India 'bullied' me for my political affiliations, says Maldives' parliamentary group leader
MP Nihan landed at Chennai International Airport on Monday night, but was denied entry
MP Ahmed Nihan speaks to the media in front of Hotel Jen in capital Male\' City on Tuesday night
Parliamentary Group Leader of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), who admitted to being denied entry to India, says that the refusal was due to his political affiliations.
While the incident took place on Monday night, MP Ahmed Nihan spoke to the media the next night and said that he was not even sure if he was deported from the county or not.
Noting that he was held by India's Bureau of Immigration for hours after landing at Chennai International Airport, he said that he was detained for an additional four hours after he told them that he was a Member of the People's Majlis.
The parliamentarian added that he believes he was refused entry for being a senior member of PPM, as he was questioned on the party he belonged to.
Nihan also said that India's Immigration had failed to provide him a reason for denying him entry, adding that he would describe their actions as "bullying". He further called on the Indian authorities to inform them "if there are any discriminations".
India's "The Wire" reported that Nihan arrived at India at about 9pm, and that he was denied entry "despite providing all credentials to immigration officers" and told to leave India on the next available flight.
While this is the first known such incident of such a senior Maldivian official being denied entry to India, relations between India and Maldives continue to deteriorate over issues such as China's growing influence in Maldives, India's continued criticism of the Maldivian government's actions including the imposition of a state of emergency in February.
Following a statement issued by India over the extension of the said state of emergency, Maldives had accused the Indian government of ignoring "the facts and ground realities with regard to the ongoing political developments in the Maldives", and has since given them a deadline to take back the second of two ALH helicopters gifted by the country that was once one of Maldives' closest allies.
