Dr Anirban Bhattacharyya, 66, of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in northeast England, remains on Nepal Police’s official missing-persons list more than two weeks after the disaster.
Dr Anirban Bhattacharyya, 66, of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in northeast England, remains on Nepal Police’s official missing-persons list more than two weeks after the disaster. A research associate at Newcastle University’s School of Computing, he held degrees from King’s College London and South Bank Polytechnic, and had completed his PhD at Newcastle University in 2013.
Bhattacharyya was travelling with Kolkata-based Chalo Jaai Travel Club on a Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage handled in Nepal by Samrat Tours and Travels and remains among 32 members of the contingent — 30 tourists and two tour employees — who are still missing near Timure-Rasuwagadhi. Because bhattacharyya held an Indian passport and had instead referred them to Indian authorities, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (London) has been less than helpful, basically pointing the family to the Indian consulate…,” In a subsequent social-media post, Lavery said FCDO had told the family it could not assist.
Lavery said repeated attempts to contact Bhattacharyya had failed. He said he wanted a wider debate on how Britain supports long-term residents without citizenship and hoped to secure a ministerial meeting to seek answers for the family. Responding in the Commons, leader of House Alan Campbell said, “We are working with authorities on the ground to support their efforts in this terrible situation, supporting survivors of all nationalities and trying to get information for families about missing loved ones.
“There have been numerous attempts to contact him, but they have been unsuccessful. Bhattacharyya’s family friend has turned to Nepal’s mountaineering community for help, posting an appeal with his photograph and details of his last known movements on a forum followed by trekkers, tour operators and mountain guides.
Nepal immigration records showed members of the group had cleared immigration shortly before the flood struck, leaving uncertainty over whether they had crossed into Tibet or remained near the border when the torrent arrived.
“He has lived in this country for 60 years. Because he had retained Indian citizenship, the British MP also questioned why Bhattacharyya’s six decades in Britain counted for little. Because he does not have a British passport, we cannot help him.”
He is missing. Can we have a debate about how the FCDO can be more helpful to people who have lived in this country all their lives and are affected by such national tragedies?