The question of citizenship and the NRC is once again at the centre of the country's politics. It all began with a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, where officials made it clear that a passport is a travel document and not the ultimate proof that you are an Indian citizen. That was enough to set off the entire INDI bloc, from the Congress to Asaduddin Owaisi, all of whom turned their guns on the Modi government. The opposition alleges that Narendra Modi is now laying the ground to roll out the NRC. At the same time, an ordinary citizen is left with one simple question: if even Aadhaar, voter ID and the passport are not accepted as proof of citizenship, then what really proves that someone is Indian?
With the controversy landing around the anniversary of the Emergency, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have begun turning the entire issue into a political weapon. That makes it all the more important to understand where the dispute actually begins, and how much of it is fact and how much is pure politics.
What the Ministry of External Affairs actually said
The country is once again seeing the same atmosphere being built, the kind where it is claimed that the government will demand documents and show the door to anyone who cannot produce them. The opposition keeps pushing the narrative that only those who vote for the BJP will be allowed to stay, and that under the cover of expelling infiltrators, political opponents will be thrown out of the country. The opposition has gone so far as to say that Narendra Modi is heading down the path of becoming a dictator.
The entire uproar erupted when officials of the Ministry of External Affairs made one significant remark. They said that a passport is a travel document and does not offer a hundred per cent guarantee that a person is an Indian citizen. In plain terms, simply holding an Indian passport does not fully establish citizenship. Seizing on that single statement, the opposition began building the impression that the government is about to bring in some new system and that even the passport is now being rejected.
Are Aadhaar and voter ID also not proof of citizenship
Leaders of the INDI bloc keep claiming on social media that the passport, Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN card and driving licence, none of these actually prove citizenship. Sharpening the jibe, they say that soon only BJP membership will establish that a person is a citizen. Setting that politics aside, ordinary people too are raising some fair questions on social media.
People are asking why the passport, on the basis of which the whole world decides a person's citizenship, is not being treated as proof in India. After all, a range of documents is carefully verified before a passport is issued. A voter ID card too is made only after a person turns 18 and is given only to Indian citizens. But in legal terms, age alone being established is not considered the final basis for citizenship.
As for the Aadhaar card, it is certainly an important proof of identity, but it is not a certificate of citizenship at all. Aadhaar can be issued even to people who are not Indian but are residing in India. The same applies to the PAN card, which can be issued to a non-Indian as well. The leaders of the INDI bloc know all of this perfectly well, yet they keep repeating that the Modi government is now refusing to accept even the passport.
Where the dispute really started
In fact, an official of the Ministry of External Affairs had been asked a serious question. The question was whether people whose names have been struck off the voter list could use a passport to challenge that decision. In reply, the ministry stated very clearly that a passport is a travel document and not a firm document of citizenship.
It is true in its own right that when you travel abroad, it is the passport that determines your nationality and aids you on the journey. But it cannot be viewed as the final document that decides citizenship. The moment this answer came out, the opposition kicked up a storm.
The questions raised by Owaisi and Kapil Sibal
Senior advocate and veteran Congress leader Kapil Sibal put a sharp question to the government, asking which document is then valid in the country to prove citizenship. INDI bloc leaders began asking whether a BJP membership card has now become the valid citizenship card. The opposition's point is that if so many different cards are being issued, then what is their use after all.
TMC leader Mahua Moitra said that being a Hindu and a BJP voter has now become the only proof of being an Indian citizen. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate too took a jibe, asking whether bowing at Modi's feet is now proof of citizenship. By and large, the entire opposition is on the attack against the government over this issue.
Asaduddin Owaisi also jumped into the controversy. He said that by 2030 only BJP membership will determine citizenship. Owaisi argued that the Passport Act clearly states that a passport is issued only to an Indian citizen. In his words, 'Someone who is not an Indian citizen cannot get a passport, so what then is this new spectacle?'
The courts have already ruled on this
What is striking is that Owaisi himself is regarded as a great authority on the law and a barrister, and INDI bloc leaders too keep walking around with the Constitution in hand. Despite this, they are reacting to the passport issue as if this rule has surfaced for the first time. The reality is that the decision that a passport is not proof of citizenship was not made by Narendra Modi. Several courts in the country have already said this, and that too at a time when the INDI bloc itself was in power at the Centre.
