VIBHA SHARMANew Delhi, June 25 -- Amid political storm, over electoral roll revisions and citizenship verification exercises, a clarification by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that a passport is a travel document and not conclusive proof of citizenship has triggered a major controversy.
While the Opposition was seen taking jibes at the BJP-led Centre, questioning what document, then, can establish Indian citizenship, government officials said that a passport "has never been considered proof of citizenship," stressing that no such decision was taken either recently or in the last 12 years. They also quoted sections of the Passports Act, 1967, which provides for the issuance of passports to non-citizens.
The controversy began when M...