The Kerala government has appointed K. Vasuki, an IAS officer, as the state’s Foreign Secretary. On July 15, the government published a strange order designating Vasuki, the secretary of labour and skills, to hold the additional charge of the matters connected with external cooperation.

In addition to the current charges, the officer will oversee and coordinate all matters related to (foreign affairs) situations.” According to the directive, Vasuki will receive assistance from the general administration (political) department while further arrangements are being established. The department will also handle matters of external collaboration.

The Kerala government has directed the resident commissioner of Kerala House in New Delhi to support Vasuki in issues of external cooperation. The commissioner was also directed to communicate with the Indian embassies, overseas missions and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi.

Experts pointed out it was an intrusion into central government matters since the state has no business involved in international affairs. Critics opined the appointment was a separatist move on the part of the ‘Al Kerala’ ruling regime. The Tukde Tukde gang celebrated the constitutionally illegal move.

States designate an officer in the rank of secretary to the chief minister to handle matters regarding citizens living abroad. Kerala usually uses a secretary in charge of NORKA.

The Kerala government established the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA) in 1996 to address the complaints of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs). NORKA Roots, the organization’s field office, was established in 2002 as a liaison between the Kerala government and the NRKs.

The NORKA-Roots portal allowed individuals worldwide to register to request a return to Kerala during the COVID-19 epidemic, bypassing our embassies. Many Malayalis consider NORKA a separatist extra-judicial authority. States formally interacting with Bharatiya embassies and missions without obtaining MEA approval is unprecedented and goes against established protocols.

Meanwhile, former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar expressed doubts about the appointment. “International relations are within the Centre’s domain. If any state department wants help abroad, they can always approach the MEA or the Indian embassy. I suppose they will clarify what this officer (Vasuki) will do, which is additional work beyond what department secretaries already do,” he said. The Kerala govt has yet to clarify the controversy.

Following Vasuki’s appointment, The Times of India quoted a senior officer who requested anonymity. “As designating a secretary in charge of ‘external cooperation’ is not legally possible under the rules of business of the state, govt seems to have assigned the task of supporting the office of secretary with GAD (political) department,” he said. Did the Kerala govt choose another extra-judicial route?

In 2021, Kerala’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government appointed Venu Rajamony, a former IFS officer, as an officer on special duty in New Delhi with a Chief Secretary rank. His responsibilities included communicating with the MEA, Bharatiya and foreign diplomatic missions. Rajamony investigated potential areas of cooperation with other nations in education, culture, finance, and investments.

His nomination, however, was primarily made for political reasons. The communist regime employed a retired foreign service officer with sufficient connections to Bharatiya embassies, missions and the MEA. This was perceived as a calculated action to secure logistical support for political travels to other nations. Usually, state-level political officials do not have access to such facilities.

Kerala gained nothing from Rajamony’s appointment. The chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, travelled to the US, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, UAE, Bahrain, Japan, and South Korea on multiple occasions with his family and cabinet colleagues.

Loka Kerala Sabha

K. Vasuki IAS is also the Loka Kerala Sabha Director. Loka Kerala Sabha is another suspicious entity introduced by the communist regime in 2018. The Government of Kerala claims it is a common platform for Keralites living across the globe.

In reality, it is an event hosted at state expense where tainted politicians, bureaucratic cronies, middlemen, and capitalist businessmen eat, drink and make merry using public funds. Allegedly, several under-the-table transactions and decisions are also undertaken at the event. Loka Kerala Sabha accounts are not audited.

During the last version organised in June 2022, Malayalis were surprised to see the controversial Anitha Pullayil, a Keralite ‘healthcare worker’ based in Italy, appear in the Kerala Secretariat building. Loka Kerala Sabha is organised in a vast refurbished hall in the Secretariat’s basement.

Pullayil is a common link between top police officials (including former state police chief Loknath Behera), self-styled antique dealer Monson Mavunkal and politicians (she is close to CM Pinarayi Vijayan). Pullayil claims to represent an unknown NGO called Pravasi Malayali Federation (PMF) and is a Kerala government-nominated member of Loka Kerala Sabha.

Mavunkal is in jail. Behera was a National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer whom the communist regime appointed the managing director of Kochi Metro after his retirement. Pullayil’s name also popped up when the MEA launched an inquiry into the participation of Pakistanis in the Loka Kerala Sabha Europe-UK regional conference attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on his 2022 Europe tour. 

Cutting South from the rest of Bharat is an old concept adopted by the terrorist outfit Popular Front of India.  Then, they planned to set up an Al Kerala-based Islamic state. Once the Islamic state was established, Islamist extremists could bring the army, foreign affairs and courts under sharia law. Such a model of governance exists in Afghanistan under the Taliban today.

Is is believed that Vijayan is planning his next foreign sojourn pretty soon.