A screenshot purporting to show Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu apologising to Indians for his ministers' recent remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going viral online.
What's the backdrop?: Tension is brewing between India and Maldives after a minister from Maldives insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi online.
Various trends have come out of this row, which promote Lakshadweep and hinder Maldives tourism.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
How did we find out the truth?: We checked Muizzu's official X account and did not find any such post.
We also checked the 'replies' section on this account and did not find anything that matched the post from the viral screenshot.
His last post was from 5 January and is unrelated to India. The viral screenshot carries 7 January as the date.
Next, we checked the archives of this account from 7 January on Wayback Machine and found no such tweet.
We confirmed via Social Blade, a social media analytics website, that Muizzu has not deleted any posts from 26 December 2023 to 8 January 2024.
Muizzu has not deleted any posts recently.
(Source: Social Blade/Screenshot)
Official statement by Maldives & more: Amidst the ongoing row, the Government of Maldives released an official statement on their official website on 7 January.
It stated that these "derogatory remarks" passed by ministers of Maldives are "personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives."
The Maldivian government has suspended three Deputy Ministers who shared these controversial statements.
The three suspended ministers are Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid.
The trio made their remarks in response to Mr Modi's post on X which promoted Lakshadweep tourism.
We have reached out the Maldivian President's office and the story will be updated once we receive a response.
Conclusion: A fake screenshot of Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu apologising to Indians on behalf of his ministers is being shared as real.
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