Explained: Why Maldives is worried after Easter Sunday attacks next door

The growing hold of Wahhabism in Maldives, an idyllic tourist destination in the Indian Ocean, has been a worry for the country and the region as a whole. The Islamic nation, with a tiny population of 4,50,000, has been alarmed by how easily its youth have fallen prey to ISIS recruiters online.

After the savage Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed over 250 people and left hundreds injured, Maldives has been particularly alarmed. (File/Reuters)

In a tweet on May 10, former Maldives president Mohammed Nasheed raised a red flag about the country’s vulnerability to the ISIS. Nasheed, who is now a member of Parliament, said (translated from Dhivehi): “There is an allegation that Zaharan Hashim, who took part in the attacks in Sri Lanka, had come to Maldives in 2016, on the pretext of giving religious lectures, and in a different name, but it is not yet clear if he had come to Maldives. It is not wise to give visas to such foreign sheikhs without seeking clarification or finding out who they are.”