This Article is From Mar 07, 2012

Indian Embassy denies Fukushima survivor a visa

Indian Embassy denies Fukushima survivor a visa

Fukushima plant

New Delhi: A Japanese anti-nuclear activist has been denied visa by Indian authorities after a "mismatch" was detected in her travel document and purpose of visit.

Maya Kobayashi, a survivor of Fukushima nuclear tragedy in Japan last year, was due to visit India on the invitation of Greenpeace Foundation to share her experience with the communities living close to the proposed nuclear power plants.

The Indian embassy in Japan had granted a business visa to Ms Maya on February 15 with the information that she has been invited here to attend events and people here, a Greenpeace India release said.

When asked about the reasons for denial of visa to Ms Maya, official sources here said there was a "mismatch" between the visa type and the stated purpose of visit.

"It is normal not to grant visas if there is a mismatch between the purpose of the visit and the kind of entry travel document one tries to obtain," a source said.

Ms Maya, a resident of Fukushima in Japan, is one of the five survivors of the nuclear tragedy who visited around a dozen countries to share their experience, but "India is the only country to revoke the visa," Greenpeace's nuclear campaigner Karuna Raina said in a release.

The fact that 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, she added.

Meanwhile Ms Maya in a statement said, "I was looking forward to coming to India and sharing my experience with people who are fighting against the dangers of nuclear energy."

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