Who could have thought it? PM Modi’s decision to spend a morning on the powdery white sands of Lakshadweep or then glide gracefully over its coral reefs has triggered a diplomatic incident with the Maldives. And worse, sparked needless domestic political frisson.
Within hours of the PM tweeting pictures of his Lakshadweep break and urging Indians to visit the sun-kissed palm-fringed paradise, Maldivian ministers and citizens alike have suffered a massive meltdown.
At least three Maldivian ministers unleashed a totally unprovoked and highly objectionable barrage of Hinduphobic and racist stereotypes at Indians. These Maldivian ministers and their supporters also specifically trolled Prime Minister Modi. The mystifying meltdown is but an expression of extreme insecurity. Maldivians, it is being said, are jittery about any competition in their patch of the Indian Ocean. Especially from the Indian Union Territory of Lakshadweep which rivals Maldives in natural beauty and arguably exceeds it in cultural breadth.
The Maldivian attack was most unwarranted and therefore unfortunate as the prime minister never mentioned the Maldives anywhere in his tweets championing Lakshadweep.
Angered by the attempt to belittle India, to equate it to a “smelly” pit of “cow dung”, not to mention insult Prime Minister Modi, several Indian citizens began to cancel their planned vacations in the Maldives. Many film stars, social media influencers, and netizens also began trending the hashtags “#ExploreIndianIslands” and “#BoycottMaldives”.
The impact has been a sobering one for the Maldives. Several Indian tour operators put an eye-opening number to the cancellations. It’s clear the unofficial boycott can potentially sink the largely tourism-based Maldivian economy. Realising this, Maldivian PM Mohammad Muizzu’s administration in Male jumped to issue a statement disassociating itself from its ministers. All three grand standing ministers have been suspended from their posts.
Even so, this show of consumer activism by ordinary Indians has led to back-biting here in India. A section of the Indian so-called left-liberal political class and commentariat is upset. They’ve lashed out at the Modi government for not intervening to denounce Indian consumers for advocating a boycott of the Maldives. They’ve also criticised what they brand “Hindutva right wing jingoism” for deepening the Muizzu administration’s antipathy to India.
Alas, India’s ‘left-liberal’ ecosystem is being churlish. Indian consumer activism over the Maldives is not just conscientious but much needed.
A whopping, over two lakh Indian tourists (most from any nation) visited Maldives in 2023 adding crores to Male’s financial collections. Don’t these well-meaning, generous Indians reserve the right to be treated with dignity? Especially when their hard-earned dollars are going towards propping up the rickety Maldivian economy.
Gone are the days when Indians would silently suffer as they would be pushed around in immigration queues in much of the “white world”. Or when they were denied frills reserved for others by haughty stewards in cafes or on “firang” airlines.
Today, as citizens, of the world’s best-performing economy, Indians have the financial muscle to make things happen for them. This is the power of prosperity in an increasingly flat world. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with demanding a little bit of gratitude.
Liberals, above all, should know the power of consumer activism. Haven’t they lustily championed the boycott of goods from countries that employ child labour or export resources minded from conflict zones?
Liberal icon Mahatma Gandhi was the most visible advocate of the “boycott” movement. Decades after his death, guided by Mahatma’s philosophical vision, India’s cricket team stopped playing with South Africa because the government of the day institutionalised racism through apartheid.
Expressing moral outrage against injustice and inequity is the default mode of Indian democratic expression. “#BoycottMaldives” continues that hoary tradition of imparting a moral lesson without disturbing the peace.
It appears that in their pursuit of appeasing a vote bank and in their distaste for Modi, the Indian Left-liberal seems to have forgotten these facts.
Our conscience is in the right place. These very same Indians, the Maldivians have shockingly branded “smelly”, who never once resented Prime Minister Modi’s government’s decision to divert millions of Covid vaccine jabs to Maldives at the height of the pandemic.
Unlike China, which incidentally is the flavour of the season in Maldives, thanks to its pro-Beijing ruling government, Indian public investments in Maldives don’t come with any strings attached. Prime Minister Modi has, in the spirit of putting “Neighbourhood First” actively, assisted Maldives in the development of critical infrastructure. Far from enslaving Maldivians, like Chinese “help” does, Indian capital has not just boosted the standard of living but also the ease of living in the Maldives.
Maldives owes India and Indians much and all we’re asking for in return is a little respect.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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