Painful to see govt making false claim: Tharoor on Taseer's citizenship row

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, on November 8, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre of making a “false claim” to revoke writer/ journalist Aatish Taseer’s citizenship status.

Taking to social media, the lawmaker tweeted:

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

Story continues below Advertisement

Remove Ad

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 7, 2019

The OCI card works as a special permit for foreigners of Indian origin to travel to and work in India without a visa. This opportunity is provided to every foreign national of Indian origin, save the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. It was introduced after there were demands for dual citizenship, something that is not allowed in India.

The official Twitter handle of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs claimed on November 7 that: “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.”

Mr. Aatish Ali Taseer, while submitting his PIO application, concealed the fact that his late father was of Pakistani origin.

Related Stories

• Sandeep Dikshit asks Shashi Tharoor 'why is he in Congress' after PM Modi praise
• ‘Trial in absentia is unfair': Shashi Tharoor condemns Bangladesh's ousted PM Sheikh Hasina's dea...
• Shashi Tharoor speaks for himself: Congress distances itself from Advani remark

— 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

It further claimed: “Mr Taseer was given the opportunity to submit his reply/objections regarding his PIO/OCI cards, but he failed to dispute the notice.”

The journalist, however, trashed the allegations and said the allegations the ministry’s allegations that he did not challenge the decision is “untrue”.

To back his claims, he tweeted a picture of the Consul General’s acknowledgment of his response. Taseer captioned the image saying:

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