In yet another incident exposing India’s growing intolerance toward academic freedom, globally acclaimed scholar of Hindi language and literature, Professor Francesca Orsini, was deported from Delhi airport last night despite holding a valid five-year e-visa.
Orsini — Professor Emerita at SOAS, University of London, and author of the acclaimed book The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism — was denied entry without any explanation after arriving from Hong Kong. “I am being deported. That is all I know,” Orsini told Indian media before being placed on a return flight. Her deportation marks yet another case of arbitrary academic exclusion under the Modi regime, which has repeatedly targeted foreign researchers perceived as critical of its policies.
In recent years, several international academics have been denied entry to India despite valid documents. Among them are British anthropologist Filippo Osella and architecture professor Lindsay Bremner, both deported in 2022 without explanation, as well as UK-based Kashmiri academic Dr. Nitasha Kaul, whose OCI card was later revoked after she was barred at Bengaluru airport. Similarly, Sweden-based scholar Professor Ashok Swain, known for his social media criticism of Hindutva politics, had his OCI card canceled before securing legal relief from the Delhi High Court.
