Greenpeace campaigner Priya Pillai plea challenges her offloading from flight in Delhi airport

Pillai, who was offloaded from a London-bound aircraft by immigration officials, was scheduled to make a presentation before British MPs regarding the alleged human rights violations at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh where a proposed coal mining project is “threatening to uproot the lives of the local communities”.

“Priya’s offloading damages the very fabric of democracy. The government cannot afford to have this kind of high-handed attitude towards its civil society. They should work together with India’s robust civil society, rather than feel threatened by it,” said Samit Aich, Executive Director, Greenpeace India.

In a statement, Greenpeace said the activist has claimed that her being denied permission to travel abroad by government agencies was illegal and a violation of her basic right to personal liberty and freedom of speech. It was also a “deliberate attempt to malign her reputation,” it said.