Twitter
Advertisement

BJP, PDP divided over granting passport to Syed Ali Geelani; Rijiju says security issues to be considered

The issue of passport for hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has kicked off a controversy in Kashmir with PDP and BJP, who rule the state, having diametrically opposite views on it.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The issue of passport for hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has kicked off a controversy in Kashmir with PDP and BJP, who rule the state, having diametrically opposite views on it.

While PDP said Geelani should be given passport on "humanitarian" grounds, BJP insists that he should not be given the travel document till he "apologises" for his anti-national activities. "This issue has to be dealt with from humanitarian point of view and we will pursue the matter with the Union Home Ministry," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti told PTI while commenting on application made by Geelani for a passport to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia.

The PDP president said Geelani was issued passport in 2007, 2008 and 2011. "We will tell (Union) Home Ministry that Geelani must be given passport along with his wife and son so that he could visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia. His daughter must not be deprived of seeing her father," Mehbooba said. She said other separatist leaders including Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq already have passports and they have been visiting foreign countries from time to time, including Pakistan.

BJP, the coalition partner of PDP in the state government, has said Geelani must apologise for his "anti-national activities" and acknowledge that he is an Indian if he wants an Indian passport. "Passport cannot be given to Geelani till he apologises for the mistakes he has committed during the past 25 years.

Passports are issued to Indian citizens and not the ones who don't believe in India and its democracy. If Geelani sahib wants the passport, then has to fall in the line and follow law of the land," BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir has said. Reacting to Mehbooba's statement on the issue, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah wondered if it was "fixed match" between the ruling allies in which the PDP chief was trying to appear as a "crusader". "What's the big deal? Geelani declined to avail a passport in 2011 so why is Mehbooba suddenly trying to appear as some sort of crusader," Omar said on Twitter.

Omar also questioned BJP's objections on the passport issue. "I completely fail to understand why BJP would object to Geelani calling himself an Indian unless this is a PDP-BJP fixed match," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Apparently referring to the requirement of declaring nationality as Indian in the application form, the former Chief Minister said, "If he could get a passport in 2011, there is no reason he can't get one in 2015. He's happy to travel on an Indian passport & citizenship." Congress said due procedures should be followed while deciding on Geelani's application.

"There is a set procedure which should be followed while issuing passport to any individual," AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmad said in Srinagar.

Asked if the Congress was in favour of issuing passport to Geelani, he said, "I am not aware of individual cases." To a question on the hoisting of Pakistani flag during Geelani's rally in Tral area of Kashmir on April 15, the Congress leader said, "It is not good to wave the flag of another nation on our soil."

In Jammu later, the Congress spokeperson said, "The matter should be discussed by the Central and State governments." The governments could consider his activities and then take a decision in this regard.

"I do not know the reason (why Geelani has been denied a passport). If somebody wants a passport to meet his daughter or travel abroad for treatment of some ailment or to attend relatives' marriage, it is a matter of the governments to take a call on it," he said.

CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has also called for issuing the passport to Geelani. 

A decision on granting passport to Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani will be taken considering various issues, including national security, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said today. "The Home Ministry has not yet received anything regarding his (Geelani) application for passport. When we will receive it, we will take a decision taking into account various issue like national security," he told reporters in New Delhi.

Rijiju was replying to a question on the issue of granting passport to the hardline Hurriyat faction leader who has applied for the travel document to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia.

Official sources said Geelani and his family members want to travel to Jeddah and had applied for passports online.

But he has not yet visited the regional passport office in Srinagar to give his biometric data and clicking the photograph. As per the new rules, an application must visit the passport office in person to give biometric details and click the photograph.

Sources said after Geelani visits the passport office to complete the formalities, his application will be sent to the Ministries of Home and External Affairs for their comments as he falls in prior security clearance category for issuing a passport.The Ministries, then, in consultation with the Jammu and Kashmir government, would take a final decision on granting the passport to him. Geelani was issued passport in 2007, 2008 and 2011 with a validity of one year in each time. 

 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement