This archive report was first published on 14 November 2019.
On November 14, 2019, the Indian government revoked the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) of Aatish Taseer, a 38-year-old journalist and author, citing a concealed fact about his father's nationality.
However, critics argue that this move is a response to Taseer's cover story on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Time magazine, titled 'India's Divider in Chief', published during the Indian election.
"Denying access to the country to writers of both foreign and Indian origin casts a chill on public discourse," said a letter signed by Nobel laureates and writers, including Salman Rushdie and Amitav Ghosh, published by PEN America.
"It flies in the face of India’s traditions of free and open debate and respect for a diversity of views, and weakens its credentials as a strong and thriving democracy," the letter added.
Taseer was raised in India by his mother, Tavleen Singh, an Indian columnist and journalist. His father, Salman Taseer, was the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province until his assassination in 2011.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the move, stating that Taseer's fate shows that Modi's conservative ruling party is "intolerant of criticism and freedom of the press".
