KOCHI: The appointment of V Muraleedharan as Union Minister of State for External Affairs in the Narendra Modi Cabinet has given hopes to the 21 lakh expatriate Malayali community that he will intervene to resolve their various issues, including the issue of Keralites languishing in Abu Dhabi jail and the high airfares in the Gulf sector.
Sunithal Basheer, the wife of Muhammed Ibrahim, who is serving a 10-year sentence in Abu Dhabi, said the new Minister would certainly boost the chances for an active engagement with the UAE Government for her husband’s release.
“We will try for an appointment with the Minister as early as possible and explain the matter. We are hopeful,” she told Express.
Muhammed, 39, hailing from Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, was picked up by the Abu Dhabi police in March 2014 after he texted the name of a ship arriving at Mina Port, where he worked as a port coordinator, to an Indian embassy officer. He has completed five years in jail now.
Basheer said the embassy official had repeatedly asked her husband to text the name of the ship, assuring him it was for the security of both countries.
“We are paying the price for that,” she said, pointing out she is struggling to make ends meet, especially to educate their three daughters and a son. They moved to Kerala following the detention of her husband.
Two other Malayalees - Shihani Jamal Mohammad from Thiruvananthapuram and Manarthadi Abbas from Malappuram - are also in jail for ‘spying’. The former for 10 years and the latter for five years.
“Abbas’ jail term will come to an end in June, though it will take another six months for the final release,” said Basheer, pointing out other similar cases.
“We can present all the four cases to the new Minister,” she said.
Skyrocketing Gulf airfares another area where Keralites expect the intervention of Muraleedharan is related to the high airfares in the Gulf sector.
Babu Paul, chairman of IATA Agents Association of India-Kerala chapter, said the airfares to the Gulf sector have gone up by 15-20 per cent in recent weeks to take advantage of Malayalees travelling on account of school reopening.
“We hope the new Minister of State for External Affairs would use his good offices to convince the airline companies to bring down the fares in this sector,” said Paul.
There are about 21 lakh Non-Resident Keralites, of which a large number are based in the Gulf region.
Pinarayi congratulates PM, V Muraleedharan
T’Puram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who assumed office for a second term.
The chief minister had stayed away from the Modi government’s swearing-in ceremony on Thursday.
In a message, Pinarayi stressed on the need for meaningful state-central cooperation to bring about inclusive development. Pinarayi also congratulated, V Muraleedharan, the lone BJP representative from the state who took charge as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and External Affairs.
He sought the Union minister’s support in putting efforts to win Kerala’s demands.