Nine French tourists were detained for several hours by the police in Bihar’s Nawada district on Sunday for “taking part in political activities” and then asked to leave Bihar immediately, though they had valid travel documents.
Five male and four female tourists from France, aged between 23 and 45 years, were picked up from Qadirganj in Bihar’s southern Nawada district when they were attending a public meeting of thousands of dalits and the poor on Saturday noon. The meeting was presided over by Gandhian activist and National Land Reforms Council member P.V. Rajagopal as part of his ongoing Jan Satyagraha Samvad Yatra.
Nawada district magistrate Debesh Shera had reportedly ordered the detention of the nine tourists. “The DM said foreigners visiting India on tourist visas are prohibited from taking part in political activity,” said a police officer. The tourists were lodged at the Circuit House even after their visas and passports were found to be valid. “The police disrupted the meeting going on in Gandhian way and picked up the foreigners, who had come to meet me. I was saddened to see armed policemen surrounding the poor dalits and forcibly stopping the speech of dalit leader Kapileshwar Ram. It was all very unconstitutional,” said Mr Rajagopal. They were released on Sunday only after Mr Rajagopal sat on a protest demanding their release when news came about a leaking gas cylinder threatening their lives at the Circuit House. The nine tourists were reportedly sent to Patna with police escort and asked to leave Bihar immediately. Both the Nawada DM and SP S.L. Das declined to speak on the matter.