After the external affairs ministry on Wednesday said that a passport is just a travel document, not a document of citizenship, social media users were in a frenzy, questioning whether non-citizens could also obtain an Indian passport.
“A passport is issued after a lot of due diligence, and it is based on documents from several government agencies,” a MEA official said.
The passport is the latest in a list of documents that do not serve as conclusive proof of citizenship and are merely documents of identity, including the Aadhaar card and the voter identity card, according to the government.
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Yes, under certain circumstances, non-citizens can acquire an Indian passport, as clarified by the Ministry of External Affairs citing the Passports Act of 1967.
The Ministry states that a passport serves primarily as a travel document and does not serve as conclusive proof of an individual's citizenship status.
Proof of Indian citizenship can include documents such as a birth certificate, education certificates, and a parent's passport among others, but the specific requirements can vary.
Confusion arises because while passports are issued primarily to citizens for travel, the Ministry emphasizes that they do not provide conclusive evidence of citizenship.
This view is supported by the Passports Act of 1967 and was affirmed in various court judgments, including those from the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
Veteran writer Javed Akhtar reacted to MEA's “passport not proof of citizenship” and asked if the government was issuing Indian passports to non-citizens. “The Ministry of External Affairs says that a passport is a document for travel, not the proof of citizenship. Really ??? So are they providing this travel document to some people without being totally convinced that this person is an Indian citizen?? It is absurd,” he wrote.
Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray also reacted, saying, “Beyond its very confused foreign policy, how much more absurd can the MEA become?”
Social media users called it an “absurd” statement and asked what exactly proves citizenship for Indians.
“So non citizens can get an Indian passport also?” asked a user.
“If passport is not proof of citizenship, Aadhaar is not proof, and voter ID is not proof… then WHAT is?" another user asked.
A netizen said, “Struggling to understand why a passport would say nationality Indian if it’s not a proof of citizenship. In case of emergencies, is our embassy responsible for us, or now that it’s a mere travel document, does consular assistance become invalid?”
“Citizenship Act, 1955 → determines whether you are a citizen. Passports Act, 1967 → provides a passport to eligible persons, primarily citizens, for travel. It's serious crime if any govt officials offered passports to Non-Citizens. The Indian govt declared the 'Passport is not the proof of Citizenship'. Because they don't want to punish the officials who did the crimes,” a user noted.
“But here's the interesting thing: a passport is issued only to Indian citizens, yet it does not by itself prove citizenship,” said another user.
A netizen asked how exactly should he probe that he is an “Indian by birth” — “Following things I had submitted for passport:-
1) NOC
2) 10th Marksheet provided by CBSE
3) Graduation Certificate
4) Post-Graduation Certificate
5) Father's Passport
6) Birth Certificate”
A user sarcastically said that at this point, only a BJP membership card would prove citizenship.
“At this point, maybe we need forehead tattoos in our mother tongue to prove citizenship,” another user joked.
