Javed Akhtar On MEA's 'Passport Not Proof of Citizenship' Comment: "It's Absurd"

Writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar criticised the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) remark that a passport is not proof of citizenship, terming the statement absurd. Akhtar wondered whether MEA is issuing passports to non-Indian citizens as well. In a post on X, Akhtar questioned the ministry and wrote, "The ministry of external affairs says that a passport is a document for travel, not 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". When a fan flagged that even Aadhaar, voter ID and PAN are not proof of citizenships, he added, "Who in the system is giving such unconditional help to these illegal immigrants. Under such undesirable circumstances how do they differentiate between the fake and the genuine citizens except on the whim of some petty official ."

What Was MEA's Official Statement?

Akhtar's comments came in the wake of an official statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday, saying that the passport is a travel document and cannot be taken as a citizenship document. The comments were made during a press briefing on 14th Passport Sewa Diwas. This was in the backdrop of the efforts being made by the government to modernise passports by making use of chip-based e-passports incorporating biometric features designed to improve security and international acceptability. “A passport is issued after a lot of due diligence, and it is based on documents from several government agencies,” an official said. 14.7 million e-passports have been issued since the chip-based documents were rolled out last year under a revamp of the Passport Seva Programme, the officials said.

Earlier this year, during hearings on the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, the Supreme Court underlined Aadhaar was not conclusive proof of citizenship and was only a document of identity. Under citizenship laws, a person is an Indian citizen by birth if born in the country on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987. For those born after July 1987, citizenship by birth applies if either parent was a citizen. For those born on or after December 3, 2004, citizenship by birth applies only if both parents are Indian citizens, or if one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal immigrant at the time of birth.