Visa not extended, Australian journalist leaves India ‘abruptly’
The chief of bureau of Australia’s state-run news outlet in New Delhi has stated that she had to leave India “abruptly” after government ocials denied her a visa-extension. The public announcement by Avani Dias, the journalist, came after she and her team from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) were questioned by an of¨cer from the Criminal Intelligence Department when they were producing a programme on the Indian government’s alleged targeted assassination of pro-Khalistan separatists in Western countries. Sources here have described her version as “misleading”.
“Last week, I had to leave India abruptly. The Modi Government told me my visa extension would be denied, saying my reporting ‘crossed a line’. After Australian Government intervention, I got a mere two-month extension…less than 24 hours before my ªight. We were also told my election accreditation would not come through because of an Indian Ministry directive,” Ms. Dias said in a post on X.
‘Mother of democracy’ “We left on day one of voting in the national election in what Modi calls ‘the Mother of democracy’,” said Ms. Dias in the post.
The Australian journalist was a foreign national working in New Delhi as the bureau chief of ABC on a J1 (Journalist) class visa. Her visa was due to expire on April 20 and she had applied for an extension on 1 January.
However, the process of renewal of her Indian visa coincided with ABC’s coverage of the situation in Punjab. The Hindu has learned that Ms. Dias and her crew were “intimidated and pressured” by government ocials.