New Delhi, Nov 12 Why is the government so afraid of questions, the Congress and the TMC on Thursday asked after Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, who was in the news during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Oslo visit in May, claimed her visa was cancelled minutes before she was to leave for India.
Lyng, an independent journalist in Norway, said she was to attend and speak at the “Bharat Summit” organised by the Congress in Hyderabad on November 13 and 14.
In a post on X, Lyng posed direct questions to Home Minister Amit Shah on why her visa granted by the Indian embassy in Norway was cancelled minutes before she was to leave for the airport and hoped that Shah would allow her visit to the world’s largest democracy.
There was no independent confirmation or reaction from the government on the visa cancellation claim.
The Congress reacted strongly, asking why the government is afraid of questions.
“You may remember – a journalist in Norway asked Modi a question, and Modi was seen running away. Now that same journalist, Helle Lyng, was due to attend the ‘Bharat Summit’ being held in Telangana, but her visa was cancelled before she could even get there.
“Why are Modi and his government so afraid of questions,” the Congress posted on its X handle.
The Editors Guild of India also questioned why the journalist was first issued a visa and then told that she would not be allowed to enter the country.
“The Editors Guild of India notes with deep concern the last-minute cancellation of the visa issued to independent Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng,” it said.
“The EGi is at a loss to understand the reason for this cancellation. Mrs Lyng is a legitimate and respected international journalist, whose only ‘crime’ appears to have been posing a question to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a press briefing in Oslo in May, 2026.
“Such actions smack of bureaucratic overreach and do immense harm to India’s image as the world’s largest democracy. Freedom of speech is one of the first principles that any functioning democracy abides by. It is also a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution under Article 19(1)(a),” the Editors Guild said in a statement.
“The EGi demands that the government disclose the reasons for the cancellation of Ms Lyng’s visa. The Guild also demands that the cancellation be reversed and that Ms Lyng be allowed to present her views to the Indian people,” the Guild said in a joint statement signed by its president Sanjay Kapoor and general secretary Raghavan Srinivasan.
Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose also responded strongly to Lyng’s post, saying, “Shame on the @narendramodi – @AmitShah regime.”
Responding to the Guild statement, she said, “Outrageous. Cancel a journalist’s visa for asking questions, then fly to global summits to preach ‘democracy’. The @narendramodi regime can’t handle a single question it didn’t script. Those who fear open questioning reveal what abysmal failures they are at governance.”
In her post on X, Lyng wrote: “I got a visa to India and was supposed to leave this morning to attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad. I had been invited as a panelist and speaker on the future of media and press freedom.”
“But ‘orders from above’ in the Ministry of Home Affairs have cancelled my visa. Here is my message for Amit Shah,” she said, asking Shah why her visa was cancelled.
In May, Lyng had unsuccessfully attempted to ask a question to Modi after he and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store made their media statements after bilateral talks. The media was already told the two leaders wouldn’t take questions at the joint interaction.
(PTI News)
