26 April 2016•Update: 28 April 2016
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu Kashmir
A prominent Uighur activist has expressed disappointment at the Indian government's decision to cancel his visa to attend a conference organized by a United States-based NGO in the country's north.
China had objected to India granting the visa on April 16 for Dolkun Isa to attend the April 30 inter-faith/inter-ethnic meeting in Dharamsala, leading to allegations in local media when the visa was withdrawn a week later that New Delhi had bowed to pressure from Beijing.
The event -- organized by "Initiatives for China" -- was expected to be attended by several Chinese dissidents in exile, including a number of Uighur leaders.
Dharamsala is also the headquarters of the self-professed Tibetan government-in-exile and its spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who Isa had been expected to meet.
In a statement issued Monday, Isa said he understood the Indian government’s difficult position but expressed disappointment over the move.
"As the executive committee chairman of the World Uyghur Congress, I express my disappointment [with] the Indian authorities’ cancellation of my visa to attend the annual Interethnic-Interfaith Leadership Conference," he said.
"I remain disappointed with the final decision, but I am hopeful that positive steps may be taken to maintain India’s relationship with the Uighur community," he added.
Isa is initially from China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, where Beijing faces calls for independence, but fled China in 1997 and was granted asylum in Germany, where he has lived ever since.
He is the focus of an Interpol red notice, and China has included his name on its "most-wanted terrorist" list since 2003.
On being granted the visa, Beijing is reported to have underlined to the Indian authorities that the Uighur leader is a "terrorist" who should be arrested.
"Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying.
"Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries," the spokesperson added.
The Dalai Lama has been living in Dharamsala since fleeing Tibet in southeastern China in 1959. China has accused him of seeking to separate Tibet from China, while Tibetans claim they simply want more autonomy.
Late Monday evening, government sources told The Times of India that the entire conference had been scrapped and would only be a closed-door meeting between activists.
