Professor Nitasha Kaul, a tutorial specialising in politics and worldwide relations on the College of Westminster, has been in the UK since she got here to the College of Hull for postgraduate examine in 1997. Within the years since, she has revealed a number of books and greater than 150 articles on subjects like democracy, right-wing politics, Indian politics and Kashmir.
A British citizen, Kaul retained her connection to the nation of her beginning as an abroad citizen of India (OCI) till just lately. The OCI is a particular standing granted to people of Indian origin who’ve acquired overseas citizenship. It grants them a multiple-entry, lifelong visa for visiting India, permitting them to journey and keep with out restrictions. OCI standing is held by greater than 4 million folks worldwide.
In Could, Kaul’s OCI was summarily cancelled. OCI cancellation is allowed beneath Part 7D of the Citizenship Act 1955 in circumstances of (1) fraud, (2) “disaffection in the direction of the Structure of India”, (3) communication or commerce with an enemy India is engaged with throughout a struggle, (4) imprisonment for greater than two years or (4) if ‘it’s needed so to do within the curiosity of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the safety of India, pleasant relations of India with any overseas nation, or within the pursuits of most of the people’.
Though the federal government just isn’t breaking the legislation, its actions elevate severe authorized and human rights issues. Its actions typically blur the road between lawful revocation and punitive censorship. The revocations often lack transparency and procedural equity – thus risking violation of authorized norms. General, this development raises important issues about freedom of speech, proportionality and adherence to the rule of legislation. It ought to be famous that home courts are resisting authorities actions.
In Kaul’s case, she was knowledgeable that her OCI standing had been revoked with an official discover saying she has been “discovered indulging in anti-India actions, motivated by malice and full disregard for details or historical past” with out referring to any specific such incident. Kaul has been a powerful advocate for democracy in India and has typically criticised the federal government for its minority bashing and the right-wing Hindu organisation RSS for its divisive politics.
An examination of world democracy indicators exhibits that Kaul’s evaluation disregards neither details nor historical past. Freedom Home’s world freedom index ranks India as “partly free” and describes how “the federal government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) has presided over discriminatory insurance policies and an increase in persecution affecting the Muslim inhabitants.” This development can be seen in relation to non secular and press freedoms. Reporters With out Borders (RSF) stated: “India’s media has fallen into an ‘unofficial state of emergency’ since Narendra Modi got here to energy in 2014.”
Kaul just isn’t alone in going through retribution for her outspokenness. Prior to now 9 years, the OCIs of greater than 120 people have been cancelled by the Indian authorities. In response to the impartial Indian outlet The Wire, this can be a development that’s ramping up.
Practically half (57) had been revoked in 2024 alone, and an additional 15 had been cancelled within the first 5 months of 2025. Most of those that have had their OCIs cancelled are journalists, activists and lecturers who’ve criticised the ruling get together and challenged the rhetoric of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism).
In 2022, Ashok Swain, a Sweden-based educational, had his OCI cancelled over his social media posts. The authorities accused him of “hurting non secular sentiments” and “destabilising the social cloth of India” however supplied no particular proof. Swain efficiently challenged the cancellation within the Delhi Excessive Court docket in 2023, an instance of home courts resisting authorities actions.
In December 2023, Raphael Satter, a United States-based journalist for the Reuters information company who covers cybersecurity, espionage and abuse of energy, misplaced his OCI after important reporting and is now suing the Indian authorities.
Lately, India has witnessed relentless assaults on its democratic establishments. Those that criticise or query the ruling get together – whether or not they’re politicians, NGO representatives, campaigners, journalists or group leaders – have typically been silenced.
Each week brings new reviews of imprisonment, intimidation, bodily assault, defamation or deplatforming of critics. This silencing has intensified notably after India launched Operation Sindoor in opposition to Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to an assault in Pahalgam in India-administered Kashmir that killed 26 vacationers. In its aftermath, the federal government ordered X to dam almost 8,000 accounts, lots of them belonging to journalists and media shops, corresponding to Free Press Kashmir, BBC Urdu and The Wire. As important voices are being silenced at house, the Indian authorities is popping its consideration to the nation’s diaspora.
The Indian authorities’ weaponisation of immigration controls is a part of a rising sample, designed to create concern amongst diaspora members and stifle criticism.
A 2024 report by the RSF discovered that Indian authorities use the OCI to “successfully blackmail” journalists into silence.
A survey carried out final yr by the Platform for Indian Democracy revealed that 54 % of British Indians are involved about India’s present trajectory.
From my interactions with members of our group, I can clearly see that many are reluctant to talk out about India’s violations of human rights, fearing it’d cease them from travelling to India.
As British Indians – many amongst us OCI card holders – we should push again in opposition to these misuses of immigration controls. British Indians stay deeply related to India by way of our households, buddies, tradition and group. The present therapy of diaspora members by the BJP and the curtailment of their freedoms goes in opposition to the values enshrined in India’s post-independence structure, which ensures justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.
The UK, regardless of being house to greater than 2 million British Indians, just lately concluded a significant trade deal with India with none reference to problems with democratic backsliding within the nation. Given the UK’s distinctive relationship with India and the dimensions and sentiments of its British Indian inhabitants, it’s in a powerful place to ask difficult questions of the present political regime. Silence serves solely to strengthen the place of the BJP.
As Modi requires Indians overseas to contribute to the nation’s improvement, this should embody the best to criticise and query with out concern of retribution. If the rising hostility and repression of those that problem the Indian authorities continues, we are going to solely be allowed to go to our homeland on the phrases of the ruling get together, and our means to be a part of India’s progress will diminish. The roots that join the diaspora to house are key to India’s democratic cloth. Chipping away at them solely leaves India’s democracy diminished.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
