20-02-2023 : Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the Peoples Democratic Party, has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, seeking his intervention in obtaining her passport which has been pending for the last three years. She wants to take her 80-year-old mother on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Mehbooba stated that the delay in renewing her passport is due to an adverse report by the Jammu and Kashmir CID, which claimed that issuing her a travel document would undermine national security. She also pointed out the delay in her daughter’s passport application for pursuing higher studies overseas.
Mehbooba highlighted that the Passport Office in Srinagar is denying passports to thousands of people, including journalists, students, and others by misusing national interest as a pretext. She moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which gave clear directions that the Regional Passport Office should not operate as the CID’s “mouthpiece” by denying passports on vague grounds. However, Mehbooba has not yet received a positive response from the Passport Authority of India, despite multiple attempts since 2021.
Mehbooba expressed her anguish about being unable to fulfill a simple wish of taking her mother on a pilgrimage to Mecca due to petty politics. She also filed a petition in the high court for her daughter’s passport issuance, pleading that she needs the travel document immediately for pursuing higher education overseas. The authorities released the passport of Mehbooba’s mother early this month after the high court passed fresh directions to the passport officer.
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