Writer Aatish Taseer stands to lose OCI card, to be banned from entering India
New Delhi, Nov 7: British-born writer Aatish Ali Taseer stands to lose the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card and his future visit to India is likely to be banned as he allegedly concealed the fact that his father was a Pakistani.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said Taseer becomes ineligible to hold an OCI card, as per the Citizenship Act, 1955, as the OCI card is not issued to any person whose parents or grandparents are Pakistanis and he hid this fact.
Taseer has clearly not complied with very basic requirements and hidden information, the spokesperson said.
As per the Citizenship Act, if the registration as an OCI card holder was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact, the registration as OCI card holder shall be cancelled. The person will also be blacklisted thereby banning his or her future entry into India.
The 38-year-old writer is the son of late Pakistani politician Salmaan Taseer and Indian journalist Tavleen Singh.
The home ministry spokesperson said Taseer was given the opportunity to submit his reply/objection regarding his Person of India Origin/OCI cards, but he failed to dispute the notice.
The spokesperson also denied that the government had been considering revoking Taseer's OCI card after he wrote an article in the Time magazine, which was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news was a "complete misrepresentation and is devoid of any facts".
Reacting to the Home Ministry statement, Taseer wrote on Twitter that he was not given 21 days to reply to the ministry notice but just 24 hours.
"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 said.
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Youth Congress demands Pradhan's resignation over NEET question paper leak
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Youth Congress activists on Friday staged a protest here demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET question paper leak.
Holding posters, banners and party flags, the Youth Congress activists took out a protest rally in Bhubaneswar from the state Congress office to Master Canteen Square and burnt effigies of Pradhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The education system has collapsed during the tenure of the BJP-led NDA government, Youth Congress leader Laxmipriya Nayak alleged.
During the past 12 years of Modi's rule, there have been 89 paper leaks and 48 examinations retested, she claimed.
"About 2 crore youths have been affected by the question paper leaks in the last 7-10 years. And, 24 lakh students have been affected by the recent NEET question paper leak incident," another protester, Shilpishree Harichandan, claimed.
"The Union government is playing with the future of the youths of the country. So, Pradhan has no moral right to continue in his position. He should step down," Harichandan said.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) had cancelled the NEET-UG exam, held on May 3, after a paper leak. The Union education minister on Friday announced that the NEET-UG re-exam will be conducted on June 21.
