India to revoke journalist Aatish Taseer’s overseas ID – Newspaper

NEW DELHI: The government of India announced that it would revoke the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card to author and journalist Aatish Taseer for his alleged attempt to "hide information" that his father, Salmaan Taseer, was of Pakistani origin .

In an official statement, which Aatish denied, the Interior Ministry said it had "not disputed the notice" it had sent asking it to explain the period, The Hindu He said Thursday.

In his August 13 notice, that The Hindu He agreed, the Interior Ministry said Aatish had not revealed that his father, the former governor of Pakistan's Punjab, was of Pakistani origin, and that he had only provided details of his mother, veteran Indian journalist Tavleen Singh.

In his response on September 6 to the notification, and a subsequent notification dated September 3, Aatish had explained that his parents had never legally married, and his mother was his only legal guardian.

"Their relationship occurred when they were both residents in the United Kingdom and Salmaan Taseer declared [accurately] who was a British citizen and passport " The Hindu Aatish said in his reply sent to the Indian Consulate in New York.

Aatish, who grew up in Delhi and studied at the Kodaikanal International school in Tamil Nadu, now lives in New York and received an Indian Person of Origin (PIO) card in 2000, a center that offers visa-free trips to India. He later turned it into an OCI card.

In his request, he referred to his mother as an Indian citizen, and his father, Salmaan Taseer, murdered in Pakistan in 2011, as a "British citizen", as to "the best of his knowledge", his father had a United Kingdom . Passport.

The Hindu He said Aatish is expected to challenge the government's movement against his OCI card.

Aatish has been the subject of strong criticism by members of the BJP ruler, as he had written an article in May to Hour magazine that accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of following divisive policies.

The Interior Ministry said the OCI decision "had nothing to do with the article he wrote for the Hour magazine".

Published on Dawn, November 8, 2019