A US journalist has taken the Indian government to court after his Indian overseas citizenship was unilaterally cancelled, after the publication of a story critical of a prominent Indian businessman.
Raphael Satter, who covers cybersecurity for the Reuters news agency in the US, received a letter from India’s ministry of home affairs in early December 2023, accusing him of producing work that “maliciously” tarnished India’s reputation and informing him that his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card had been cancelled.
OCI status is given to foreign citizens of Indian origin, or those married to Indian nationals, and allows for visa-free travel, residency and employment in India. Satter received his OCI through marriage. The cancellation of his OCI status means he is no longer able to travel to India, where members of his family live.
In recent years, the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government, led by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of revoking OCI privileges for those it has deemed critical, part of what Human Rights Watch has called a campaign of “politically motivated repression”.
Journalists, academics and activists have been a particular target. Several high-profile journalists have been forced to leave the country after their OCI cards were revoked and academics have been turned away at the Indian border.
According to the letter sent to Satter in December 2023, his OCI status was revoked for his alleged “practising [of] journalism without proper permission” and for work that had been “maliciously creating adverse and biased opinion against Indian institutions in the international arena”.
Satter, who works in Washington DC, denies ever conducting journalism in India and has only travelled to the country to visit family.
This story was originally published in theguardian.com. Read the full story here.
