Kuwait fire tragedy: Kerala CM, Congress slam Centre denying permission to Minister’s travel; Governor, Suresh Gopi against it

He said that there was only a few hours between yesterday and today and that the Health Minister couldn’t have achieved anything in Kuwait. “These things should not be unnecessarily pursued,” he said.

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No controversy: Suresh Gopi

Sharing a similar view, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum Suresh Gopi said there was “no controversy” in the matter.

“People who are at the helm of affairs when it comes to diplomatic transactions and connections are into it. Do not be worried. They are also capable. We have our own contingent working there to help the injured Indians. It is the duty of the government of India,” Gopi said.

On the other hand, CM Vijayan was of the view that it was a “wrong stand” on the part of the Centre. “The Minister had come here (Kochi), but could not travel due to a lack of political clearance. I am not raising it as a serious issue presently. It can be discussed later,” he said.

The opposition Congress too was of the same view as the CM. Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan said it was “unfortunate” that Veena was not allowed to travel to Kuwait.

“A representative of the state government would have helped to better coordinate the relief efforts. The Central government ought to have immediately given clearance to the state health minister. It was a wrong message from the Centre’s side,” he said, criticising the Union government’s decision.

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Veena George had said on the night of the tragedy, “What we just sought from the Central government was the permission to travel to Kuwait to stand with our people affected by the tragedy and coordinate activities there. That permission is denied.”

The state government had decided to send George to Kuwait to help with the relief efforts, including treatment for the injured and the repatriation of the deceased. George reportedly waited for hours at the airport, hoping for permission from the Ministry of External Affairs.

Officials had said on 13 June that 49 people were killed in the fire in the Al-Mangaf building on 12 June and 45 of them were Indians; the remaining were Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepali nationals. The building in southern Kuwait’s Mangaf area housed around 195 migrant workers.

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