New York Times peddles fake news on India's visa policy for Afghans, adds 'religion' angle

America's leading daily New York Times peddled misinformation about India's visa policy for Afghans on Tuesday claiming that it was 'discriminatory' against the Muslims like the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).  The NYT article claimed that India had adopted a ‘religious’ criteria to grant asylum to the distressed citizens of Afghanistan which would prioritize the repatriation of Hindus and Sikhs from the Taliban-driven nation. 

Kanchan Gupta on Wednesday called out the New York Times for the 'gross lies' that they were peddling asserting that India not only stood by its Afghan partners but had also promptly introduced e-visas for all. 

In its report, the New York Times spread half-baked truths over the Home Ministry's evacuation measures for Afghan nationals and claimed that the “emergency visas” being rolled out for Afghans had no mention of Muslims. 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." 

The report added that the PM Modi-led government's move to focus on Hindus and Sikhs and not Muslims 'drew comparisons to the contentious 2019 citizenship law' that had been enacted by the Centre.

'Religion not a criterion to apply for evacuation': MHA

It is important to mention that India has opened E-visas for all Afghan nationals, irrespective of their religion. In an attempt to assist citizens from Afghanistan, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday informed about a fast category of electronic visas called “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa”. 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 emergence evacuation, which is completely opposite to the 'discriminatory' approach that NYT has attempted to paint.

In a tweet, a MHA spokesperson said that the decision has been taken 'in view of the current situation in Afghanistan' and has no criteria pertaining to the religion of the Afghan national who wishes to leave the country.

In the e-visa application, there is no section where an Afghan national has to fill in whether he/she is a Hindu, Muslim or a Sikh. Check out the form below.