INDIA-SRILANKA-MALDIVES

Nasheed walks into Indian embassy in Male

“Mindful of my own security and stability in the Indian Ocean, I have taken refuge at the Indian High Commission in the Maldives,” Nasheed tweeted

The walking into the Indian embassy of former President Mohammad Nasheed on Wednesday, Feb 13, clearly signals the deterioration in the Maldivian situation. Nasheed obviously hopes that he will remain safe on neutral territory which the Indian embassy. He has reasons to apprehend arrest by the Police, not merely because of the cases slapped on him but also because of the bad blood between him and President Waheed Hassan that predates the coup against his regime last year. 

If Nasheed is arrested that will surely be an attempt to keep him out of the elections slated for September 7. And to strengthen Waheed’s bid for a regular term though he doesn’t have a base himself and depends on the extremist Adhaalath Party for support.

Waheed, as also Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former president, who is still calling the shots though from behind the scenes, know that Nasheed has not lost his popular base and if the elections are held in a free and fair manner, as promised, there is every possibility of Nasheed staging a triumphant come back to the chagrin of the clique that had deposed him in the first place.

So much so, it is difficult to forecast the turn of events, especially how long Nasheed will be holed up in the Indian embassy building. That of course depends very much on the Maldivian government. The spokesman of the Indian Foreign Office, Syed Akbaruddin said the obvious when he said, “It is necessary that the Presidential nominees of recognized political parties be free to participate in the elections without any hindrance”. Any attempt at prevention of participation by political leaders in the contest would call into question the integrity of the electoral process and it will in turn perpetuate the current political instability in the island nation.

Indian cabinet committee on security discussed the developments in Male which coincided with the return of High Commissioner D N Mulay after consultations in New Delhi. Outside Mulay’s residence, a posse of Maldivian police in riot gear is positioned ready to arrest Nasheed and take him to court for the second hearing of a case against him. The police have not entered the premises since under the Vienna Conventions, the Indian embassy and its residences are deemed sovereign Indian territory.

Nasheed has turned to Twitter to voice his concerns. He tweeted “Mindful of my own security and stability in the Indian Ocean, I have taken refuge at the Indian High Commission in the Maldives.”

The Waheed Hassan regime has not taken kindly to Nasheed’s act. Presidential spokesman, Masood Imad, has charged Nasheed with refusing to attend the court hearing for the second time. He claimed that Nasheed would have escorted to the court and after the hearing could have been set free. He also charged the former President with overstaying in India beyond the permitted period. The reference is to the fact that Nasheed had been granted permission to visit India and return home by Feb 9. He however came back two days later on February 11.


The court case, Imad was referring to, relates to Nasheed’s decision as President in December 2011 to sack the chief justice of the criminal court, Abdulla Mohamed. The coup two months later on Feb 7, 2012 was a sequel to the decision. It catapulted vice-president Waheed into the driver’s seat. Clearly, the whole issue has acquired political overtones.

It is natural for democratic forces in Maldives to look to India for help and guidance. On its part, Delhi has a responsibility to help small nations in the region to overcome their hiccups. This it always did in the past. So much so, the appeals from Nasheed Party, MDP to Delhi are to be expected. India has opened talks with Nasheed and with the Maldivian government to work out a way out of the impasse which will be acceptable to both sides.
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As of now, the MDP workers appear to be clueless as to their next step though they are converging on Male to camp outside the ‘temporary’ home of their party chief, and to protest against Waheed government’s action.

There is no gainsaying that the Waheed regime has spoiled its goodwill with Delhi after it went back on its promises to the Indian company developing the Male airport. The cancellation of the GMR project was an act of settling scores with Nasheed since as President he had hurt the interests of a close relative of Waheed Hassan.


-m.rama rao

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