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.
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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.
Strategic Importance
There have been persistent reports about China’s bid to establish a submarine base in Marao, a coral island (40 km south of Male). The reports gained currency following the visit of the then China Premier Zhu Rongji in 2001. The reports mentioned the Chinese design to base nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles. Coral island make fine nature submarine base. There have also been reports that Pakistan has been using the Islamic card with Maldives to provide such facilities to China.
Yet another dimension to strategic significance of Maldives with respect to India emerged about LeT plans to setup Indian Ocean base in the country. Reportedly, there were plans to use deserted islands to build bases and weapon storage facilities from where they could be moved to Kerala and then to the rest of India.
The geo-strategic location of Maldives with regard to Indian Ocean is an imperative that has driven super powers in the past like the Great Britain, the US and the erstwhile USSR to gain foothold in the country. The same imperatives are now driving India, China, Pakistan and Islamic terror groups.
Maldives straddles major maritime arteries and has the potential to be drawn in big power rivalry. During World War-II, the British had established an operational base on Gan Island in southern Adudu Atoll. In 1948, a mutual defence pact was signed between Britain and Maldives, which was followed by a 30-years agreement with the Sultan in 1956, as per which the Royal Air Force was to continue using the base at Gan as a staging post. The airbase at Gan provided much needed staging facilities between Europe and Far East. It provided clear and alternate communications to NATO, West Asia and East Asia. In 1974, consequent to a review of British Defence Policy, all British establishments east of Suez were to be liquidated. Accordingly, in 1976 the RAF base at Gan was handed over lock stock and barrel to Maldives. The facilities included a runway, building and equipment, and a modern medical centre. The base provided employment to 850 Maldivian personnel and contributed £ 50,000 to a total income of £ 3million. For Maldives the winding up of the RAF base at Gan did not mean the end of an environment of superpower rivalry in the region. Soon, 600 miles south of Gan, the US established a base at Diego Garcia.
In fact, Maldives forms a geo-physical part of the same the ridge that extends to Diego Garcia. After relinquishment of the Gan base by Britain, the USSR made cogent efforts to acquire it in 1977, and offered a monthly rental of US $ 1 million. Though the stated purpose for the Soviet move was to set-up a supply station for its fishing fleet, the actual purpose was to countervail the US base at Diego Garcia. President Gayoom who was then a transport minister, had vehemently opposed the Soviet proposal. Later in 1982, Gayoom as President had remarked, “the Soviet base would have militated against our non-aligned status, annoyed our brothers in the Muslim world and created suspicion in minds of our neighbours like India and Sri Lanka”. It is believed that Shah of Iran too had made overtures for leasing Gan Island to keep the Soviets out, and the Libyan President Gaddafi was determined to stymie Shah.
Threat Perception
Maldives, so far has faced no external threat in the conventional sense. Its vulnerability is owing to its size and geographical location in the Indian Ocean, which predisposes it to regional and extra regional strategic machinations. Maldives successfully warded off all attempts by extra regional powers to fill in the vacuum created by the British departure from the Gan Island. Most of the threat so far has been internal in nature given political schisms and difficult geographical framework. With a modest military capability, it is rather difficult to ensure the security of the country and also the EEZ due to spread of its atolls and islands. The Maldivian government therefore has been vulnerable to coups.
Besides, there are other economic and geographical vulnerabilities – the most serious being the problem of global warming, which as per many experts threatens to submerge the country as such. Given the axis of sea route emanating from the infamous Golden Triangle and burgeoning tourism – Maldives is vulnerable to illegal drugs and its trafficking.
The society in Maldives is homogeneous mixture of people from Sinhalese, Dravidians, Australia-Asian, Arabs and African origin. There is one common language Dhivehi, which has loan words from Hindi, Arabic and Tamils. Despite the cohesiveness and homogeneity, the country has not been free from internal disorders and secessionist movements. In 1959, three southern atolls declared independence and a United Suvadian Republic with the combined population of 20,000. There are insinuations to suggest that the British had a hand in this, as the Maldivian rulers were putting increasing pressure for closure of the RAF base at Gan. All the three secessionist atolls immensely benefited from the base in terms of economy and employment opportunities. In 1962, the then Prime Minister Ibrahim Nassir sent gunboats with government police and re-established control over these atolls. The leader Abdulla Afid Didi fled to the British colony of Seychelles, where he was granted political asylum.
Further, internal imbalance and instability could arise owing to the following factors :-
- The Male cluster of islands has attracted all capital investment and there has been resultant impoverishment in other atolls.
- The feeling of discrimination and developmental imbalance is most intense in Addu Atoll. With the winding up of the RAF base at Gan, all able bodied men have moved to other beach resorts for work. They are fluent in Urdu owing to influence of the Pakistani non-commissioned personnel who were employed at the base.
- The historical memory of not too distinct past when people of the various atolls were virtually free from control of Male, and had independent access to India and Sri Lanka persists.
- The excessive dependence on tourism is yet another critical economic vulnerability of Maldives. 33 percent of the country’s GDP comes from tourism. One million tourists visit Maldives every year, which is almost three times the population of the country. Notwithstanding the contribution of tourism in the Maldivian economy, it continues to be vulnerable to nature as well as Islamic fundamentalists. At the behest of the latter, i.e. Islamist parties particularly the Adaalath Party, the government recently shut down spas and health centres at all island resorts, as it was alleged by them that they were operating as brothels. The government orders in this regard were subsequently rescinded due to acute economic and international compulsions. The vulnerability of tourism to nature was evidenced by Tsunami in December 2004. In relative terms Maldives suffered the sharpest blow. 21 of the 93 islands resorts were closed. Tourism was down by 40 percent and economic growth was negative by 3-4 percent.
