By Om Prakash Dwivedi
In a bizarre turn of events, the Washington Post (WaPo) has raised serious charges against India, accusing it of unsettling the present Mohamed Muizzu’s regime in Maldives.
Citing a document titled ‘Democratic Renewal Initiative’, the WaPo goes on to claim that India also exercised deliberate attempts to influence the 2023 Maldivian Presidential election, while trying to help its close ally, President Ibrahim Solih, stay in power.
The report also cites the alleged involvement of India’s Resaerch and Analysis Wing (R&AW) in its failed attempt to dethrone the present President Mohamed Muizzu. It exaggerates, without providing any substantial evidence, “Maldivian opposition politicians proposed bribing 40 members of parliament, including those from Muizzu’s own party, to vote to impeach him. The document also proposed paying 10 senior army and police officers and three powerful criminal gangs to ensure Muizzu’s removal. To pay off the various parties, the conspirators sought 87 million Maldivian rufiyaa, or $6 million.”
What the WaPo provides as evidence qualifies as irony. Citing its interaction with Hormis Tharakan, a former R&AW chief, who has earlier worked on Maldives-related issues, but did not have any clue of such developments, pointing out that “Maintaining a secure and stable relationship with its closest neighbours, like the Maldives, is essential for India.” It is not rocket science to witness any R&AW chief working to normalize and advance India’s foreign strategies and policymaking and taking preventive measures to mitigate terror activities, so this interaction needs to be seen as a quotidian affair, rather than a disrupting activity.
A case in point that WaPo should have considered is the U.S. Government’s ‘Democratic Renewal’ initiative. Launched by President Biden during the December 2021 Summit for Democracy, the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal (PIDR) represents a significant effort to strengthen democracy and uphold human rights globally. This initiative aims to enhance U.S. engagement by bolstering democratic resilience in collaboration with both governmental and non-governmental allies.
Additionally, how can one ignore the deluge of recent reports that emphasize the fact that the region is slowly turning into an ISIS hideout? The arrest of Mohammad Shahnawaz and his two accomplices by the Delhi Special Cell in September 2023 also revealed the role of a Maldivian woman in promoting terrorist activities. Similarly, the Organiser also reinforces,
“The Maldives is not only a hub of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) operatives but also of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).”
In fact, the United States has continued to expand its ongoing initiatives to counter violent extremism in Maldives. The suspicion that some Maldivian nationals are promoting ISIS ideology and inciting terrorism underscores the U.S.’s focus on collaborating with local leaders to combat “violent extremism and terrorism.”
Further, ever since Muizzu became the President, it is no hidden fact, to WaPo too, that Maldives has shown more inclination toward China. China has also grabbed this opportunity by lending out huge monetary advances as loans.
A 2024 report suggests that Maldives has borrowed almost US$ 1.4 billion from China. Muizzu’s campaign on an ‘India out’ explains the Chinese generosity toward the Maldives. Cognizant of the geographical vitality of Maldives, the US cannot afford to ignore the influence of both India and China in this region. It needs to be pointed out that the Maldives happens to be the busiest maritime trade passage in the Indian Ocean. It is no wonder that China manages to import 80 percent of its oil through this passage, given the region’s proximity to the Persian Gulf. Further, ‘An undisclosed Chinese firm acquired a tiny islet named Feydhoo Finolhu on a 50-year lease for $4 million. The islet is strategically positioned near the International Airport at Malé,’ thus rendering more authority to China.
Despite this, Muizzu has recently reached out to India seeking financial support from PM Modi, and he immediately received a $800 million line of credit from Delhi. Given the continuing reliance of Maldives on India, it can be argued that the US does not want a situation where India also gains supremacy in the region.
In his most recent article in the Firstpost, Utpal Kumar provides an insightful answer to the perplexed question, ‘why the US deep state would try to corner India. The answer may lie with India’s inner dynamics and its ties with China. The US-led West puts India in the “friends with benefits” category. It will be friendly but will have too many differences to be an ally. It wants to co-opt India to downsize China, but is equally wary of rising India.’ The US, thus, works both ways: It helps India grow and yet works towards cutting it to size as well.’
Of course, WaPo’s moral policing is far from anything new. In its perpetual quest to impede India’s growing influence in the region, it has repeatedly structured and saturated such exposés, which lack even a modicum of reality and evade the democratic principles, that the WaPo selectively espouses. How can one turn a blind eye to its recent coverage, ‘An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s India’accusing India of the attempted assassination of United States citizen and Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.’
Dr Amit Sarwal, a renowned Indian diaspora author, offers a lucid account of the universal colour-blindness that drives the US deep state media houses, “While homegrown, army-trained American Islamist terrorists target innocent civilians, it seems that US legacy media is waging a war on India by spreading misinformation, likely orchestrated by the deep state, with the aim of destabilising Asia in its broader strategy to counter China and India.”
No doubt, Mohamed Nasheed, the chief of the Maldivian Democratic Party and the country’s largest opposition party, dismissed this report on his twitter account, “I read with interest today’s article. I was unaware of any serious plot against the President; thou some ppl always live in conspiracy. India would never back such a move, as they always support Maldives’ democracy. India has never dictated terms to us, either.”
Such unverified media narratives reek of xenophobic and racist turpitude, constructed around a shared project of ideological expansion and geographical supremacy. Of course, it needs to be understood that such a debasing hierarchy of races is in a constant need of populist narratives and demagoguery, such as the one being discussed in this column.
The promise of liberty, progress, and equality can only be maintained by pulverizing other regions and zones, and the Western media is a role model in doing this. One needs to remember that much of the colonial enterprise was emboldened and perpetuated through such narratives. In other words, such exposé can be seen as a manifestation of that deep desire to declare India as a morally corrupt and undemocratic country, which only exposes the Janus-faced nature of the populist media.
The rising economy of India has certainly created troubled waters for the populist demagogues, who have now indulged in press-ganging of India. The infectious nature of populism is not only selective but also unidirectional. These dangerous narratives act as gatekeeping exercises, which only ensure that the self-deterministic exercises of nations like India need the approval of the white media houses. But this is a different India and times have changed.
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new, and God fulfils Himself in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt the world.”
The above lines from Tennyson sum up the amoral morality of the illiberal liberals, hell-bent as they are upon questioning and negating India’s rise in the Asia Pacific region. As such, we are witness to a cyclic performance of populist narratives that tend to tarnish India’s global image. On a positive note, these reports add to India’s growing stature in the Asia-Pacific region.
Contributing Author: Prof. Om Prakash Dwivedi (@omdwivedi82) is a literary critic and columnist.
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