The Maldivian government today suspended ministers whose social media posts against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked a massive firestorm with several Indians even claiming to have cancelled their scheduled trip to the nation made up of more than a hundred islands dotted with luxury resorts. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today issued a statement on the stand of the Government of India in relation to some posts on social media that are insulting to neighboring India,” the Maldives goverment said in a statement.

“Those who made such posts on social media while in government positions have now been suspended from their jobs,” the statement said without revealing the names of those who have been suspended.

As per local media, ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha and Hassan Zihan have been suspended.

It all began when these ministers and some other leaders in the Maldives posted derogatory remarks against PM Modi after he posted several photos and video from his recent visit to Lakshadweep. His posts where he was seen snorkelling went viral, prompting social media users to suggest India’s smallest Union Territory as an alternate tourist destination to the Maldives.

The Maldivian government, earlier in the day, distanced itself from these remarks and said the opinions were  “personal and do not represent the views of the Government” after several opposition leaders in the country slammed the “appalling language”.

 The freedom of expression should be exercised in a democratic and responsible manner, and in ways that do not spread hatred, and negativity, and hinder close relationships between the Maldives and its international partners, it said.

This comes as a big reassurance to India amid the diplomatic tussle with the island nation. 

The geography of both these destinations is very similar as both these places have low lying islands, reefs and pristine beaches. Lakshadweep and Maldives are separated by the Eight Degree Channel.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won re-election for a fifth term Sunday, officials said, following a boycott led by an opposition party she branded a “terrorist organisation”.

Hasina’s ruling Awami League “has won more than 50 percent seats,” an Election Commission spokesman told AFP, with counting ongoing.

She has presided over breakneck economic growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, but her government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown.

Her party faced almost no effective rivals in the seats it contested, but it avoided fielding candidates in a few constituencies, an apparent effort to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, called a general strike and, along with dozens of others, refused to participate in a “sham election”.

Hasina, 76, had called for citizens to show faith in the democratic process — but election officials said initial reports suggested a meagre turnout of some 40 percent.

“The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she told reporters after casting her vote. “I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country.”

Media collating results from polling stations said Hasina had won more than two-thirds of seats in parliament with nearly 90 percent of results declared.

Of the 264 seats of the total 300 announced, Hasina’s Awami League had won 204 and her allied Jatiya Party nine more, according to results collated by Somoy TV, the country’s largest private news broadcaster.

Among the victors was Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket team captain, who won his seat for Hasina’s party be a landslide, local officials said.

‘Disgrace’

First-time voter Amit Bose, 21, said he had cast his ballot for his “favourite candidate”, but others said they had not bothered because the outcome was assured.

“When one party is participating and another is not, why would I go to vote?” said rickshaw-puller Mohammad Saidur, 31.

BNP head Tarique Rahman, speaking from Britain where he lives in exile, told AFP he feared “fake votes” would be used to boost voter turnout.

“What unfolded was not an election, but rather a disgrace to the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he wrote on social media, alleging he had seen “disturbing pictures and videos” backing his claims.

‘Fear of ‘further crackdown’

The BNP and other parties staged months of protests last year, demanding Hasina step down ahead of the vote. Officers in the port city of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest Sunday, firing shotguns and tear gas canisters.

But election officials said voting was largely peaceful, with nearly 800,000 police officers and soldiers deployed countrywide.

Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, said Sunday that the government had failed to reassure opposition supporters that the polls would be fair, warning that “many fear a further crackdown”.

Politics in the world’s eighth-most populous country was long dominated by the rivalry between Hasina, the daughter of the country’s founding leader, and two-time premier Khaleda Zia, wife of a former military ruler.

Hasina has been the decisive victor since returning to power in a 2009 landslide, with two subsequent polls accompanied by widespread irregularities and accusations of rigging.

Zia, 78, was convicted of graft in 2018 and is now in ailing health at a hospital in Dhaka. BNP head Rahman is her son.

‘Dangerous combination’

Hasina has accused the BNP of arson and sabotage during last year’s protest campaign, which was mostly peaceful but saw several people killed in police confrontations.

The government’s security forces have been dogged by allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances — charges it rejects.

Economic headwinds have left many dissatisfied with Hasina’s government, after sharp spikes in food costs and months of chronic blackouts in 2022.

Pierre Prakash of the International Crisis Group said before the vote that Hasina’s government was clearly “less popular than it was a few years ago, yet Bangladeshis have little real outlet at the ballot box”.

“That is a potentially dangerous combination.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A gunfight broke out between security forces and insurgents in Manipur’s Moreh town along the India-Myanmar border on Sunday night, police said.

Hills-based insurgents attacked state police forces, who retaliated, resulting in a gunfight, a police officer said.

Further details are awaited.

The border town in Tengnoupal district had witnessed a heavy gunfight on January 2, in which six security personnel, including a BSF jawan, were injured. They were airlifted to Imphal for better treatment. Before that, the town witnessed similar gun battles since December 30.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh had last week remarked that there were “high chances” that foreign mercenaries from Myanmar were involved in the attacks in Moreh. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)