India denies visa to two activists, says information not accurate

New Delhi: Days after denying visa to Uyghur activist Dolkun Isa, India has barred two other activists — Lu Jinghua and Ray Wang – from attending a conference in Dharmashala.

Lu, a well known activist, who fled China following the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, said she had been granted a tourist visa to travel from her home in the United States to India. But Lu said Air India officials stopped her at New York's JFK airport from where she was due to fly to India to attend a conference this week in the hill station of Dharamsala, the home of the Dalai Lama.

"They said I'm very sorry, you cannot go," Lu said from New York, adding that she had already received email confirmation of a visa. "I was going to Dharamsala to meet the Dalai Lama so that's the reason why they denied me the visa," she said.

The government, however, clarified that the information provided by both activists were not correct. "As fas as Lu Jinghua's visa is concerned, her documents were illegible and there was inconsistency with the purpose of her visit. Insofar as Ray Wong is concerned, there was data inconsistency in his documents. As such visas were not issued to both these individuals so question of revocation does not arise," a government source said.

Jinghua and Ray Wong, an activist based in Hong Kong, were scheduled to attend the April 28 to May 1 meeting of dissidents and exiles in Himachal Pradesh.

Read: India cancels visa of Chinese dissident Dolkun Isa

According to reports, Lu, who is an American citizen, claimed that she had received an email confirmation of her visa. However, while trying to board an Air India flight to Dharamsala from New York, she was told her visa had been cancelled. She claimed she was not informed about any such step.

Read: Caving in on visa sends bad signal

Similarly, Dolkun Isa, an exiled Uyghur-Chinese leader, said he was denied the permit for the same event, earlier this week. Isa had said he received an email stating that his visa had been cancelled. After India decided to allow him to attend the conference, China reacted sharply saying that Dolkun was a terrorist tagged with a red notice by Interpol and the Chinese police.

Read: India issues visa to Uyghur 'terrorist' Dolkun Isa, China fumes

The three denials have raised questions about whether India is bowing down to Chinese pressure to suppress dissenting voices.