India 'cancels' visas of activists slated to attend meeting of Chinese dissidents

Days after New Delhi cancelled the visa granted to Uyghur political leader Dolkun Isa, media reports suggest that the Indian government has cancelled the visas of two prominent activists who were supposed to travel to Dharamsala to attend a high-profile meeting of Chinese dissidents and exiled leaders. [caption id=“attachment_2754832” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Lu Jinghua. Image courtesy Twitter[/caption] Lu Jinghua, a prominent Tienanmen activist and Ray Wong, a Hong Kong based activist have claimed that their electronic visas were found to have been cancelled. “At the airport, the Air India staff simply told me that I couldn’t board as my visa was cancelled,” Lu told India Today. According to the same report, MEA officials claimed that the two activists had applied for a tourist visa, while a special permission is required for attending conferences. Not providing complete information can also lead to cancellation of E-visas, the officials said. ANI quoted sources as saying that Lu Jinghua’s documents were ‘illegible.’ Further, the sources are also reported to have said that visas were not issued to both the leaders, and so the question of revoking it did not arise.

Lu Jinghua's docs were illegible& there was inconsistency with purpose of her visit,in Ray Wong's docs,there was data inconsistency: Sources

— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2016

This cancellation comes at a time when the Modi government is under fire for allegedly buckling under Chinese pressure and revoking the visa issued to Dolkun Isa, a prominent Uyghur leader. “What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is the due obligation of relevant countries,” PTI quoted the Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying.