Opinion: Why India needs to help Maldives to counter threats to democracy

India had always been a good friend of Maldives. The culture, demography, festivals and social aspects, in many ways, are similar to India. The country shares an affinity with India which is rarely matched in any other instance. Thus, in November 1988, when the elected government of President Moumoon Abdul Gayoom was under threat from the PLOTE mercenaries of Sri Lanka, India helped in the restoration of democracy in the Maldives. These PLOTE mercenaries were, reportedly, hired by Ibrahim Nasir, one of the former presidents of Maldives and funded by Abdullah Luthufi, a rich Maldivian businessman who had business ventures in Sri Lanka and the aim was to take over the country forcefully.

Being a close ally, India immediately intervened and dispatched its 1600 strong team of 50 (independent) Parachute Brigade, and the democracy was restored in the island nation. Operation Cactus is considered a rare operation where Indian Air Force landed its heavy aircrafts on an unknown island airstrip in the pitch-dark night.

Today, after the passage of nearly 30 years, history is about to repeat itself when the half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom is involved in the current political turmoil of Maldives. The Supreme Court has declared the decision to put Gayoom's opposition leaders into the jails on frivolous charges as illegal and ordered the restoration of democracy. India may be required to repeat its actions of 1988 to restore democracy once again.

Abdulla Yameen was elected as the president under disputed circumstances in 2013 and this election was annulled by the Supreme Court in view of a large number of ineligible voters being registered in the second round of voting. Mr Yameen lost badly in the first round but won in the second round under circumstances which were found illegal by the Supreme Court.

Soon after he took over, he stripped 12 Members of Parliament, belonging to the opposition party from their position to gain a majority. These members were reinstated by the Supreme Court three days ago and, hence, Yameen's government has now become the minority. Not only this, the Supreme Court had also ordered the release of nine political prisoners from the party of the ex-president Mohammad Nasheed who were put behind the bars under the fake charges of terrorism.

In addition, the Supreme Court also ordered the removal of the Attorney General Mohammad Anil who was responsible for doing all wrong things as a "yes man" of Abdulla Yameen. The story is not yet finished, there is a lot more to worry.

On Sunday, The Chief of Maldivian Defence Forces, Major General Ahmad Shiyam had given a statement that he will not obey the orders of Supreme Court but of the Attorney General Mohammad Anil only. Soon, after the opposition, as well as Supreme Court, urged the Parliament to remove the island nation’s attorney general and its chief prosecutor, soldiers in riot gear surrounded the Parliament building in Male. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the parliamentary leader of the opposition, accused both of breaking the law by failing to act on the Supreme Court verdict.

Attorney General, as well as the president, both declared Supreme Court verdict as illegal and they instructed all the agencies not to obey any order of the Supreme Court. The 12 MPs who were reinstated by the Supreme Court have been arrested after they landed in Male. Parliament is suspended till indefinite orders and two major opposition leaders have also been put behind bars.

This is a serious situation and a direct threat to democracy in the island nation. Despite live appeals from India, the US and the European Union, Abdulla Yameen has refused to obey the Supreme Court orders. He is accused of serious corruption and human rights abuse since he took over the government and had been using all means to suppress the voices of the country, including press and other media channels. In 2015, Mr Modi had to call off his planned visit to the Maldives in view of Mohammad Yameen cracking down on his opposition and acting against democracy.

Due to these activities, Abdulla Yameen has gone on the wrong side of his half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled the country for over 30 years successfully and considered a fatherly figure in the island-nation.

India must watch this situation carefully, while the previous president Mohammad Nasheed was considered a close ally of India, Abdulla Yameen is not only accused of serious frauds and irregularities but had started developing proximity with China after he joined the Maritime Silk Route Project. China is taking advantage of this and developing series of ports and other infrastructure in the Maldives which is not at all in the interest of India. When it comes to the domination of the Indian Ocean, China’s presence can seriously harm the interests of India. Chinese are already present in Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Djibouti in Horn of Africa and Gwadar in Pakistan.

Their presence in the Maldives will almost cover the entire Indian Ocean region.

My take on the situation is simple. As an old ally and the largest democracy in the world, it is the utmost duty of India to ensure that democratic governments survive in its neighbourhood and, hence, we must intervene to resolve this crisis.

India’s timely and strong actions can reduce Chinese from establishing further footprints in the Indian Ocean and will be helpful in the future. Not only this, it will secure our trade routes and help establish India as maritime prowess.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)