Police confiscate ‘India Out’ t-shirts in PPM office in Velidhoo

Police have confiscated banners and t-shirts linked to the ‘India Out’ movement kept at the PPM office in N. Velidhoo.

PPM councilor Abdulla Faaig, a PPM member, told Sun said the police raided the PPM office at approximately 09:30 pm on Friday.

Faaig said the police raided the office after the party refused orders by the police on Thursday to remove the items.

“Police told us to remove all ‘India Out’ stuff. But we told them we would not. They came with a court order and confiscated the items,” he said.

‘India Out’ is a political campaign led by the opposition to protest against Indian military presence in Maldives. 

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih issued a decree banning the ‘India Out’ movement on April 21, deeming it a threat to national security.

However, the opposition continued to put up banners and graffiti the walls of buildings with slogans linked to the movement.

President Solih said in his decree that the ‘India Out’ movement was a deliberate attempt to hinder the longstanding relations between Maldives and India, and international efforts to maintain security in the region, and that incitement to hatred against a specific country put Maldives at risk of loss of peace and stability, huge economic and social burden, and isolation in the international arena.