The arrest and subsequent deportation of US pastor William Lee from Kerala is just the beginning. Sources inside the central intelligence say a communication has been issued to the state to keep a tab on foreign tourists who use tourist visa to take up missionary activities. 

The Union home ministry has of late taken the issue seriously after intelligence reports pointed out that foreign missionaries were rampantly misusing tourist visa norms. 

Officials in the intelligence bureau said that the southern states mainly Kerala have been directed to monitor foreign tourists who indulge in missionary activities as per a report in TOI by Ajay Kanth.

"A lot of tourists are taking up missionary activities in remote corners of the state and thus violating tourist visa norms. The government has no option but to deport them. Violators will be blacklisted and they will be barred from entering the country again. The government issues missionary visa only after a thorough scrutiny of the applicants. At present, missionaries come to India under the guise of tourists," an official said. 

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