The right to belong beyond official documentation: paperwork cannot outweigh personhood in India’s citizenship framework

This editorial critiques a recent clarification attributed to the Ministry of External Affairs stating that an Indian passport is a “travel document” rather than “citizenship proof,” and argues that such messaging reflects and intensifies a broader trend of scrutinising citizenship through increasingly technical documentary standards.

The piece questions the logic of the clarification by pointing out that passports are normally issued on the premise of citizenship; exceptional issuance to non-citizens in public interest cases does not justify dismissing passports as meaningless for citizenship status.