“Will review historian's visa cancellation issue”

Replying to questions about American historian Peter Heehs, Mr. Chidambaram said that he would review the decision on cancellation of the visa to the historian who was living in Puducherry by Monday.

Mr. Heehs was asked to leave the country after he had spent nearly four decades working on a project of digitisation and archival of works of freedom fighter and spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo.

“This (decision to cancel the visa) was noticed by me this [Saturday] morning and I understand that the FRRO Puducherry passed the order. I have asked for a

suo motu review and I will take a decision on Monday,” Mr. Chidambaram said.

Eminent historians and academics have protested against the move of cancelling the U.S. historian's visa and have also petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr. Chidambaram for reviewing the decision.

Mr. Heehs, author of the book ‘The Lives of Sri Aurobindo', had drawn the ire of a section of the spiritual leader's devotees who say the work contains objectionable matters.