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Concern for India as Maldivians lean towards IS

NEW DELHI: While India has remained relatively insulated from the threat of IS indoctrination, radicalization in the neighbourhood remains a concern for Indian authorities. A family of three from the island of Hithadhoo in southern Maldives is said to have arrived in Syria last week seeking toAccording to Maldives former foreign minister Ahmed Naseem, a leader of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the development confirms that religious fundamentalism continues to grow in the archipelago. Naseem told TOI that the number of Maldivians who have joined IS now exceeded 300. “This is the highest number (of fighters contributed by any nation) per capita in the world, considering our small population,”' he said.While Maldives is negotiating a counter-terrorism agreement with India and hopes to use it to deal with returnees from Syria and Iraq, who might be well-trained and armed, the united Maldives opposition accuses President Abdulla Yameen of underestimating, even ignoring, the issue. As per government estimates, not more than 50 Maldivian youths have travelled to Syria or Iraq.While there might be a hint of exaggeration in the way MDP describes the issue, there is no denying that the government has not done enough to check attempts by fighters from Maldives to indoctrinate youths using social media. A case in point, said Naseem, was the video released last week by Maldivian fighters threatening action against present and former presidents of Maldives, including the exiled Mohamed Nasheed of MDP.“He (President Yameen) makes statements which are seen as significant by the international community but behind that he encourages radicalised youth to remain militant,” said Naseem. Former President Nasheed had told TOI last year that about 30 IS jihadists had returned from Syria to recruit more.Terrorism and radicalization featured prominently in PM Narendra Modi’s meeting with Yameen in April this year with both leaders seeking close cooperation between intelligence agencies. Any presence of IS in Maldives will have serious security implications for India. Despite the growing presence of China in the Maldives, India remains the preferred destination for Maldivians in areas like education, medical care and business. In fact, the number of Maldivians seeking visas to India has gone up significantly in the past three years.Nasheed’s party MDP has in the past accused Yameen of aligning himself with extremist groups in his attempts to convince the Muslim-majority country that Nasheed was anti-Islam. Former dictator and Yameen’s half-brother Abdul Gayoom too was accused in the past of having used extremists to undermine liberal, democratic opposition.