Indian immigration authorities have barred Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International in India, from travelling to the United States because of an order issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over a case against the rights body’s India office in 2019.
A CBI official confirmed to Al Jazeera that Patel was on the CBI’s “look-out circular”, which prevents a person wanted by law enforcement agencies from travelling abroad. The official, who did not want to be named, refused to comment further.
“Stopped from leaving India at Bangalore airport. CBI officer called to say I am on the look-out circular because of the case [the] Modi government has filed against Amnesty International India,” Patel, 51, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
Patel was supposed to visit some US universities to deliver lectures after his passport, which was impounded in connection with another case, was returned to him on the order of a local court in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In one of his tweets, Patel shared the court’s ruling which allows him to travel to the US between March 1 and May 30.
‘Climate of harassment, intimidation’
Amnesty International on Wednesday said Indian authorities must immediately lift the arbitrary travel ban imposed on Patel.
“Denying Aakar’s right to freedom of movement to prevent him from exercising his freedom of expression is an alarming manifestation of the Indian government’s mounting crackdown on human rights defenders and activists,” said Kyle Ward, Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“Operating in a climate of harassment, intimidation, interference and constant surveillance is unacceptable, but has unfortunately become routine for human rights activists in India.”
Last week, prominent Indian journalist and activist Rana Ayyub was also barred from boarding her flight to London where she was scheduled to address an event on the “targeting of journalists in the world’s largest democracy”.
Ayyub, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, was allowed to fly abroad this week after a court intervened.
