Indian Defence Review

Strategically significant and geopolitically sensitive, Maldives, a chain of 1192 islands 199 of which are inhabited and home to 3,15,000 people, has recently been brutalized by violence and coup, shattering the very nascent and fragile edifice of parliamentary democracy, which had just begun to take roots since 2008 after 30 years (1978-2008) rule of Abdul Gayoom.

Located 300 miles of the southern coast of India and 450 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, this idyllic country, a tourist paradise in the Indian Ocean is yet another victim of Islamic fundamentalism. Internal sleaze by some opposition members including Gayoom, Islamic fundamentalist groups with support of external players, particularly Pakistan and China, has engendered the present unrest and instability in Maldives. The turmoil as expected has allured inimical powers to India to make a fresh bid to gain foothold in this part of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) located strategically astride key maritime routes.

As has been the won’t of most microstates, political instability and coup is not new to Maldives, even as it made transition from monarchy to a republic under Ibrahim Nasir in 1968. Nasir had to eventually flee to Singapore .Even before that in the year 1953 (January 1952 – August 1953) during a brief interruption of the Sultanate and flirtation with Presidential system, President Mohammad Amin Diddi was lynched by a mob due to unpopular policies. Gayoom was also not unchallenged, there were at least three (1980, 1983, 1988) attempted coups to oust him, two of them orchestrated by Nasir. What is unusual and of concern is that the latest coup has strong unpinning of Islamic fundamentalism and the China factor. Nasheed is on record to say that a week before his ouster he was under pressure from Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) to sign a defence agreement with China.

It is to the credit to the rulers in the country including Gayoom that he did not allow Maldives to be drawn into big power games not even during the Cold War period. The geopolitical scenario however has drastically altered in the recent times. The huge impetus to religious radicalization of Maldives by Gayoom has spawned rising Islamic fundamentalism. An ascendant China is making forays in the Indian Ocean and would like to wean away Maldives from India’s strategic embrace. An out of power Gayoom is not averse to external leveraging.

With the ouster of President Nasheed, on 7 February this year, the country has lapsed into uncertainty. It is the same Nasheed who suffered 27 arrests and six years in jail in his unrelenting campaign for ushering parliamentary democracy and against the autocratic rule of Abdul Gayoom, who in 2008 was Asia’s longest serving leader. There was great jubilation when Mohammad Nasheed was elected as the President in 2008. He was hailed as “Obama”.

Ironically, it was India who responded to the SOS by Gayoom when he was beleaguered by People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) terrorists. The Indian Armed Forces reacted instantly by launching Operation Sandhya and foiled the attempted coup. India acted in its strategic interests both in the geopolitical context of the Indian Ocean region and South Asia.

Maldives acquired greater strategic significance post 9/11 particularly after Mumbai 26/11 as seaborne terrorism was the new reality. There was also move by extra regional powers like China to seek naval presence in the country, as part of its strategic stretch in the Indian Ocean.

The new strategic imperative was the impetus for India and Maldives to sign a new bilateral pact on security in August 2009. Probably for some detractors of Nasheed, this was one of his major undoing. The coup was allegedly masterminded by the Islamic fundamentalists, Gayoom, rogue elements in the Maldivian security establishment, and anti-India elements and forces. Indications of Chinese and Pakistani involvement are getting increasingly pronounced.

The immediate provocation for anti-government protests was the arrest of Justice Abdulla on charges of misconduct and favouring opposition figures. It may be highlighted that Gayoom’s influence in the commercial enterprise, security and administrative establishment as well as judiciary remained overwhelming due to the sheer fact that he strode like a colossus at the helm of Maldivian discourse for three decades. It did not help that in the true spirit of democracy Nasheed as President was not vindictive towards Gayoom. It did not help that he was a liberal and advocated tolerant form of Islam. It did not help that the press was free and transparent under Nasheed.

Imperatives of a Micro-state

The islands in Maldives are grouped under 26 atolls, each atoll being an administrative unit. This 820 Km long (north to south) and 120 Km wide (east to west) country with a population little over quarter million, and can be described as a Micro-State. The generally acceptable definition of a micro-state is applied to countries having population of less than one million. There are about 38 such states of which 27 belong to the Commonwealth.

The international system can be divided into Super-Powers, Great-Powers, Regional-Powers, Small-Powers and Micro/Mini-Powers. The cluster of micro-states are in Caribbean, around Africa (Indian Ocean), Persian Gulf and Pacific Ocean. Micro-states are a post-World War-II phenomenon. In the pre-World War-II period, five European micro-entities had sought to be recognised as independent states. They were – Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Iceland and Luxemburg. Only the latter was admitted. Post World War-II, Iceland became the first micro-state to be admitted in the UN in 1948.

Like all micro-states, Maldives has small size, narrow resource base, difficult geographical configuration and relative proximity to big neighbours. Also like other micro-states, it has to interact with the outside world in three concentric circles i.e. Super-Powers, Big-Powers and immediate neighbours in the region. Micro-states are vulnerable both from within and without. Their security dependence has been implicitly accepted by powerful regional neighbours e.g. US in Caribbean, France in Pacific and India in the case of Maldives.

