Malé, Maldives — The Maldivian opposition has organized an “India Out” protest to be held on the National Day of Maldives.
While the island nation celebrates their National Day on 1st of Rabee ul Awwal of the Islamic Hijri calendar, which falls on October 18 of 2020, the progressive coalition consisting of the former ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), and the People’s National Congress (PNC) has decided to hold their protest wearing traditional Maldivian clothes in Malé city, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, over the past months, the opposition has made several accusations about the incumbent government and the neighboring country, such as that they have ‘become a slave to India’, condemning the “Indian military presence in Maldivian soil.” In addition to this, they have also questioned the assistance of India to the country.
Despite all these accusations, it is known that at the start of October, several senior officials of the progressive coalition had met with the Indian High Commissioner, Sunjay Sudhir, to seek for his help in releasing their leader and former President, Abdulla Yameen from prison.
The opposition has previously held protests regarding this matter on August 28 and September 12 as well. However, as the protesters were violating the Covid-19 safety rules placed in the capital, over 40 protesters were arrested at the last rally. When asked, the opposition later denied of any involvement.
During the presidency of Yameen, the historic relations between India and Maldives turned sour due to several problems. However, the relationship has now improved since the Current President Ibrahim Solih took over in November 2018.
