The official websites of the Maldivian President, the Foreign Ministry, and Tourism Ministry went down hours after Maldivian social media was replete with denigratory posts attacking India, Indians, and PM Modi over his visit to the Lakshadweep Islands.
The official websites are down and cannot be accessed at the moment.
The Maldivian media has reported that the websites are unreachable in a suspected cyber attack in the wake of a social media attack by a pro-Maldives account, denigrating India and Indians over PM Modi’s Lakshadweep visit.
Not just social media users, but ministers and prominent citizens too have weighed in on the controversy, using uncharitable and deplorable language for India, Indians, and PM Modi.
Maldivian minister, social media users attack India, PM Modi over visit to Lakshadweep
Earlier today, Mariyam Shiuna, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, recently made insulting remarks against PM Modi, referring to him as a ‘clown’ and a ‘puppet of Israel’ after he posted pictures from his visit to Lakshadweep Islands.
“What a clown. The puppet of Israel Mr Narendra diver with a life jacket #VisitMaldives,” Shiuna tweeted.
On Friday, January 5, Zahid Rameez, a Council member of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) took to the microblogging site X to mock Indians. The PPM member’s highly racist remark against Indians came in response to a post by popular X user Mr Sinha, where he shared pictures of PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep and hailed the islands as a viable option to Maldives.
Responding to a tweet posted by a user @MrSinha_, Zahid Rameez tweeted, “The move is great. However, the idea of competing with us is delusional. How can they provide the service we offer? How can they be so clean? The permanent smell in the rooms will be the biggest downfall.”