The Maldivian government on Sunday suspended three deputy ministers for derogatory comment against Modi through social media posts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the Indian High Commission in Male raised objection with the foreign ministry even as the island nation’s key opposition leaders slammed the critical remarks against the Indian Prime Minister.
About the incident:
Image Source: The Times of India
The three deputy ministers; Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and abdulla Mahzoom Majid criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his recent post on ‘X’ following his visit to Lakshadweep by throwing derogatory and racist remarks. They inferred that it was a futile attempt to project the Union Territory ‘Lakshadweep’ as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives as per various media outlets.
The row evoked following the week-long visit of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu to China. ‘Maldives is known for its overdependent relation with China and China offers the thrusted debt trap policy to sustain the dependence.’ However, this doesn’t go well so far India’s interest is concerned and impacts on relationship with Maldives. Besides, India is amounting Maldives immense revenue or foreign exchequer by choosing the topmost holiday destination.
Implications of Maldives row:
The disparaging hateful comments by the ministers have drawn spark in India. Many celebrities vehemently countered and took stand against racist and demeaning comments. They also requested people on X to explore domestic tourist destinations instead of selecting Maldives for holiday vacation.
Sachin Tendulkar, urged Indians to choose gorgeous Lakshadweep over Maldives for next vacation. He mentioned ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ philosophy which is the symbol of Indian tradition and culture is widely witnessed in his visit to Lakshadweep.
Similarly, well known Bollywood personality Akshay Kumar, backlashed offensive comments passed by Deputy Ministers of Maldives. He said that it is a shame to see such comment for a country which sends them the maximum number of tourists and this is intolerable, should be taken appropriate action.
Align with this, other celebrities including Salman Khan, cricketer Hardik Pandya and Kangana Ranaut slammed Maldives ministers for their irrational and irresponsible comments.
Meanwhile ‘Boycott Maldives’ is trending over social media platform. There were also posts on social media claiming that some Indians are cancelling their scheduled trip to the Maldives. Reportedly, EaseMyTrip cancels all Maldives flight bookings amid the boycott campaign against Maldives for offensive remarks. Alongside, several tour operators are initiating cancellation of holidays in the Maldives as they stated that there are ‘’no new inquiries by people’’ for exploring the island nation.
Apparently, the repercussions would reflect within the next 20-25 days as tour operators indicated. According to data from the country’s tourism ministry, Indian tourists and destination wedding were the highest to the Maldives till December 2023. Hence, this kind of retaliatory action could severely impact on Maldives tourism revenue.
Stand of Maldives government:
The Maldives foreign ministry said that the government is rightful action against the deputy ministers and affirmed that their personal views doesn’t represent Maldivian position for India. This was unfortunate and Maldives never supports ‘derogatory remarks’ on social media platforms against foreign leaders.
Maldives authority on Sunday dismissed three deputy ministers who have put forwarded offensive remarks through posts on ‘X’ in which they are visible for using abusive statement against Prime Minister Modi and India. Nevertheless, Indians are not carried away for hurting sentiments and joining the boycott trend. Meanwhile urging fellow Indians to select Indian destination instead of selecting Maldives which will save currency as well as will be beneficial for boosting Indian tourism
