Nasheed: ‘India Out’ campaign will isolate and weaken the Maldivian people

Parliament Speaker, former President Mohamed Nasheed said on Thursday that the ‘India Out’ campaign led by the opposition PPM-PNC coalition will leave Maldivians isolated and weak.

In a tweet on Thursday morning, Nasheed, the leader of the main governing party MDP, said the ‘India Out’ campaign did not have the support of the general population of Maldives.

“Its evident from the few people involved in it,” he said.

Nasheed said that the campaign was purely politically motivated.

“I urge all political leaders to refrain from politically motivated actions that will isolate and weaken the Maldivian people,” he said.

He ended the tweet with the hashtag #Baakeenuvey – which translates to ‘don’t get isolated’ - which is being used by his supports to express similar sentiments. The hashtag is currently trending on Twitter.

The ‘India Out’ movement is a political campaign led by the opposition to protest against Indian military presence in Maldives.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih issued a decree banning the ‘India Out’ movement on April 21, deeming it a threat to national security.

All state institutions have been instructed to enforce the decree.

However, the opposition continued to put up banners and graffiti the walls of buildings with slogans linked to the movement.

President Solih said in his decree that the ‘India Out’ movement was a deliberate attempt to hinder the longstanding relations between Maldives and India, and international efforts to maintain security in the region, and that incitement to hatred against a specific country put Maldives at risk of loss of peace and stability, huge economic and social burden, and isolation in the international arena.

PPM has filed a lawsuit over the decree, calling the move an infringement on the right to freedom of expression.