THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayalis working in Maldives, the little island nation whose President hurriedly stepped down on Tuesday following internal unrest, are safe. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s office said it had not received any emergency calls so far. The Ministry of External Affairs also issued a statement in New Delhi on Tuesday saying that the Indian expatriate community was safe. ‘’There was no problem in the outlying islands. It was restricted to Male. Even then, there was not much violence. But offices remained shut in Male (the capital) on Tuesday,’’ Gopi, one of the hundreds of Malayali teachers employed in Maldives, said over phone.Around 6,000 Malayalis are believed to be working in Maldives, majority of them in the tourism sector.In Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, many of the Maldivian nationals were glued to the website of Maldivian National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), the government channel, for news.Consul Mohammed Rasheed was unavailable for comment, but an official at the Consulate said that they too had read about their President’s resignation from MNBC. ‘’We have not issued any specific advisory to Maldivian nationals here in Kerala, as we have not received instructions from Male. Government offices in Male were closed on Tuesday,’’ the official said. Rough estimates put the number of Maldivian nationals in Thiruvananthapuram at any given time between 250 and 300. They depend on the city particularly for medical treatment. Maldives president Mohammed Nasheed resigned in favour of Vice-President Waheed Hassan at the fag end of a controversy which erupted after Nasheed ordered the arrest of a judge.
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