1988 Maldives coup attempt

Coup attempt thwarted with Indian assistance Operation Cactus Operation Cactus-Lilly April 2019 July 2020 June 2016 1988 Maldives coup d'état attempt Indian Intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war IAF IL-76 Hawaii.JPG 300px Indian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 planes like this one were used in Cactus. (This image was taken at an unrelated location in Hawaii, United States decades after 1988.) 3 November 1988 Maldives, Indian Ocean Indian-Maldivian victory Coup failed India IndiaMaldives Maldives 22px|border People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil EelamMaldives Maldivian rebels IND R. VenkataramanIndia Rajiv GandhiMaldives Maumoon Abdul GayoomIndia navy Vice Admiral S.V.V. GopalachariIndia army Brigadier Farouk BulsaraIndia army Colonel Subhash JoshiIndia army Major (later Brig) Rupinder DhillonOperation Cactus: How India helped Maldives thwart coup bid backed by Lankan militants https://indianexpress.com/article/research/operation-cactus-how-india-helped-maldives-end-a-coup-backed-by-lankan-militants-7605322/ Indian Express 2021-04-07Where Paras Dare: The Untold Story of Operation Cactus https://www.indiasentinels.com/opinion/where-paras-dare-the-untold-story-of-operation-cactus-4454 India Sentinels 2021-04-01https://www.scribd.com/document/873605358/Operation-Cactus-Maldives-by-Brig-HC-Joshi-Retd-07-12-17 CENJOWS: Centre for Joint Warfare Studies Operation Cactus Maldives Brigadier SC Joshi Centre for Joint Warfare Studies Occasional Papers 3 December 2017 India army Major (later Lt Gen) Vinod Bhatia 22px|border Uma Maheswaran22px|border WasantiMaldives Abdullah LuthufiMaldives Sagaru Ahmed NasirMaldives Ahmed Ismail Manik Sikka 500 Indian paratroopersMaldives National Defense Force 100 to 200 mercenaries 19 killed (8 NSS), 39 injured (18 NSS). 4 hostages killed, 3 hostages unaccounted for No casualties occurred during the operation carried out by PARA SF (India) from Indian Side. Most of the mercenaries were killed and some were captured. 27 hostages taken, 20 were retrieved. 4 killed and the other 3 unknown. Flag of the Indian Armed Forces.svg Indian Armed Forces India 15px Parachute Regiment India India Flag of the Maldives National Defence Force.svg Maldives National Defence Force Unknown The 1988 Maldives coup d'état attempt was an attempt by a group of Sri Lankans and Maldivians led by businessman Abdullah Luthufee and assisted by armed mercenaries of a Tamil secessionist organization from Sri Lanka, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), to overthrow the government of the Republic of Maldives. The attempt was thwarted with Indian assistance in Operation Cactus.Sentinels India Where Paras Dare: The untold story of Operation Cactus https://www.indiasentinels.com/opinion/where-paras-dare-the-untold-story-of-operation-cactus-4454 2025-04-02 www.indiasentinels.com2022-11-03 Operation Cactus: How India helped Maldives thwart coup bid backed by Lankan militants https://indianexpress.com/article/research/operation-cactus-how-india-helped-maldives-end-a-coup-backed-by-lankan-militants-7605322/ 2025-04-02 The Indian Express en Coup attempt Whereas the 1980 and 1983 coup d'état attempts against Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's presidency were not considered serious, the third coup d'état attempt in November 1988 alarmed the international community.Pandey Hemant Kumar India's Major Military & Rescue Operations Singh Manish Raj Horizon Books (A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd) 2017 978-9386369390 180 On 3rd November 1988, 100 to 200Maldives http://www.ipcs.org/ipcs/databaseIndex2.jsp?database=1001&country2=Maldives dead https://web.archive.org/web/20061002135900/http://www.ipcs.org/ipcs/databaseIndex2.jsp?database=1001&country2=Maldives 2 October 2006 Institute of Peace & Conflict StudiesSharma Rishabh 2024-01-12 Operation Cactus: When India deployed all three forces to protect Maldives https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/operation-cactus-when-india-deployed-all-three-forces-to-protect-maldives-2487627-2024-01-12 2026-06-15 India Today en PLOTE mercenaries arrived by sea in Malé, and attempted to capture the NSS headquarters, the radio and television center, and the presidential palace. They may also have captured the airport.vnews - 1988 Maldives Coup D'état: The November 3rd Massacre https://www.vnews.mv/28864 https://web.archive.org/web/20141117224917/https://www.vnews.mv/28864 2014-11-17 2026-06-15 Vnews.mv President Gayoom went into hiding and requested for help from the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore for assistance. When he contacted the United States,he was told that it would take US forces 2–3 days to reach the Maldives from their nearest military base in Diego Garcia, 1,000 km away.