- Maldives, as a country is most worried about impact of erosion and global warming, as 80 percent of the country is one metre or less above sea level. Overall Maldives can be described as a success story of South Asia, which has moved from very poor country with people living in scattered islands to almost a middle income country.
India-Maldives Strategic Interface
India’s relations with Maldives are different in character and content when compared to other South Asian neighbours. Both India and Maldives have defied the difficulties of glaring power disparity in developing a mutually trustworthy relationship between a regional power and a micro-state. Some of the key catalysts that determine India-Maldives relationships are :-
- Absence of any territorial disputes or irritants. In 1976, both countries most amicably demarcated their maritime boundary based on the median line principle.
- Relations are free of any colonial baggage, unlike India-Sri Lanka relations.
- Indo-centrism hither-to-fore was not a factor in the relations between the two countries. It is lately being created by China, Pakistan and Islamic fundamentalists.
- No problems of common ethnicity or Indian community. Some shades of common ethnicity are only found in India’s Minicoy Island, which is inhabited by Maliki sect to which Maldivians belong to.
- The political and social discourse in Maldives till very recently never tried to question or counterpoise India’s pre-eminent position in the South Asian region by courting regional or extra regional powers. It is a nascent phenomenon in some segments.
Mrs Indira Gandhi was the second foreign dignitary to visit Maldives in 1975, the first being the British Queen. In the same year, India provided a grant of Rs 40 lacs for setting up a fish canning plant. In 1977, India assisted Maldives in setting up an international airline, which was managed and operated by the Indian Airlines. The commercial airport on Hulule Island was also modernised with Indian assistance. As per a five-year economic and technical agreement signed in 1986, India set-up a 200 hundred bed general hospital (India Gandhi Memorial Hospital) and deputes nearly 100 medical and para-medical staff to run the hospital. India has also been providing use of satellite by Maldives for meteorological data and television re-broadcasting. It has also been generous in providing scholarships and educational opportunities to Maldivian students. During the Tsunami in December 2004, the Indian Navy was quick to respond to the aid of Maldives despite the fact that some of India’s coastal areas itself had been ravaged. As part of ‘Operation Castor’, India deployed its aircraft, helicopters and naval vessels on search, rescue and rehabilitation missions. It also deployed two mobile surgical teams and provided assistance in communication and re-construction.
The event that actually underwrote the special strategic context of India-Maldives relations was the Indian assistance in crushing the coup in 1988. The coup was attempted with the help of about 150 Sri Lankan Tamil separatists (PLOTE), who were led by two Maldivian dissident and Colombo based businessmen Abdullah Luthufi and Sagar Nasir. President Gayoom wanted to avoid enlisting military help of any extra regional power. Possibly, he was convinced by the fact that India did not have grand strategic ambitions, which in any way could impinge on the sovereignty of Maldives. For India too, any hesitancy in responding to the situation would have meant involvement of regional or extra regional powers with all the imponderables therein.
A new reality has confronted India with regard to Maldives, i.e. Islamic radicalization and the prospect of the country being used to target Indian interests on land and sea including Mumbai 26/11 type attacks. The other reality is the aggressive bid by China to secure footholds in the Indian Ocean region. Driven by these realities, India and Maldives signed a bilateral pact in August 2009 during the visit of India’s defence minister Mr AK Antony. As per the agreement, the two countries agreed to bolster defence cooperation and fortify the security of Maldives. The Indian Navy is to assist the Maldivian security forces in monitoring and safeguarding of the country’s vast EEZ. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard vessels will patrol pirate infested waters around Maldives. India’s BEL is setting up radars on all the 26 atolls of Maldives, which will be linked to the Indian coastal command. In October 2011, the Indian Navy based a Dornier aircraft to carry out surveillance of EEZ and anti-piracy vigil. Since 2009, India has been sending warships or naval aircraft to perform security roles for Maldives. It may be recalled that India transferred a fast-attack aircraft INS Tillanchang to the Maldivian Coast Guard in the year 2006. Speaking in the naval commanders conference, Mr A K Anthony said: “The Indian Navy has been mandated to be a net provider to the island nations in the Indian Ocean—.”
Conclusion
While the foreign policy and defence establishment have displayed great sensitivity about the strategic imperatives of India in respect to Maldives and have acted timely and appropriately, the same cannot be said about the Indian intelligence establishment. The charter of India’s external agency not only involves providing information and intelligence but more importantly to safeguard friendly regimes from inimical powers of India. The coup is a success of the agencies of inimical powers.
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i am a maldivian, and we are proud to be muslims. our forefathers converted to islam because it is the one true religion and because us logically thinking, realized the hoards of bullshit behind buddism and idolatory. we do not want to remember our poor grandfathers and mothers who were not blessed with this, and was mislead. we dont want to keep any buddist artifacts as it is an embarrassment to us. please stop calling us a victim of islamic fundalism and portray falsely. respect us as we respect you. we dont go harrassing about people in india who are doing things we find ridiculous and bloody idiotic.
There are also alot of error in your controversial story about our history, there are some context of truth but because of the false content the whole article is misguiding and has error. i hope you become more fruitful with knowledge and write more articles n documents with the truth and with respect.