A Punjabi American documentary producer, whose recent request for a journalist visa was rejected by India, was deported within hours of his arrival in Delhi, his family said on Thursday.
Angad Singh, who had made a documentary on the prolonged protests against India’s contentious Citizenship Act, landed in the national capital on Wednesday night.
But he was put back on a New York-bound flight within three hours, they said.
Singh, who covers South Asia for the American news and entertainment company Vice, came to India for a family reunion in the northern state of Punjab, his family member said and claimed that the government was “upset” because of his documentary.
“His request for a visa as a journalist to make a documentary on Dalits in India was rejected recently,” the family member told the Indian Express.
His mother Gurmeet Kaur took to Facebook to slam the government which, she said, was “scared of the stories he did and the stories he is capable of”.
She wrote in the social media post: “When I flew to America for the first time - PanAm flight from Bombay to New York - I saw a Sikh boy about my age (I was 22) handcuffed and being taken away to be deported back to India. My heart tore”.
She went on, “I spoke to him from a distance - to comfort him. He said he didn’t know the reason. He was tired of sitting down on plane rides and all he wanted to do was to lay down - his back hurt so bad…”.
“Today, A generation later, My son, an American citizen, who travelled 18 hours to Delhi to visit us in Punjab was deported. Put in the next flight back to New York,” she wrote.
“They didn’t give a reason. But we know it is his award-winning journalism that scares them. It is the stories he did and the stories he is capable of. It is the love for his Motherland that they can’t stand. It is the cutting edge reporting of #ViceNews that gets to them.”
The Indian Express said immigration officials did not respond to its request for comment.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)