Tue Oct 21 16:24:35 UTC 2025: ## Hindi Scholar Denied Entry to India, Government Cites Visa Violations
New Delhi – October 21, 2025 – Francesca Orsini, a London-based Hindi scholar, was deported from Delhi airport early Tuesday morning after being denied entry into India. The government claims Ms. Orsini, an Italian national and Professor Emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, was placed on an immigration blacklist in March 2025 for “violating visa conditions.”
Ms. Orsini, who held a valid five-year tourist e-visa, arrived from Hong Kong after attending a conference in China. Her last visit to India was in October 2024. A senior government official stated that despite holding a tourist visa, Ms. Orsini had “regularly violated” its terms.
The official alleged that during a previous visit in 2024, Ms. Orsini spoke at a university and conducted research while holding a tourist e-visa, actions deemed a breach of the visa’s restrictions. The Italian Embassy in Delhi has yet to comment on the situation.
Ms. Orsini’s academic work focuses on Indian literature and multilingual literary history. She is currently completing a book on the literary history of Awadh and leads a European Research Council funded project, “MULOSIGE,” which explores alternative approaches to world literature from the perspective of North India, the Maghreb, and the Horn of Africa.
The deportation has drawn criticism. Prominent historian Ramachandra Guha condemned the government’s action, stating on social media that deporting “a great scholar of Indian literature” without reason is “the mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid, and even stupid.”
This incident follows a similar case earlier this year. In February 2024, Kashmiri-origin British academic Nitasha Kaul was denied entry to India, and her Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card was subsequently cancelled in May.
The government maintains that blacklisting individuals for violating visa conditions is standard global practice. However, critics argue that these actions stifle academic freedom and limit intellectual exchange. The incident raises concerns about the government’s approach to foreign scholars researching India.
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