JOIN USThe government said on Thursday that Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s passport application was “incomplete” without the prescribed fees and as such it cannot process in the “present form”.
However, the government said that Geelani’s application would be processed if he fulfils all formalities, as getting a passport is the “right of every Indian”. The issuance of passport to Geelani to travel to Saudi Arabia to meet his daughter who is undergoing a surgery has split the ruling coalition partners — the PDP and the BJP — in Jammu and Kashmir. While PDP demanded that Geelani be given the travel document on “humanitarian” grounds, BJP wants him to apologise for his anti-national activities before issuing the travel document.
“An incomplete passport application was received from him. Fees were not paid and the biometric details and photographs not submitted. The application cannot be processed in its present form,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Hours before, the Union Home Ministry spokesperson said, “Passport is the right of every Indian citizen and is issued by the Ministry of External Affairs after following due process. In case any applicant applies for the passport, he should fulfil all the formalities before his case is processed. As and when the matter is referred to the Ministry of Home Affairs, we will process the case on merit.”
As per new passport law, the applicant has to go to the passport office to give his biometrics and get a photo taken. With Geelani in the prior clearance list, his application will be forwarded to the central government where concerned ministries will decide after consulting the state government. Though Geelani and his family have applied online, they have not gone to the passport office to complete the procedure. Reports also suggested that he had left the nationality column blank, leaving the application incomplete.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Geelani would have to write “Indian” in the nationality column to apply for passport. At an event organised by Aaj Tak channel, he said, “on philosophical level, if he (Geelani) applies for it, then in the nationality column he would have to write ‘Indian’. So that is the first round of victory over him as he does not consider himself an Indian.”
Officials said Geelani was issued passports in 2007, 2008 and 2011 with a validity of one year each time. He had applied for a US visa in 2011 but was rejected. As Congress latched on to the issue, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the opposition party was “unnecessarily” playing politics over the issue.
“We have not taken any decision on the issue. When we take a decision, the whole country will know. The Congress is just unnecessarily playing politics on the issue. It is not good in national interest,” he said.