Maldives President Muizzu formally asks India to withdraw military personnel from his country
Male, Nov 18: Less than 24 hours after taking oath as the President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday formally requested the Government of India to "withdraw" its military personnel from his country, saying the Maldivian people have given a "strong mandate" to make this request to New Delhi.
Muizzu's request came when India's Union Minister Kiren Rejiju paid a courtesy call on the new president at the latter's office, the Maldivian President's Office said in a press release.
The exact number of Indian military personnel in the Maldives is not known.
Engineer-turned-politician, Muizzu, 45, took oath on Friday as the eighth president of the strategically-located archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean. Underscoring India's Neighbourhood First Policy', Rijiju represented the country at Muizzu's inauguration ceremony.
A close associate of former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, who forged close ties with China during his Presidency from 2013 to 2018, Muizzu defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September. Muizzu had indicated during the election campaign that the withdrawal of Indian military troops from the island nation is among the issues that need to be resolved by the two countries.
Soon after the oath-taking on Friday, Muizzu asserted that he was firmly committed to ensuring that his country remains "free" of any "foreign military presence" to preserve its independence and sovereignty. However, he did not name any country in his inaugural address.
"At the meeting, President Muizzu formally requested the Government of India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives.
"The President noted that at the Presidential Election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives," the statement from the President's Office said here.
While discussing the matter with Rijiju, Muizzu also acknowledged the significant role of the two helicopters in providing numerous emergency medical evacuations.
Maldives is India's key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the Prime Minister's vision of SAGAR' (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy.'
Maldives' proximity to the west coast of India (barely 70 nautical miles away from Minicoy and 300 nautical miles away from India's West coast), and its location at the hub of commercial sea lanes running through the Indian Ocean gives it significant strategic importance to India.
Rijiju conveyed his best wishes to the President, representing the sentiments of the Government and the people of India, the statement said, adding.
The Minister expressed his aspiration to foster a constructive relationship with the Maldives, acknowledging the presence of a vibrant Indian community residing in the Maldives."
"Privileged to call on President H.E. Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. Conveyed greetings from Hon'ble PM @NarendraModi and reiterated India's commitment to further strengthen the substantive bilateral cooperation and robust people-to-people ties," Rijiju posted on X.
India was the first to assist Maldives during the 2004 Tsunami as well as the water crisis in Male in December 2014.
Muizzu and Rijiju also reviewed the progress of the implementation of various projects in the Maldives with the support of India.
"The President emphasised the importance of accelerating the Greater Male' Connectivity Project (GMCP), highlighted the importance of addressing and overcoming the issues delaying the project," the statement said.
Privileged to call on President H.E. Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) November 18, 2023
Conveyed greetings from Hon’ble PM @NarendraModi and reiterated India’s commitment to further strengthen the substantive bilateral cooperation and robust people-to-people ties. pic.twitter.com/nFa95QD9ES
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
