Riyaz , a Rohingya refugee who lives in a crowded camp in Delhi along with nearly 300 others, is desperate to get himself vaccinated against COVID-19. But India s ongoing vaccination drive is only open to its own citizens or those with any of the 11 identity documents specified by the government. All that Riyaz and the others in the camp have are the refugee cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A few of us tried to get vaccinated but we were asked for Aadhaar cards, he told IndiaSpend. The lack of an Aadhaar card also means that refugees cannot get themselves tested for COVID-19.
New Delhi, India – On the night of December 26, 2001, Mohammad Abdul Hai boarded a train from Jodhpur in northwestern India’s Rajasthan state to Surat city in neighbouring Gujarat to attend a three-day seminar on Muslim education.
The seminar was organised by the All India Minority Education Board, of which Hai – then an associate professor at Jodhpur’s Jai Narain Vyas University – was a member.
The three-day event was expected to be attended by nearly 400 Muslim scholars, activists and community leaders from across India.
Hai was excited about the seminar. But little did he know that the event was going to change his life forever and soon he would not only be called a “terrorist” and “anti-national” but will have to spend the next 14 months in jail.