(We are all machines. Slaves of the system. Only when we free our minds can we free ourselves.)

On November 8, 2006, Maldives Coast Guard, in a joint operation with Maldives Police Service, halted a fishing dhoni named Namoona from Addu Atoll, and arrested a number of people traveling in it. The dhoni, bound for Male’, was carrying passengers including women and children. Coast Guard vessels and speedboats carrying police had harassed the dhoni since the previous day. The passengers included those aiming to participate in a demonstration to be held on November 10, 2006 and organized by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Passengers on board reported that Coast Guard threatened to sink the dhoni and made hostile approaches which nearly capsized the dhoni. The involvement of Huravee, a Fast Patrol Vessel transferred from the Indian Navy to the National Security Service of the Maldives in this maritime operation has created debate about the intentions and consequences of Indian military assistance to the dictatorial regime in the Maldives.

INS Tillachang was commissioned to the Indian Navy on 17 March 2001. It was transferred to NSS on 16 April 2006 in a ceremony held in Male’. It is equipped with a 2A42 30mm Medak gun.

“The ship was decommissioned from the Indian Navy and transferred to Maldives in the presence of its President Maumoom Abdul Gayoom, Defence Minister Isamel Shafeeu and Foreign Minister Ahmad Shaheed in the presence of the Indian High Commissioner to Male A. K. Pandey, senior Defence Ministry official Rita Menon and Chairman and Managing Director of Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (the builders of the ship) Ganeshan. The Indian Navy will assist Maldives in maintaining the ship in its lifetime,” a report in The Hindu newspaper of India says.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that the transfer of Indian naval ship Tillanchang to Maldives was to ensure an atmosphere of peace, stability and tranquillity in the region so that both countries could attend to socio-economic development free from external interference.

The transfer of ship was part of the cooperation between the two nations in the fight against terrorism, piracy and smuggling under the broad framework of United Nations conventions.

He said the request for the ship, to perform multiple tasks such as patrolling the exclusive economic zone and taking action against non-state actors, had come from the Maldives Government. “When we received an inquiry about a patrol craft from the Government of Maldives, we fully understood the urgent nature of this request.”

Technical specifications of this vessel, which falls into Trinkat class of fast patrol vessels, can be obtained from this web page.

The Trinkat Class of vessels are meant for anti-poaching and counter-insurgency operations in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and are capable of detection & destruction of fast-moving small surface craft and policing for anti-smuggling, fisheries protection and also search and rescue operations.

The Indian Navy website claimed that the vessel was transferred as part of a larger aid package which includes technical, material and training assistance over a period of three years after the transfer of the vessel.

The 260 ton Patrol Craft is designed for swift anti covert operations against smugglers, terrorists etc and for Search & Rescue, fisheries protection etc. It has a deployment range of 2000 nm (3600 km) and has a maximum speed of 28 knots (50 kmph).

An IDC report published by India Defence Consultants explains how the vessel would be used.

The ship will primarily be used for patrolling, policing and search and rescue missions in the vast areas of sea around the Maldivian chain of islands, considerably enhancing their capability against illegal poaching and drug trafficking.

It is not known whether Huravee was used in any operation against smugglers, drug traffickers or illegal fishing boats. However, in an attempt to foil the November 10 demonstration, the vessel has been used by the Coast Guard, not against terrorists but against unarmed passengers. The continuing military assistance from India to the brutal government in the Maldives, including the ‘Dosti’ exercises, are leading to no greater peace in the region, but an increasing hostility towards India by the people of Maldives, aspiring for democracy and freedom. It is time that India decides which friendship is more valuable to them; the strained friendship with the people of the Maldives or the on going alliance with its aged and ruthless dictator.