Ex-envoy who represented India in 3 nations asked to prove citizenship during SIR
Ex-envoy who represented India in 3 nations asked to prove citizenship during SIR
M.U.H
24/08/202622
He spent decades representing India overseas. But back home in Punjab, retired Indian Foreign Service officer Navdeep Suri found himself being asked to produce documents to prove that he is an Indian citizen.
Suri, who served as India’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt and as High Commissioner to Australia, encountered the problem during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Punjab.
It began as a routine verification exercise. The Amritsar resident visited his Booth Level Officer and submitted his voter ID and Aadhaar card. He was told that his documents were in order. However, a message he received later raised a fresh problem.
“Sharing my experience with SIR in Punjab. Went to BLO, submitted Voter ID and Aadhaar card, was assured that everything is in order. Got a message today from a volunteer saying some details don’t match with SIR in 2003!” Suri wrote on X.
The discrepancy meant that the documents he had submitted were no longer considered sufficient. Suri said he was asked to return with proof of his Indian citizenship.
The problem appeared to stem from his absence from India in 2003, the year against which his details were being checked. Suri was posted overseas at the time and was subsequently asked to submit his passport.
For Suri, who retired in 2019 after representing India in three countries, the irony was stark: he was now being asked to establish his citizenship at home.
“If I have trouble establishing my citizenship after representing India in three countries, what’s the fate of the common citizen?” he asked.
The Election Commission of India, the Punjab government and the Centre have not yet responded to Suri’s account.
PASSPORT SOUGHT, BUT DOES IT PROVE CITIZENSHIP?
The demand for Suri’s passport adds another layer to his predicament.
The Ministry of External Affairs clarified in June that although passports are ordinarily issued to Indian citizens after document checks and police verification, they do not by themselves constitute conclusive proof of citizenship.
Aadhaar, which Suri had already submitted along with his voter ID, establishes identity and residence but not citizenship. Eligible non-citizen residents can also obtain it.
The issue had prompted Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to call for passports and Aadhaar cards to be recognised as proof of citizenship.
Tharoor argued that Indians were being placed in an administrative grey area where documents issued by the government were still not considered conclusive proof of nationality. He also proposed a visually distinct Aadhaar card for non-citizens.
SIR UNDERWAY ACROSS PUNJAB
Suri’s experience comes as Punjab enters the second phase of the SIR.
During the first phase, election officials conducted a house-to-house drive between June 25 and August 3. They collected and digitised enumeration forms from nearly 1.94 crore of the state’s 2.14 crore registered electors.
More than 20 lakh electors, or 9.63 per cent of the total, were categorised as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate.
Draft electoral rolls have now been published for all 117 Assembly constituencies. Voters can check their details and file claims or objections between August 13 and September 12.
Election officials will examine the submissions until October 8. The final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on October 12.
