Only BJP membership card will prove citizenship by 2030: Owaisi slams Centre

Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, on Thursday mounted a sharp attack on the Centre over its assertion that a passport is not proof of citizenship, alleging that the BJP-led government was seeking arbitrary powers to question citizens' nationality and sarcastically remarking that by 2030, "only people with BJP membership cards" may be recognised as Indian citizens.

Owaisi rejected the Centre's stand and argued that passports are issued only after rigorous verification of an applicant's citizenship.

"Maybe the government is saying that in 2030, only people who have a BJP membership card will be called an Indian citizen," Owaisi said in a sharp attack on the ruling party.

His remarks came after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified on Saturday that a passport is merely a travel document and not, by itself, proof of Indian citizenship, triggering a wider political debate.

Questioning the government's position, Owaisi cited the Passport Act, 1967, arguing that passports are issued only to Indian citizens after detailed police verification.

"A passport is only given to an Indian citizen. If you read the Passport Act 1967, it clearly says that a passport is not given to a non-Indian citizen and a passport is given only after a thorough police verification. Then, if you are saying that only a citizenship certificate is proof, then a citizenship certificate is only given to those people who got citizenship through registration or naturalisation," Owaisai said.

He continued, "I am by birth and by choice an Indian citizen. My generation and my grandfather's grandfather were born here. I feel that the government wants to retain control to randomly ask any person, 'Are you an Indian?'"

As the controversy intensified, government sources, responding to media queries, said the Centre's position had remained unchanged for years.

"It was not decided yesterday that a passport is not proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years. A passport has never been proof of citizenship," a government source said.

The sources further maintained that, under the Passport Act, 1967, passports may, in certain circumstances, be issued to non-citizens, reinforcing the government's position that the document primarily serves as a travel document and does not, by itself, establish citizenship.

The clarification drew sharp reactions from Opposition leaders.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra took a swipe at the Centre, posting on X, "It would seem that the only proof of Indian citizenship today is to be both Hindu and a BJP voter. Nothing else will do."

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal questioned what documents would then be accepted as proof of citizenship, saying on X, "Which document then is proof of citizenship? BLO can doubt my citizenship. Deprive me of my vote. Result BJP wins the election. Over to Supreme Court!"

Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar also criticised the government's position, calling it "absurd".

"The ministry of external affairs says that a passport is a document travel not the proof of citizenship. Really??? So are they providing this travel document to some people without being totally convinced that this person is an Indian citizen? It is absurd," he wrote on X.

Government sources, however, pointed to judicial precedents to defend their stand, saying judgments of the Bombay High Court in 2013 had made it clear that a passport is not proof of citizenship.

- Ends