Old Habits Die Hard! New York Times lies about Indian govt’s visa policy

New Delhi, August 19: Peddling fake news and blatant lies about PM Narendra Modi and promoting anti-India propaganda is what the US's New York Times is popularly known for. Following the same tradition, it was again found grossly lying through its teeth. This time, it was about India's visa policy for Afghans claiming that it was 'discriminatory' against the Muslims like the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

 

The left-wing news publication house yesterday published a news article on its portal, claiming that the Indian government has adopted ‘religious’ criteria for its Visa policy. It claimed that the Modi government has announced it would prioritise allowing only persecuted Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan to enter the country amidst the Taliban scare.

 

In its new article, it said, "India’s government said on Tuesday that it would prioritize taking in Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan — a move that drew comparisons to a contentious 2019 citizenship law, enacted under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that discriminates against Muslims."

 

 

Moreover, New York Times claimed that the country’s Home Ministry said it would introduce “emergency visas” to allow Afghans to stay in India for six months. However, the report claims that the “emergency visas” being rolled out for Afghans had no mention of Muslims who, according to NYT, make up the majority of those seeking to leave Afghanistan as the Taliban take over.

 

 

 

It said "the country's home ministry would introduce emergency visas to allow Afghans to stay in India for six months. It did not say whether Afghan Muslims, who make up the majority of those seeking to leave Afghanistan as the Taliban take over, would also be considered or not."

 

In reality, the Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced a new category of e-visa for Afghan nationals to fast-track their applications for entry into India. It should be noted that in its e-visa form, the Indian government does not even mention 'religion' as a criterion for entry into India. It allows an Afghan national an opportunity to apply for emergency evacuation, which is opposite to NYT’s claims.

 

Even in the high-level meeting chaired by PM Modi, it clarified that the Indian government is not only going to help the Hindus and Sikhs but it is going to help all the Afghan citizens who are looking towards India for assistance. Most importantly, this is not the first time India is allowing Afghan nationals, irrespective of religion, to enter India