Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to investigate well-known anthropologist Prof Filippo Osella’s deportation from the Thiruvananthapuram airport last week, writing that India “has a rich tradition of welcoming foreign scholars and social scientists” in a letter to Modi on Wednesday.
Mr. Vijayan stated in his letter to Modi that the problem should be treated with the seriousness it merits, and that the prime minister should issue directions to prevent such incidences.
Mr. Vijayan said that Osella, professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at University of Sussex, United Kingdom, had come to attend a seminar at Cochin University of Science and Technology. “Our country has a rich tradition of welcoming foreign scholars and social scientists, who showed interest in conducting extensive field studies in various places covering diverse aspects of our social life and economy. These scholars have produced valuable research publications. We need to continue this tradition of being friendly and welcoming to scholars. It is distressful that a reputed scholar like Prof Osella had to face deportation at Thiruvananthapuram airport when he arrived to participate in a seminar in Kochi,” wrote Mr. Vijayan.
In an email to The Indian Express after his deportation on March 24, Osella stated he was denied admission by Indian authorities without reason. When contacted, an immigration officer at the Thiruvananthapuram airport’s Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) indicated the reason for Osella’s deportation may be revealed. “As per directives from higher officials, he was denied entrance.” He stated that “no cause can be revealed.”
Osella is a specialist in Kerala society and has conducted extensive research for over 30 years in the state, mapping its social and cultural transformation.
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