During his recent visit to Lakshadweep, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made waves on the internet. By snorkeling and drawing attention to his spirit of adventure, he has made Lakshadweep a trending topic of discussion. PM Modi shared photos and videos from his journey, calling it an “exhilarating” experience. In addition to thanking the Lakshadweep community for their kind welcome, he encouraged his fellow countrymen to venture out on new travel adventures in the upcoming year.
Looking back on his trip, PM Modi acknowledged his amazement at the Lakshadweep Islands’ stunning scenery and the kind welcome he received from the locals. Nonetheless, many called it a masterstroke, saying that it will definitely boost tourism in India’s smallest union territory. While the gesture was widely assumed to be a positive one, it irked one of our neighboring countries. Surprisingly, PM Modi’s thoughtful remarks unintentionally caused controversy in the Maldives, one of India’s friendliest countries.
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Taking offense, a few high-ranking Maldivian officials claimed that PM Modi’s promotion of Lakshadweep was intended to draw Indian visitors away from the Maldives. Sounds absurd?
But it actually happened!
The hatred went beyond the limits, and even several Maldivian officials made derogatory statements against the Indian prime minister. This led to increased tension among the nations. As a result of this, many Indians started boycotting the Maldives on social media. Many celebrities also took part in it.
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As more Indian celebrities, including Kangana Ranaut and Akshay Kumar, publicly endorsed the boycott demand, the movement gathered steam. Numerous others were observed marketing tourism in Lakshadweep. However, this issue led to divisions among India’s prominent figures, with some endorsing the boycott while others opposed it. Furthermore, several people called attention to the celebrities’ purported hypocrisy in the Maldives-Lakshadweep conflict.
Similarly, businessman Ashneer Grover indirectly criticized actor Ranveer Singh for hypocrisy over the whole issue. So, here’s what happened:
Ashneer Grover criticized Ranveer Singh over his Maldives trip while supporting tourism in Lakshadweep
With celebrities supporting Lakshadweep and boycotting the Maldives on social media, their hypocrisy has been exposed. Amidst this, some people are brave enough to address the issue head-on by putting forward the facts.
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Similarly, in his commentary, comedian Vir Das expressed satisfaction with the attention Indian celebrities are giving to the unspoiled Lakshadweep. Simultaneously, he highlighted a Desi celebrity and influencer enjoying the luxuries of the Maldives. The celebrity in question had been meticulously curating picturesque vacation images but refrained from sharing them, presumably out of fear.
Firstly, happy Lakshadweep is getting some love! Secondly, Somewhere in the Maldives, right now, is an Indian celebrity/influencer, who didn’t eat carbs for two weeks, took the best vacation photos ever, and is TERRIFIED to post them 🙂
— Vir Das (@thevirdas) January 8, 2024
In response to Das’ comments, Ashneer Grover, a former judge of Shark Tank, also highlighted another point about that celebrity. According to him, a “movie star” had been inactive on Twitter but was suddenly promoting trips to Lakshadweep. Grover also suggested that this specific celebrity had subtly removed earlier Maldives-related posts from Instagram. On X, formerly known as Twitter, he wrote,
Thirdly there is some movie star, previously inactive on twitter, who is now copy pasting the same message to visit Indian islands – without knowing where Lakshadweep is and in parallel hiding previous Maldive story on insta 😉
Thirdly there is some movie star, previously inactive on twitter, who is now copy pasting the same message to visit Indian islands – without knowing where Lakshadweep is and in parallel hiding previous Maldive story on insta 😉 https://t.co/SQDWiGIuxJ
— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) January 8, 2024
Although there were a lot of wild theories about the movie star’s identity on the internet, users mostly accused Ranveer Singh based on screenshots they posted as purported proof
They took offense at celebrities who posted photos of themselves in the Maldives pretending to be in Lakshadweep and then removed them following criticism.
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And last one, there are some stars who dont know difference Lakshwadeep and Maldives and is posting visit Lakshwadeep tweet with Maldives photos and later delete it pic.twitter.com/yYuO4wZX1p
— Movie_Reviews (@Movie_reviewsss) January 8, 2024
Ranveer Singh is that some movie Star pic.twitter.com/Xo2kflDyZL
— à¤à¤¾à¤ˆ साहब (@Bhai_saheb) January 8, 2024
Fourth, some travel portal that decides to score points ‘banning’ travel to Maldives even before the government does, taking the cancel culture to a whole new level
— Supriyo Gupta (@supriyo666) January 8, 2024
This minister should not copy paste for the just to support the PM@thevirdas pic.twitter.com/Xw4orQCUx5
— Dr Nilima Srivastava (@gypsy_nilima) January 8, 2024
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Following India’s formal protest, the Maldives government dismissed three deputy ministers on Sunday. The ministers were under fire for posting “derogatory” statements on social media against Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the Lakshadweep Islands. The three suspended deputy ministers were Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Sharyf, and Mahzoom Majid.
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