Entertainment

Maldives Row – Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Shraddha Kapoor, and other Bollywood celebs promote Indian Islands as replacement to Maldives

Amidst the ongoing dispute with the Maldives, Bollywood celebrities banded together the day before to promote Lakshadweep as a travel destination. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan expressed his admiration for the Indian island, lauding its “astonishingly beautiful location.” The 81-year-old actor reshared a post from former cricket player Virendra Sehwag on X, (formerly Twitter) in which the player denounced the “dig at our country and our Prime Minister by Maldives ministers”. 

“Bharat is well-known for turning all Aapda into Avsar, and the Maldivian ministers’ jab at our nation and Prime Minister is a great opportunity for Bharat to build the exact infrastructure needed to attract tourists and strengthen our economy. Kindly list your top undiscovered, breathtaking locations,” Mr Sehwag wrote. The Bollywood star responded to the cricketer’s request for his “favourite unexplored beautiful places” by endorsing the breathtaking beaches of the Andaman and Lakshadweep Islands.

Amitabh Bachchan on Maldives Row:

He wrote replying, “Viru Paji, this is so appropriate and true to the spirit of our country. We are the best. I’ve been to Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands, and both are incredibly gorgeous places with breathtaking beaches and underwater experiences. Bharat is who we are. We are Atmanirbhar. We should not be doubted about our independence. Jai hind “

Viru paji .. this is so relevant and in the right spirit of our land .. our own are the very best .. I have been to Lakshadweep and Andamans and they are such astonishingly beautiful locations .. stunning waters beaches and the underwater experience is simply unbelievable ..
हम… https://t.co/NM400eJAbm

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) January 8, 2024

On Sunday, veteran cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Virender Sehwag, and actors Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Salman Khan, and Shraddha Kapoor made an appeal for people to visit their own islands rather than travel to the Maldives. Following three Maldivian ministers’ disparaging posts about Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep, where he promoted the island as a domestic travel destination, tensions between India and the Maldives erupted.

It is so cool to see our Hon PM Narendrabhai Modi at the beautiful clean n stunning beaches of Lakshadweep, and the best part is that yeh hamare India mein hain.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) January 7, 2024

Came across comments from prominent public figures from Maldives passing hateful and racist comments on Indians. Surprised that they are doing this to a country that sends them the maximum number of tourists.
We are good to our neighbors but
why should we tolerate such… pic.twitter.com/DXRqkQFguN

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) January 7, 2024

All these images and memes making me super FOMO now 😍
Lakshadweep has such pristine beaches and coastlines, thriving local culture, I’m on the verge of booking an impulse chhutti ❤️
This year, why not #ExploreIndianIslands pic.twitter.com/fTWmZTycpO

— Shraddha (@ShraddhaKapoor) January 7, 2024

A significant backlash followed the remarks, with several Indians threatening to postpone their vacation to the island nation and #BoycottMaldives becoming a trend on social media. Following the criticism, the Maldivian government suspended the three deputy ministers, stating that their individual opinions did not align with the government’s stance.