Norwegian Who Participated in Anti-CAA March Asked to Leave India

Johansson had earlier written on Facebook that she would not be posting on the platform during her stay in India.

Norwegian Janne Mette-Johannson at the protest

(Photo Altered By The Quint)

Janne-Mette Johansson, a Norwegian citizen who reportedly took part in an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in Kochi, took to Facebook on Friday, 27 December, to claim that immigration authorities have asked her to leave India. She had earlier been questioned by officials over her participation in the anti-CAA march.

Meanwhile, the Foreigners Regional Registration Office said that their inquiry had found that she had violated her visa norms, and so she was asked to go back, according to PTI.

In her Facebook post, she said that officials of the Bureau of Immigration came to her hotel and asked her to “Leave the country at once or legal actions would be taken.” She also said that they had refused to give her anything in writing.

This development comes days after the deportation of Jakob Lindenthal, a German student studying in IIT-Madras, for participating in an anti-CAA protest.

Questioning Over Participation in Protest

Johansson, who came to India in October, took part in the march on Monday, the report said. She also took to Facebook to share her experience.

According to a report by The Indian Express, on Thursday, Mette-Johansson was summoned to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Kochi and questioned about her participation in the march.

“She had arrived in India on a tourist visa and she had participated in the protest. So we are enquiring for more details to understand if there was a visa violation. Did she intentionally attend the protest? Or was it out of curiosity? So we’ll take action only after checking those details,” the report quotes Anoop Krishnan, Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, as saying.

‘Will Not Be Posting on FB’

After the enquiry, Johansson had put up a post on Facebook, saying she will not be posting on the social media platform anymore during her stay in India and that it was “time to be private”.

(With inputs from The Indian Express and PTI.)