India Restricts Foreign Media for Dalai Lama’s Visit

Reading about Dalai Lama’s upcoming India visit, I was surprised by the attitude of the Indian political leadership and the media. As for the political leadership, I did not expect much. India usually falters at tight-rope diplomacy. I am sure that apart from a few statements by Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary, India would try to keep the Chinese happy. China also understands the rhetorical value of such statements in a democracy and would certainly not mind a few tough statements from India, primarily aimed at the domestic public.
What surprised is decision of the Government of India to ban foreign press from covering Dalai Lama’s Arunachal visit. Permits allowing foreign correspondents to travel to Arunachal Pradesh state were not given, and the government revoked passes previously provided to four of them, including two Associated Press journalists. India has maintained that the Dalai Lama is an “honored guest who does not indulge in political activities on Indian soil” and that he is free to visit any part of the country. If this is really the case then why is the foreign media barred from covering the tour? It’s sad that a country priding itself as the world’s largest democracy should crackdown on foreign media for an event symbolically meant to assert its territorial integrity.
What is even more surprising is that the Indian media has not raised this issue in a big way. NY Times, AP and CBS have elaborate sections dedicated to this decision of the Government of India, but there are no strong voices of protest in the Indian media circles. Is it simply because the decision does not affect the national journalists? Have the Indian media stalwarts become so parochial?
The media had played an active role in raising public awareness about Chinese incursions on the Sino-India border and the effort was widely appreciated. But why have the Indian reporters not protested aganist this curbing of press freedoms in the country? However, a more important question would be why is the Government of India afraid of international media attention on Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh?