SANITY must prevail, and only citizens of Pakistan must be allowed affiliation or membership of political parties registered here. Loyalty and commitment to Pakistan must prevail over political affiliations. Pakistan was created through a political process, with declared objective by the Father of the Nation MAJ, to create a modern democratic welfare state.
In a democracy, right to dissent, with supremacy of constitution, is the edifice on which a nation is built and prospers. Loyalty to a country, like belief in one religion, is exclusive and singular in nature. Affiliations to a political party, or a particular politician, cannot and should not be at the expense of loyalty to Pakistan. Individuals come and go. The graveyards of world are proof, if any is needed, that individuals are dispensable. Pakistan must survive, because it is home to 230 million citizens, who hold singular citizenship and have chosen to live and die here. They have wedded their future, with destiny of this country, and they alone must decide who rules and represents them.
The difference and obligations of nationality and citizenship are vast. Nationality is linked with an individual’s place of birth or ancestry and by definition is singular. Citizenship is acquired through a process of registration or naturalization, subject to laws. Citizenship gives an individual right to vote, hold public office, enjoy social security, health and education benefits, permanent residency, own private property, engage in employment etc., whilst making it obligatory on individual to pay taxes etc.
The right to represent a country is directly linked with taxation and can only be given to those who have pledged undivided loyalty to a country, and submit to its laws and constitution. Any deviation from this basic principle will have a devastating impact on any country, leading to political instability and economic crisis. In the USA, a person, aspiring for citizenship, has to “absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of which I, have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the USA”. An American citizen cannot pledge loyalty to the country of his birth or ancestry. Any deviation carries severe penalties, after the Patriot Act was passed by Congress and signed on October 26, 2001.
There is no confusion about this. An individual by definition cannot have more than one nationality, unless he/she unequivocally renounces it. Countries like India do not allow their citizens to acquire citizenship of another country. Membership of political parties, registered in India, is exclusive right of Indian citizens only. No political party registered in India, eligible to engage in legitimate political activity, is allowed to have its offices located outside India. These political parties can only receive funding by citizens of India. Similar is the situation in countries such as Malaysia. It is precisely for this reason that Indian origin American citizens are actively involved in American politics and hold important elected public offices in US Congress and as Governors of States.
The Indian Diaspora is united, on the platform of India, totally unrelated to which political party holds power. They act unitedly to protect and promote the national interests of India. It is precisely for this reason that no prominent member of Indian Diaspora, has ever been engaged in any propaganda or campaign against any political party of India, irrespective of whether Congress or BJP is at helm. Remittances to dependents living in India, or for buying private property, investment etc., from Indian Diaspora and expatriates employed abroad were $125 billion in 2023.
According to World Bank report, India tops the list of countries with highest remittances, followed by Mexico and China with an inflow of $67Billion and $50Billion. The total remittance inflows to countries in South Asia was $189Billion in 2023, of which India’s share is 66%. Total remittances to low, and middle income, countries in 2023 was $669Billion. Remittances from US, UK and Singapore to India constitute almost 36% of total inflows, whilst UAE is the second largest after America. Pakistan ranks 5th in the world with total remittance inflows of $19.3 billion. Most of them are from expatriates, holding Pakistani Passport only, employed in Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. Remittances from USA constitute 6.89%, whilst those from Canada are 2.92%, followed by Singapore 2.72% and negligible from UK.
The reason why any Indian expatriate, holding foreign citizenship, has never been involved in a campaign seeking economic sanctions against India is because they are not allowed to be involved in domestic politics of India. The only exception is Sikhs, who have publicly declared their resolve to declare a separate state Khalistan. Even the residents of Manipur, majority of them Christians, who have been subjected to killings and humiliation by majority Hindu, have never sought foreign interference, except from human rights organizations. On the other hand, the toxic political polarization, that for the past few years, has created deep divisions and even hatred, with incidents of violence, such as 9 May incident and 124-day violent Dharna in 2014, followed by 21 days Dharna in 2017, seems to have gripped many followers of a political party in America, UK etc.
Limits have been crossed when these political activists sough help of prominent Indian origin senators like Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Raja Krishnamoorthi and prominent members of pro-Israel lobby in seeking their intervention, in what is purely an internal matter of this country. Lobbyists have been employed in seeking this intervention. Prominent Indian origin US Senators have always been involved in protecting Indian national interests, irrespective of whether Congress or BJP hold the fort in Delhi. These US Senators actively pursue Indian interests and declared policies. They are also involved in a ban on TikTok vote in the US Congress. TikTok is already banned in India, because this social media platform gives space to human rights violations and killings in Gaza, West Bank and other parts of the world, including those being committed in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
