Jittery Indians returning from restive Maldives

Hyderabad: Indian workers stuck in Maldives are a jittery lot ever since President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency in the country after the Supreme Court ordered the release of political prisoners. Teachers are the most-affected of them. Basheer and Anees, the teachers who just returned from Maldives, are now working at the White International School, Calicut.

Ken Ashok, a teacher who worked in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and now working in Khammam, narrates the plight of his colleagues in Maldives. “Teachers have been attacked in the past and after the tsunami on December 26, 2004, the locals were first looked after and the expatriate population was not cared for. If the political situation worsens, many will return.”

Many school teachers have taken leave and returned home and many more are planning to leave the country for good. There are close to 2,000 Indian teachers working in Maldivian schools and about 500 doctors, mostly stationed in the capital city Male. A sizable number work in schools in Male and many doctors work at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

Shaji and Suresh, teachers working in Islamiyya School in Hithadhoo, Addu Atoll are contemplating to come back. With the annual exams slated for November (The Maldivian schools follow the IGCSE syllabus), many teachers find it difficult to get leave. Indians are wary of working in the present situation as there were attacks on Indian workers in 2012, when 18 Indians working in resorts were attacked by locals. There are 200-250 Indians working in the resorts across the archipelago.

Sardar, a teacher from Warangal who has been working in Imaduddin School in Male, however, says, “Teachers are not harmed unless they get involved in political activities or try and propagate other religions.” One of the reasons for Indian workers to get jittery is the handing over of two Indian journalists to immigration authorities for working as journalists while being on a tourist visa.

By T P Venu