NEW DELHI: Indian government has rejected a passport application by Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, saying the form couldn’t be processed as it is ‘incomplete’.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “an incomplete passport application was received from him (Geelani). Fees were not paid and biometric details and photographs not submitted. The application cannot be processed in its present form.” In any case, the Hurriyat leader would find it hard to admit officially that he is a citizen of India, a mandatory requirement to get a passport.
Geelani has earlier been granted passport with a one-year validity on two occasions. In 2007-08, he was granted an Indian passport for travel to the US for treatment of cancer of the kidney. Thereafter, he was issued a passport in 2009-10 to enable him to travel to Pakistan to meet his son. But sources in the home ministry said he never applied for a Pakistani visa on that passport.
Geelani figures in the “prior reference category” list and any passport application from him is referred to the MEA and home ministry for political clearance. “If he duly fills up the form, including the self-declaration regarding Indian citizenship, there is no reason for MEA to deny him a passport,” said a home ministry official.
Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said a passport was a right for every Indian citizen and would be given if the documentation was correct.
