The nationwide Bandh on Wednesday had a lukewarm response from many parts of the country, but in Kerala, which ironically claims to be an “Industry-friendly” state, the strike went full swing. Four supporters of Bandh spared nobody who threatened to exercise their freedom on a strike day, and that included Nobel laureate Michael Levitt too. Kerala police have arrested the four miscreants and the incident comes as a disgrace to the state.
Michael Levitt was in Alappuzha with his wife when supporters of Bandh stopped them. Kottayam district collector Sudheer Babu expressed his concern over the incident and apologised on behalf of the government.
“I have expressed grief and concern on behalf of the government. He said that he has no complaints and will visit Kerala again,” said the collector.
Right-wing political analyst Sreejith Panicker weighed in on the issue and wondered if only the Nobel laureate deserved an apology and not the rest of the citizens of the state. In his Facebook post, he asked if other citizens of this state do not deserve the benefits of equality mentioned under Article 14. Here is an English
translation of his post followed by the original post:
“Many people were stopped during the Bandh day. But the Kerala Government only apologised to only one person- Nobel Laureate Michael Levitt. Why? The other citizens of this state do not deserve equality mentioned under Article 14?
Or Is an apology something to be mentioned only to a Jewish Nobel winner from America”?
Michael Levitt received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Sreejith Panicker had recently risen to fame for his excellent debate on Citizenship Amendment Act(where he defended the central government) with advocate Harish Vasudevan in a private Malayalam Channel.
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