Growing Security Challenge in Maldives

by Ashik Bonofer

(The views expressed by the author are his own)

(December 17, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) South Asia’s one of the most peaceful states is no more a safe heaven. Gang wars and brutal killings appear to have become a common feature in Maldives and the government has been little effective in controlling this situation. Although the new government cannot be completely blamed or held totally responsible for all this untoward events as similar trends were noticed even earlier. Regrettably, these events have added to the pressure on the new Government which is just a month old.

It is unfortunate that the Assistant Commissioner of police responding to the statement by the deputy home minister that police is responsible for controlling violence said that gang violence is not a police problem as police powers are limited. Such a response from a law enforcement agency is an indication that not all is well between the police and the Home ministry.

President Mohamed Nasheed, who has been in the office for a month now would need to contend with more challenges in the pipeline. Problems due to drug abuse, gang war, and other social related issues would require immediate assertive attention as any delay would dent the public confidence in the ability of the President and his team of minister in coming to grip with the challenges.

Maldives security architecture consists of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), which comes under the Minister of Defense and National Security. The Maldives Police Services, comes under the Minister of Home Affairs. Since the time the Maldivian Police Services came under the Ministry of Home Affairs, their powers have been curtailed and reduced to a great extent. These days they hardly have any major jurisdiction on the atolls. During the violence on 12th December at the Raa Atoll, the Maldivian National Defense Force, which has a larger role in national security had to be employed to control the domestic violence due to the shortage of personnel in the police system.

The archipelago of Maldives comprising of nearly 1192 islands has nearly 900 uninhabited islands, which are hardly policed. Most of these islands are vulnerable as the international terrorists could use them as their hiding and operational/training grounds. The MV Sri Krishna episode which witnessed the sinking of a hijacked Indian fishing boat that was used by the LTTE to smuggle arms, by the Maldivian Coast Guard on 17th May 2007 is one such example indicative of the vulnerability of the coastline of Maldives.

Not long ago during the transitory process of the democratic change, there were reports of Islamic fundamentalists using Maldives territory as a hub of their activities. On September 29th 2007, a bomb blast rocked the recreation park killing eight Chinese and two Japanese; two British tourists were also injured. There have also been reports of fundamentalists using some of the Islands to spread fundamentalism. Following this attack, the standoff between the Maldivian Security Forces and the masked men at the Himandhoo Island of the Alif Alif Atoll on October 6th 2007 was a clear sign of the presence of Wahhabi elements in Maldives and their role in the bomb blast in Male.

Although not much is being discussed about fundamentalism spreading its tentacles after the new government under President Mohammed Nasheed came to power, its latent presence can hardly be denied. At the same time it is still not clear whether the new government would be able to handle the pressure arising out of extremism due to limited resources. The challenges of tackling extremism have also become more acute and sophisticated over the years.

It is important in this situation that President Nasheed consolidates the support from the coalition partners to be able to face the challenges together. Any simmering discontent would need to be handled with plenty of care and imagination. Resignation of the home minister Gasim Ibrahim is a factor that needs to be taken in to account in the forthcoming Peoples Majlis elections, which is scheduled for early 2009.

India which continues to have the same level of cordial relationship with Maldives that it enjoyed during President Gayooms 30 year tenure, should keep tabs on the security of Maldives with abundant caution. The large number of Bangladeshi immigrant population in Maldives should also be a concern for India, as during the terrorist attack in Maldives investigations also pointed out the role of Bangladeshis in this attack.

India has always stood by the people of Maldives and has been helping the Maldivian Security Forces by giving them training. By constant dialogue with the Government of Anni If one were to go by the incidents of Pak sponsored terrorist attacks in Mumbai the need to have additional checks on the growth of fundamentalism, which has threatened to destabilize civilized societies in South Asia becomes even more important than ever before.

(Ashik Bonofer is currently working as a research fellow with Centre for Asia Studies, Chennai. He could be contacted at bonofer@gmail.com) - Sri Lanka Guardian