President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ordered all relevant state authorities to stop the opposition’s India Out campaign activities. He gave the order in a decree issued after the Parliamentary Committee on National Security Services concluded that the India Out campaign threatens to undermine national security by creating animosity against a neighbouring country.
In the decree, President Solih said that the India Out campaign activities use the right to freedom of expression and gathering to take away the peace and security in the country and undermine the longstanding friendly relations with India. He accused the campaign organisers of purposely attempting to compromise international efforts to maintain peace in the region.
Furthermore, President Solih said the Government of the Maldives is required to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats in the country as per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. He also said the government is responsible for fighting against racial and ethnic discrimination under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Therefore, President Solih said that the India Out campaign activities are illegal and threaten national security, which would result in major economic repercussions for the Maldives. He said that the activities compromise the longstanding diplomatic relations with other countries and undermine national independence and sovereignty. As such, he said the government is responsible for stopping any such activity.
Maldives Police Service (MPS) has begun confiscating banners related to the India Out campaign in the Greater Male’ Region. MPS has confiscated banners from three households, after warning them to take down the banners a day earlier. Police officers have also confiscated a 50-foot banner from the house of former President Abdulla Yameen, the leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).