Home min won’t allow US historian to stay in India

Home minister P Chidambaram is unlikely to reverse the order rejecting US historian and author of The Lives Of Sri Aurobindo, Peter Heehs’ visa.

Home minister P Chidambaram is unlikely to reverse the order rejecting US historian and author of The Lives Of Sri Aurobindo, Peter Heehs’ visa.

Government sources said the Puducherry Foreigner Regional Registration Officer’s decision on the historian’s visa had more to do with violations of norms than his intellectual work.

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“Heehs’ visa had expired last year, but was allowed to continue staying in India pending disposal of his representation,” a government source said. “It is not as simple a case as it has been made out to be.”

Heehs was told to leave India before April 15 after considering the views of the state governments and security agencies.