The Indian government has revoked the citizenship of Aatish Taseer, a New York-based journalist and the son of the late Salman Taseer and Indian journalist Tavleen Singh.
According to a report in ThePrint, Taseer had been in the government’s crosshairs ever since he wrote an article for Time magazine titled ‘Divider-in-Chief’ and criticised Narendra Modi’s first term as the prime minister.
The decision to strip the journalist of citizenship was announced by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs of India in a tweet.
According to a tweet, Taseer had failed to answer the ministry’s questions about his Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards.
“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,” tweeted the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
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
Taseer, on the other hand, disputed the claims by the Indian Home Ministry, tweeting that he had responded to their notice.
“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.
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
