French journalist says he has been forced to leave India after Centre denies renewal of work permit

French journalist Sébastien Farcis on Thursday said that he has been forced to leave India by the Central government after working in the country for 13 years.

“On 17th June, I was forced to leave India, a country where I had lived and worked as a journalist for 13 years, as a South Asia correspondent for Radio France Internationale, Radio France, Libération and the Swiss and Belgian public radios,” he said on Thursday.

Farcis added that on March 7 the Ministry of Home Affairs denied the renewal of his journalist permit and no reason was provided for the action. He said that he has tried to appeal against the decision also, but to no avail so far.

He added that the development came as a “big shock” since the Centre had earlier allowed to report from border areas as well.

“It was communicated to me on the eve of the Indian general elections, the largest democratic elections in the world, which I was hence forbidden to cover,” he said. “This appeared to me as an incomprehensible censorship.”

After 13 years working as a correspondent in India, the authorities have denied me a permit to work as a journalist. I have thus been forced to leave the country.
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