Beyond Diplomacy: Exploring the Unconventional #BoycottMaldives Movement

It all started with the images of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, lounging in a chair on a quiet white-sand beach, which provoked harsh words from Officials of Maldives which is a tiny island country in the Indian Ocean, South Asia, south-southwest of India.

Indian users on social media saw these words of Maldives officials as disrespectful and reacted strongly and started the Movement #BoycottMaldvies.

Mr. Modi had been posing for a series of photographs to highlight the Scenic beauty of islands called Lakshadweep islands which are Indian territory which are about 240 kilometres from mainland India and just 160 kilometres north of Maldives.

Lakshadweep is like a mini Maldives less than a tenth the size of Maldives with pristine beaches and its natural beauty. The people on Minicoy, which is its southernmost island speak the same language (Mahl/Dhivehi) as the people of Maldives and even have the same traditions.

Mr Modi’s simple praise ” And those early morning walks along the pristine beaches were also moments of pure bliss. ” was seen as a threat by some Maldives officials who made some questionable comments.

“What a clown” Mariyam Shiuna, a deputy minister in the Maldives’ government, wrote on the social media platform X. She accused Mr Modi of being a “puppet of Israel” But he is, in fact, friendlier with the Israeli government than is popular in the Muslim-majority islands. and of wearing a lifejacket while pretending to scuba dive. In fact, Mr Modi had been snorkelling — a lifejacket-compatible activity. Other Maldivians used their social media posts to insult Indian tourists and India generally.

The backlash was swift, many high-profile Indians such as Bollywood stars, and government officials, blasted outrage towards Maldivians and they started promoting #BoycottMaldives.

The straw that broke the camel’s back came when an Indian travel portal, EaseMyTrip, joined the #BoycottMaldives in boycotting travel bookings to the Maldives. that’s when the Maldivian government threw in the towel. Ms Shiuna was suspended from office, along with two other ministers who had joined her in remarks seen as offending India.

Conclusion:

As of now, the Foreign Ministry of Maldives has issued a statement that the remarks reflect “opinions [that] are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives” and the Indian government has not released any statement regarding this.

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