The revelation that an Indian passport is merely a document facilitating foreign travel and not proof of citizenship has understandably shocked most Indians. For generations, citizens believed that the passport was the Republic’s highest certification of nationality. After all, it prominently records the holder’s nationality as “Indian”, bears the authority of the Government of India, and is accepted worldwide because foreign governments trust that India has verified the status of the bearer before issuing it. In a country where voter identity cards, Aadhaar, PAN cards and other documents have repeatedly been declared inadequate to establish citizenship conclusively, the passport remained the one document that inspired confidence. If even this is to be treated as........

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