India bars British professor over her anti-national work’

A British writer and professor of Indian origin has vowed to fight back after Narendra Modi’s BJP government revoked her longterm visa on allegations of indulging in anti-India activities”.

- SHWETA SHARMA

Nitasha Kaul, a professor at the University of Westminster in London, said her Overseas Citizen of India card was cancelled by the Indian government, barring her from visiting her elderly mother. The OCI card allows foreigners of Indian ancestry to visit, work and live in the country indefinitely.

An official notice to her said she has been “found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history” without referring to any particular such incident.

“Through your numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms, you regularly target India and its institutions on the matters of India’s sovereignty,” the notice said.

Ms Kaul claimed in an interview with The Independent that it is part of a wider crackdown on “anything, anyone who doesn’t agree fully with the government”.

“It’s reflective of increasing arbitrariness, which betokens authoritarian rule and part of a broad-ranging multidimensional vindictiveness towards people and academics who question because they want to make examples of us, signal to others that this will happen to you if you speak against us,” she said.

“Keep your head down and avoid saying anything critical of the government – that’s the broader message at play here. It clearly sends a chilling effect. Other academics and scholars will now think a hundred times before speaking out, because the government has made it clear that even asking the most basic questions can come at a steep personal cost.”