Indians Cancel Maldives Trip After Modi's Lakshadweep Post
Tensions rise between India and Maldives over derogatory comments; Indians cancel Maldives trips amid strained relations, questioning Lakshadweep as an alternative.
A few days ago PM Modi posted pictures of himself looking at the Arabian Sea from Lakshadweep's beautiful coast, and it started a social media showdown between India and the Maldives. It also created a divide in our relationship with Maldives. The Prime Minister in his tweet talked about how beautiful Lakshadweep's islands were during his visit last week. He also said that if you like adventure, you should definitely consider visiting Lakshadweep. After this ‘Lakshadweep’ started to trend on social media and soon it became the most searched term on Google as well. Famous athletes and Indian actors like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Shraddha Kapoor, among others, also encouraged fans to "explore Indian islands" and coastal areas.
After PM Modi shared about tourism in Lakshadweep, some important people from the Maldives responded with really mean and offensive comments against Indians. Among them was Mariyam Shiuna, Maldives’ Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, who wrote: “What a clown. The puppet of Israel Mr. Narendra diver with life jacket." After this the Maldives government suspended three deputy ministers on Sunday as they used social media to make negative comments about PM Modi, according to local newspapers. In a previous statement, the government stated that it "will not hesitate to take action against those who make such derogatory remarks". Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Sharif, and Mahzoom Maajid are the three suspended ministers. Several former Maldives ministers have shown their support for India on social media.
The reaction from Indians was going to be obvious and now '#BoycottMaldives' is a big trend on X platform, where lots of Indians are saying they've canceled their planned trips to the Maldives. People are sharing screenshots of their canceled flight tickets and hotel bookings on social media. More than 8000 hotel bookings and 2300 flight tickets to Maldives have been cancelled in last few hours since Maldives Ministers started abusing Indian & PM Modi. Many Indian politicians also criticized Maldives politicians. In the Maldives, Indians were the biggest group of tourists visiting last year, attracted by the luxury resorts and beautiful beaches. India is an important ally and has military personnel and helicopters stationed in the islands.
In the past few months, tensions between India and the Maldives have been going up, especially since President Mohamed Muizzu started his term in November last year. During the elections, Mr. Muizzu promised to send back about 75 Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives. This was a surprising and upsetting move for the Indians. The new president seems to be changing the way the country deals with other countries. There are signs of him being closer to China and moving away from India. Looking at the reaction of several Indians who have cancelled their bookings in the last 24 to 48 hours the situation seems to be get be worsening. What do you think? Can Lakshadweep replace Maldives?
