India cancelled my visa under China’s pressure: Uyghur leader

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“India is a democratic country… China is different. India has freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly. China is a completely dictatorial country. It is normal if China takes such an aggressive position… but India is a democratic country and that’s why India should not listen to China. India has some responsibility to teach a lesson in democracy to the Chinese government,” he said.

“India is an important country in Asia, and has some responsibility to protect the rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans. My expectation is that the Indian government should review its decision. I can understand, and am sorry if I put the Indian government in a difficult situation, but I wish the Indian government reviews its decision on my visa application,” said Isa.

On the home ministry’s argument that his visa was cancelled as he had applied for a tourist visa, Isa said, “Unfortunately, it looks like there is more to this story than may be revealed by the Indian government, as they should have stated this fact in the initial visa denial… Maybe there is some mistake from my side, but when applying online for visa I did not see any category for conference. That is why I chose tourist visa.”

On China labeling him a terrorist and securing an Interpol red corner notice against him, Isa said, “I have been labelled this way by China primarily as a means to delegitimise the human rights work that I do to support the Uyghur community.”

A separate statement released by Isa said, “ I express my disappointment on Indian authorities’ cancellation of my visa… I also reject any comparison or association to China’s recent veto by the UNSC Sanctions Committee of Pakistani militant leader, Masood Azhar. Such an unjustifiable comparison seeks only to delegitimise my decades of impassioned work as a strictly non-violent campaigner for Uyghur rights.”

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