The Crossbill Team
Renowned Hindi scholar and professor emerita at SOAS, University of London, Francesca Orsini, was stopped from entering India on the night of October 21 despite holding a valid five-year e-visa. Immigration authorities at Delhi airport informed her that she was being deported immediately, though no reason was provided for the decision.
Orsini, best known for her acclaimed 2002 work The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism and several other influential academic studies, had arrived in Delhi from Hong Kong after attending an academic conference in China.
A resident of London, Orsini was reportedly visiting India to meet friends and had last travelled to the country in October 2024. She would now have to make her own arrangements to return home.
Her deportation adds to a growing list of foreign scholars denied entry to India in recent years, even when travelling with valid visas or academic clearances. In March 2022, British anthropologist Filippo Osella was deported from Thiruvananthapuram airport without explanation, followed later that year by British architecture professor Lindsay Bremner. In 2024, UK-based Kashmiri academic Nitasha Kaul was turned away at Bengaluru airport, despite being invited to a state government conference; her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card was later revoked.
The government also cancelled the OCI card of Ashok Swain, a Sweden-based academic critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party, though he secured relief through the Delhi High Court.
During the Covid pandemic in 2021, the Modi government had sought to limit online participation of foreign scholars in academic conferences, mandating prior political clearance for such invitations.
Though the number of such incidents remains limited, academics say the arbitrary nature of these deportations is having a chilling effect on international scholarly engagement with India.
Reacting to the deportation, historian Ramachandra Guha said it was “a mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid and even stupid.”
He wrote on X, “Professor Francesca Orsini is a great scholar of Indian literature, whose work has richly illuminated our understanding of our own cultural heritage. To deport her without reason is the mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid and even stupid.”
Apoorvanand, professor of Hindi at Delhi University, described the move as “shocking” and “a direct attack on scholarship.”
He said, “Shocking that Francesca Orsini, a friend and renowned scholar of Hindi has been stopped from entering India despite valid papers. Her visits to India have been entirely for scholarly purposes. This is a direct attack on scholarship.”
Historian and novelist Mukul Kesavan said the action reflected the Modi government’s “visceral hostility” to academics.
“The visceral hostility of the NDA government to scholars and scholarship is something to behold. A government ideologically committed to Hindi has banned Francesca Orsini. You can’t make this up,” he posted on X.
The deportation comes just days after a global report warned that India has become a prominent example of shrinking academic freedom, with universities and political groups increasingly curbing free expression on campuses.
The report cited growing administrative control, censorship, and instances of violence against academics and students.
It noted that universities now often require prior approval for protests, discussions, or even slogans, while police crackdowns on student demonstrations have become more frequent. At Sri Venkateswara University, Professor Chengaiah, a Dalit rights advocate, was beaten by Hindu nationalist groups who accused him of promoting Christianity.
At Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), officials cancelled seminars with Middle Eastern diplomats and dismissed a seminar coordinator. In Udaipur, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh disrupted a film festival, forcing its cancellation.
Together, these incidents, along with Orsini’s deportation, underline the mounting political pressure and growing intolerance surrounding academic freedom and intellectual exchange in India.
Orsini, best known for her acclaimed 2002 work The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism and several other influential academic studies, had arrived in Delhi from Hong Kong after attending an academic conference in China.
A resident of London, Orsini was reportedly visiting India to meet friends and had last travelled to the country in October 2024. She would now have to make her own arrangements to return home.
Her deportation adds to a growing list of foreign scholars denied entry to India in recent years, even when travelling with valid visas or academic clearances. In March 2022, British anthropologist Filippo Osella was deported from Thiruvananthapuram airport without explanation, followed later that year by British architecture professor Lindsay Bremner. In 2024, UK-based Kashmiri academic Nitasha Kaul was turned away at Bengaluru airport, despite being invited to a state government conference; her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card was later revoked.
The government also cancelled the OCI card of Ashok Swain, a Sweden-based academic critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party, though he secured relief through the Delhi High Court.
During the Covid pandemic in 2021, the Modi government had sought to limit online participation of foreign scholars in academic conferences, mandating prior political clearance for such invitations.
Though the number of such incidents remains limited, academics say the arbitrary nature of these deportations is having a chilling effect on international scholarly engagement with India.
Reacting to the deportation, historian Ramachandra Guha said it was “a mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid and even stupid.”
He wrote on X, “Professor Francesca Orsini is a great scholar of Indian literature, whose work has richly illuminated our understanding of our own cultural heritage. To deport her without reason is the mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid and even stupid.”
Apoorvanand, professor of Hindi at Delhi University, described the move as “shocking” and “a direct attack on scholarship.”
He said, “Shocking that Francesca Orsini, a friend and renowned scholar of Hindi has been stopped from entering India despite valid papers. Her visits to India have been entirely for scholarly purposes. This is a direct attack on scholarship.”
Historian and novelist Mukul Kesavan said the action reflected the Modi government’s “visceral hostility” to academics.
“The visceral hostility of the NDA government to scholars and scholarship is something to behold. A government ideologically committed to Hindi has banned Francesca Orsini. You can’t make this up,” he posted on X.
The deportation comes just days after a global report warned that India has become a prominent example of shrinking academic freedom, with universities and political groups increasingly curbing free expression on campuses.
The report cited growing administrative control, censorship, and instances of violence against academics and students.
It noted that universities now often require prior approval for protests, discussions, or even slogans, while police crackdowns on student demonstrations have become more frequent. At Sri Venkateswara University, Professor Chengaiah, a Dalit rights advocate, was beaten by Hindu nationalist groups who accused him of promoting Christianity.
At Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), officials cancelled seminars with Middle Eastern diplomats and dismissed a seminar coordinator. In Udaipur, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh disrupted a film festival, forcing its cancellation.
Together, these incidents, along with Orsini’s deportation, underline the mounting political pressure and growing intolerance surrounding academic freedom and intellectual exchange in India.
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