by Moiz Mannan
From the time the first passport was issued by the British to citizens of the ‘Indian Empire’ after World War I, to this era when the travel document is becoming an electronic marvel, the Indian passport has indeed come a long way.
Indian missions across the globe have, of late, been issuing advisories to their citizens to get rid of any handwritten passports they may have or those with 20-year validity. They will now have just over a year’s time to get the new machine-readable travel documents before the deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organisaion (ICAO). India has introduced a slew of e-services for passports, including the revolutionary ‘e-passport’ (biometric passport).
For Indians, though, the passport is not just a document. It signifies the hopes and aspirations of the ‘pravasi’ (traveller) looking for something special in a foreign land. In a country like India, where such a large proportion of the teeming population is utterly fascinated by the prospect of going phoren, the slender little booklet becomes one of the most prized possession.
Passports came into vogue in India decades before the country’s independence. The British rulers started issuing such documents under the Indian Passport Act of 1920. It became a proof of national status as well as a travel document for people of the ‘Indian Empire’ that included all of modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma (Myanmar).
The passport was based on the format agreed upon in the 1920 League of Nations International Conference on Passports. The cover of the document was of navy blue colour with emblazoned with the British Empire’s Royal Arms of the United Kingdom). The words “British Indian Passport” was printed above the emblem and “Indian Empire” printed below. The text of the passport was printed in English and French.
This passport went out of use in 1947 after the independence of India and Pakistan. In any case, the British Indian Passport had limited scope as it was valid for travel only within the British Empire, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Holland. In those early days, a passport would come for just one rupee.
It is interesting to note that for two decades after independence, there was no proper legislation governing the issuance of passports in India. It took the historic Satwant Singh Sawnhey vs Union of India case in the Supreme Court to do this.
The Apex Court held that the right to travel was a Fundamental right under Article 21 of Indian Constitution and the government could not refuse a passport to an applicant. It thus became necessary to regulate the issuance of passport and travel documents by law. Prior to the act, the government had issued passports in exercise of its executive power on foreign relations.
As, the Parliament was not in session at that time, the President of India promulgated an ordinance namely “The Indian Passport Ordinance, 1967”. Shortly afterwards, the Passport Act of 1967 was passed to replace the ordinance.
Now the the Indian passport is the primary travel document issued to citizens of the ‘Republic of India’. It enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as proof of Indian citizenship as per the The Passports Act 1967.
While the passport is an essential document to travel anywhere in the world, for those moving to the Gulf for employment, it holds special significance. There has been opposition worldwide to the practice by employers of taking possession of their workers’ passports and preventing them from leaving at will. There have also been numerous instances of gullible workers being duped by passport fakers.
In a case reported earlier this month, seven Hindu and Sikh Afghan refugees staying in India on long-term visas for nearly 20 years were been arrested by Punjab police for procuring Indian passports on fake credentials. They were arrested from different airports in the country just before they were to catch flights to various European destinations. Police had traced 135 such passports issued from the regional passport office (RPO) in Jalandhar.
The passport also assumes importance for specific groups such as persons of Goan origin who were born overseas and entered Goa before Liberation as minors on their parent’s passports and who have been unable to claim Indian citizenship for lack of travel documents.
Goa’s NRI commission has taken up the case of these persons with the Centre, and according to the latest reports, the ministry of home affairs has decided to consider applications from such individuals that are supported with documentary evidence of their having continuously resided in India, for grant of Indian citizenship.
In the Gulf, Indian missions have had to issue directives to their citizens to replace initials entered in passports with the full expanded names. It has come to the diplomats’ notice that such abbreviated names lead to mistaken identity and have even landed the wrong people in jail.
In any case, as per the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has set a deadline of the November 25, 2015 for globally phasing out all non-Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). From that day, foreign Governments may deny visa or entry to any person travelling with a non-MRP passport.
All handwritten passports with pasted photos earlier issued by Government of India are considered non-MRP passports. All 20-year validity passports will also fall in this category. Holders of such documents need to apply for re-issue of passports and obtain MRP passports well before the deadline.
The Peninsula
