... he was denied entry by Indian authorities without any explanation.

an immigration officer at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) at Thiruvananthapuram airport said the reason for Osella’s deportation cannot be revealed. “He was denied entry as per orders from higher officials. No reason can be revealed,” he said.

he was surprised at the decision to deport the scholar since his work rarely touched upon hot-button political issues of the day.

Neither the conference nor the organisers had anything politically sensitive as it was being jointly organised with government agencies, universities and some of the top academics.

This is very strange. At first, I thought it had to be because Kerala is governed by CPI(M) and the centre by BJP. So it was political. But the last two quotes make that unlikely. I wonder if any information will be revealed.