Polish Student Asked to Leave India For Attending anti-CAA Rally

Kamil Siedcynski is a student of Comparative Literature in Jadavpur University.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive.

(Photo: Ishadrita Lahiri/The Quint)

Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday, 1 March.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media. A JU source told PTI that Kamil Siedcynski was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on February 22.

“Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa,” the source said.

‘Paying the Price for Protesting’

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

“Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble,” the source said.

Siedcynski is Not the Only One

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted. JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student, who had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University isn't the only one. Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said.

The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.