Yameen Receives Warm Welcome In Gaafu Alifu Vilin'gili

Opposition leader former President Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayyoom traveled to Vilin'gili (Gaafu Alifu Atoll) yesterday to campaign for the "India Out" movement. He received a warm welcome from a large number of the island's residents.

This was the former President's first visit to the South during his campaigning for the "India Out" movement. Since he had begun his trips to the islands to raise support for the movement, he has visited Kaafu, Faafu, Shaviyani, and Raa Atolls.

The former President called for the intensification of the "India Out" movement following his 2021 acquittal by the Supreme Court of a 2019 Criminal Court verdict that had sentenced him to five years in prison.

The "India Out" movement calls for the removal of all Indian military personnel and assets from the Maldives, and also calls for an end to the Indian government's interference in the Maldives' domestic affairs.

Since the former President has begun his campaigning, the Maldivian government has been ordered by New Delhi to put a stop to the movement. The government has claimed that they would not let the "India Out" movement continue, and have made unsubstantiated claims that the movement was run by drug-lords and religious extremists.

The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party has also drafted a bill to punish support for the "India Out" movement with prison sentences. The bill has not yet been submitted to the Majlis floor on account of several MDP parliamentarians' discomfort with the draft.