India's move to grant the visas was seen as a retaliatory measure after China blocked the listing of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist at the UN.
India on Thursday denied having come under any pressure to refuse visas to Chinese dissidents, who were to attend a conference in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh from Thursday.
It is believed that India decided to withdrew the visas granted to exiled Uighur-Chinese leader Dolkun Isa and two other activists, Ray Wong and Lu Jinghua, due to Chinese pressure. Reports also said that the organisers and sponsors have been asked to keep the conference a low-key affair, lest it rattles the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Beijing next month.
India's move to grant the visas was seen as a retaliatory measure after China blocked the listing of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist at the UN.
Defending the decision, government sources said Dolkun Isa had "suppressed" facts and Wong and Jinghua's documents were illegible and there was inconsistency with the purpose of visit. "Isa applied for a tourist visa under the electronic travel authorisation system. He was accordingly granted the visa. After obtaining the visa, Isa stated publicly that he was coming to attend a conference in India. A fact which was suppressed in the visa form and something that a tourist visa does not permit. Further more it came to the notice of authorities that Isa was subject of an Interpol Red Corner notice," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Asked if China had raised its objection on granting of visa to Isa by India, he said, "They made their position clear that Isa has an Interpol Red Corner Notice and all the countries which are members of Interpol should honour that."
However, the spokesperson rejected the charge that visa revocation was done under Chinese pressure, saying the facts were "suppressed" by Isa and that led to revocation of his visa and no other "meaning" should be read into the Indian action.
Earlier reports reaching here stated that the government has barred another Chinese exile -- Tiananmen Square activist Lu Jinghua -- from boarding a flight to attend a meeting in Dharamsala. A pro-democracy activist of Hongkong Ray Wong was also denied visa. Lu now living in the US had gone to the check-in desk for the Air India flight 102 at JFK international airport in New York, but was informed that her visa had been refused. In her Facebook post, she demanded an explanation for her e-visa not being accepted, which she had got a week ago. "They took my (American) passport and made a long international long distance call to India. After 20 minutes, my passport was returned and informed sorry rejected," she wrote. She further added that from the airport, she drove straight to the Indian consulate in New York. "The staff there told me that visa processing did not take place here and that I should go to the visa centre," she wrote. But at the centre a guard told her the office was closed.
Sources here clarified that as far as Jinghua is concerned, her documents were illegible and there was inconsistency with the purpose of her visit. "In so far, as Wong is concerned, there was data inconsistency in his documents. As such visas were no issued to both these individuals. Question of revocation does not arise," the sources added. Visa policies are very clear and if a bonafide applicant obtains visa based on furnishing correct information and after following due process, there will be no cause for any revocation, Swaroop said in his weekly press briefing.
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