National Times Bureau :- Francesca Orsini, a renowned historian and professor emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, was reportedly denied entry into India on Monday evening despite holding a valid tourist visa. The development has drawn concern among academic and literary circles.
According to her colleagues and publisher, Orsini arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from China via Hong Kong but was stopped by immigration authorities and not allowed to enter the country. Her phone remained switched off, but she reportedly confirmed to a digital news outlet from the airport that she was denied entry even with a valid visa. Orsini had last visited India in October 2024.
While the Centre has not yet released an official statement regarding the incident, sources familiar with the matter said that Orsini had been blacklisted in March 2025 for allegedly violating visa regulations. “She was found to have breached the conditions of her tourist visa, which led to her being placed on the blacklist, a routine international procedure,” one official stated. The exact reason or purpose of her current visit, however, remains unclear.
Publishing house Permanent Black, which has worked closely with Orsini, expressed disappointment over the development. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), it wrote, “Francesca Orsini’s scholarship has greatly enriched Hindi literary studies and the history of the book in India. She is a globally respected scholar with works published in both English and Hindi. She has just been denied entry into India, with no reason given.”
Orsini’s notable works include Print and Publishing in Colonial India (2009), published by Permanent Black, which examined the evolution of Hindi and Urdu print cultures after the First War of Independence.
According to SOAS, London’s official website, Professor Orsini is a leading literary historian specialising in Hindi and Urdu literature. She studied Hindi at Venice University and later pursued advanced studies at the Central Institute of Hindi in New Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) before joining SOAS.
