Fight over evacuation of keralites

New Delhi: The evacuation of 29 Indians from Libya has sparked a fierce political row between the BJP-led government in the Centre and the Congress-led Kerala government just days before the state goes to polls on May 16.

As Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking credit for the evacuations, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj hit back in a series of tweets, asking who had paid for the evacuation of thousands of Indians from Libya and other countries in West Asia earlier.

She added that the government viewed the evacuation efforts of distressed Indians as “our pious duty towards our citizens”. Twenty-nine Indians, including 16 people from Kerala, were evacuated from Libya. They reached Kochi on Thursday morning. Detailing the government’s efforts, a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson said the Indian envoy to Libya, who is based in Tunisia, had flown down to the Libyan capital Tripoli after which exit visas had been arranged for the Indians to return. It was also ensured that their employers paid their salaries.

Centre did not pay for travel: Oommen Chandy
Asked about the incident being politicised, the MEA spokesperson said he did not wish to comment on it as it “would not serve any purpose”.

The Centre, however, did not refute the Kerala government’s claim that it had paid for the return of the Indians. Government sources said the 29 Indians did not ask for airfares to be paid and that the Kerala government might have paid for their return.

Government sources also said that about 1,600 Indians were still living and working in Libya despite repeated government advisories asking them to return immediately. This was probably because the Indians were earning very well there and did not think that the dangers of living in Libya outweighed the benefits.

Earlier, Mr Chandy had said that his government was bearing the travel expense of the families, indicating that the Centre had not extended financial assistance for their travel. “Sushma Swaraj paid for the earlier evacuations. This time we are paying for their travel,” Mr Chandy was quoted as saying.

But in a series of angry tweets, Ms Swaraj stated, “Mr Chandy, we evacuated thousands of Indians from Kerala from Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Who paid for them?” She again tweeted: “Mr Chandy, you said ‘Kerala paid for 29 Indians evacuated from Libya’,” and then “You started this debate, as to Who paid ? Not me. We always did this because this is our pious duty towards our citizens (sic).”

The political fight erupted a day after Mr Modi said in Kerala that his government had evacuated the families from Libya and that the Centre was committed to the welfare of Indians living abroad.