News Desk
FUVAHMULAH, Maldives — Before he became a lightning rod in the nation’s ongoing political firestorms, Hassan Zihan occupied a singularly prestigious position in the country’s security architecture. An alumnus of the United States Naval Academy—one of America’s most elite military institutions—he graduated with a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. To this day, he remains the only naval architect in the history of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
Today, that distinguished technical career stands completely overshadowed.
On Tuesday, police in Gnaviyani Fuvahmulah arrested Zihan under a court order following a social media post in which he openly questioned why the country’s three constitutional pillars—the President’s Office, the People’s Majlis, and the Supreme Court—had not been burned to the ground. “How come we don’t get to set our supreme court and president’s office and Majilis on fire,” Zihan wrote, before deleting the post roughly an hour later. “Come on… it’ll be fun.”
The rapid arc from military pioneer to political exile and accused arson provocateur reflects a deeper, volatile current within Maldivian public life, where technical brilliance, institutional service, and online radicalisation frequently collide.
Zihan’s military career unravelled towards the end of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration. His troubles within the ranks escalated following a Facebook post demanding the release of his brother, who had been detained by police during a presidential visit to Fuvahmulah.
The military hierarchy moved swiftly against him. Following proceedings in a military court, Zihan was demoted from First Lieutenant to Lieutenant before being formally dismissed from service. Supporters and relatives maintained that his removal was a politically motivated reprisal for failing to align with the incumbent government, sparking broader debate over freedom of expression and political neutrality within the MNDF.
Stripped of his uniform, Zihan leaned directly into the online political fray. He emerged as a fierce critic of New Delhi’s regional footprint, regularly posting anti-India commentary and taking direct aim at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His stance placed him squarely alongside the populist rhetoric that ultimately propelled President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) into power.
That alignment brought immediate political dividends. Following the administration change, Zihan was appointed Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. Yet his tenure proved fleeting. During the fallout from the January 2024 diplomatic row between Malé and New Delhi over derogatory comments made regarding Prime Minister Modi, Zihan was among the officials suspended by the government. By July 2024, he had stepped aside from his ministerial post entirely.
While the high-profile female deputy ministers suspended alongside him in the same episode were later quietly accommodated with hefty political posts elsewhere in the state apparatus, Zihan found no such soft landing. Left out in the cold while others were rehabilitated, his isolation from the ruling political fold grew complete.
In the months following his departure from government, Zihan turned his online criticism against the very administration he had briefly served. As eTruth.mv previously reported, his posts on X frequently drew sharp pushback from commentators who urged him to look beyond personal feuds and consider the delicate balance of statecraft.
Unmoved by calls for moderation, his public rhetoric grew increasingly confrontational, culminating in his post from Fuvahmulah calling for violence against state institutions.
Law enforcement authorities confirmed that Zihan remains in custody as investigations proceed. For a man who spent his early years mastering naval structural design as the army’s sole specialist, Zihan now faces the legal consequences of calling for the destruction of the nation’s core democratic structures.
