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
I was given no reason by immigration except ‘we cannot do anything, orders from Delhi’. 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.
I spent 12 hours in a flight from London to Bangalore, several hours at immig where they shuttled me here & there, provided no info on process, then 24 hours in a holding cell (no BA flight back until next day) under direct cctv w restricted movement, a narrow area to lie down
and no easy access to food and water, made dozens of calls to airport for basic things as a pillow and blanket, which they refused to provide, then 12 hours on the flight back to London.
I am a globally respected academic & public intellectual, passionate about liberal democratic values. I care for gender equity, challenging misogyny, sustainability, civil & political liberties, rule of law.
I am not anti-Indian, I am anti-authoritarian & pro-#democracy. westminster.academia.edu
I am not anti-Indian, I am anti-authoritarian & pro-#democracy. westminster.academia.edu
Decades of my work speaks for me. The officials informally made references to my criticism of RSS, a far-right Hindu nationalist paramilitary from years ago. I have travelled to India numerous times since. I was invited by a state govt, but refused entry by the central govt.
Rightwing #HindutvaTrolls have for years threatened me w death, rape, ban etc. In the past, authorities have sent police to my elderly ailing mother’s home to intimidate, even though I live in UK & my work has no connexion to her, a pious temple-going dezhor-wearing retired Hindi teacher & my sole surviving parent.
I've always dismissed such threats as petty (since 2014, disinvite from arranged talk at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, withdrawal of already publicised lecture on gender at JNU etc all without any official reason/explanation). When I was speaking on AI & Buddhism in a third country, an Indian official there tried to strong-arm me into giving them advice & info on that country too, which I refused.
and registered a complaint on email in writing, which closed with Tagore’s poem: ‘where the mind is without fear’. BTW, I am not averse to advising govts, policymakers, or to engagements with a state. However, I should be asked politely, respected for my views & time, and not bullied or coerced + I have to respect the values of those in power.
I will not advise or consult with those who condone violence, foster hate, and repress their population in any country. You cannot buy me or bully me, and it is always a No to those who do not believe in decency.
I am deeply knowledgeable about multiple countries and worlds. I work across a range of disciplines, themes and geographical regions. Regarding the political transformation in India since 2014, I have years of analytical peer-reviewed published work.
I have also made important connexions in study of transnational repression, use of misogyny as a political strategy in authoritarian projects that undermine democracy, & rise of global right-wing. Also esp. on India, I know it very well. I am well versed in several languages, & can outdo any supposed defender of Hinduism when it comes to knowledge about religion, including the Sanskrit incantantations.
My origin is from a downtown mohalla in Srinagar, Kashmir and I was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh — the land of saffron to the ‘saffronisation' heartland.
This is about the threat to me & my safety, & the important impact of my work that worries anti-democratic sensibilities (although as I said after speaking as an expert witness at the US Congress, given how I have been repeatedly threatened, if I come to any accident, it probably merits a closer look).
This is about the threat to me & my safety, & the important impact of my work that worries anti-democratic sensibilities (although as I said after speaking as an expert witness at the US Congress, given how I have been repeatedly threatened, if I come to any accident, it probably merits a closer look).
This is also about what knowledge-making can do! Banning academics, journalists, activists, writers from India in spite of all valid documents is pathetic. The evidence is in public. In the country, academic institutions are being forced to toe the line (I have published on this), and outside the country now too, academic silencing?
I have heard of silence of academics in diaspora being purchased by getting people via informal mechanisms to agree/undertake that they will not be critical of ruling party in return for access to India.
If you care for democracy, if you care for emergent geopolitical realignments, if you rank civil and political liberties in different regimes, if you qualitatively survey democracy, sit up and take notice. I will continue writing and meaning-making for the common good. On this and on many other topics and themes.
If you are a govt official or policy person, engage for this is strategically relevant do you in multiple ways;
If you are a media person, highlight this, It’s part of your job and it is important to have reporters for when the organised right-wing trolls spread disinformation.
If you are an academic, remember that your cites of critical work are amplifications and assurances of safety for scholars in specific areas.
If you are a media person, highlight this, It’s part of your job and it is important to have reporters for when the organised right-wing trolls spread disinformation.
If you are an academic, remember that your cites of critical work are amplifications and assurances of safety for scholars in specific areas.
This has been a harrowing ordeal, and the harassment, indignities, attempted intimidation that I have faced make me determined to continue doing the right thing w empathy for those who are enrolled into this pernicious antidemocratic common sense anywhere due to ignorance, and pity for those who do it out of malice.
Of course, the government is welcome to fix this and speak to me so that I can explain what it is that they are unable to understand about me, my identity, my work, or my views. Generations of my family have served important institutions of the state and government (I am not naming those vital institutions to save the govt embarrassment), and such petty vindictive behaviour is incredible!
I hope that I can see & touch my mother again. I love you mom. ❤️🥹💔
The heart-breaking price of critical scholarship, sadly, even in contemporary era!
The heart-breaking price of critical scholarship, sadly, even in contemporary era!
The govt at centre in India refused me entry to a conference where I was invited by the state govt.
Unless this is fixed, I join the ranks of the Tibetan exiles and Ukrainian exiles, and others throughout history who have faced the arbitrary exercise of brute unreasoning power.
Unless this is fixed, I join the ranks of the Tibetan exiles and Ukrainian exiles, and others throughout history who have faced the arbitrary exercise of brute unreasoning power.
The only glimpse of the sky that I had in 72 hours when I was able to get to the departure gate. Though the professor was exhausted, the poet in me took a pic of the full moon.
At the worst when I was under cctv 24/7 with bright lights that could not be turned off, cold blowing air from above and no blanket, barely able to fit on the narrow space, tired, without sleep, yearning for fresh air, easy access to food and water, the song “ABCDEFU” by Gayle played in my head, and later when finally able to leave and upon arriving back in London, M People’s “Search for the hero” was my anthem.
At the worst when I was under cctv 24/7 with bright lights that could not be turned off, cold blowing air from above and no blanket, barely able to fit on the narrow space, tired, without sleep, yearning for fresh air, easy access to food and water, the song “ABCDEFU” by Gayle played in my head, and later when finally able to leave and upon arriving back in London, M People’s “Search for the hero” was my anthem.
How can the world's largest democracy be threatened by my pen & the word? How is it ok for centre to not allow a professor to be at a conference on Constitution where she was invited by state govt? To give no reason? Not the India we cherish, is it?
@CMofKarnataka @CMahadevappa @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar
@CMofKarnataka @CMahadevappa @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar
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