Amid a diplomatic row between India and the Maldives, several Indian social media users began a digital campaign to boycott the archipelagic country with the hashtag #BoycottMaldives, while promoting Indian destinations as alternatives for those wanting to travel.
With a flurry of social media users stating they had cancelled their travel and vacation plans to the Maldives, a dubious claim said that Indians had “so far” cancelled 10,500 hotel bookings and 5,520 flight tickets after Maldivian ministers made “abusive statements against PM Modi, India & Hindus. (sic)”
News organisation Mint had also shared similar numbers, albeit without a credible source, before retracting and mentioning that many social media users had claimed so.
However, there are no credible sources that cite these numbers. Going by social media posts, many Indians have cancelled travel plans to the Maldives, but the number appears to be exaggerated with no data to back it.
This comes as the hashtags '#BoycottMaldives' and '#ExploreIndianIslands' trend in India, which saw several Indians cancelling their travel plans to the Maldives, choosing to opt for other tourist destinations, in or outside India.
While some users shared legitimate cancellation screenshots, others took the lazy way out and reshared other peoples’ posts and stories of cancellations as their own experiences.
Following the trend in cancellations, travel booking platform EaseMyTrip’s co-founder Nishant Pitti announced on X, that they would suspend bookings to the Maldives on their platform “in solidarity” with the nation.
The Quint has contacted other similar service providers for details about trip cancellations. We will update this report as and when the information is received.
Joining people promoting Indian destinations – especially Lakshadweep – for tourism, several social media users, including Union Minister for Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju, shared photos of clear blue waters, sunsets, and pristine beaches as photos taken in India.
In reality, the photos above were reportedly taken in the Maldives and French Polynesia’s Bora Bora.
The background: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Lakshadweep in a bid to promote tourism in the Union territory, posting photographs of his excursion and describing his experience.
Shortly after the post, Indian netizens began suggesting that the islands were a good alternative to the Maldives, which many Indians travel to for beach tourism.
Responding to the chatter, Maldivian Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts Mariyam Shiuna criticised Modi’s visit on X , stating that India had several challenges to overcome in order to compete with Maldives’ tourism – but later deleted her post.
Shiuna’s post was soon followed by other Maldivians sharing derogatory and racist posts against India and Indians, which was met with social media campaigns like #BoycottMaldives and #ExploreIndianIslands.
The response: The call to visit Indian locations for tourism was echoed by several prominent personalities, like cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actors R Madhavan and John Abraham, and industrialist Adar Poonawala, among others.
The backlash: Former Maldivian President Mohammed Najeed called for action against Shiuna, stating that she had used “appalling language…towards the leader of a key ally, that is instrumental for Maldives’ security and prosperity.”
As per local media, the Maldives government reportedly suspended Shiuna and two other ministers on Sunday, 7 January. The island nation also issued a press release addressing the “derogatory remarks” against “foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals”.
“These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives. The Government believes that the freedom of expression should be exercised in a democratic and responsible manner, and in ways that do not spread hatred, negativity, and hinder close relationships between the Maldives and its international partners,“ it read.
Consequently, the Union Ministry of External Affairs summoned Maldives High Commissioner to India Ibrahim Shaheeb over the remarks by the now-suspended Maldivian minister, sources told The Quint.
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