The Indian government has repealed the nationality of Mr. Aatish Ali Taseer, a New York-based author and journalist, son of former Governor Punjab Salman Taseer and Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh.
"Govt. considers revoking Author Aatish Ali Tasser's OCI card after his Time article..", as reported by #ThePrint, is a complete misrepresentation and is devoid of any facts.
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) November 7, 2019
Mr. Aatish Ali Taseer, while submitting his PIO application, concealed the fact that his late father was of Pakistani origin.
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) November 7, 2019
Mr. Taseer was given the opportunity to submit his reply/objections regarding his PIO/OCI cards, but he failed to dispute the notice.
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) November 7, 2019
Thus, Mr. Aatish Ali Taseer becomes ineligible to hold an OCI card, as per the Citizenship Act, 1955. He has clearly not complied with very basic requirements and hidden information.
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) November 7, 2019
The spokesperson of the Home Ministry of India announced the decision on its official Twitter account on Thursday, 7th November. The ministry claims the overseas citizenship of Aatish Taseer has been rescinded after he was found guilty of concealing information, which was a breach of India’s Citizenship Act 1955.
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The Home Ministry of India claims they were uninformed about his late father, Salman Taseer, who was of a Pakistani origin. The Home Ministry claimed that Aatish failed to respond to the objection raised by the Indian government.
The spokesperson of Home Ministry denied the perception that his citizenship was revoked in vengeance to his critical article on Prime Minister Narendra Modi published in TIME Magazine in which he called him the “India’s Divider In Chief” and asked whether India can endure five more years of his government.
Social Media Fury
Social media went haywire following the Indian Home Ministry’s decision to rescind Aatish Taseer’s Indian citizenship. They challenged the claims of the Home Ministry and expressed support with Aatish Taseer. The voices within India proclaims the act of rescinding Aatish Taseer’s citizenship has exposed the Indian government’s enmity and intolerance towards dissent.
Dear Madam : who do you define as father ? Someone married to his mother ? If yes it looks like the parents had a brief relationship but never married.
— Asha Jadeja Motwani 🇮🇳🇺🇸 (@ashajadeja325) November 7, 2019
'I had expected a reprisal, but not a severing' @AatishTaseer on losing his homeland, months after writing about India for @TIME https://t.co/ypU93mpHXD
— Ben Goldberger (@BenGoldberger) November 8, 2019
Concealed the fact? @AatishTaseer wrote a book on his background. The Modi government strips one of the subcontinent’s best known writers of his nationality because it can’t stand criticism. Notice also how they mention Aatish’s middle name to try and out him as a Muslim. https://t.co/ImLnFzK0Jd
— Omar Waraich (@OmarWaraich) November 7, 2019
Isn't it also an embarrassing waste of our brilliant diplomats to make them the face of this decision on @AatishTaseer. Rare to see MEA expending energy elaborating on individual cases like this.
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) November 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1192425086898311168
"With my grandmother turning ninety next year – and my mother seventy — the government has cut me off from my country and family." #mustread Aatish Taseer defends his right to an OCI after govt decides to revoke it @TIMEhttps://t.co/mQcC9K4dIb
— Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) November 8, 2019
India’s greatness lies in its accomodative spirit. If you disagree with @AatishTaseer views, counter him with your own. But why cancel his OCI card at short notice.. sorry, this reveals a pettiness and desire to settle scores.. https://t.co/Yo4kfiDuI7
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) November 8, 2019
Aatish Taseer’s Rebuttal
Mr. Aatish Taseer, however, rebutted the claims of the Home Ministry, shared the screenshot of the confirmation he received from the Home Ministry after submitting his response, on his Twitter account.
This is untrue. Here is the Consul General’s acknowledgment of my reply. I was given not the full 21 days, but rather 24 hours to reply. I’ve heard nothing from the ministry since. https://t.co/z7OtTaLLeO pic.twitter.com/t3LBWUtkdi
— Aatish Taseer (@AatishTaseer) November 7, 2019
I live in the real world, Chottywala. I’m published by real newspapers and real publishing houses. My ideas are tested everyday in the freest city in the world. It is you,Doctor Schacht, who can only ever survive at the edge of that black lagoon that is not Hinduism, but Hindutva https://t.co/OVAbEy4JiM
— Aatish Taseer (@AatishTaseer) November 6, 2019
It is painful to see an official spokesperson of our government making a false claim that is so easily disproved. It is even more painful that in our democracy such things happen: https://t.co/6OWLbHcKU3 Is our Govt so weak that it feels threatened by a journalist? @tavleen_singh https://t.co/lCPteIWQKG
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 7, 2019
“This is untrue. Here is the Consul General’s acknowledgment of my reply. I was given not the full 21 days, but rather 24 hours to reply. I’ve heard nothing from the ministry since,” he tweeted.
Despite denial from the Home Ministry of India, the perception continues to flourish on social media that the Indian government has revoked his OIC in retaliation for his anti-Modi article.
Read more: Assam – National Register Citizens: Citizenship Defined through Religion?
In May, during India’s contentious general election, Taseer had penned down a cover story profiling Modi for TIME headlined “India’s Divider in Chief.” The article sparked fury in India and provoked online harassment and an official complaint from India’s consular general to TIME magazine.
Since when did MHA start issuing statements on individual OCI cases like they did with @AatishTaseer?
Putting together a list of OCI holders who work with BJP/RSS (& indulge in “political & religious activities”) in violation of immigration norms.
Lets see if MHA acts on that.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) November 8, 2019
I am quite moved by @AatishTaseer ‘s piece that he has always felt Indian and now finds himself in exile. But he does not have be in exile.He can always move to India and apply for Indian passport. I am sure we all can petition to Govt of India to expedite his Indian visa process
— Sunanda Vashisht (@sunandavashisht) November 8, 2019
1n Just remember, nobody has been more critical of Sonia Gandhi than @tavleen_singh but the INC never felt it necessary to carry out punitive reprisals against her son. As a rule civilised countries & civilised people don’t deploy Sippenhaft laws @AatishTaseer criticises Modi &..
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) November 8, 2019
In September, Taseer received the notice that the Indian government warning him of revoking his Overseas Citizenship of India documentation. That status allows foreign citizens of Indian heritage to live and work in India indefinitely – Taseer was born to an Indian mother and grew up in the country.
Once granted the OIC can be canceled under limited circumstances. Once canceled the holder of OIC card can be placed on blacklist blocking their future entry into the country.
Aatish Taseer has penned down a fresh article on the Indian government’s attempts to exile him. In his latest article, he elaborated on his broken relationships with his late father due to being born out of wedlock. He said he has been brought up by his mother, a well-known journalist, Tavleen Singh in Delhi. His mother is his sole guardian ever since his birth.
Read more: Millions in India’s north-eastern Assam state at risk of losing citizenship
‘She had raised me on her own in Delhi and was always my sole legal guardian, and the only parent I knew for most of my life. It was why I had always been viewed as Indian in India and why I had been granted an OCI. The story of my parents’ brief, the passionate relationship had in part been the subject of my first book, Stranger to History, which was published in 2009 and widely reviewed in India’, wrote Aatish Taseer in his latest article published in TIME magazine.