By IANS,
Mumbai : Alleging that the Indian government is attempting to stifle criticism, an NGO here said the government has cancelled a visa granted to Maya Kobayashi, a Fukushima survivor from Japan due to visit India.
Kobayashi was scheduled to visit India to share her experiences with communities who will be affected by proposed nuclear power plants, Greenpeace International said here in a statement.
According to the NGO, the Indian embassy had granted Kobayashi a business visa Feb 15 with the information that she had been invited by Greenpeace India to attend events and meet people.
“The fact that the government is going to the extent of cancelling legitimately granted visas clearly shows that they don’t want people from Japan to come to India and share their experience with the people of India. Five survivors from Fukushima visited around a dozen countries and India is the only country to revoke the visa,” said Karuna Raina, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace India.
Kobayashi is a resident of Fukushima city and was present there March 11, last year when the disaster at the Fukushima Daichi plant took place. As the disaster unfolded, she helped save children from radiation as part of a network of local mothers. As it became clear that Fukushima city was badly exposed to radiation, Kobayashi and her husband decided to leave the city for Yonezawa, where they now live in temporary housing.
“I got a call from the Indian Embassy earlier, informing me that my visa is cancelled. On Saturday they sent me an official letter, informing me about the same. I was looking forward to coming to India and sharing my experiences with people who are fighting against the dangers of nuclear energy,” Kobayashi said in a statement.
“The cancellation of her visa is a clear sign that the government is paranoid about allowing people to even share experiences on an issue that affects the safety of millions of Indians,” said Samit Aich, executive director of Greenpeace India.