When officials of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) recently clarified that an Indian passport is ‘primarily a travel document’ and not conclusive proof of citizenship, they set the cat among the pigeons.

Less than nine per cent Indians hold a valid passport, according to the MEA, but that still means 12-13 crore Indians. For all these millions and many more aspirants, the Indian passport represents the Republic’s highest seal of trust. It carries the national emblem, permits international travel and is accepted by governments across the world as proof of Indian nationality. If even this document cannot establish citizenship, the question is: what can?

The controversy erupted after the MEA ‘clarified’ during a media briefing on Passport Seva Divas (24 June) that, legally speaking, the Indian passport does not create citizenship, that citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, while passports are issued under the Passports Act, 1967. The clarification came when a reporter from The Hindu asked if an Indian citizen could use their valid passport as a document to legally challenge their exclusion from the voter rolls.

In a piece she wrote for The Indian Express, former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao tried to introduce nuance into the debate. ‘For most Indians, the passport is the most authoritative document the Republic issues. It bears the name of the Republic of India, carries the holder’s identity, and is accepted around the world because foreign governments trust that India has verified the bearer’s nationality before issuing it,’ she wrote.

But, she added, ‘a passport does not create citizenship. Nor is it the legal instrument that finally determines citizenship if that status is challenged before a court.’

The courts will perhaps in due course affirm this position, but the reason why this ‘clarification’ has only aggravated citizen anxiety is that........

© National Herald