Second batch of Indian military personnel leave Maldives: President Muizzu
Male (PTI): The second group of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter has left the Maldives on April 9 under a bilateral agreement with India, President Mohamed Muizzu has announced. Muizzu announced this on Friday while speaking during a campaign event for ruling party candidates ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for later this month.
"The first team has already gone. Now, on April 9, the soldiers on the second platform have also been withdrawn," Muizzu was quoted as saying by the local media. The agreement between Maldives and India is to replace the Indian military personnel stationed in Maldives to oversee the operations of the military aircraft the country has gifted with trained civilians also from India.
Muizzu, a pro-China leader, added that the Indian soldiers on the last platform would also leave the Maldives before May 10 and that would mark the fulfillment of his pledge to remove Indian soldiers from the island nation. "There is only one platform left. As the two countries have already signed, they [the remaining Indian military personnel] will also be recalled ahead of May 10. They will leave," Muizzu was quoted as saying by Edition.mv news portal. "So that pledge is fulfilled, isn't it? All foreign military here will leave before May 10. So any pledge I make, I will work to fulfill to the greatest extent", he said.
He did not provide any details and did not clarify whether the soldiers had been replaced by Indian civilians. Neither the Maldives Defense Ministry nor India have commented on the latest withdrawal of Indian military personnel from this country.
According to the Maldives government, 88 Indian soldiers were stationed in the Maldives to operate helicopters in Addu and Laamu Kadhdhoo and a Dornier aircraft in Hanimaadhoo. The figure also includes doctors at the Senahiya military hospital. The first group of Indian soldiers left the Maldives on March 11. The Defence Ministry said 26 soldiers based in Addu were replaced by 26 Indian civilians. India also replaced the old helicopter in Addu with a new one.
Relations between Maldives and India have deteriorated since Muizzu came to power in November last year while closer ties are maintained with China. He also travelled to China in January and met top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping. China and the Maldives recently signed a defence cooperation agreement and several other infrastructure development projects.
The Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in its initiatives like ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ of the Narendra Modi government.
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K'taka cops arrest X user ‘Bhiku Mhatre’ for controversial post on Siddaramaiah, Congress manifesto
Bengaluru: A social media user calling himself ‘Bhiku Mhatre’ and working on ‘X’ with the handle ‘@MumbaichaDon’ was arrested by the Karnataka Cyber Crime Police in Goa on Saturday for sharing an edited video clip of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and posting a message targeting Muslims on the social platform.
The police arrested Mhatre in Ponda, a city in South Goa, based on a complaint by J Saravanan, a Congress worker from Bengaluru on April 29, accusing Mhatre of posting an edited video clip of the CM speaking on reservation for minorities and making objectionable comments on the post with the clip. Saravanan has accused Mhatre of attempting to incite enmity and hatred among communities as well as tarnish the image of the Congress party. A case was registered against Mhatre under section 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66(c) of the Information Technology Act.
The social media user had posted on April 22, “Throw this in the face of Every Liberal & Every Piddi who was arguing that CONgress Manifesto doesn’t mention ‘Mu$£ims’ specifically & it includes SC/STs Also. CONgress WANTS TO TAKE AWAY WEALTH FROM HINDUS & DISTRIBUTE TO MU$£IMS ‘ONLY’ AS IT HATES HINDUS INCL. SC/STs.”
While the post on ‘X’ has been deleted, the user insisted that he had never posted anything that could be considered communal and alleged that the Congress was attempting to intimidate him for speaking the truth. Hours before his arrest in Ponda too, Mhatre shared a screenshot of an email from the legal team of ‘X’, indicating that the Magistrate of the Bengaluru Court had issued an order regarding his account.
The BJP, in support of the arrested, has slammed the Congress government in Karnataka, alleging that the arrest was an abuse of power. Leaders of the party assured that Mhatre would be provided legal support in the matter.
Amit Malviya, who is the head of the BJP IT Cell, posted on Saturday, “Karnataka Police has arrested @MumbaichaDon from Goa. We are in touch with his family and will ensure he gets all legal support. Congress has unleashed anarchy and is intolerant of dissent. But there won’t be another #Emergency in this country, ever.”
