Not long after deporting a German national, accused by the state of organising anti-nuclear protests in Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu, the Indian government refused to let in into the country Maya Kobayashi, a survivor of the March 2010 tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan. This was presumably because the government felt her visit could heighten tensions in Koodankulam and Jaitapur, where locals are campaigning against the construction of nuclear power plants. The young Japanese woman was scheduled to visit India to “participate in a series of events and meetings”, as mentioned in the invitation letter from Greenpeace. The Indian embassy in Tokyo gave her a business visa on February 15 but cancelled it on March 2, claiming her application “did not match with the stated purpose of the proposed visit”. While it is unlikely that a survivor of a nuclear scare, and one invited by Greenpeace, would sing hosannas at the altar of nuclear energy, many were still shocked by the government’s decision to ban her entry. Some have linked the decision to revoke her visa with the controversy that was unleashed by the PM’s comments on NGO’s diverting foreign aid to fund their protests made in an interview to Science in late February. Here is what Kobayashi wanted to tell Indians and what the government didn’t let her say. Excerpts from an email interview: