UK students group says it was denied permission to attend PM Modi’s event

UK-based students group NISAU had written a letter to PM Modi last week to take action over Kathua, Unnao and Surat rape cases.

india Updated: Apr 19, 2018 09:32 IST

Demonstrator holding placards and protesting against India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi walk past supporters of Prime Minister in Parliament Square, London, Britain, April 18, 2018.(REUTERS)

A group of UK-based Indian students and alumni said it was denied permission to attend an event addressed by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday despite an earlier confirmation.

At a press conference of foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale in London on Wednesday, a student belonging to the group asked why the tickets of eight out of nine people were cancelled, according to a report in NDTV.

Gokhale was quoted as saying that he cannot answer the question as it was a press conference about India-British relations and the PM’s visit to Great Britain.

PM Modi had addressed the Indian diaspora at a townhall called ‘Bharat ki Baat, Sabke Saath’ at London’s iconic is Central Hall Westminster.

Referring to recent incidents of rape, Modi said the matter should not be politicised. “A little girl is raped, it’s such a painful incident. But will we say ‘these many (rapes) happened during your government’s rule and these many in mine’? There can’t be an approach more wrong.

“A rape is a rape. How can we tolerate such cruelty to a daughter?” he added.