By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, April 27: Following what many referred to as a ‘U-turn’ by India in revoking Germany based Uyghur leader Dolkun Isa’s visa, the meeting to be participated by representatives of the exile Tibetan community and the visiting Uyghur leaders delegation is now set to take place behind closed doors with no media coverage.
The meeting is to be held from April 28 to May 1 in Dharamshala where Dolkun was until recently officially cleared to attend. The rescinding of the Uyghur leader’s visa was described as an “egg on the face” scenario by the president of Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, Jayadeva Ranade. “It is counterproductive and sends the wrong signal, regardless of how the original visa was issued,” Ranade said.
Here in Dharamshala where the meeting is to take place, organizers have requested the media not to attend or even cover the event. The e-mail sent by the organizers mentioned, “Media coverage could potentially have more harm than help and could lead to difficulty and even an impediment to the future activities” of the organizing coalition of four nongovernmental organizations. The pressure on the organizers from a higher authority was apparent as the press was first invited to cover and then requested not to cover the event or even attend the proceedings.
Issuing visa to the Uyghur leader was labeled a reactionary and even a bold move by India against China’s intervention to block terror outfit Chief Masood Azar in the UN sanctions list for illicit terrorists. Isa Dolkun, who was spoken in the same light as terror outfit chief Massod Azhar by China, argued, “I also reject any comparison or association to China’s recent veto by the UN security council sanctions committee of Pakistani militant leader, Masood Azhar. Such an unjustifiable comparison seeks only to delegitimize my decades of impassioned work as a strictly non-violent campaigner for Uyghur rights.”
