Why the 'passport is not citizenship proof' row hits Punjab hardest
With SIR underway, the move to invalidate passports as identity proof puts the state’s high-density passport-holding population and its diaspora at a critical juncture
The External Affairs Ministry’s (EAM) fiat to delink Indian citizenship from the passport has come at a time when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has just begun in Punjab.
The border state has the highest passport density in the country. And, thus, the document for foreign travel assumes significance back home as a token of a voter’s identity as a citizen during the Election Commission’s (EC) SIR exercise.
Large passport-holding population
Out of roughly two crore voters spread across Punjab, one-third, or about eight million, have passports. This is nearly three times higher than the countrywide average of Indians holding a valid passport.
Also read: Passport row: If a passport isn't proof of citizenship, what is? Experts explain
Punjab is to go to polls early next year at the most, and the SIR exercise is likely to be completed before that. EC has set an October deadline for publishing the final electoral rolls in Punjab after SIR.
Earlier, the passport was in the EC’s list of documents allowed for the purpose of voter identification under SIR. But, after the EAM’s move, this may no longer be so. Making the passport inadequate as an instrument of identification is going to affect Punjabis more than the residents of other states, who may have other proof for identification.
Moreover, Punjab has a large diaspora spread across the world, and the government's step to berate its own passport is also creating anxiety among Punjabis, besides maybe other Indians, living abroad.
Pressing questions
An indication to this came on Thursday (June 25), when former Indian diplomat KC Singh posted on X, “As ex-JS(CPV) & Chief Passport Officer (1996-98) and 1st IFS officer(which then EAM AB Vajpayee sought) to be RPO Chandigarh (1978-80), I’ve to comment:
1. What if other nations use this to deny visas or deport?
2. Before debasing existing systems a transparent system for citizenship card was needed?
3. Is all power being handed to @ECISVEEP (read Election Commission) to decide citizenship?
4. Is this about an Indian’s status or his vote?”
Also read: Why Indian passports have 4 colours: Who gets which one? Explained
The post is terse, cryptic, and damning because it comes from a senior retired IFS official hailing from Punjab amid what many consider to be pointless faux pas being created by the EAM over passport and citizenship. It has the potential to prove highly detrimental both at the domestic and external levels for Indians in general and Punjabis in particular.
Is peace in Punjab at stake?
What can be worse is the chances of it creating public resentment and consternation in a border state like Punjab, which in the past has seen long spells of unrest, ethnic strife, and militancy among a section of its people.
Peace in Punjab has been hard won, and it need not be harmed the way it is being feared to now by the mandarins of the EAM, EC, or whoever may be behind this.
