The Indian government has cancelled a visa granted to Maya Kobayashi, a Fukushima survivor due to visit India and share her experiences with communities who would be affected by the proposed nuclear power plants, including the Koodankulam Nuclear Project.
She was visiting India on the invitation of Greenpeace. The Indian embassy had granted Kobayashi a business visa on February 15th and the information conveyed to them was that she had been invited to “attend events and meet people.”
“Five survivors from Fukushima visited around a dozen countries and India is the only country to revoke a visa,” said Karuna Raina, a nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace India.
The cancellation comes in the heels of the crackdown on NGOs fuelling protests against the Koodankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu. 12 more NGOs are presently under the scrutiny of security agencies who are scanning their funds. A discreet watch is also being kept on 77 NGOs where their requests for visas will be scrutinised, security officials said. Home secretary R.K. Singh, meanwhile, recently denied that the government has ordered any ‘’probe’’ against the 77 NGOs. “We are looking into the accounts of 12-13 Indian NGOs with regard to allegation of funds diversion,” Mr Singh had said. Kobyashi was living in Fukushima city on March 11, when the disaster happened.
As the disaster unfolded, she helped save children from radiation as part of a network of local mothers.