Opinion After the Bangla coup,Maldives in trouble

After an attempted coup has been foiled in Bangladesh,a different kind of putsch appears to be unfolding in Maldives.

New DelhiJanuary 21, 2012 08:25 PM IST First published on: Jan 21, 2012 at 08:25 PM IST

After an attempted coup has been foiled in Bangladesh,a different kind of putsch appears to be unfolding in Maldives. The simultaneous disturbance in two of Indias neighbours may not be a coincidence and will severely test Delhis regional policy.

On Thursday in Dhaka,an army spokesman,with the top military brass in attendance,explained the sources of the coup. At the instigation of some non-resident Bangladeshis some retired and serving Army officers with fanatical religious views and capitalising on others fanacitisim led a failed attempt through their ill-motivated activities to thwart the democratic system of Bangladesh by creating disorder in the army.

A day before,the government of Maldives accused opposition activists of using religious rhetoric to stir trouble in the nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims,who have been practicing a liberal form of the religion.

The government said it was “extremely concerned” by an increase in extremist rhetoric that could lead to “stigmatisation,stereotyping and incitement to religious violence and hatred”. Meanwhile sections of the business community,judiciary and the government itself appear to have been mobilised against the democratically elected president.

Both Bangladesh and Maldives returned to democratic governance in 2008. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh and President Mohammed Nasheed in Maldives have sought to impart a progressive and secular orientation to the two South Asian Muslim nations.

Hasina and Nasheed have been bold enough to develop strong political and security cooperation with India. During his visits to Dhaka in September and Male in December,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had signed agreements for long term partnerships with the two countries.

As one of the worlds largest Muslim democracies with a rapidly growing economy,Bangladesh has the potential to alter the regional balance in very significant ways. Tiny Maldives,sitting on top of the Indian Ocean sea lines of communication,has begun to acquire a strategic significance of its own.

In both countries,there have been relentless efforts to create political disorder and chaos,and fan the flames of religious extremism against the governments.

While the specific public manifestation of the turbulence in Bangladesh and Maldives might be somewhat different,the nature of the internal forces and their external partners,targeting the two democratic governments are not.

Irrespective of the proximate causes for the trouble in Bangladesh and Maldives,India will be the biggest loser from the destabilisation of the two countries. The big question,then,is what India can do to help Dhaka and Male cope with their mounting internal challenges.