ALLEGED DEPORTATION OF INDIAN-ORIGIN BRITISH PROFESSOR: '

"I AM NOT A PAKISTANI SPY, THIS IS AN INSULT TO THE GOVERNMENT I AM NOT AFRAID OF"

Natasha Cole, a professor of political science at the University of Westminster in the UK, was denied entry to the country by immigration officials at the Bangalore airport and was detained at the airport. According to Professor Natasha, the authorities sent him back to the UK after 24 hours from the airport.

Professor Cole is a British citizen of Indian origin. She is a Kashmiri Pandit and often writes against the policies of the Modi government. She is also a renowned novelist, writer and poet.

Natasha had come to Bangalore to attend a two-day seminar on 'Democracy and Constitutional Values' at the invitation of the Karnataka government. It should be noted that the opposition Congress is the state government in Karnataka.

Natasha has written about the incident in several posts on social media that she had valid travel documents but was not allowed to enter India.

He said that the immigration authorities at the airport did not give him any reason for not allowing him to enter the country, nor was he given any notice or notification by the government before his journey that he would not be allowed to enter the country. will

He wrote that the officers only said that they could not do anything about it and that 'the order came from the heart.'

He further claimed in his post that some officers unofficially indicated that he had criticized the Hindu ideological organization 'RSS' and the government in the past, which is why he was denied entry.

Nothing has been said about this by the Indian government.

Natasha Cole is an 'OIC' card holder. Under this card, citizens of Indian origin living abroad do not need a visa to come to India. She reached Bangalore on Friday morning but was sent back to London on Saturday morning local time.

According to the daily 'Indian Express', he was detained at the airport during this time.

After Professor Natasha was sent back, many people wrote messages in support of her on social media.

But a large number of people have also made negative comments about them and supported the government's decision not to allow them to enter the country.

A user wrote in his post on X that 'How can the Congress invite an anti-national professor to come to the country?' He is clearly a pawn of China.'

Many social media users have made negative comments calling her 'China's slave', 'Muslim convert' and 'Pakistan supporter'.

A user wrote that 'If you think that you will continue to take an anti-India position and there will be no consequences, then think again.'

In response to these negative comments, Natasha has written that 'I have not married a Pakistani, I have not changed my religion and become a Muslim. I am neither an agent of China nor of Western countries. I am neither a jihadist nor a communist. I am neither a Pakistani spy nor a supporter of terrorists. I am neither anti-India nor a member of any gang.'

He added that 'my experience was very painful but it insulted not me but a ridiculously scared government.'

This incident happened at a time when a French woman journalist was forced to leave India after more than two decades of journalism in the same month.

Vanessa Janiak worked for 23 years for several magazines and newspapers in France. She came here to study and then got married to an Indian here. She got an 'OCI' card due to her marriage to an Indian, which does not require a visa to enter and stay in the country.

The Home Ministry issued a notice to him last month, saying that his negative and inaccurate reporting was damaging India's image abroad and causing unrest in the country as well.

It also said that she did not even seek permission to travel to restricted areas and neighboring countries, due to which her OIC card was cancelled. After this decision of the Indian government, Vanessa had to leave her family and journalism and return to France.

A year ago, in March 2023, the OIC card of 82-year-old British-based writer and activist Amrit Wilson was also canceled on charges of 'anti-national activities and negative propaganda damaging the interests of the country'.

According to experts, such actions by the government are usually taken against those citizens of Indian origin living abroad, who write and speak against the policies of the Modi government and Hindutva etc.

Indian-origin Ashok Sven is a professor in the Department of Peace and Conflict Research in Sweden. He is an intellectual and actively speaks and writes on India's Modi government policies, Hindutva, Kashmir policy and other topics.

Ashok Swain received a show-cause notice from the Indian consulate in Stockholm in 2020, accusing him of 'making inflammatory speeches and indulging in anti-India activities'.

In the year 2022, the government canceled his OCI card, citing his show cause response as unsatisfactory. He has filed a case against him in the court of India.

A few years ago, Indian-Pakistani-origin Atish Taseer's card was also canceled when he was actively writing against the Modi government on social media and in international newspapers.

After cancellation of the card, they could not get permission to come to India.

According to reports from the Indian Home Ministry, over the past few years, the Indian government has canceled the OIC cards of more than a hundred citizens, which means that these people cannot now enter India.

Most of them are considered to be against the Modi government. There are some who are believed to be associated with the separatist movement.

Overseas Citizens of India i.e. 'OCI' card is issued to citizens of Indian origin living abroad, their spouses and children. The nature of this card is permanent visa. Once obtained, a separate visa is not required to enter and stay in India.

OIC card holders also have the right to buy property in India and do business here.

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