New Delhi: Foreign journalists who have been based in India have been taking to Twitter over the past few days to claim that the government has been barring the re-entry of those who travelled abroad either before or during the Covid pandemic.
The issue was first brought to light on 11 August when Amy Kazmin, the Financial Times’ South Asia Bureau chief, wrote in an article that the Narendra Modi government was not granting re-entry of resident foreign journalists and was suspending their visas once they left India.
“Many Delhi-based foreign correspondents who travelled abroad earlier — to care for ageing parents, attend a funeral or other personal reasons — are now stranded overseas, their pleas to return rebuffed,” she said.
A day later, Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor further highlighted the matter on Twitter. “Shocked to learn from @amykazmin that India does not grant re-entry privileges to resident foreign journalists, whose visas are suspended if they leave India. Many Delhi-based foreign correspondents are stranded overseas. Reflects poorly on our democracy & respect for free press,” he posted Wednesday.
Shocked to learn from @amykazmin that India does not grant re-entry privileges to resident foreign journalists, whose visas are suspended if they leave India. Many Delhi-based foreign correspondents are stranded overseas. Reflects poorly on our democracy & respect for free press.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 12, 2020
The Washington Post India bureau chief Joanna Slater also posted about it on Twitter, and said this was an easy problem for External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to fix. “For unknown reasons, India is making it exceedingly difficult for foreign journalists to deal with family crises back home during the pandemic. My heart goes out to @AmyKazmin and others. This is an easy one to fix, @DrSJaishankar.”
For unknown reasons, India is making it exceedingly difficult for foreign journalists to deal with family crises back home during the pandemic. My heart goes out to @AmyKazmin and others. This is an easy one to fix, @DrSJaishankar. More here: https://t.co/IR4a855KK8 pic.twitter.com/npAHBwb59q
— Joanna Slater (@jslaternyc) August 11, 2020
ThePrint reached out to the spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs via calls and text messages but received no response till the time of publishing this report.
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesperson Nitin D. Wakankar, however, told ThePrint over the phone that he would respond after speaking to the higher authorities concerned in the ministry.
However, a source from the ministry said that a proposal to allow J visa holders — the visa issued to foreign journalists — back into India is currently under consideration.
On 11 March, the government had suspended for a month visas of foreign nationals except diplomatic, UN/international organisations, employment and project visas, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This list did not include the J visa given to foreign journalists travelling to India for work or for tourism. The visa is usually granted for three months and can be renewed accordingly.
In subsequent orders relaxing the suspension, overseas citizens of India (OCI), foreign businessmen coming on a business visa and foreign engineering, managerial, design or other specialists were allowed to enter India.
However, a 2 August order reiterated a 5 May order that said all suspended visas remain so until prohibition on international travel of passengers from/to India is lifted by the Government of India.
Also read: India’s visa suspension over coronavirus could cost travel, tourism sector Rs 8,500 crore
Suspended visas lead to suspended lives
A senior foreign media journalist working in Delhi had left the country with family early this April due to personal reasons. Now, with her visa suspended, she is stuck in the United Kingdom. “My husband has a business visa and therefore can come back to India, but because I have a J-visa, I am not allowed back to India,” she told ThePrint.
The journalist and her family had moved to India in 2018. For her two children, she said, Delhi is home. “We pay taxes here, my children go to school here… this entire time away from Delhi has been very destabilising for my children.”
She added that she had expected the visa suspensions to be lifted with the setting up of air bubbles, i.e., specific air routes allowing travel.
As she waits to return, the family has been moving from one AirBnB property to another in London. Since her job requires coordinating the news coming out of India, she has to wake up very early due to the time difference.
“This is very unusual to happen in a democracy,” she said.
Another foreign journalist ThePrint spoke to asked why foreign journalists were being excluded from returning to the country when almost every category of persons, “be it OCI card holders and diplomats, were being allowed back”.
“They aren’t even that big a number,” said the journalist, who is currently based in Delhi.
Speaking to ThePrint, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) of South Asia, S. Venkat Narayan said most journalists who went abroad during the lockdown expected to return to India through the air bubbles.
“We have taken up the matter and reached out to both the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in late June to look into the matter to allow people with J-visas back into India.”
Narayan said he got a WhatApp message from the office of IT Minister Prakash Javadekar Monday explaining that the external affairs ministry had reached out to the MHA on the issue and that the latter would be making an announcement on it very soon.
“I am optimistic that people holding J-visas will soon be allowed in,” said Narayan.
A third foreign journalist, working in India for an American publication, told ThePrint that at least 14 journalists are stuck abroad, waiting for India to allow re-entry.
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Mota bhai playing the art of war everywhere