Arya News - Two British citizens have been ordered to leave India after they put up pro-Palestinian stickers in an area popular with Israeli tourists.
Two British citizens have been ordered to leave India after they put up pro-Palestinian stickers in an area popular with Israeli tourists.
Lewis Gabriel Dee, 37, and his Byron Bay-born girlfriend, Anueshi Emma Christine, 35, had placed stickers reading “Free Palestine, Boycott Israel” in Pushkar, a small town frequented by Israeli backpackers in the northern state of Rajasthan .
The couple, from London, had entered India on a tourist visa.
Rajesh Meena, of the foreigners registration office in Rajasthan, told The Telegraph that they have been issued with a “Leave India” notice for “engaging in political activities in violation of the visa rules”.
Shops in Pushkar often use Hebrew in their signs. The town also has a Chabad House, a synagogue, which sees many foreign visitors.
On Jan 21, officials at India’s criminal investigation department received information that “small stickers in support of Palestine and against Israel were pasted at three places in Pushkar town”, Mr Meena said.
They had ordered nine stickers with anti-Israel slogans at a local printing press, which they pasted on the walls in Pushkar.
Stickers with ‘Free Palestine, Boycott Israel’ were placed in a small town frequented by Israeli backpackers
Police removed the stickers and reviewed the CCTV footage.
Mr Meena said: “We identified the foreign nationals who had pasted the stickers and got the stickers removed.”
He said that “during interrogation, they admitted that they engaged in political activities while on tourist visa” which was a violation of their visa conditions.
Mr Meena said that both the British citizens were in their hotel in Pushkar and their return ticket is for Feb 24.
They have been ordered to leave the country on their return flight, but could face further punishment if they breach their visa conditions again.
The Londoners have been put under surveillance and their conduct is being monitored, he added. “We have not arrested them. They apologised and were told that since they had come here on a tourist visa, they cannot indulge in political activities,” he said.
“If they again engage in political activities or misconduct, they will be expelled from India, and blacklisted and banned from entering India again,” Meena added.
Hen Mazzig, an Israeli author and activist , said: “Imagine hating Jews so much that, instead of actually visiting India, you spend your time printing and pasting anti-Israel posters on the walls of Pushkar, a city with a Chabad house and Israeli and Jewish travellers.
“Turns out not every country treats anti-Israel campaigning as a sightseeing activity.”
Nitin Singh, a Rajasthan resident, said: “Instead of serving them notice to return to their country of origin, they should be jailed and punished. Law should be much stricter that should deter locals as well as aliens from committing to such acts.”
Mr Dee and Ms Christine have not commented.
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