Shashi Tharoor backs Swapan Dasgupta’s criticism of India over deportation of UK scholar Francesca Orsini

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday endorsed BJP leader and columnist Swapan Dasgupta’s sharp critique of the government over its decision to deny entry to renowned UK-based Hindi scholar Professor Francesca Orsini.

Citing Dasgupta’s column in The Times of India, Tharoor argued that while visa rules must be upheld, questioning the academic credentials of foreign scholars or deporting them over minor technicalities damages India’s global reputation far more than any critical academic writing.

“Rolling out an ‘unwelcome mat’ at our airport immigration counters… is doing us far more damage as a country, a culture and an internationally credible nation,” Tharoor wrote, calling for “a thicker skin, a broader mind and a bigger heart” from officialdom.

Dasgupta’s piece, titled ‘Orsini furore shows perils of visa vigilantes’, said the move against Orsini — a leading historian of Hindi and Urdu literature and Professor Emerita at SOAS, University of London — risks creating the image of a nation shutting its doors to academic exchange, especially since she has been a critic of the current government.

Orsini was deported from Delhi airport last month over alleged visa violations.