Indian government protests radio-tagging of Tri-Valley University Students

Students admitted to the Californian Tri-Valley University, which was recently clamped down by US authorities on charges of granting illegitimate F1 visas to over 1500 students, have been forced to wear radio collars around their ankles so that the US state can electronically monitor and keep a tab on their movements.

95% of the students enrolled with the University are from India and the tagging has called forth condemnation from the Indian government. The Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has criticized the move, saying that it is inappropriate and unfair for forcing the collars on the students, which boils down to treating them as common criminals, whereas they themselves have been duped by the promoters.

In a strongly worded statement calling for punishment of those officials involved in the inhuman act, he said Indian students are not criminals. The radio collars should immediately be removed.

The Minister also pointed out that many of the students had actually taken transfers from other US universities while some were granted the necessary visa from a US consulate in India. Under the circumstances, he called for a deeper investigation and look at the sudden closure by the federal government.