Marking Passport Seva Divas on June 24, an MEA official reiterated that an Indian passport is not a document of Indian citizenship. Ironically, the statement came at an event celebrating the expansion of passport services across the country. It has since provoked widespread consternation.
While the legal position itself isn't new, the wider context is important to understand the reaction. The question of how a citizen may prove citizenship has come to centre stage of Indian political life in recent years. National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were about citizenship. Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, most recently rolled out in West Bengal, focused on citizenship. The ongoing nationwide SIR of electoral rolls now being conducted in 19 states and UTs is also partly about citizenship.
