The denial of diplomatic passport by the External Affairs Ministry to Kerala Minister KT Jaleel for visiting Saudi Arabia where hundreds of Keralites are said to be languishing in labour camps has triggered a political row in the State with Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terming it as unfortunate, Congress leaders describing it as deplorable and the BJP accusing Jaleel of applying for the document out of political motives knowing that the request would be rejected.
“The families of the Keralites in Saudi Arabia are anxious. That is why we decided to send the Minister in order to learn the actual condition. There are things that we can do to assist the efforts being made to help the Keralites stranded there. I can’t understand the reason for the denial of the document. It was unfortunate,” Pinarayi said in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
As per the Kerala Government’s estimates, there are about 300 Keralites among the 5,000-odd Indians stranded in Saudi labour camps. It is of the feeling that Jaleel, local Administration and Minority Affairs Minister who was to leave for Saudi Arabia on Friday, would not be able to meet Keralites in the labour camps if he goes there on an ordinary passport.
Congress member KC Venugopal tried to bring up the issue of the denial of the document to the Kerala Minister in the lok Sabha through an adjournment motion for which permission was denied by the Speaker even as the External Affairs Ministry explained that the controversies over the issue seemed to be based on some misunderstanding, as per reports from Delhi.
According to External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup, the denial of the diplomatic passport had to do with the timing of the visit plan. He said the Saudi authorities had assured exit of the Indian workers and India had given them a list of workers who wanted to remain there and who wanted to return, adding that the country had taken the steps required to solve the problem.
Jaleel said the position adopted by the Union Government with regard to his application for diplomatic passport pained him very much. “I haven’t tried to disrespect the Centre. Our intention was to assist it in the efforts for solving the Indian expatriates’ problems. There is no need to read politics into this,” he said.
“We know that Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh is already there in Saudi Arabia. Also, we have no complaints about the Centre’s initiatives. We are also grateful to the Saudi authorities for all the help they are providing. We felt that it was our duty to send a team to Saudi Arabia in order to allay the anxieties of the families of those stranded there,” Pinarayi said.
“The Centre’s stand with regard to Jaleel’s application was unfortunate. I can’t understand why a Kerala Minister had to be blocked from visiting Saudi Arabia after the Union Minister had gone there. There is no need to see politics behind this as there is no opportunity for them (the BJP) for making any political mileage out of this,” the Chief Minister added.
While Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress said the denial of the document to Jaleel was a serious fault, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor described the External Affairs Ministry’s decision as ‘deplorable behaviour’. “Why shouldn’t the affected State send its own Minister” to see to the welfare of its peopleIJ” he asked in a tweet.
Meanwhile, Kerala BJP’s president Kummanam Rajasekharan said that Jaleel had applied for the diplomatic passport knowing well that he was not going to be allotted one. Wondering why a Kerala Minister had to visit the Gulf country when a Central Minister had directly intervened in the issue there, Kummanam alleged that the only intention behind Jaleel’s application was to criticize the Centre after its denial.