Opposition parties on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Centre after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a clarification on Indian passport saying that it is a travel document and should not be treated as a proof of citizenship.
The clarification follows mounting questions over the use of passports as proof of citizenship and qualification for government schemes.
Reacting to the MEA's remark, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra criticised the remark and said that the only proof of Indian citizenship today is to be both Hindu and a BJP voter.
Mahua Moitra@MahuaMoitra·FollowIt would seem that the only proof of Indian citizenship today is to be both Hindu and a BJP voter. Nothing else will do.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal too raised question about document that would serve as a proof of Indian citizenship since MEA said it should not be treated as one.
In a post on X, Sibal wrote, "MEA June 24, 2026 : “A passport is a travel document, and not a document of citizenship.” Which document then is proof of citizenship?
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray also criticised the MEA’s clarification, raising questions about the passport issuance process.
In a post on X, he said, “If the MEA believes Passport is not a document of citizenship: 1) What do the police verify before granting a passport? 2) Does our country give passports as travel documents to non Indians as well? 3) Wouldn’t this announcement create doubts in the minds of other countries, of whether non Indians get Indian Passports as a travel document? Beyond its very confused foreign policy, how much more absurd can the MEA become?”
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