French journalist Vanessa Dougnac leaves India after controversy over OCI card

French journalist Vanessa Dougnac left India on Saturday, saying she could not wait for the outcome of the legal process initiated in the wake of the notice issued by the government regarding the cancellation of her NRI card.

“Today, I am leaving India, the country where I came as a student 25 years ago, and where I have worked for 23 years as a journalist. The place where I got married, raised my son “Nurtured and what I call my home.” Dougnac, South Asia correspondent for French publications La Croix and Le Point, Swiss newspaper Le Temps and Belgian daily Le Soir, said in a statement.

Last month, the Foreigners Regional Registration Office had sent a notice to Dougnac asking why his OCI card should not be cancelled, claiming that he was “not in possession of any special permission required under the Citizenship Act 1955 and the rules/regulations issued thereunder.” Was carrying out non-journalistic activities”.

He said that leaving India was not his choice and was forced by the government which claimed that his articles were “malicious” and harming “the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India”.

The issue of notice to Dougnac also came up in the delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

On January 26, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, in response to a question, had said that France “appreciates” India’s “frame of reference” to look at the matter entirely through the prism of compliance with the rules.

Kwatra had said, “People are free to do what they are recognized to do in a given place. But here I think the main issue is whether the person is complying with the rules and regulations of that state.” under which they fall.”

(This story is published as part of an auto-generated syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, there have been no edits to the copy by ABP Live.)