It would be difficult for the new President Mohammad Waheed Hassan or even Gayoom if he were to come to power, to jettison Maldives from India’s strategic partnership, given the complexities and intricacies of regional and global politics.

Nevertheless in the evolution of Indo-Maldives relations, the drastic changes in religious orientation of Maldives, Islamic terrorism and the new power play in the Indian Ocean have begun to impinge rather heavily.

Islamic Fundamentalism

During the recent violence and coup in Maldives, about three dozen exhibits, mostly images of Buddha and Hindu Gods were destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists in the national museum. The new president Waheed said: “We are very sad. This is the physical and archeological evidence of this country. We have nothing to show of the pre-Islamic history.” This repudiation and hatred of non-Islamic past is reminiscent of destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by Taliban.

Till the 4th century A.D., Thervada Buddhism, originating from Sri Lanka, was the dominant religion. Islam was introduced in Maldives in 1153 and remains the corner stone of its history. It was in this year that the last Buddhist King Bavanditta under the influence of the Arabs, who had become dominant on the Indian Ocean routes, converted to Islam and adopted the title of ‘Sultan Muhammad al Adil’. He was followed by six dynasties and 84 sultans. In fact, the Sultanate lasted for more than 800 years (1153-1968). President Gayoom retained a highly centralized political system, which had its roots in the oligarchic structure of the Sultanate.

Traditionally Islam till recently had endured a much different shade in Maldives. Nevertheless it is now seen to be shedding its traditional and cultural moorings. Islamic tenants were superimposed upon Buddhism which can still be discerned, even though very little physical remnants of the Buddhist past have been allowed to exist over the years. Unlike many other Islamic countries, death penalty is never imposed in Maldives. The maximum punishment is banishment to an island. For adultery, there is no stoning to death. As probably driven by the exigencies of the tourism industry, Maldivian do handle pork and in that they invoke the Shariat, which allows them to do so provided the hands are later washed. Importantly, traditional mosques in Maldives do not face Mecca, but the east, which as per historians is redolent of the past, wherein the first sun worshiping seafarers called Redin first settled on the country’s land. In the past, even though, the aid from the Arab world was substantial, Maldives was not very close to many Arab countries because of its recognition to Israel.

In the recent years, the opposite trend is however clearly discernable. There is increasing inroad of Wahhabi Islam in the social and religious discourse of Maldives. The moderate Sunni society is increasingly getting radicalized. The Arabization of the Maldivian culture is palpable. Beards and Burkas are becoming increasingly visible. The opposition had been constantly accusing ousted President Nasheed for his lack of adherence to Islam and his favourable posturing towards Israel.

There is little hint of moderate Islam in the present religious and the political discourse of Maldives. All religions other than Sunni Islam are forbidden. Alcohol is banned in Male, the capital of Maldives, home to 30 percent of the population. However, in deference to economic compulsions and imperatives, it is not banned in the tourist resorts despite clamour by Islamic fundamentalists. The Islamic fundamentalists have also been demanding ban on direct flights to Israel.

The man responsible for radicalization of Maldives is none other than Gayoom. His education and upbringing is steeped in religious fundamentalism. He is graduate of Al Azhar University, Egypt. As a student he got deeply influenced by Syed Qutb, the famous Islamist theorist and leading member of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Gayoom later taught Islamic studies in Nigeria. Back to Maldives in 1971, he was President Nasir’s undersecretary and later rose to be the Transport Minister. He protested against Nasir’s recognition of Israel. He assiduously cultivated the image of a pious man. Once he became President, he declared himself by a constitutional provision “Guardian of Islam’ and ‘Supreme Propagator of Islam”. He established Islamic schools and in 1997 declared Islam as the state religion. He encouraged youth to avail Islamic education in institutions in Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Maldives during his tenure received huge funding from Saudi Arabia for propagation of Wahabism.

Gayoom however could not shut tourism because it was the backbone of the economy. The products of Islamic schools were intensely radicalized and till today are collaborators of Gayoom. Religion also became a tool for Gayoom to marginalize the opposition. Under the assault of Mullahs, Islamic preachers and radicalized elements, Maldivian culture began to disappear.

The fact that Islamic fundamentalism has become a substantial feature of Maldivian discourse is reflected by the remark of the new President Waheed: “They are part of the society, you cannot ignore them”.

Religious intolerance in Maldives is getting increasingly pronounced. In 2005, a shop in Male was attacked for displaying Santa Clause. In 2006, Islamists had virtually taken over Himandhoo Island (Alif Alif Atoll) and constructed a new Salafi mosque to propagate neo-conservative Islam. Shariah was imposed on all residents and children were banned from attending local schools on the plea of impure influences from foreign teachers. The situation fortunately was subsequently reversed after the intervention of the state.

In September 2007, 12 tourists i.e. eight Chinese, two Japanese and two British were injured in a blast in Male’s Sultan Park. Two months later, the police alleged that the ten men linked to the explosion were absconding in Pakistan, and had links with LeT. The police maintained that it was in madrasas of Pakistan that the absconders had learnt the techniques of bomb making.