Invited by Karnataka govt for event, UK prof claims sent back by Immigration

IMPORTANT: Denied entry to #India for speaking on democratic & constitutional values. I was invited to a conference as esteemed delegate by Govt of #Karnataka (Congress-ruled state) but Centre refused me entry. All my documents were valid & current (UK passport & OCI). THREAD 1/n pic.twitter.com/uv7lmWhs4k

— Professor Nitasha Kaul, PhD (@NitashaKaul) February 25, 2024

Sharing a copy of the invite sent to her by Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa and her registration details for the event, she posted online: “I was given no reason by immigration except ‘we cannot do anything, orders from Delhi’. My travel and logistics had been arranged by Karnataka and I had the official letter with me. I received no notice or info in advance from Delhi that I would not be allowed to enter.”

When contacted, Mahadevappa told The Indian Express that he was not aware of the development. “I have no idea. I was busy organising the event,” he said. Apart from Congress leaders, several MPs were part of Sunday’s closing ceremony. The Chief Minister’s Office did not comment on the development.

When contacted, Kaul, who has an OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card, told The Indian Express she was invited as an “esteemed delegate” to attend the two-day conference and wasn’t supposed to speak at any panel discussion. She landed early Friday morning and was sent back on the next direct flight on Saturday morning. She remained detained at the airport during that time.

“I was formally informed that I was being sent back on instructions from Delhi, but they didn’t disclose the name of the entity that instructed them, and this wasn’t provided to me in writing. Furthermore, I wasn’t given a reason for my deportation. All I received was a letter addressed to the airlines, requesting them to take me back to the UK, as I wasn’t allowed to enter the country. The immigration officials kept asking if I was the one who keeps criticising the RSS, and that, to me, was flabbergasting,” she said.

“This is not how a democracy works. This is not China, and I demanded reasons, but it fell on deaf ears. I have been to India before on multiple occasions for personal visits. This is the first time this has happened to me – coincidentally, when I was on a planned official trip for a conference organised in a state ruled by the opposition party. It’s tragic what’s happening to the rule of law in India,” she said.

Asked if she would formally raise her deportation with the Union government, she said she wasn’t sure of what her next course of action would be as she had just reached home.

According to sources, the conference organisers tried to intervene and made phone calls to New Delhi to help with her entry, but in vain. A person involved with the conference, who did not wish to be identified, told The Indian Express, “Five-six delegates from other countries were also grilled at the airport for hours, and we were able to intervene and help with their entry. But our efforts to bring Dr Kaul were in vain, and they deported her.”

The MHA spokesperson did not respond to queries from The Indian Express on Kaul’s deportation. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal did not respond to calls and a message on the issue.

The Karnataka BJP, meanwhile, accused the Congress of disgracing the “Indian Constitution by inviting a Pakistani sympathiser who wants to break India”.

“At the expense of Karnataka taxpayers, Congress government is channelling funds to terrorist-sympathisers, urban Naxals, anti-nationals, riots-accused to destabilise India ahead of elections. Thanks to our security agencies, one such anti-India element was caught suspiciously entering India and detained at the airport,” the BJP state unit posted online.

In her post online, Kaul also alleged that after landing in Bengaluru from London, she was made to wait several hours at immigration and kept in a holding cell with restricted movement for 24 hours.

She alleged that she was denied easy access to food and water and had to make dozens of calls to the airport for basic things such as a pillow and blanket, “which they refused to provide”.

With ENS Delhi