The Indian government barred Tiananmen Square activist Lu Jinghua from coming into the country for a meeting in Dharamsala on Thursday, India Today reported. Lu was to attend a meeting for those exiled from China and other dissidents in the town scheduled for the same day. On Monday, Dolkun Isa, an exiled Uyghur-Chinese leader, said he was denied the permit for the same event.
Lu, who is an American citizen, told India Today that she had received an email confirmation of her visa and taken the printout to the airport. However, while trying to board an Air India flight to Dharamsala from New York, she was told her visa had been cancelled. She claimed she was not told why such a step had been taken.
Similarly, on Monday, Isa, the exiled Uyghur-Chinese leader, had said he received an email stating that his visa had been cancelled. After India decided to allow him to attend the conference, China reacted sharply saying that Dolkun was a terrorist tagged with a red notice by Interpol and the Chinese police. The two denials have raised questions about whether India is bowing down to Chinese pressure to clamp down on dissenting voices.
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