JOIN USAnti-CAA protest: Norwegian lady asked to leave India
Close on the heels of deportation of a German student of IIT Madras for taking part in anti-CAA protest, a 71-year old Norwegian tourist in Kerala has been asked to leave India as she took part in an anti-CAA protest in Kochi and also posted comments about the tensions in India and about CAA on the social media.
Janne-Mette Johansson, a resident of Sweden, had been on a visit to India over the last few weeks. She reached Kochi last week and participated in the Long March organised by various socio-cultural outfits on Dec 23. She also posted pictures on social media.
Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) in Kochi, Mr Anoop Krishna, told DH that since she violated the visa conditions she was asked to leave the country immediately. She would be returning to UAE by Friday evening itself from Kochi. The FRRO also said that a decision on whether to initiate legal action against her or not was yet to be taken.
While Ms Johansson was not available for comments, she made a post on the social media on Friday morning stating that immigration officials asked her to leave India. She also said that she was not given anything in writing.
Sources said that the FRRO may recommend some sort of action against her to bar her entry to India future as she blatantly flouted the visa norms. She was even forced to withdraw the social media post made on Friday morning about the immigration officials action against her.
On Thursday FRRO officials summoned her to the office in Kochi and quizzed about her participation in the long march. She was learnt to have maintained that she just participated out of curiosity and had also taken oral permission from the local police.
However, the FRRO officials could not take in into account. Moreover, she was also found to have made posts about anti-CAA protests during her recent visit to Kolkotta and even made critical remarks about CAA before coming to Kerala.
She was let off by Thursday afternoon but was asked to remain at her hotel room at Fort Kochi itself.
Ms Johansson was learnt to have visited India a couple of times earlier also. She was a nurse and stared frequent travelling after her retirement, sources familiar with the developments said.