Opposition leaders on Thursday asked the Centre what documents Indians can rely on to prove their citizenship. The question came a day after the Ministry of External Affairs said that a passport is a travel document and not proof of citizenship.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate noted that a passport is a “document issued by a sovereign nation to its citizens for international travel”.
“Does this mean non-Indian citizens have been issued an Indian passport?” she said in a social media post. “What about foreign countries and immigration desks – should they now believe a person with an Indian passport is not necessarily an Indian?”
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the “direction in which the country appears to be heading raises serious concerns”, PTI reported.
“It increasingly seems that, in the coming days, [Bharatiya Janata Party] membership could become synonymous with citizenship,” he added.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) Spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that the government needs to clarify what proves that a person is a citizen of India, PTI reported.
He added: “Don’t be surprised if tomorrow, the government comes up with a clause saying that if you become a member of the BJP, you prove yourself to be the citizen of India.”
Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy also asked the Union government to specify which documents are valid proof of citizenship.
Following the Opposition’s criticism, the government on Thursday clarified that passports have never been considered proof of citizenship, adding that no such decision was taken either recently or in the last 12 years, ANI reported.
The government cited Section 20 of the 1967 Passports Act, which grants the Union government discretionary authority to issue a passport or travel document to a person who is not an Indian citizen if it deems it necessary in the public interest.
It also pointed to Bombay High Court judgements from 2013 that observe that possessing a passport does not establish citizenship.
Reacting to this, Congress leader Salman Khurshid asked why the government “felt the need to bring up old documents and old judgements after so many years”, IANS reported.
“Courts make observations based on the context prevailing at that particular time,” Khurshid was quoted as saying. “The question is: what is the context today, That needs to be explained. The circumstances have changed significantly, especially when questions are being raised in different places about whether a person is a citizen or not, and whether that person has the right to vote.”
The Supreme Court and different High Courts have, over the years, held that documents such as Aadhaar card, voter identity card, permanent account card and a certificate issued by the Gram Panchayat Secretary, as well as ownership of a bank account or property, are not evidence of citizenship.
There is no single document that proves Indian citizenship. Only foreign nationals who take up Indian citizenship are granted actual citizenship certificates. People born in India do not have any such document.
Written by Tanya Shrivastava. Edited by Sneha.
Explained: Why an Indian passport is not proof of citizenship – and no single document is
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