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| Has to write Indian in nationality column: Parrikar | | MEA rejects Geelani's passport application | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, May 21: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that passport application of the Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani cannot be processed in its present form, stating that it was incomplete.
"We have seen media reports of Syed Ali Geelani's passport application. An incomplete passport application was received from him. Fees were not paid and the biometric details and photographs not submitted," Spokesperson in MEA Vikas Swarup said.
His response came a day after Union Minister of State (MoS) Home K Rijiju had said that MEA would take the decision to issue the passport to Geelani or not.
Hours after the Union Home Ministry said the request would be processed on "merit" as the travel document is the "right of every Indian citizen", External Affairs Ministry asserted that "the application cannot be processed in its present form".
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Geelani would have to write 'Indian' in the nationality column to apply for the passport. "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," a Home Ministry spokesperson said.
Sources claimed that the ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs would take a decision on the issue in consultation with the Jammu and Kashmir government only after Geelani visits the nearest passport office for biometrics.
Geelani and his family members want to travel to Jeddah and have applied for passports online.
But he has not yet visited the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar to give his biometric data and clicking the photograph. As per the new rules, an applicant must visit the passport office in person to give biometric details and click the photograph.
Sources told Early Times that Ministry of External Affairs by turning down Geelani's passport application has made it clear that Hurriyat hawk would have to fall in line if he wants the passport. "BJP leaders in New Delhi have unanimously decided that Geelani would have to fill the nationality column if he wants the passport," they added.
Sources said that central BJP leaders want to take a "humanitarian view" over issuing passport to Geelani as he wants to visit Jeedah to see his ailing daughter Farthat Jabeen who has reportedly suffered a stroke and is battling for life but Geelani cannot get away without filling up the nationality column.
Geelani, who is presently under house arrest, has demanded that siege around his house should be lifted so that he can visit the passport office for biometrics." "Police had offered a vehicle to Geelani on Wednesday to visit the Passport Office in Srinagar but Geelani had turned down the offer and had insisted that he would visit the office on his own," sources added. |
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