Why a passport may not prove you're Indian
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Last week, a senior official of India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian passport is primarily a travel document and should not be treated as a conclusive proof of citizenship, according to Indian media reports.
Legally, that distinction is not new. Former diplomat Veena Sikri notes that the Ministry of Home Affairs — not the MEA — has the sole authority to grant and determine citizenship. "A passport is an attribute of citizenship, but does not itself confer it," Sikri told DW.
The MEA official's reported statement comes at a time when citizenship itself has become one of India's most politically contested subjects. It also coincides with the election commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in several states and territories, including Bihar — one of India's largest states by population — and West Bengal, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party recently won state elections. The Election Commission of India (ECI) said the "intensive revision" was needed to remove ineligible voters, but critics say it is skewed against marginalized and minority communities. Members of Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighboring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India's electoral rolls. India's citizenship law does not provide most people with a single document that conclusively proves their status.
Instead, different documents serve different purposes. The Aadhaar biometric card establishes identity for welfare and public services. A voter identity card enables electoral participation.
A passport certifies nationality for international travel. Birth certificates, school records and land documents may all become relevant in different circumstances.
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