Nationwide bandh supporters block visiting Nobel Laureate's houseboat in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram/IBNS: A Nobel Laureate, who is visiting Kerala as a guest of the state, was left stranded in a houseboat for hours owing to the nationwide bandh (strike) on Wednesday.
According to reports, his boat was stopped by some protesters in the backwaters of Alappuzha even though they had earlier declared that state tourism would not be affected.
Nobel laureate Michael Levitt, who won the prestigious honour in Chemistry in 2013, described the treatment he received as the state guest as “not good” either for “tourism, the State of Kerala, or the Country of India”.
According to reports, he had to wait along with his wife and several other foreign tourists for about two hours before their boat was allowed to leave around 12.30 pm.
Levitt was invited by the state’s higher education department and Kerala University to attend a conference on the varsity’s campus in Thiruvananthapuram.
Later describing his experience, Levitt said he had been earlier “warned against the protesting union people who are illegally enforcing the strike” despite the declaration that “tourism is excepted”.
Left leaders, meanwhile, have promised action against those responsible for blocking his boat.
P.P. Chittaranjan, state secretary of the CPM-backed Citu, one of the unions calling the nationwide shutdown, told media: “At the moment we don’t know who was behind this. But we will certainly find them.”
Later on Wednesday, police registered a case based on a complaint filed by the owner of one of the houseboats.
The Wednesday's bandh has been called to protest against a host of "anti-people policies" by the Centre including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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