Passport controversy
New Delhi, June 25: A raging controversy erupted Thursday on the passport-citizenship issue with the government asserting that no new decision has been taken on the travel document in the past 12 years and the opposition alleging that groundwork is being done to “arbitrarily deny” citizenship rights to those who “disagree” with the ruling dispensation.
Citing the Passport Act 1967, government sources said passports can be given to even non-citizens “in the public interest” while Election Commission officials said passport continues to be among the 12 valid supporting documents required by voters to prove their eligibility to be on the voters’ list.
Amid the row, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday published a gazette notification, dated June 20, announcing the hike in the application fee for an ordinary fresh passport containing 36 pages from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500.
The controversy emerged after media reported, quoting MEA officials, that a passport is a travel document, not a proof of citizenship. It is not a document that establishes citizenship, the MEA officials had said on Wednesday.
“It was not decided yesterday that the passport is not a proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years under the Narendra Modi government. The passport has never been a proof of citizenship,” a government source said.
The sources also cited Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, which says that passports and travel documents can be issued to persons who are not citizens of India.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions relating to issue of a passport or travel document, the central government may issue, or cause to be issued, a passport or travel document to a person who is not a citizen of India if that government is of the opinion that it is necessary so to do in the public interest.” However, the Section 6(2)(a) of the same Passports Act, 1967 provides that the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport “if the applicant is not a citizen of India”.
The opposition Congress slammed the MEA statement and alleged that the government is laying the groundwork to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians with whom it disagrees.
“This government excels in creating panic and helplessness among ordinary citizens. By declaring that even a passport doesn’t certify one’s citizenship, they are laying the groundwork to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians who they disagree with,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said.
The BJP defended the MEA statement and asserted that the Modi government has not introduced any new rule regarding passports. The party said the MEA has merely reiterated a long-settled legal position that a passport alone is not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship. The BJP cited the Passports Act, 1967, and judicial rulings, including a 2013 Bombay High Court judgment, to contend that citizenship is determined under the Citizenship Act, 1955, and not by the possession of any single document.
The EC officials said that Indian passports continue to be among the 12 valid supporting documents required by voters to prove their eligibility to be on the voters’ list under the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
TMC leader Mahua Moitra took a dig on the government over the issue. “It would seem that the only proof of Indian citizenship today is to be both Hindu and a BJP voter,” she said.
Meanwhile, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked if passport, birth certificate, aadhaar card, and voter ID card are not documents of citizenship, then which document is required to prove citizenship. (PTI)
