• History repeats itself forPresident Yameen.
• British have too much influence over Maldives policy.
• Independence must come with Sovereignty.
As the Maldives celebrates 51 years ofindependence, there continue to beexternal forces trying to influence how this independence looks.In other words, the sovereignty of the Maldives is not guaranteed.When President Abdulla YameenAndulGayoombegan his Presidency, he clearly stated that his diplomatic policies would be aimed more at the East. Healso made clearthat diplomatic tieswould of course continue with those countries thathave a good relationship with the Maldives.
Since he began his term, he has repeatedly said that all issues related to the Maldives must be handled by Maldivians themselves. He believes that outsiders should not begiven the opportunity to influence matters related to Maldives. The president sees the Maldives as an equal partner in bi-lateral relationships with countries that also see the Maldives in this light. These statements clearly did not sit well with the United Kingdom and other Western countries with an interest in influencing the Maldives to suit their own agenda. This is especially because of the Maldives’ important strategic place in the Indian Ocean. In the last two years many diplomatic issues relating to the Maldives have therefore been unfairly handled. President Yameen learned this as soon as he came to power after the previous President resigned.
Now as the Maldives celebrates Independence Day, President Yameen is being faced with the same difficulties as former President Ibrahim Nasir and his supporters faced. It is therefore vital to reflect upon what happened at that time in order to better understand what is happening now. There is also another similarity with President Nasir’s rule and current president Yameen’s. That is, their desire to form strong bilateral relationships with Islamic countriesand therefore shift political focus towards the East and Middle East.
Historical Precedence
In 1964 in an interview with Reuters, president Nasir stated that, during a meeting held in Male’ in September, he had requested to make amendments to the agreement that was about to be signedbetween Britain and the Maldives which would finalize Maldives’ independence. This amendment was in order toensurethat the Maldives would be fully independent and be considered a sovereign nation. The main problem he encountered at the time was his desire to strengthen the Maldives’ties to the Islamic world. The conditions proposed by London in exchange foraccepting this, were to keep and maintain a military base established on the Addu atoll.At that time, no other country was authorized to establish such a Military base. However, this agreement actually meant that,despite Nasir’s desires to establish strong bilateral relationships with Islamic countries, they would be greatly diminished by Britain’s presence on the military base.
The United Kingdom began to heavily influence all diplomatic issues related to Maldives so much so that during the Second World War, they actually established more Military bases in Maldives. This was also because of the Maldives’ important position in the Indian Ocean especially in regard to the Suez Canal crisis.
The Maldives government at the time began to try to make amendments to the agreement signed with Britain, however, only informal changes were made which were followed by widespreadprotestsleadingto the resignation of Prime Minister Kilegefaanu in December 1957.
When Nasir then became the Prime Minister he personally tried to ensure that the Maldives would have the freedom to establish bilateral relationships with Western countries as they wished, whilst also strengthening ties with the Islamic world.
Many countries in fact agreed that Britiain should not be allowed to have a military base in the Maldives. InApril 1958, the Maldivian government held a press conference in Sri Lanka. At the press conference, the Minister of Educationspoke about the situation and asked the Sri Lankan and Indian Governments to oppose British Military actions. Additionally, he made clear that theMaldivian “diplomatic compass” has been pointed towards the Eastern and Middle East region for a very long time. Today we are witnessing a similar situation with only the people being different.
The relationship between Britain and the Maldives got worse over those years. This was all compounded by a coup in the Southern Atolls in 1959. A military effort therefore had to be made to bring these atolls back under the control of the government. President Nasir and how loyal soldiers travelled to these Southern atolls to try to restore control. Some citizens were unfortunately killed during this time and the British ended up condemning Nasir and his trops rather than the coup leaders.
A statement released at the time by the British High Commission in Sri Lanka stated:
“The Government of United Kingdom strongly condemns the actions taken by the Government against the Southern coup. We are very concerned about the bloodshed that took place in theAddu Atoll.”
After thisincident the British warned the Maldivian Governmentby transferring British armed soldiers to Ganand set up a base there. The Maldives government of course protested against this a lot. The British said they were only carrying out Air Force practice sessions and that they were not planning an attack.
Today we are witnessing similar issues in that the decisions taken by Maldivesgovernment related to Maldivians are being hindered because British cannot accept these decisions.
On February 3, 1960 the issue of the military base in Gan was settled and the coup finally came to an end. An agreement was signed and the British agreed to provide a grant of £850,000. From this 100,000 was to be spent on various developmental projects.
As stated by the British High Commission in Sri Lanka in 1959, although various agreements have been signed between the two countries since 1887, it is important to note that there were to be no barriers against Maldivian sovereignty.
However, the Maldives was still unable to gain full sovereignty and independence from the British owing to the presence of the military base.
England’s foreign office was asked for counsel as the Maldives began appealing for their independence. In September of 1963, Prime Minister Nasir sent a note to the British colonial secretary Mr. Duncan Sandies expressing his expectations for the Maldives to gain full independence as quickly as possible.
When Maldivian independence was finally granted however, many in the British press made negative comments about it. The 27th July 1965 issue of The Guardian, wrote that the outcome of the Maldives/England agreement would the diminish the power of the Great Britain in the Eastern Suez Canal and thatthis was the wrong decision.
Regardless of opinions at the time, this agreement between the Maldives government and the British government ensured that until 1984, Britain would be allowed to keep their military base in the Maldives and that no other country would be given the opportunity to establish a similar military base in the Maldives. This agreement continues to this day and it continues to seem that the British want to keep exploiting and taking advantage of the Maldives, especially when it comes to diplomatic issues.
Maldives Ready to LookEast
