U.S. broadcaster David Barsamian refused entry to India

PanARMENIAN.Net - David Barsamian is an Armenian-American radio broadcaster, writer, and the founder and director of Alternative Radio - the Boulder, Colorado-based syndicated weekly talk program heard on some 125 radio stations in various countries.

He was deported on arrival from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on September 23/24, i.e he was denied entry into India and was put on a return flight to the U.S. The authorities said the action was taken because he had been misusing his tourist visa. Mr Barsamian is a regular visitor to India, speaks fluent Hindustani, and has also been learning music from Delhi-based sitar maestro Pandit Debu Chaudhuri.

Mr Barsamian has done several radio programs criticizing India's position on Kashmir and has commented on the Maoist movement in central India. He is also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and is best known for his series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, which have been published in book form and translated into many languages. According to Khurram Parvez, coordinator of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), Mr Barsamian was scheduled to travel to Srinagar this week to report on over 2000 unmarked graves found in north Kashmir recently, Pacific Free Press reported.