My son was forced to become an American, the motherland did not give him the right to remain an Indian.

Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor has once again given a big statement regarding the law of Dual Citizenship in India. Sharing his personal experience and pain, Tharoor said that due to the strict laws of his own motherland, his sons were forced to surrender their Indian passports and accept US citizenship. Tharoor says that crores of Indians spread across the world are completely connected to their roots at heart, but the Constitution of India does not allow them to take citizenship of any other country while maintaining their Indian identity, which is a big irony in today’s global era.

Shashi Tharoor also hit out at the legal limitations of the Overseas Indian Citizenship (OCI) card. He clarified that many NRIs think that OCI card means Indian citizenship, but it is just a lifetime visa which can be withdrawn by the government at any time. Citing the example of his sons Ishaan and Kanishk, he said that when they had to take US citizenship due to their personal and professional circumstances, they had to give up their beloved Indian passport as there is no legal provision for dual citizenship in India. Tharoor said that when the Prime Minister of the country goes abroad and praises the contribution of the Indian diaspora, then why can’t the law be changed and they be given the right of dual citizenship.

This statement of Shashi Tharoor has come at a time when millions of NRIs and Overseas Indians (PIOs) working around the world are continuously demanding to be given dual citizenship in India. Under the current Indian Citizenship Act 1955, if an Indian citizen takes a passport of any other country, his Indian citizenship automatically ceases. Tharoor argues that in the modern era when people settle in other countries for work, education and family, it is unfair to legally separate them from their motherland. He has appealed to the government to reconsider dual citizenship keeping in mind the international standards so that Indians living on foreign soil can preserve their original national identity forever.