(TibetanReview.net, Apr30, 2016) – India has cited technical reasons for denying visa to Chinese activists invited to attend a conference at Dharamshala on democracy in China. The conference, being organized by the US-based Initiatives for China, campaigns for the country’s transition to democracy and the rights of minorities.
The visa of Ms Lu Jinghua, who had participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and who now lives in the US, was denied because her application was illegible and she had applied for a tourist visa that doesn’t cover participating in a conference, blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/ Apr 29 quoted an unnamed senior Indian official as saying.
Lu has expressed “100 percent” certainty that the Chinese government had pressured India to deny her a visa, reported ndtv.com Apr 29. The activist has said she tried to contact the Indian consulate and visa office but they did not respond and phone calls on the number provided on the visa application went to voicemail. She has said that she had never been denied visa by any other country.
The application of Hong Kong-based democracy activist Ray Wong had “data inconsistencies,” the official was further quoted as saying, declining to elaborate.
Earlier in the week, India rescinded the visa of Dolkun Isa, the chairman of Munich-based World Uyghur Congress which campaigns for rights of the Uyghurs of East Turkestan (Xinjiang) which, like Tibet, is under Chinese occupation rule.
The conference is being held from Apr 28 to May 1.