No reports indicating Maldives ministers seeking financial assistance from India on X (Twitter); the viral post is from a fictional character's X account - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 20, 2024
In the context of diplomatic tensions between India and Maldives, a post is being circulated, sharing tweets from Hassan Kurusee’s X (Twitter) account, claiming that Maldives ministers who criticized India are now seeking assistance as the nation faces bankruptcy. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim:  A tweet from the X handle named Hassan Kurusee indicates that Maldives ministers who insulted India are currently seeking India’s assistance due to the country’s economic situation.
Fact: The bio of Hassan Kurusee’s X handle states that the individual is a fictional character and does not represent any specific person. The News reports by Maldivian media reported that the Criminal Court had ordered the identification of ‘Hassan Kurusee’, a Twitter account known for anti-government tweets. On the other hand, Media reports indicate that while Maldives is burdened with debt, it has not yet reached the point of bankruptcy. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On conducting a relevant keyword search related to the claim made in the post, we discovered that the bio of the X handle identified as Hassan Kurusee states, “I am a fictional character residing in the hearts of people. I do not represent any specific individual. Instead, I embody an ideology. My belief lies in values, not in a person.” We found the tweet shared in the viral post with the details of the transfer of funds on this X account. In other words, the X post seeking funds from India is from an account that identified itself as a fictional character and not from any minister of the Maldives.
Subsequent research led us to news reports published by Maldivian Media (here, here, and here) sharing the screenshot of the bio of Hassan Kurusee’s X page. The reports stated that the Criminal Court had ordered the identification of ‘Hassan Kurusee’, a Twitter account known for anti-government tweets alleging corruption. The order follows a police petition, and authorities are pursuing the matter with Twitter. Former president Mohamed Nasheed, previously speculated to be Kurusee, denied any affiliation and filed a complaint citing harm from the anonymous account. The account was suspended later as per the reports (here and here).
Further, Media reports indicate that while Maldives is burdened with debt, it has not yet reached the point of bankruptcy (here and here).
To sum up, there are no reports of Maldives ministers seeking financial assistance from India; the viral post is from a fictional character’s X account.