to match China’s growing footprint in the Indian Ocean region.
“It is for them to decide where they go and how they go about their international relations,” Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week in response to questions on Mr Muizzu’s visit to Beijing.
He also said there was no update on the withdrawal of Indian troops from the Maldives. India says its security personnel are in the Maldives to maintain three maritime rescue and surveillance aircraft it had donated to the country.
The Indian Ocean archipelago has long been under India’s sphere of influence and Mr Muizzu wants to change that.
In December, the Maldivian government said it was terminating a bilateral agreement with India that permitted Delhi to collaborate in mapping the seabed in Maldivian territorial waters.
A Maldivian government spokesman said the deal, set to expire in June next year, would not be renewed.
Soon after he won the elections in October last year, Mr. Muizzu told the BBC he would review all the bilateral agreements signed with India by the previous administration of Mr. Solih, who had adopted an India First policy.
Delhi and Beijing are competing for a foothold in the strategically located islands.
