THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Filippo Osella, a leading anthropologist from Sussex University in the UK who travelled to the state to take part in a conference, was deported upon his arrival at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Thursday morning. The authorities, however, did not give any reason for the action.
The 65-year-old scholar who had spent a long time in the state researching on the impact of globalisation on Ezhava and Muslim communities of northern Kerala flew down to the city to present a paper in a conference on the life and livelihood of Kerala’s coastal communities.
He is widely recognised for his studies on topics such as social reproduction, labour migration, charity and cultural transformation and economic practice among South Asian Muslims. The conference slated to begin on Friday is jointly organised by the Cusat, University of Kerala and Sussex University.
‘Filippo has got research visa valid for another 45 days’
According to sources, Filippo who arrived in an Emirates flight was denied entry. The immigration desk at the airport deported him without specifying a reason for their action. Sources in the airport said they had to send him back as the immigration records had marked him ‘inadmissible’. The record is prepared by the Centre and circulated to all airports. The deportation of the scholar has come as a shocker to many.
Academic and social critic Dr J Devika, who had made the arrangements for Filippo’s paper presentation in Thiruvananthapuram, said the repatriation appeared strange and the authorities have failed to give reasons for doing so. “He has got a research visa valid for another 45 days. Such visas are granted after a thorough background check and scrutinising the draft of the research.
The research visa has not been revoked till now. The officials are yet to tell us or Filippo the reason for their action. He was to present a paper on the issues being faced by the fishermen community and the ways to enhance their safety aspects ,” she said. Devika said Filippo had a long association with Kerala and his works do not have any political connotation.
“If he had given any opinion against the regime or conducted research in that line, the action would have made some sense. But Filippo’s works were politically neutral and he has been engaging with the state government directly on the issues faced by the fishermen,” she said. Devika said during his previous visit, Filippo had met the state ministers and the planning board members regarding his research topic. He had also visited Kozhikode and Malappuram and interviewed leaders of Muslim community as part of research.