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-04-mn-1214-story.html Foreign Mercenaries Fail in Coup Effort in Maldives, Flee as Indian Troops Arrive 4 November 1988 11 November 2024 Los Angeles Times The president then contacted the United Kingdom, which advised them to seek assistance from India.June 2026 Following this, Gayoom contacted the Indian government for assistance. India swiftly accepted their request and an emergency meeting was arranged at the Secretariat Building in New Delhi by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi alongside Commanders of the Indian Armed Forces. Within 16 hours of the SOS, India was ready to commence their operation.June 2026 Operation Cactus Rejaul Karim Laskar, a member of the then-ruling political party in India, Indian National Congress, stated that India's intervention in the attempted coup became necessary as in the absence of Indian intervention, external powers would have been tempted to intervene or even to establish bases in Maldives, which being in India's backyard would have been detrimental to India's national interest.Laskar Rejaul Rajiv Gandhi's Diplomacy: Historic Significance and Contemporary Relevance Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist September 2014 2 9 47 http://www.diplomatist.com/dipom09y2014/article015.html 8 March 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180221161446/http://www.diplomatist.com/dipom09y2014/article015.html 21 February 2018 dead India, therefore, intervened with "Operation Cactus". The operation started on the night of 3 November 1988. Two Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, escorted by six Mirage 2000s airlifted the Strike Force of the 50th Independent Parachute Brigade(India), commanded by Brigadier Farukh Bulsara and comprising the 6th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (India), A Company of 3 Para Battalion, 51 Battery of 17 Para Field Regiment, Field Platoon of 411Para Sappers, Airborne ADS of 60 Para Field Ambulance and the Signalers of 50(I) Para Brigade Signal Company in the First wave from Agra Air Force Station and flew them non-stop over 3707 kilometers to land them over the Malé International Airport on Hulhule Island and 7 Para Battalion in the Second wave of 50(I)Parchute Brigade on 4 November 1988 to Malé International Airport on Hulhule Island. The Indian Army paratroopers arrived on Hulhule in nine hours after the appeal from President Gayoom.Chordia, AK n.d. Operation Cactus http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1990s/Cactus.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090921164330/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1990s/Cactus.html 21 September 2009 26 April 2012 Bharat-Rakshak.comKapoor Subodh The Indian Encyclopaedia https://books.google.com/books?id=K81vPRQf1A8C&pg=PA5311 2002 Cosmo Publications 978-81-7755-257-7 5310–11 The Indian paratroopers immediately secured the airfield, crossed over to Malé using commandeered boats and rescued President Gayoom. The paratroopers restored control of the capital to President Gayoom's government within hours. Some of the mercenaries fled toward Sri Lanka in a hijacked freighter named Progress Light. Those unable to reach the ship in time were quickly rounded up and handed over to the Maldives government. Nineteen people reportedly died in the fighting, most of them mercenaries. The dead included two hostages killed by the mercenaries. The following day, Indian Naval Air Arm Il-38s and Tu-142s found the ship sailing towars Sri Lanka. The Indian Navy frigates INS Godavari and INS Betwa, aided by their embarked Sea Kings along with the training vessel INS Tir intercepted the freighter off the Sri Lankan coast. When two hostages were killed by LTTE, the ships opened fire, with Godavari using her AA guns and Betwa her 4.5inch guns. A Breguet Alize flying from INS Garuda dropped