Ministry of external affairs asked to issue passport to Tibetan

The Delhi high court has directed the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to issue a passport  to a Tibetan girl saying Tibetans are considered stateless and are entitled to the travel document.

Namgyal Dolkar had applied for an Indian passport but was denied the same as she holds an identity certificate, which the MEA issues to Tibetan nationals, without which they can be deported. Justice  S Muralidhar directed the MEA to issue a passport to Dolkar at the earliest.

Dolkar claimed that she had assured the regional passport officer of relinquishing her identity certificate in September 2009. Despite which no steps were taken to issue her a passport.

The high court said Dolkar’s claim of being Tibetan national is really of no legal consequence as far as the Citizenship Act and the MEA policy on citizenship is concerned.

The MEA treats Tibetans as stateless persons, which is why they are issued identity certificates that answer the description of travel documents, the court said.

Dolkar was born on April 13, 1986 in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district and claims that she is an Indian citizen by birth but both her parents are Tibetan refugees.

According to the MEA, Dolkar did not disclose that she held an identity certificate.

The reason based on which the MEA rejected her passport is “untenable”, justice Murldihar said.

Tibetans have no choice in the matter. It must be recalled that when she was informed that she could not hold an identity certificate and a passport at the same time, she volunteered to relinquish the identity certificate.

That was the correct thing to do, the judge said.