The tiny archipelago in Indian Ocean,
a humble paradise for tourists, Maldives with a population of 3,50,000 is battling
to sustain democracy which made a significant entry just a decade back. Maldives
has been on boil since February 1st when five-member Supreme Court
bench ordered the release of former President Nasheed and all other political prisoners.
It also cancelled Election Commission’s order against the 12 parliamentarians,
who have defected to President Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) on
his behest. In the meanwhile, Yameen called in riot police to dispel the crowd
who have thronged the capital to celebrate release of opposition leaders-Nasheed
of Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), Qasim Ibrahim of Jumhoree Party, Adhalaath
Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla, Former Defence Minister Mohammed Nazim, Faris
Maumoon, Yameen’s nephew and four other leaders. Heavy handedness of police turned
the event into a law and order maintenance problem soon. Additionally, the
court ruling pronounced that cases slapped upon these political leaders were
against Maldives Constitution and International Law. It stated that political
pressure was applied during the trials, ordered judicial re-evaluation and release
of these prisoners with immediate effect. Commission of Police promised to implement
Court’s order but within hours he was dismissed and replaced with another
commissioner who was ready to follow court’s order. But he too was ousted.
After two days, President Yameen ordered
his Attorney General to issue a notice to Court refusing to implement its
order. Even the new police commissioner
and the Chief of Defense now said that they would take instructions from
Attorney General alone. Supreme Court’s order was a double blow to despotic
Yameen’s regime. The order which impelled Yameen’s government to release his
arch-political rivals had annulled anti-defection ruling of the election commission
restoring the membership of 12 defectors. With this Yameen’s ruling party lost
majority in the Parliament (Majilis) making it easy for the opposition alliance
to impeach President Yameen. Foreseeing the spate of his political career,
Yameen ordered police to follow the orders of Attorney General who has colluded
with ruling government. Soon, armed police barged into Supreme Court and took
the Chief justice, Abdulla Saeed and judge Ali Hameed Mohammed into custody. To
stall any attempt by opposition to impeach him, Yameen ordered the lockdown of
Parliament. His party spokesperson stated, “The
Supreme Court ruling stands in defiance of the highest authority in the country:
The Constitution. The Supreme Court must remember that it is bound by law”.
He assured that government will ensure safety of all citizens and tourists as
well. To render the opposition alliance ineffective and leader-less, Yameen ordered
the arrest of his estranged half-brother and the longest serving president of
Maldives, 80-year-old Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who sided with opposition. Escalating
tensions further, Yameen announced 15-day state of emergency.
The current situation propped up as
the opposition party leaders jointly appealed to Supreme Court seeking its help
in bringing down the Yameen’s regime mired in corruption, confiscation of
government properties and for acting against the law. Desperate political prisoners
had to seek Supreme Court’s intervention, since Parliament was rendered
ineffective by Yameen. Yameen shuttered the parliament in July when the
opposition parties vowed to vote against close aide of Yameen, speaker of the
Parliament Abdulla Maseeh on charges of corruption and abuse of power. Security
forces barred MPs from entering the Parliament to prevent vote and declared
that four defectors have lost their parliamentary seat.
Maldives for the first time held multi-party
Presidential elections in 2008. Ever since the topsy-turvy ride of power struggle
to clinch reigns has become a regular affair. Mohammed Nasheed of MDP became
the first democratically elected of Maldives in November 2008 was forced to resign
in 2012 at ‘gunpoint’. He desperately pleaded Manmohan Singh government’s help to
rescue him. Soon, he was replaced by Mohammed Waheed Hassan, a close confidant
of President Mahmood Gayoom. Subsequently, in the elections held under controversial
circumstances in 2013, President Gayoom’s half-brother Abdulla Yameen of PPM was
elected as President. Ever since assuming leadership, Yameen tilted towards
China. His unequivocal submission to Beijing’s maritime expansion has been a
cause of immense concern to India. Aside his Chinese drift another excruciating
aspect of this island that can threaten the regional interest was Yameen’s veritable
interest in radical Islam. In 1997, Abdul Gayoom declared
Maldives as an Islam nation and shielded it effectively from the modern
influences despite the island being the favorite global tourist destination.
Under the despotic Yameen regime, Islamic orthodoxy has reached new heights.
