British MP Debbie Abrahams — at the forefront of creating opinion against India on the Kashmir issue after the special status to the State under Article 370 was abolished — was stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi on Monday and deported to Dubai.
The Labour Party parliamentarian, also the chairperson of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir in Britain, was not allowed entry into India and was told upon her arrival at the airport that her e-visa had been rejected.
The British MP said in a statement that she arrived in Delhi on Monday morning and was informed that her e-visa, which was valid till October 2020, had been cancelled. Countering her claims, the Union Home Ministry spokesperson said the British parliamentarian had been duly informed that her visa was cancelled and she arrived in Delhi despite that.
Reacting to Home Ministry’s clarification, she said she had “not received any emails before February 13”. After that, she had been travelling and was away from office. In her statement, Abrahams said she had presented herself at the immigration desk along with her documents and e-visa.
“...The official looked at his screen and started shaking his head. Then he told me my visa was rejected, took my passport and disappeared for about 10 minutes. When he came back he was very rude and aggressive shouting at me to ‘come with me’. I told him not to speak to me like that and was then taken to a cordoned off area marked as a Deportee Cell. He then ordered me to sit down and I refused. I didn’t know what they might do or where else they may take me, so I wanted people to see me,” the British MP said.
The immigration officer disappeared again, she said, adding that she phoned her sister-in-law’s cousin who she was going to be staying with. “Kai got in touch with the British High Commission and he tried to find out what was going on,” she wrote on Twitter. She said later several immigration officials came to her but none of them knew why her e-visa was cancelled. “Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didn’t know and was really sorry about what had happened.”
The British MP said she was waiting for her deportation. “So now I am just waiting to be deported ... Unless the Indian Government has a change of heart. I’m prepared to let the fact that I’ve been treated like a criminal go, and I hope they will let me visit my family and friends,” she said before being deported to Dubai in the evening.
According to senior officials, she was well aware that her e-visa was cancelled and tried to test her fortunes by landing from Dubai. “From her statements it is clear that she was caught by Immigration officials after checking the computer. This itself shows that her e-visa was cancelled and the computer showed it,” said senior officials from the Bureau Immigration.