Will passport prove citizenship or not? Government-Opposition face to face, what is the truth? New legal revelation amid citizenship dispute, political battle intensifies over MEA’s statement.
Passport Citizenship Controversy: The biggest legal and political controversy in the history of the country has arisen over the identity and existence of Indian citizens. This great battle started with the shocking explanation of the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which has shocked every common and special Indian. The Ministry of External Affairs has clearly stated that Indian passport is only a legal document for travel and not a definitive proof of citizenship. As soon as this statement came, this sharp question has started echoing across the country that if even the blue book like passport which has become the identity of India across the world is not the proof of citizenship, then which is the real ‘paper’ of a person’s citizenship in the country?
That page of ‘Act 1967’: Can non-citizens also get Indian passport?
When the uproar over this shocking claim increased, government sources and the BJP created a new suspense by citing ‘Passport Act, 1967’ in defence. According to sources, the Narendra Modi government has not made any new rules regarding citizenship or passport in the last 12 years, but has only reiterated the established legal position. Section 20 of the Passport Act, 1967 introduces a surprising provision under which the Central Government can, in “public interest”, issue a passport or travel document even to a person who is not a citizen of India! However, Section 6(2)(a) of the same Act says that if the applicant is not a citizen of India, the authority will refuse to grant the passport. This contradiction of laws has made the whole matter a mysterious puzzle.
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Opposition’s biggest fear: “Preparations are underway to arbitrarily snatch citizenship!”
As soon as this legal nuance came to light, the opposition declared an all-out war against the government. Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal launched a scathing attack on the government on social media platform The opposition’s direct allegation is that the government wants to target its political opponents and certain communities through this uncertainty.
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First ‘Aadhaar’ and now ‘Passport’: Both out of the race!
This controversy has revived an old debate. Some time ago, there was a similar confusion regarding the country’s biggest document ‘Aadhaar’, on which the Supreme Court had made it clear that Aadhaar is only a document of identity and address and not a definitive proof of citizenship. Now the name of passport has also been added to this list. In such a situation, the question has arisen before the country that which document should be trusted? AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a jibe at the government, saying, “If passport, birth certificate, Aadhaar and Voter ID are not concrete proofs, will the only proof of citizenship by 2030 be BJP membership?” TMC MP Mahua Moitra also taunted that now it seems as if being a supporter of the ruling party is the only guarantee of citizenship left.
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Election Commission’s twist: The secret of 12 VIP documents!
Amidst this entire political storm, Election Commission (EC) officials have shared a very interesting and relieving information. According to the Commission, under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Voter List, among the 12 valid documents required by voters to prove their eligibility, passport is still included as a valid and valid document. In the voter list amendments of Bihar and Assam, names of people have been added and retained through passport. Election officials say there have been no changes to voter registration rules at the grassroots level, adding a new administrative twist to this serious controversy.
The matter is now in the country’s biggest court: What is the ‘ultimate truth’ of citizenship?
Famous lyricist Javed Akhtar termed this argument of the Ministry of External Affairs as completely “absurd” and raised the question whether the government is handing over the passport of the country to anyone without any assurance? Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal has warned the country that due to this confusion, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) can doubt the nationality of any common citizen and disenfranchise him from voting. Sibal made it clear that “now this entire sensitive matter has reached the doorstep of the Supreme Court.”
Now everyone’s eyes are on what will happen next
According to the old rules of Press Information Bureau (PIB), citizenship is decided through five methods like birth, descent, registration and naturalization under ‘Citizenship Act, 1955’ and ‘Citizenship Rules, 2009’, but the final decision on the list of final documents acceptable at the ground level is still yet to be taken. Now it remains to be seen what historic decision the Supreme Court of the country gives on this great crisis of passport-citizenship.