UK Academic Of Indian Origin Stripped Of OCI Status For Alleged Anti-India Activities
The Government of India has revoked the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status of UK-based academic Nitasha Kaul, citing her alleged involvement in activities deemed hostile to India's interests. The cancellation comes approximately one year after she was denied entry at Bengaluru airport despite having been invited to speak at a convention organized by the Karnataka state government.
According to the official notice shared by Kaul on social media, the government determined that she had been "indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The document further stated that through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities" across international forums and social media platforms, she "regularly target[s] India and its institutions on the matters of India's sovereignty."
Kaul, who serves as a faculty member in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster, described the action as "a bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" that punishes her for scholarly work critical of what she characterized as "anti-minority and anti-democratic policies" under the current administration.
The academic, a Kashmiri Pandit who completed her undergraduate studies at Delhi University's prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce before earning advanced degrees from Hull University in the UK, has been at the center of political controversy in India. When she was deported last year, she claimed immigration officials made "informal references" to her criticism of the RSS as justification, while Karnataka's BJP unit countered by labeling her a "Pakistani sympathiser" and criticized the Congress-led state government for inviting her.
This case highlights ongoing tensions surrounding academic freedom, citizenship rights, and the boundaries of acceptable political criticism in contemporary India.
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