Francesca Orsini, a prominent scholar of Hindi and a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, was denied entry into India on Monday, despite holding a valid five-year visa. The refusal occurred after Orsini arrived in Delhi from Hong Kong, with no reasons given for the denial.
Siddharth Varadarajan, a senior journalist and founder editor of The Wire, confirmed the incident on social media platform X, stating, “I can confirm that Prof Francesca Orsini, scholar of Hindi at SOAS, London University, has been stopped from entering India tonight even though she has a valid 5 year e-visa.” Orsini was reportedly informed that she would not be permitted to enter the country.
In a statement to The Wire, Orsini said, “I am being deported. That is all I know.” Currently a professor emerita of Hindi and South Asian Literature at SOAS, Orsini has also studied at the Central Institute of Hindi and Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She completed her PhD at SOAS, which is part of the University of London.
Orsini’s published works include East of Delhi: Multilingual Literary Culture and World Literature, Print and Pleasure: Popular Literature and Entertaining Fictions in Colonial North India, and The Hindi Public Sphere 1920-1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism.
Notable figures in the literary community expressed their dismay over her deportation. Author Ramachandra Guha remarked on X, “Professor Francesca Orsini is a great scholar of Indian literature, whose work has richly illuminated our understanding of our own cultural heritage. To deport her without reason is the mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid, and even stupid.”
Academic Arpita Das also weighed in, stating, “What an absolute shame! Orsini is a legendary scholar of Hindi/Hindustani; does the Hindi belt-Hindutva lot find her theories and writings too nuanced for their banal, trashy convenience?”
The denial of entry to Francesca Orsini, a respected figure in the field of Hindi literature, raises questions about the circumstances surrounding her deportation.
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