Papers in India have criticised the authorities' decision to stop an activist of global campaign group Greenpeace from flying to London.
Priya Pillai was due to brief British MPs on how a proposed coal mine by a UK-based company was threatening the livelihoods of local villagers.
Greenpeace has alleged that she was refused permission to board her flight by immigration officers on Sunday.
Ms Pillai said in a statement that she had a valid visa but was barred from boarding the aircraft by immigration officials who stamped her passport with the word "offload".
"Today my right to freedom of movement has been infringed and there was an attempt to treat me like a criminal," she said.
Some papers see the decision anti-democratic and believe that the government needs to be more tolerant to "alternative voices".
"The government's barring of Greenpeace-India campaigner Priya Pillai from boarding a flight to London lays bare a deepening anti-democratic streak in its approach to alternative voices, dissenting opinion and activism," says the Deccan Herald in an editorial.
The paper adds that "the road from intolerance to authoritarian is a short and slippery one".
14/01/15 BBC
Priya Pillai was due to brief British MPs on how a proposed coal mine by a UK-based company was threatening the livelihoods of local villagers.
Greenpeace has alleged that she was refused permission to board her flight by immigration officers on Sunday.
Ms Pillai said in a statement that she had a valid visa but was barred from boarding the aircraft by immigration officials who stamped her passport with the word "offload".
"Today my right to freedom of movement has been infringed and there was an attempt to treat me like a criminal," she said.
Some papers see the decision anti-democratic and believe that the government needs to be more tolerant to "alternative voices".
"The government's barring of Greenpeace-India campaigner Priya Pillai from boarding a flight to London lays bare a deepening anti-democratic streak in its approach to alternative voices, dissenting opinion and activism," says the Deccan Herald in an editorial.
The paper adds that "the road from intolerance to authoritarian is a short and slippery one".
14/01/15 BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment