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Indian literacy worker deported from Paris

Vaiju Naravane

Was on way to Toronto to attend a fundraising event

Paris: An Indian literacy worker, Kamal Hussain, was deported from Paris airport while on transit here on Friday.

His colleague, Dinesh Mishra, was allowed to board the Air Canada flight to Toronto. The two were on their way to Toronto to attend a fundraising event and literacy training programme organised by the Canadian NGO World Literacy. The two carried identical travel documents with valid Canadian visas issued in Delhi.

The Hindu has learnt that instead of contacting the Indian embassy to verify Mr. Hussain’s passport details, the French police preferred a summary deportation and he was placed on the Air France flight bound for Delhi on Saturday morning. It is presumed he spent the night at the Charles de Gaulle airport in police custody. The reasons for doubting his identity or the authenticity of his travel documents have not been communicated to the Indian embassy.

Indian Ambassador Ranjan Mathai had already been contacted by World Literacy when this correspondent spoke to him on Saturday morning. At that point the French police were saying they had no trace of Mr. Hussain. Later the explanation given for his deportation was that “the passport was illegible.”

Mr. Mathai said that had the French police contacted his office on Friday when Mr. Hussain was denied permission to board the Air Canada flight, he would have sent an embassy official to help police with their enquiries. The embassy was neither informed nor consulted over the decision to deport Mr. Hussain.

Given boarding passes

Mr. Mishra told this correspondent that they landed in Paris on Friday morning. “We were to change planes and board the Air Canada flight bound for Toronto. They issued us both boarding passes. It was only when we were about to enter the aircraft that a policeman said there appeared to be something “suspicious” about Kamal’s passport.

His passport is nine years old. But he is clearly the same person who is in the photograph.

“The black policeman who first stopped us called several of his colleagues. Then they took him away. If they had a doubt they could have called our embassy. They did not. They treated us very shabbily, as if we were criminals or illegals – trying to sneak into their country clandestinely. I do not know where Kamal spent the night. I know from you that he was placed on the return flight to Delhi on Saturday morning.”

Although Mr. Hussain was not allowed to board the flight his baggage went on to Toronto and has lain unclaimed at the airport there.

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