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Yes, Yes Lakshadweep Is Extremely Pretty; But Can Indians Please Stop Sharing Wrong Pictures Of It?!

No more Maldivian holiday? Well, Lakshadweep is surely gorgeous, only if people share the right images of it (and not of Maldives). Read on...

by Rachna Srivastava
Yes, Yes Lakshadweep Is Extremely Pretty; But Can Indians Please Stop Sharing Wrong Pictures Of It?!

Okay, so things took some turn over the weekend and people got ready with their morcha of boycott Maldives, which has been trending on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). Drawing parallels people want to avoid the island nation of Maldives over the row that recently has become the talk of two nations. Indians want to promote the Lakshadweep islands and the gorgeous blue water beaches. Much like Maldives, the union territory of India located in the Laccadive Sea region of the Arabian Sea, offers breathtaking blue waters, water activities and more. But, but, but, can Indians blindly stop sharing images of Maldives instead of the Indian archipelago?

Ranveer Singh And Others Shared Images Of Maldives Instead Of Lakshadweep

Tweets are abuzz on the social network where people are chiming in their support to travel domestically in a bid to boycott Maldives. But ironically, people have been sharing images of Maldives while promoting Lakshadweep tourism. Like this:

Maldives Images Used For Lakshadweep
Image Courtesy: X

And this:

Thailand
This is actually Thailand

Indian actor Ranveer Singh, too, made a blunder. While writing, “This year let’s make 2024 about exploring India and experiencing our culture. There is so much to see and explore across the beaches and the beauty of our country Chalo India let’s #exploreindianislands Chalo bharat dekhe,” appended an image of Maldives. 

 

People instantly called him out. 

 

Soon, he realised the misrepresentation and deleted the image and left the tweet as is.

But, it wasn’t just Ranveer who made the same mistake. Netizens, left, right and centre, have been sharing images of Maldives while advocating tourism for Lakshadweep. #Facepalm

Another user pointed out how Kiren Rijju, Minister of Earth Sciences, India, also tweeted along with photos of Maldives. 

He has deleted the tweet.

And there are some more Thailand, Maldives pics used to promote Lakshadweep. Why tho?

 

Then Came The Memes

Soon, members (yes, I call them that) joined in and added their humorous touch to it. They intentionally started sharing wrong images. 

 

 

Also Read: EaseMyTrip Suspends All Flights To Maldives And Starts #ChaloLakshadweep Campaign

India-Maldives Row Explained!

If you are still someone not caught up on the whole row, let me try and sum up the chronology for you:

  • PM Modi visited Lakshadweep island last week and posted a series of tweets promoting it. He tried snorkelling and long beach walks. And took to Twitter to share the appreciation.

  • A section of Maldivians thought it was a dig at the island nation that attracts A LOT of Indian tourists in 2023 (2,09,198 Indians arrived in Maldives in 2023, according to data shared by Tourism Dept of Maldives).
  • Maldives’s Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information And Arts, Mariyam Shiuna called him a “clown” and a “muppet”. And, he also compared India to cow dung. 
  • Another deputy ministry, Malsha Sharif and a member of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives, Maaiz Mahmood also made some derogatory remarks.
  • The comments didn’t go down well with the Indians, ministers and commoners alike, and they in turn shared a slew of messages online.
  • Maldives’s news channel and social media started reporting that India started a campaign against Maldives tourism. So they started a hashtag campaign #VisitMaldives
  • Many Maldivian dignitaries condemned the tweets by Maldivian ministers and also urged to take necessary measures. Maldives National Party issued a statement, too.

  • Even Maldives’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement.

  • Thus began, the #BoycottMaldives. #ExploreIndianIslands #Lakshadweep hashtags in India. From politicians to Bollywood stars to cricketers, everyone started tweeting about how Lakshadweep is an Indian jewel and they should visit there. Some recalling how their previous trips to the islands had been, while others are in awe of it and wish to visit soon. Some celebrities went ahead to even make it a point to visit the islands as soon as possible.
  • Amidst the pooled content circulating on X (Twitter), some of the images shared by Indian celebs and even ministers turned out to be of Maldives while advocating Indian UT Lakshadweep tourism. 
  • Indians made it a point to call out ministers and celebs for deceitfulness of images and no proper fact-checking
  • EaseMyTrip and Thrillophilia have cancelled Maldives flights and packages and promised refunds.
  • Many Indians have cancelled their Maldives trips and took to X to share screenshots. 
  • The three Maldivian Ministers – Maryam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef and Mahzoom Majid-  have been suspended.

 

For those of you wondering if there is some political undertone to all this happening, well there may be. You are smart enough to read between the lines.

Now coming back to the point I was making, yaar, images toh proper use karo. This is Lakshadweep:

Lakshadweep Island
Image Courtesy: Canva Pro

And this:

Lakshadweep Islands
Image Courtesy: Canva Pro

And this:

Lakshadweep Island
Lakshadweep Islands

Need more? A proper image search, tools like Canva, Pexels, Shutterstock, etc will yield more accurate images. You are welcome.

Signing off!

Cover Image Courtesy: Canva Pro and Twitter/beastoftraal

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