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A Greenpeace International activist was denied entry into India on Saturday as his name reportedly figured in the Home Ministry’s “blacklist”. The incidents comes months after Greenpeace India activist Priya Pillai was “offloaded” from a London-bound flight in January.
Confirming the latest incident, a Home Ministry spokesperson said on Monday: “(Aaron) Gray-Block arrived at Bengaluru airport on June 6 at 2340 hours. His name figured in the blacklist and thus was denied entry.”
Official sources said Gray-Block had earlier campaigned against mining of Mahan coal block (Madhya Pradesh) and had written several articles and blogs criticising the Indian government.
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The Australia-born former journalist lives in the Netherlands and has been associated with Greenpeace International for several years. In a tweet, Gray-Block, a crisis response campaigner, said he was denied entry into India despite having a valid business visa.
Greenpeace India claimed no formal reason was given by immigration officials in Bengaluru for turning back Gray-Block, who was not officially deported. According to the organisation, Gray-Block had flown in from Sydney on Saturday to take part in a series of meetings with staff here.
The NGO claimed that Gray-Block’s passport was seized and he was put on a flight to Kuala Lumpur.
His passport was returned to him after he landed in Kuala Lumpur, said Greenpeace, adding that Gray-Block is now back in Australia.
Greenpeace India was under the scanner for allegedly violating provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
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