Wednesday
24th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
MP Hassan Latheef speaking at 241 committee.
West Henveyru Member of Parliament Hassan Latheef has stated that there were no reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that Maldivians living in India were impacted by the “India Out” movement.
He made the statement speaking in Monday’s Parliament session, where MPs debated on the report compiled by the Parliament Committee on National Security Services.
The Committee, commonly referred to as the 241 Committee, compiled a report on the impacts of the “India Out” campaign, on request for Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed. Officials of Foreign Ministry were summoned to the Committee, as part of this investigation.
Speaking in Parliament, MP Hassan Latheef said that Foreign Ministry had reported that there were no formal complaints issued by Maldivians living in India. As per Foreign Ministry, he said, there were no repercussions felt by Maldivians in India as a result of the India Out campaign.
However, he said that there were informal complaints, delivered via phone calls and other means.
“I do recall officials of Foreign Ministry saying that there were no formal complaints to the Ministry and the High Commission, but there were phone calls and such on the issue, from Maldivians in India,” he said.
MP Hassan Latheef had urged to mark “India Out” movement as detrimental to Maldivians in India, in spite of no formal evidence to back the claim.
Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail had previously said that an Indian national had been kicked out of a taxi, as evidence that the campaign was detrimental to individuals of both nations. No such case was reported to Maldives Police Service (MPS) or by taxi centers.
Days after the Committee ran their exploration into the issue, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had criminalized the movement. The decree issued cited that the movement was a hate based one, and would cause irreparable damage to the relationship between the two nations, as well as the independence and sovereignty of Maldives.