Writer, poet and activist, professor Nitasha Kaul on Sunday, May 18, said that the Government of India has cancelled her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI). Kaul, a Kashmiri pandit and British citizen termed the cancellation of her OCI as a “bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression” by the BJP-led Union government.
Kaul alleged that she was being punished for her scholarly work on anti-minority & anti-democratic policies under the Narendra Modi government.
OCI is a special status given for individuals of Indian origin who hold citizenship in another country. It grants them a multiple entry, life-long visa for visiting India, except for restrictions on carrying out research work.
In a series of tweets, Kaul said that the Modi-led BJP government humiliated itself and also insulted the Karnataka state government which had invited her for a conference last year to deliver a lecture on the topic, ‘The Constitution and the Unity of India’.
She claimed that the government indulged in a “rigged process” despite her 20,000 word response to her being ‘anti-India’.
“And whereas, it has been brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history. Through your inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms, you regularly target India and its institutions on the matters of India's sovergnity….” the notice reads.
Kaul, a professor from University of Westminster in London, served as one of the key witnesses at a United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs regarding the human right violations in Kashmir following the revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Kaul is a professor of politics, international relations and critical interdisciplinary studies. Last year, she was detained by the security agencies on her arrival at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru before she was deported back to London. Kaul later alleged that she was denied entry despite having an invitation to speak at a conference organised by the Karnataka government.
Kaul took a dig at the Indian government’s action to send delegations to different countries to bolster India’s narrative against cross-border terrorism.
“Will overseas PR delegations of GOI say why ‘mother of democracy’ denies me access to my mother? This is thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent that arrests/imprisons citizens in India & bars access to family for overseas citizens of India,” she wrote on X.
In her criticism against propaganda movie The Kashmir Files, she wrote on The News Minute that the movie collapses Kashmir’s history and politics into an Islamophobic morality tale that is palatable and profitable to Hindutva India.
“It should offend all Indians, Hindus, Muslims, Kashmiri Muslims, men, women and others who have ever cared for humanity across religious lines. Yet, the very fact that the movie, backed by those who control the state, makes such an effort to malign solidarity among Kashmiris across Hindu-Muslim divides and traduce solidarity between Indians and Kashmiris is, perhaps, reflective of how such solidarities for justice and peace are urgent and growing.”