On Thursday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, emphasised the sovereignty of India's decision-making process regarding the entry of foreign nationals. This statement came in response to the denial of entry to UK-based writer Nitasha Kaul, who recounted her experience on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that she was refused entry at the Bengaluru airport despite being invited by the Karnataka government for a seminar. Kaul alleged that the directive originated from New Delhi and was motivated by her previous writings critical of the RSS. BJP officials branded Kaul as a 'known sympathiser of terrorists,' accusing her of disseminating anti-India sentiments.
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#NitashaKaul #IndiaEntryDenied #MEA #ForeignPolicy #SovereignDecision #UKWriter #VisaDenial #FreedomOfExpression #HumanRights #ImmigrationPolicy #KarnatakaSeminar #BJP #VHP #AmitShah #OCIRevocation #StateSovereignty #PoliticalCriticism #InternationalRelations #BorderControl #ForeignAffairs
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NewsTranscript
00:00 On Thursday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, emphasised
00:06 the sovereignty of India's decision-making process regarding the entry of foreign nationals.
00:11 This statement came in response to the denial of entry to UK-based writer, Natasha Kohl,
00:17 who recounted her experience on X, revealing that she was refused entry at the Bengaluru
00:22 airport despite being invited by the Karnataka government for a seminar.
00:25 Kohl alleged that the directive originated from New Delhi and was motivated by her previous
00:30 writings critical of the RSS.
00:32 BJP officials branded Kohl as a known sympathiser of terrorists, accusing her of disseminating
00:38 anti-India sentiments.
00:41 Denied entry to India for speaking on democratic and constitutional values, I was invited to
00:45 a conference as an esteemed delegate by the government of Karnataka, but Centre refused
00:50 me entry.
00:51 All my documents were valid and current.
00:53 Natasha wrote on X, triggering a war of words between the Congress and the BJP.
00:58 Karnataka VHP leader Girish Bharadwaj, who raised concerns about the Congress government
01:03 in Karnataka inviting Natasha Kohl, has penned a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah
01:07 urging the ministry to revoke Kohl's OCI card.
01:10 Bharadwaj alleged that Kohl frequently visits India with a malicious agenda that contradicts
01:15 the nation's interests.
01:17 He called upon the Union government to instruct all the state administrations to refrain from
01:21 extending invitations to Dr. Kohl for any events in India.
01:25 This specific UK national, Natasha Kohl, arrived in India on 22nd Feb.
01:29 "As you are aware, the entry of foreign nationals into our country is a sovereign
01:32 decision," remarked the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs.
01:36 The Karnataka government had organised a two-day Constitution and National Unity Convention
01:40 2024 on February 24 and 25, to which Kohl was invited as a speaker.
01:45 Reacting to the development, the Karnataka BJP was quick to label the professor an anti-India
01:50 element and a part of what it called a "Break India" brigade, criticising the Karnataka
01:54 government and Chief Minister Siddharam Iyer for extending an invitation to Kohl.
01:58 The BJP also went on to label Kohl a Pakistani sympathiser and posted headings of a couple
02:03 of her writings on X.
02:04 The Saffron Party claimed the Congress government was threatening the unity and integrity of
02:08 India by extending an invitation to the Kashmiri Pandit professor, who has written and spoken
02:12 extensively on Kashmir, Bhutan and other topics.
02:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]