Over a year after she said she was “forced to leave India”, French journalist Vanessa Dougnac issued a statement today saying the Indian government has authorised her to “resume my profession as a foreign correspondent” based in New Delhi after “two and a half years of being denied permission to undertake journalistic activities”.
Dougnac, who had lived in India for 23 years and is married to an Indian citizen, was first denied permission to work as a journalist in India in September 2022. Newslaundry had reported in depth on her exit from India in February last year.
In January 2024, the Foreigners Registration Office sent Dougnac a notice alleging her reportage created a “biased negative perception about India”. It asked why her OCI card shouldn’t be cancelled, claiming she was “undertaking journalistic activities without any special permission as required under Citizenship Act 1955 and rules/regulations issued thereunder”. She was asked to reply to the notice by February 2. She said she could not afford to wait for the outcome of OCI proceedings with the MHA and subsequently left India.
In a piece titled “Goodbye, Delhi: After 25 years in India, a journalist is forced to leave the country” published in La Croix on May 16 last year, she mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “autocratic turn” and “intensifying crackdown”, leading to “self-censorship” in newsrooms.
In the article, the veteran journalist had said she first received a message banning her from practicing “my profession as a journalist” in September 2022. It was the beginning of a “long fight”, wrote the journalist, adding that she was advised to keep a “low profile, stay in the capital, and wait for the effects of interventions by the French Embassy”, but “people who promised to help never called back”.
In January 2024, Dougnac had received a two-page “typewritten letter by the Ministry of Home Affairs”, ordering her to “surrender my residence permit” and accusing her of “having violated rules, of writing ‘critical’ and ‘malicious’ articles creating ‘a negative and biased perception of India’, of ‘disturbing public order and peace’, and of acting against ‘the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India’.”
Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday, she said a one-year work permit has been granted to her.
“As always, I have only ever wanted to do my job as a journalist, with integrity and rigor, in a country I love and respect. With my permit suspended however, I had to abandon my position as a regional correspondent in India and South Asia for several publications and everything I had built over twenty-five years in Delhi. Under the threat of serious accusations and the possibility of expulsion, I was forced to leave India suddenly in February 2024. I thank all those who supported me during this difficult ordeal and contributed to its resolution, particularly the French Embassy in India as well as my lawyers.”
“I reaffirm my attachment to India, a country to which I owe so much and where I have lived rich and exciting years, both personally and professionally. The possibility of returning and practicing my profession in India once again is now an immense relief. I acknowledge and welcome the decision of the Indian authorities and will reflect on my next steps.”
Newslaundry had reported in-depth about the uncertainties facing foreign journalists in India and the shrinking press freedom in the country. Read here and here.
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