French journalist Sebastien Farcis claimed on Thursday that he had to leave India because the Ministry of Home Affairs refused to renew his journalist permit, ending his 13-year tenure as a correspondent in the country.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Farcis wrote, “After 13 years working as a correspondent in India, the authorities have denied me a permit to work as a journalist. I have thus been forced to leave the country.”
“On 17th June, I was forced to leave India, a country where I had lived and worked as a journalist for 13 years, as a South Asia correspondent for Radio France Internationale, Radio France, Liberation and the Swiss and Belgian public radios,” he stated on the microblogging site.
Farcis mentioned that on March 7, the Ministry of Home Affairs denied renewing his journalist permit without providing a reason, despite his formal requests. He described this as “incomprehensible censorship.”
Having worked as a journalist in India since 2011, Farcis said he had always obtained the necessary visas and accreditations. “I have respected the regulations imposed in India for foreign journalists and never worked in restricted or protected areas without a permit. On several occasions, the MHA even granted me permits to report from border areas.”
“This work ban comes as a big shock: it was communicated to me on the eve of the Indian general elections, the largest democratic elections in the world, which I was hence forbidden to cover. This appeared to me as an incomprehensible censorship,” his statement read. Farcis further stated that his family was also pushed out of India “without explanation” and “uprooted overnight” for no apparent reason. “I am married to an Indian woman, and I have the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status. I am therefore deeply attached to India, which has become my second homeland,” he said.
He added that he is the second French journalist, after Vanessa Dougnac, forced to leave India under similar conditions in the past four months. Additionally, five OCI foreign correspondents have been banned from working as journalists in less than two years.
