With Saudi's new travel restrictions, stranded Indians in UAE awaits relief from their plights
Dubai: Awaiting relief from the government and authorities of India and Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Indians are stranded in Dubai after Saudi Arabia announced a temporary ban on non-citizens’ entry into the kingdom from 20 foreign countries.
Saudi Arabia announced the restriction after the kingdom witnessed a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. Saudi-bound Indians who were eager to finish their 14-day quarantine in Dubai in order to enter the country are now hit by uncertainty due to the sudden ban.
The passengers had arrived in UAE after the restrictions imposed by Saudi stated foreigners can't enter until they undergo a 14-day quarantine in any of the neighboring countries like UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, etc.
Ever since the imposition of the restriction, passengers are left high and dry in UAE with neither the Indian nor Saudi government authorities paying heed to their hues and cries. Most of the passengers who fall into the ‘blue-collar employees’ are now running out of finances and resources to afford an extended stay in Dubai.
PA Hameed, an advocate and social worker in Riyadh, has written a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking his intervention and has also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in multiple tweets to bring the issue to his notice.
The letter says those stranded include families, children, and pregnant women. "Some Indian residents in Saudi Arabia who traveled to Dubai a couple of days back to fetch their families and relatives are also stranded due to the sudden development. All of them are in a hapless situation and are pleading for immediate help from the Indian government," it said.
Recently, both Indian Embassies in UAE & Saudi Arabia issued an advisory to the people stranded in Dubai to return back to India. Hameed said the move was unexpected and unusual, asking people to go back to India is the last thing the government should be doing. The embassy should try and come with a plan and diplomatic dialogue insisting the Saudi authorities to allow these stranded Indians into the kingdom.
“"I request the Government of India & other concerned authorities to look into this issue immediately & to facilitate them to be landed in Saudi Arabia by effecting diplomatic consultations with the Saudi Arabian Government in this regard,” he said.
Several passengers who are stranded in UAE have called for help adding that they have run out of money for an extended stay. Many of them have also added that they had to resort to taking loans to facilitate their journey to Saudi Arabia via Dubai for quarantine and now they’re left with uncertainty as there is no guarantee when Saudi will lift the temporary ban.
“We can only hope that the Indian government bails us out from the crisis” one of the stranded passengers Sufyan who hails from Mangaluru said.
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How long should Congress plead for seats; time to grow in stature and capture power: TNCC chief
Chennai, May 16: The Congress, which has been out of power in Tamil Nadu for over five decades, is attempting to stage a bid to capture power in the state in the 2026 assembly elections.
TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai deplored the present plight of his party in fighting elections in the shadow of the Dravidian majors, and appealed to cadres to strive to capture power in the state.
"The Congress has been dependent on alliance partners in obtaining seats at the time of elections for 57 years from 1967," Selvaperunthagai told party workers at a meeting in Dharmapuri on Wednesday, without naming the DMK or the AIADMK.
"This situation should change. The party should grow to apportion seats to other parties instead of asking for seats. The party workers should work hard to establish late Chief Minister Kamaraj's rule," the TNCC chief on a mission to revive the grand old party's lost glory, said.
He urged the Congress cadres to gear up for the state assembly election to be held in two years.
"Should we still be silent? We should not delay further. The party infrastructure should be strengthened. How long will we ask for seats? It is time to grow in stature and give seats to allies," he said at the meeting.
Selvaperunthagai further claimed that the Congress had "wasted 57 years" without power in Tamil Nadu.
The Congress had ruled the state for 20 years from 1947 and was sent packing home in the 1967 elections, which saw the emergence of the DMK signaling the commencement of Dravidian politics in the state.
Since then, the Congress has been fighting electoral battles in the shadows of the DMK or the AIADMK, though the party has been enjoying strong ties with the DMK since 2004.
In 1989, the Congress made a bid to avoid alliances with the Dravidian parties when G K Moopanar was the state party chief but it fell short of the target.
Later, the party suffered a split when Moopanar launched the Tamil Maanila Congress in 1996. However, he aligned with the DMK under the leadership of its president M Karunanidhi, then.
Following Moopanar's death, his son G K Vasan merged the faction with the Congress in 2002 only to revive it in 2014. Vasan is now an ally of the BJP.
Since it lost power, the Congress has been attempting to revive the golden rule of Kamaraj but this has been elusive till now.
