A State Minister in the current Government, Ahmed Siddiq, has criticised the government of neighbouring India.

Siddiq’s criticism came in a post on his X account yesterday. The post shared content originally published by an X account operating under the name Rahul Saini. Rahul’s post contained a video showing what appears to be an Indian police officer assaulting a man tied to a pole.

Sharing the video, Siddiq said, “When governments of such countries speak about justice, it becomes a joke.” He further questioned, “When someone commits an offence, instead of investigating and taking the matter to court, is justice served by beating the accused with batons and iron pipes until they are disabled?”

According to the Homeland Ministry’s website, Siddiq currently serves as a State Minister at the Ministry. He was appointed to the post in early 2024.

While in opposition, the current Government came to power after running a large ‘India Out’ campaign, and relations between the two countries soured significantly in the early days of this administration. Relations deteriorated further when three Deputy Ministers directed disparaging remarks at India and its Prime Minister. The three officials were subsequently suspended from their posts over the matter. As a result, a campaign to boycott the Maldives was launched in India, causing a sharp decline in the number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives and impacting tourism revenue.

Although relations between the two countries have since been restored, Siddiq’s post has drawn criticism on X.