Jaleel postpones trip to Saudi Arabia

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for Local Self Government K. T. Jaleel has postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia, on a mission to help Keralites affected by loss of jobs, indefinitely following denial of diplomatic visa to him by the Central Government.

The Minister told the media that the Centre had not given any reason for denial of diplomatic passport to him.

Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan said that the Centre’s stand was inexplicable. Many Keralite families were concerned about their relatives in Saudi Arabia. The government wanted a Minister from the State to visit the country to address their concerns.

The Chief Minister said that he did not think that there was a political motive behind the Centre’s action. The Centre was taking steps to help the Indians in Saudi Arabia and the State government recognised this.

Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the denial of diplomatic passport to the Minister was deplorable. It was a routine matter for the ministers to be granted diplomatic passports for official visits.  Ministers of previous UDF government had obtained diplomatic passports.

He demanded that the Minister should be issued diplomatic passport urgently. There was a serious situation in Saudi Arabia concerning Keralites.

BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan said that the government had invited dishonour by applying for diplomatic passports. Diplomatic passports are documents that are issued mostly to diplomats only.