UK academic claims OCI cancelled over 'anti-India activities'

LONDON: A British Kashmiri Professor of Politics and International Relations at London’s University of Westminster has claimed her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) has been cancelled by the Indian authorities over alleged “anti-India activities”.

Nitasha Kaul took to social media on Sunday to post details of the communication received from the government of India, which accuses her of being motivated by “malice and complete disregard for facts or history”.

It follows her previous posts from February when the academic had hit back on being denied entry to India to reportedly attend a conference in Bengaluru. “Know that arresting academics in India for speaking against hate is closely tied to removing access to country and family for academics outside India,” Kaul said in her post on X. “Idea is to send a signal — don’t dare challenge us within and don’t dare analyse what’s going on to convey to audiences outside,” she said.

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Overseas Citizen of India vs Government of India

Under the OCI rules stipulated by the High Commission of India in London, the government of India can cancel an OCI registration of any individual on certain specific grounds including “if it is satisfied... the overseas citizen of India has shown disaffection towards the Constitution of India as established by law”.

An excerpt of the cancellation document purportedly received from the government of India, Kaul has been accused of “numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms” that target “India and its institutions on the matters of India’s sovereignty”.

Kaul, Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster, has condemned the revocation of her OCI as a “bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression” and claimed that she has been punished for “scholarly work on anti-minority and anti-democratic policies”. The High Commission of India in London has been approached for a statement.