I will go to hell and back to bring democracy back to Maldives: Nasheed

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said he would go everywhere to convince people of the situation in the Maldives, and ‘go to hell and back to bring democracy back to Maldives’.

Nasheed, who is currently visiting India to obtain support for an early election, told the Indian Express that he would go to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to bring democracy back to Maldives:

“I have been to Sri Lanka, I will go to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, everywhere to convince them. I will go to hell and back to bring democracy back to Maldives.”

When asked if the current political strife has affected tourism in a country which is almost entirely dependent on tourism, Nasheed replied that the political situation in the country has affected tourism to some extent:

“Tourism arrivals have come down a little. There is political strife and instability; it would have had some impact on tourism. But tourists are rather funny—they couldn’t care less about the politics as long as the beaches and the cocktails are fine. So they keep coming.”

Nasheed also said that Islamic extremism exist in the Maldives due to the dictatorships:

“Radical Islam, as a movement, has been taking root in Maldives for a long time, especially during dictatorships when the only room for dissent is through these groups. They are the ones who gather in mosques, they are good at working underground. So anyone who wants to challenge authority would join them.”

He claimed that young people’s mothers are told they are being sent for schooling in Pakistan, and when the kids go to Pakistan they are brutalised in a school on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and from there, end up joining the Taliban.