Yatish Yadav By

NEW DELHI: A Greenpeace campaigner Priya Pillai was stopped at the New Delhi airport on Sunday morning by immigration officials and was denied permission to board her flight to London, where she was to give a presentation on Wednesday on the rights of forest communities being infringed for coal mining in India.

Speaking to the Express, Priya said the immigration officials refused to give her any reason for their action.

“Officials told me they were acting on government orders and that my name figured in the database of people who were banned from leaving India. Though I asked them about the nature of the database, they refused to share any details,” Priya said adding that she had written a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs seeking reason for the action.

Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organisation, has been under the scanner of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which raised concern over the motive of the agency alleging that the organisation had led, sponsored, mentored, funded and implemented anti-coal activism in India and its aim was to take down the country’s coal fired power plant and coal mining activity.

The IB report in June last year had stated,“ Greenpeace, actively aided and led by foreign activists visiting India, is encouraging public protests in Singrauli region of Madhya Pradesh, which produces 15,000 MW of energy through local CFPPs and coal mines.

Since 2013, it has initiated protests in five project-affected villages of the Mahhan coal block (allotted to Hindalco and Essar) in Singrauli, under the banner of Mahaan Sangharsh Samiti. It is also organising protests against the Sasan Ultra Mega Power project around the Sasan and Badhaur villages.

“Greenpeace aims to fundamentally change the dynamics of India’s energy mix by disrupting and weakening the relationship between key players, including Coal India Limited,” the report had added.

After the IB report, the Home Ministry choked foreign funds of Greenpeace International and Climate Works Foundation and asked the RBI to seek prior permission from it before any donation to Greenpeace India by these two donors.

A statement issued by Greenpeace said that Priya was invited by British MPs to talk about her campaign with local communities in Mahan, Madhya Pradesh, where a proposed coal mining project led by Essar, a London-based company, threatened to uproot the lives and livelihood of the forest and the community which lives there.

Priya told Express that she was the first Greenpeace campaigner to be denied permission to travel abroad and other campaigners have not faced such a situation and have been allowed to travel.“This is a selective action. In September 2014, Ben Hargreaves a campaigner and UK national was denied entry when he landed in India on valid visa, “she added.

Greenpeace India’s Executive Director Samit Aich said, “The government’s intentions are clear- they are trying to intimidate and bully Greenpeace and its employees but I would only reiterate that such acts only make us more resolute to continue our campaigns on protecting Indian people and India’s environment.”