- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of PM Narendra Modi, which is in the opposition in the southern state of Karnataka where the academic was visiting, called her a ‘Pakistani sympathiser’.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AN Indian-origin professor in the UK has alleged that she was denied entry in India after she reached the airport in the southern city of Bengaluru to attend an event for which she had been invited by the government of the state of Karnataka. Bengaluru is the capital of Karnataka.
Professor Nitasha Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit academic based in London, made a series of posts on X in which she claimed that she was not given any reason by the immigration officials at the airport in Bengaluru nor had she any information in advance.
She said she was set to speak on democratic and constitutional values during her visit to India.
“Denied entry to India for speaking on democratic & constitutional values. I was invited to a conference as esteemed delegate by Government of Karnataka (Congress-ruled state) but Centre refused me entry. All my documents were valid & current (UK passport & OCI),” she said, sharing pictures of the invitation extended to her by the Karnataka government and other conference-related communications.
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
Claiming that she was given no reason by immigration officials except “we cannot do anything, orders from Delhi”, Kaul, who is also a novelist, writer and poet, said, “My travel & logistics had been arranged by Karnataka & 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.”
The writer said that authorities unofficially indicated that she was denied entry into India as she has criticised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu right-wing ideological mentor to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the past.
Congress party has disgraced Indian Constitution by inviting a Pakistani sympathiser who wants India's break up.
Don't you have any shame left CM @siddaramaiah? Are you trying to challenge the constitution & threaten the unity & integrity of India?
It is now apparent that the… pic.twitter.com/kG0XVePHgK
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 25, 2024
Reacting to the development, the Karnataka BJP was quick to label the professor an “anti-India element” and a part of what it called a ‘Break India Brigade’. The BJP alleged the state’s Indian National Congress government was “threatening the unity & integrity of India” by extending an invitation to the academic.
It also described Kaul a “Pakistani sympathiser” and posted headings of a couple of her writings on X.
The party, which is in the opposition, alleged that the Congress is “now using Karnataka as its laboratory to prepare ground for its divisive agendas”.
“Thanks to our security agencies, one such anti-India element was caught suspiciously entering India and detained at the airport”, the BJP, which lost the Karnataka state elections last year, said.
(With PTI inputs)