Besides scuttling the democratic voices on the island, he even closed the
island’s lone newspaper. The island slowly and steadily slipped into Riyadh’s
embrace. Maldivian society which was hailed as liberal society is now largely
conservative. Yameen enamored by Saudi Arabia has sought Riyadh’s cooperation
for deepening cultural and educational cooperation. Saudi Arabia in turn has
promised to extend scholarships to Maldivian youth for Islamic education,
offered to construct mosques and send the Imams to train the local religious
leaders. As a result, Maldives has now turned into a new breeding ground for
Wahhabi ideology and reports indicate that millions of young Maldivians are
indoctrinated with the radical Islam tenets. For decades by pumping immense
reserves of Petrodollars Saudi Arabia unleashed a campaign of spreading its
radical ideology across South Asia and Maldives joined the list now.
By February 2015, President Yameen
got former President Nasheed, a pro-Indian leader, who sought refuge in Indian
Embassy arrested on charges of corruption for 13 years. By arresting Nasheed, Yameen stifled democratic
voices and cleverly plotted to eliminate all his rivals. He expelled two
Supreme Judges who didn’t support the repeated postponement of elections and forcibly
passed a constitutional amendment setting the highest age limit of 65 for Presidency
and Vice-Presidency to disqualify the supporters of Nasheed- Gayoom and Gasim.
Maldives is gearing up elections this year and owing to his dictatorial style
of functioning, Yameen lost credibility. Nasheed has announced that he would
contest the elections and with prospect of returning to power stand grim,
Yameen has resolved to crush the opposition with an iron hand. Besides, allying
with Saudi Arabia, Yameen is making overtures to Pakistan with regular visits.
Aside, the traditional historical
and cultural connect, India always maintained good relations with Maldives.
India was one the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Maldives
in 1965 after its independence from the British. Maldives is founding member of
SAARC (South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation) and party to South Asia
Free Trade Agreement. India always played the role of security provider for
Maldives. Responding to calls of help by President Gayoom, in 1988, Indian Army
launched “Operation Cactus” and successfully foiled coup attempt by armed
militants and had naval presence since 2009. India had always rescued Maldives
in times of need by extending relief and support during 2014 tsunami. In 2015,
when Maldives lone saline water treatment plant was gutted down in fire
accident, India dispatched gallons of fresh water to the archipelago.
Indo-Maldives relations took a
massive hit with Yameen’s Chinese drift who allowed them to build a port in
Southern Laamu Atolls posing a threat to Indian security. Further he brought out
a constitutional amendment wherein any foreign company/individual who invests
more than $1 billion in island and reclaims over 70% of land used for project can
buy land to favor China. Modi regime officially brought “Neighbourhood First”
policy and religiously stuck to it. Prime Minister Modi made visits to all neighboring
countries baring Maldives. He was forced to cancel his trip in March 2015 due
to oppressive internal conflicts. Though Yameen pronounced that Maldives abides
by “India First” policy, on his visit to India in April 2016, there has been
marked shift in Maldivian approach followed as Yameen inevitably pushed archipelago
into Chinese orbit. China, keen on power projection in Indian Ocean region
(IOR) aspired to establish a port on the archipelago never bothered to question
the despotic regime of Yameen. While India was apprehensive of the seamless
authority and unbridled power of Yameen intent on changing the democratic
contours of the island. Though India never chided Maldives in public it was
wary and conscious of abuse of human rights and heavy crackdown.
Following the imposition of state
of emergency, helpless judiciary and legislature of Maldives are appealing
international community and especially India to intervene. India has key leverage
in Maldives. As per 1981 trade agreement, India provided special concessions to
Maldives to import Indian goods restricted to other countries. Besides, India
is frontier destination for education and medical treatment for Maldivians. India
is carefully mulling all options and hasn’t imposed any restrictions on trade
or travel and refrained from issuing harsh statements for the fear of antagonizing
Maldives. But any internal conflict or unrest in the archipelago will have
direct effect on Indian security. India is keenly tracking all the developments
and issued a travel warning against traveling to Maldives. Incidentally, by
signing a free trade agreement and deepening its relations with China, Yameen
has turned the island into a zone of proxy war between India and China. In the meanwhile,
US and UK have come down heavily on Maldives warning the Yameen government to
uphold the court ruling. President Nasheed urged India to intervene. India so
far hasn’t blinked officially. With the dictatorial regime of Yameen defying
court orders, Maldives is seeking India’ intervention. It is a real tough call
for Modi regime. India must act, else Indian backyard might soon be gobbled up
by the authoritarian (hegemonic) dragon and extremist jackals.
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