The Indian government has asked a German student pursuing his master's course at the premier Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) in the southern city of Chennai to leave the country or face deportation after he was charged with violating visa rules by participating in the ongoing protests against the recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Jacob Lindenthal, a German postgraduate student of physics at IIT-Madras, left for Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, late on Monday night after immigration officials in Chennai told him that his participation in the anti-CAA protest last week was unacceptable.
“There were apparently administrative issues with my visa. After ruling these out, I was extensively questioned by the immigration officer about my political opinions. Then I was informed about the decision (asking me to leave),” TV news channel News18 quoted him as saying.
Netizens shared mixed responses with some expressing dismay over the development and likening his marching orders to situations prevailing during the Nazi era of the 1930s and 1940s.