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New Delhi: Justifying the unseemly deportation of UK based anthropologist, Filippo Osella, the union government has told the Delhi high court that research on issues such as caste and religion was “sensitive” and conducting such research was a violation of visa norms. The academic, Osella is professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the Department of Anthropology, School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK. He has written extensively on Kerala for the last 30 years. Last year, on March 23, he was scheduled to attend a conference in Thiruvananthapuram. However, he was deported upon arrival at the airport without being given any explicit reason.
The professor had through this petition, sought the quashing of his deportation order. LiveLaw has reported on the union government affidavit justifying the deportation. Filed through the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Officer of the Bureau of Immigration in Ministry of Home Affairs, claimed that topics like caste, religion and economy were “sensitive” and that research on them violated visa norms.
“…[T]he Petitioner during his visits on Tourist Visa has indulged in research activities connected to caste, religion and economy which by its very nature is sensitive, thereby violating the visa norms,” the government said. Filed on January 17, this was reported yesterday. Earlier, the union government had, on October 12, told the Delhi high court that there was “sufficient material to blacklist and take action” against him. Unsurprisingly, the affidavit claimed that the government’s powers to expel a foreign citizen were “absolute and unlimited” and that foreigners did not enjoy the fundamental rights guaranteed to Indians.
“It is stated that the manner in which, the foreign funds flow to the Petitioner for carrying out his research work in Kerala is an area of national security concern as the utilisation of these funds received by the Petitioner for his research work studies in India remain unaccounted for,” the government’s affidavit said. The government also claimed that the professor’s entry in India could have had “several serious security implications.”
The government also said in its response that the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), exempts foreign contributors for academic purposes from the scrutiny of the authorities but the the funds have to be routed through the universities so that a record is maintained, LiveLaw further reported. It claimed transactions of funds in the professor’s case go against the FEMA.
The professor, in his response claimed, that he has no record of any unlawful activities and nor had he faced any problems at immigration before being deported. He also said no reason was granted while he was being deported and that the whole episode was handled in an arbitrary manner. He said he was treated like a ‘hardened criminal’ and ‘marched back and bundled into the same aircraft’ by which he had arrived.
Background
Close to a year ago, in March 2022, anthropologist Filippo Osella was deported on arrival at a Kerala airport and no reasons were give. Osella had been attend a conference in Thiruvananthapuram. No reasons had been provided at the time.
When asked by the media if he was given any reason for his deportation, Osella said, “The immigration personnel and the immigration supervisor were extremely unfriendly and impolite. They refused to explain why I was not allowed in, and deported. Only said that it was ‘a government of India decision/order’.”
The conference, which was scheduled from Friday to Sunday, covers various aspects pertaining to coastal communities in Kerala. It is jointly organised by Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Centre for Development Studies (CDS Thiruvananthapuram), Inter University Center for Alternative Economics, University of Kerala, and the University of Sussex.
The organisers of the conference too were surprised by the news of Osella’s deportation, wondering what could be the reason behind such move, and pointed out that there wasn’t any “politically sensitive” topic drafted for the conference.
“Neither the conference nor the organisers had anything politically sensitive as it is jointly organised with government agencies, universities and some of the top academics specialised in the area,” said one of the organisers.
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