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| Does Geelani really need a passport? | | | Peerzada Ummer
Early Times Report
Srinagar, May 27: Does hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani really want a passport or is only enacting a drama to hog the headlines? This is the question asked by many people here after Geelani's confusing statements over his passport application.
On the one hand Geelani has been insisting that he wants to meet his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia and on the other he has set conditions for undergoing the biometric procedure to complete the application.
Geelani has been saying that till his house detention ends, he would not got for the further procedure. Though the state authorities offered Geelani a vehicle to go to the Passport Office for completing the necessary paperwork, his refusal is not only confusing the masses but also making them skeptic over his real intentions.
In an interview Geelani has said that he left the 'nationality' column blank in his application and would not fill it. However, in the online format of the passport application, one cannot leave any column blank as the form would not be accepted. Later, Geelani declared that writing 'Indian' as nationality is a compulsion and that he has re-submitted the application.
However, few days later Geelani against started his anti-India rant, saying he would not require a passport till his house detention is not ended. "For past several years, I have been yearning to meet my ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia and to also perform Hajj. I have submitted online form for passport. But due to my continuous house arrest, rather illegal confinement, I am not able to visit the Passport Office to complete the biometrics procedure," Geelani said while making the authorities wonder who is stopping him from undergoing the biometric procedure.
When asked that every person who applies for the passport has to mention his/her nationality, Geelani again downplayed the issue but this time not declaring that he didn't fill the 'nationality' column. "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 neighbouring countries and taken over our natural resources. This has made us fully dependent on it for power, water, roads and jobs. In this situation mentioning my nationality as Indian in the passport form will be a sheer compulsion, rather mere formality. 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," Geelani said. |
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