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| Passport row: Geelani ready to 'accept' Indian nationality | | | Abdul Majid
Early Times Report
Srinagar, May 24: The ongoing row over issuance of passport to separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is likely to end soon, as the pro-Pakistan hawk has decided to write 'Indian' in the 'nationality' column of the application form.
Geelani, who heads his faction of Hurriyat Conference, had sought a passport to see his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia. But he had left blank the 'nationality' column in the computerised form, leading to its rejection.
Sources close to Geelani said he is now willing to write 'Indian nationality' in the column, and this week only he would personally visit the office of Regional Passport Officer Srinagar to complete the formalities.
"You have to understand the situation Kashmiris are living in. With presence of eight lakhs troopers, Kashmir has one of the highest military concentrations in the world. India has closed all our traditional routes to neighboring countries and taken over our natural resources. This has made us fully dependent on it for power, water, roads and jobs. We are living in forcible control of India. In this situation mentioning my nationality as Indian in the passport form will be a sheer compulsion, rather mere formality," Geelani had told a Srinagar daily. "But it will not deter my stand on Kashmir. I have been MLA for over a decade and even then I religiously pursued the cause of Kashmiris for the right to self-determination."
Official sources said Geelani's initial reluctance to fill up the 'nationality' column was the only issue that led to delay in submitting biometric formalities. On May 22, the central government said it would consider Geelani's passport application only after he completes the formalities and indicated that it was not averse to approving it.
"If it comes to us after due formalities, we will think over it. We have no objections," Home Minister Rajnath Singh had told reporters in the national capital.
A day before Rajnath's statement, the External Affairs Ministry had said the passport application of Geelani cannot be processed in its present form as it was incomplete and he had not yet submitted passport fees, biometric details and photographs.
The Home Ministry had said that 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 fulfill 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.
Analysts believe that Geelani deliberately chose to leave blank the 'nationality' column in the form, hence giving it a hype. "He wanted to gain political mileage out of the nationality issue, but as he found the Union Government firm on not tolerating indiscipline, he has tactfully started bending by trying to plead that writing Indian nationality was a compulsion for him," said an analyst.
With the firebrand leader ready to "accept" Indian nationality, the development is likely to bring smiles on the faces of mainstream parties particularly BJP and Congress. "It will be our victory if Geelani accepts being an Indian," said a BJP leader.
But Geelani says that by issuing passport the government won't be doing any favor to him. "If people at the helm of affairs in the government of India issue passport to me, that will not be any favour to me. Obtaining travel documents is basic right and its denial tantamount is to human rights violation," he said. |
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