KUCHING, June 3 (Sin Chew Daily) — A Malaysian businessman on a pilgrimage trip to India ends up being stranded in that country for more than three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Identified as Ren, the 46-year-old Kuching businessman has no idea when he can return to Malaysia again.

As a pious Buddhist, Ren has been making pilgrimage trips to India every year for the past eight years.

He flew to Kolkata on February 20 and was scheduled to return home on March 28.

The homebound flight was nevertheless canceled two weeks before departure as India announced a nationwide lockdown.

All international and domestic flights, transportation services came to a halt on March 25 to curb the spread of COVID-19 in India. 

"Except for essential services, all interstate and intercity travels in India have been banned since then. I am stranded in Kolkata until today," he said.

Ren said about 200 Malaysians from Malaysia were stranded in India like him. They were here to study, seek medical treatment, work, do business, or on pilgrimage trips like him.

The Indian government arranged for two chartered flights for Malaysians to fly home a month ago. However, the flights departed from New Delhi while all transportation services stopped, making it impossible for people stranded in other cities to travel to New Delhi to catch the flights.

"I have thought of all methods to travel from Kolkota to New Delhi but there is no way I can travel as transportation services stop nationwide," he added.

It takes two hours to fly from Kolkota to New Delhi, he said. A train ride would take more than 20 hours. No cars are allowed to travel interstate or intercity. The only way is to walk. It takes about a week to walk. Ren has no choice but to give up the idea of traveling to New Delhi.

He has been keeping in touch with the Malaysian Consulate-Generals in Chennai and Mumbai as well as the High Commission and relevant government departments, ministers and members of parliament. However, he does not receive any positive reply from them.

As of June 1, more than 5,000 Indians died and over 190,000 people were diagnosed with COVID-19.

The government has extended the lockdown until June 30.