Opinion British scholar Filippo Osella’s deportation from Kerala raises disturbing questions of state highhandedness

The deportation of Filippo Osella, professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the University of Sussex, from Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday on the orders of the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) is inexplicable and disturbing. Osella, an internationally renowned scholar who had arrived in India on invitation with a valid visa for an academic seminar, was summarily told to leave the country without any explanation. The incident is embarrassing for a country that claims to protect free speech.

Osella has been working on Kerala for nearly three decades and is widely published. He had arrived in Thiruvananthapuram to present the findings of a research project that had evolved through collaboration among various prestigious public institutions including the University of Sussex, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University Interdisciplinary Centre, and Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. The project sought to investigate the impact of climate change on the social and economic conditions of Kerala’s coastal communities and propose solutions to ameliorate their plight. In the past, he has published on reforms within Kerala’s Islamic traditions and the relationship between religious practice, politics and economic action. He had a valid research visa and a return ticket well within the visa period. What, then, provoked the FRRO’s extreme reaction? Osella and the universities that were hosting him continue to be in the dark about the reasons behind the deportation order even after four days. An FRRO official told this newspaper that “he was denied entry as per orders from higher officials”. Action against a scholar with a distinguished academic record must necessarily be backed by irrefutable reasons that need to be clearly spelt out; stonewalling questions should not be seen as an option.

Advertisement

The state government has ambitious plans to develop Kerala as an education hub. A vision document introduced at the state conference of the ruling party, CPM, envisages attracting private capital for the purpose. The state has several of the attributes required to emerge as a knowledge destination and centre of learning. Highhanded state action like arbitrary deportation of scholars would certainly disrupt such aspirations. The state government should step in and urgently clear the air because it has much to lose.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on March 26, 2022 under the title ‘Spell it out’.