two depth charges in a show of force prior to ship being boarded by MARCOS who captured the mercenaries. The swift intervention by the Indian military and accurate intelligence successfully quelled the attempted coup d'état in the island nation.Bharat Rakshak :: Land Forces Site - Crocodiles of Wullar http://bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Special/166-Crocodiles-Of-Wullar.html bharat-rakshak.com 2025-11-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20131008144813/http://bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Special/166-Crocodiles-Of-Wullar.html 2013-10-08 en-gb Webmaster IOperation Cactus – Indian Army https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/army/history/operation-cactus/ 2025-11-30 en-USHow India averted Maldives coup in 1988 https://www.indiatoday.in/world/neighbours/story/maldives-president-coup-india-92557-2012-02-08 India Today 2012-02-09 2025-11-30 en Shekhar Gupta Reaction India received international praise for the operation. United States President Ronald Reagan expressed his appreciation for India's action, calling it "a valuable contribution to regional stability". British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly commented, "Thank God for India. President Gayoom's government has been saved." But the intervention nevertheless caused some disquiet among India's neighbors in South Asia.Brewster David 18 April 2014 Operation Cactus: India's 1988 intervention in the Maldives Pragati http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/2014/04/operation-cactus-indias-1988-intervention-in-the-maldives/ dead 14 August 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20170101022632/http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/2014/04/operation-cactus-indias-1988-intervention-in-the-maldives/ 1 January 2017 Aftermath In July 1989, India repatriated the mercenaries captured on board the hijacked freighter to Maldives to stand trial. Gayoom commuted the death sentences passed against them to life imprisonment under Indian pressure.Madagascar Security Concerns http://www.photius.com/countries/madagascar/government/madagascar_government_security_concerns.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181552/http://www.photius.com/countries/madagascar/government/madagascar_government_security_concerns.html 3 March 2016 6 October 2007 Photius The 1988 coup d'état had been headed by a once prominent Maldivian businessperson named Abdullah Luthufi, who was operating a farm in Sri Lanka. Former Maldivian President Ibrahim Nasir was accused, but denied any involvement in the coup d'état. In July 1990, Gayoom officially pardoned Nasir in absentia in recognition of his role in obtaining Maldives' independence.Operation CACTUS : India's airlift into the Maldives http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1988Cactus/ dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101011095022/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1988Cactus/ 11 October 2010 The Bharat Rakshak Blog The operation also strengthened Indo-Maldivian relations as a result of the successful restoration of the Gayoom government. thumb|List of Martyrs of the coup attempt Published accounts Documentaries Operation Cactus: How India Averted Maldives Crisis in 1988 (2018) is a TV documentary which premiered on Veer by Discovery Channel series, Battle Ops.Alexander Deepa 25 January 2018 This R-Day, get ready for Discovery channel's 'Battle Ops' The Hindu https://www.thehindu.com/society/discovery-channels-new-series-battle-ops-on-indias-iconic-military-operations/article22520490.ece live 22 April 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180806152611/https://www.thehindu.com/society/discovery-channels-new-series-battle-ops-on-indias-iconic-military-operations/article22520490.ece 6 August 2018 See also 3rd November medal Mohamed Zahir Moosa Ali Jaleel Hussain Adam Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Victory Day (Maldives) References 30em Category:1988 conflicts Maldives coup d'état, 1988 Maldives coup d'état, 1988 Maldives Maldives Coup, 1988 Category:Attempted coups d'état in Asia Category:Wars involving the Maldives Category:India–Maldives relations Maldives coup d'état, 1988 Maldives coup d'état, 1988 Category:November 1988 in Asia Category:Terrorist incidents in the Maldives Category:Maumoon Abdul Gayoom