Nashville, Tennessee, USA: Tennessee Missionary Reportedly Detained and Sent Back from India

A Tennessee-based missionary was allegedly held at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport for several hours before being deported to the United States. The incident is said to be part of a recurring pattern of restrictions faced by American missionaries in India.

According to reports by Corinne Clifford, an independent journalist from Washington, D.C., the detained individual was Dr. Cynthia Walker, the wife of a pastor from Nashville, Tennessee. Clifford, who is accredited to the White House, stated that she received a distress call on October 18 from Dr. Walker’s husband, notifying her that his wife had been stopped and questioned upon arrival in Bengaluru the previous day.

“She was held for more than eight hours at the airport in Bengaluru due to her identity as a Christian missionary,” Clifford said during an interview. She further suggested that this incident reflects what she described as an increasing trend of pressure against Christian missionaries in India.