Derogatory tweets on Modi: Maldives 'suspends' 3 ministers

Male/New Delhi: The Maldives government on Sunday ‘suspended’ three Deputy Ministers and distanced from their social media posts that were derogatory about the Indian Prime Minister after a social media controversy erupted over his visit to the Lakshadweep islands.

Earlier on Saturday, Indian supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party on social media had projected Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep over the New Year weekend as a signal to Indian tourists to consider replacing Maldives with other Indian tourist destinations.

In response, several members of the ruling Maldives government, including at least three officials and MPs, had posted riposte which criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the behaviour of Indians. Further fuel was added to the social media uproar with Bollywood film stars, many of whom are popular in Maldives, posting tweets that they will not visit the Indian Ocean Island nation due to the insulting posts by Maldivian ministers. The controversy erupted on the same day that Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu embarked on a five-day visit to China.

On Sunday afternoon, the Maldivian government issued a statement disassociating itself from those remarks.

“The Government of Maldives is aware of derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives,” said the statement issued by the Foreign ministry.

It asserted that freedom of expression should be “exercised in a democratic and responsible manner, and in ways that do not spread hatred, negativity, and hinder close relationships between the Maldives and its international partners”.

The statement also warned that the Maldives government “will not hesitate to take action against those who make such derogatory remarks”.

A couple of hours later, the President’s office informed reporters in Malé through WhatsApp that three ministers have been suspended. They have been identified in the Maldivian media as Deputy Ministers in the Youth ministry, Malsha Sharif, Mariyum Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid.

There has been no official statement from the President’s office about the suspension, which stops them from representing the government, but is less than a removal from the Cabinet. It is also not clear how long the ‘suspension’ will last.

Official sources said that the Indian High Commission also sought clarification from the Maldives government about the social media remarks of the Maldivian government officials. “Our High Commission in Maldives had strongly raised and expressed concerns about the comments made in regard to PM Modi by certain ministers in the Maldives government with the Foreign Office,” said the sources.

The principal opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party, claimed that the remarks by the senior government officials were “not isolated incidents but the result of a hate-mongering campaign by PPM/PNC’s leadership”.

“It resulted from an organized misinformation campaign and a culture of hatred cultivated by PPM/PNC for their political gain. The lack of diplomatic values and professionalism and the sheer incompetence of senior government officials have damaged our international standing irrevocably,” said the MDP statement.

It also claimed that the statement of the foreign ministry distancing themselves from the ministers was “half-hearted and disingenuous”.

Maldives’ former Foreign minister Ahmed Shaheed also expressed puzzlement that a sojourn by the Indian PM to an Indian island led to this controversy. He stated that “there was no need for government officials to react with xenophobic remarks when Maldivian tourism industry has not expressed apprehension about external competition from India”.

India had been the largest source for tourists to Maldives last year. India had narrowly beaten Russia to the first position with 209,198 tourists in 2023. This month, India has slipped to the third position after Italy and Russia, as per the latest statistics of the Maldivian Tourism ministry.