Francesca Orsini, a renowned Hindi scholar, was denied entry at Delhi Airport and sent back despite holding a valid visa, The Wire reported.

On Monday evening, immigration officials at Delhi Airport stopped Francesca Orsini upon her arrival. Despite possessing a valid five-year e-visa, she was informed that she would be deported immediately and instructed to make travel arrangements for her return.

No official reason was provided for the denial of entry; Orsini said she was simply told she was "being deported."

Orsini, best known for her 2002 book The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism, arrived in Delhi late on October 21 via Hong Kong after attending an academic conference in China.

She had planned to visit friends during her trip and had last travelled to India as recently as October 2024, The Wire report said.

Francesca Orsini has dedicated her life to the study of Hindi language and literature. She is Professor Emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where she served with distinction for many years.

Orsini is possibly the fourth scholar who has been denied entry into India despite holding a valid visa, The Wire pointed out.

Reacting to the incident, historian Ramachandra Guha wrote on X, "Professor Francesca Orsini is a great scholar of Indian literature, whose work has richly illuminated our understanding of our own cultural heritage. To deport her without reason is the mark of a government that is insecure, paranoid, and even stupid."

"The visceral hostility of the NDA government to scholars and scholarship is something to behold. A government ideologically committed to Hindi has banned Francesca Orsini. You can't make this up," Historian Mukul Kesavan wrote on X.