The real face of India, the world's largest democracy, has once again emerged. The Modi government has started imposing restrictions on freedom of expression to avoid criticism.

The Indian government abruptly banned the online event of the Mumbai Literature Festival. American intellectual Noam Chomsky and Indian intellectual Roja Prasad were to attend the Mumbai Literature Festival online.

The black citizenship law in India, the CAA, was also to be discussed. In a joint statement, American intellectual Noam Chomsky and Indian intellectual Vijay Prasad sharply criticized the Indian government.

There was an online event on the evening of November 20, he said. On the same afternoon, it was informed that the dialogue has been canceled due to unknown reasons. Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prasad were to attend the fifth day of the festival.

Statement by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad on the festival; Why were we canceled?
- Vijay Prashad (@vijayprashad) November 21, 2020

Earlier, activists, academics and artists called for a boycott. Chomsky was urged not to attend the Tata Group's literature fair.

Chomsky and Prashad refused to boycott the festival. He said he would begin the panel discussion with a statement on what he thinks of large corporations.

"We wanted to talk about how governments led by corporations like the Bharatiya Janata Party and Tata are pushing humanity into a deeper crisis," the two intellectuals said.