Youths related to militants not getting passport: J-K

‘Campaign for Right to Travel’,a group formed by Kashmiris who have been denied passports,allege that the government has blacklisted more than 60,000 people from receiving passports on the basis of intelligence reports that they could pose a security risk if they travel outside the country.

Zamrooda Habib,chief and coordinator of Muslim Khawateen Markaz,an organisation looking into the issue said,”People are still denied the right to travel. How does it make any difference if 5 or 6 people out of a lot of 60,000 are issued passports? Issuing passports to only a few people is a conspiracy to weaken the campaign.”

According to figures provided by the passport office,26,321 applications were received,out of which 10,290 passports were issued and 24,193 are pending till May 2010.

“We have cleared all cases till 2005. An extraordinary notice was put in local English dailies for pending cases. Those who responded to it were issued the passport… those who didn’t,the cases were closed,” Regional Passport Officer,Srinagar,G A Dar said.

“Cases aren’t pending just because of links to militants,it can be because of a change in residence not notified to the passport office or some other reason,” he said.

Firdous Ahmad Chaila,a professional ski guide,who is also working in a travel company,said,”I have suffered a lot for a crime I haven’t committed. I kept on going to police stations and courts but nothing happened. It has been four years since I applied for renewal of my passport. Travelling to foreign countries is part of my job…”

Chaila (40),a resident of Budshah Chowk,had applied for a passport renewal in 2006. To his surprise,he was denied it and authorities claimed his brother was related to militant activities.

In a similar case,Aijaz Ahmad Bhat (29) of Natipora area of the city had applied for a passport in October 2008. The file is still pending and the passport not issued. “I was denied the passport because my elder brother,who is not living with me for more than 12 years now,was a former militant. I was ready to face any investigation if the police department desired so to prove my innocence. My file was cleared by the CID and the police headquarters but I didn’t get my passport. I have given up now,” Bhat said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) CID Headquarters,Jammu and Kashmir,Israr Ahmad Khan said after the intervention by the Chief Minister Omer Abdullah in February 2009,almost 2000 pending cases of kin of militants have been cleared. “We have cleared around 2000 cases. These were people who were not directly linked to militancy and were just relatives of militants. As a precautionary measure,those who were involved in activities like disrupting public law and order,were not given clearance.

“Yes,24,193 cases are pending but by the end of this month,the number will dwindle further…it will be around 15,000-16,000,” Khan said.

Rebutting the claims of 60,000 pending cases,Khan said,”Which 60,000 cases are they talking about? I have the facts and figures… Let them show which cases are they talking about.”

A division bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court had recently dismissed an appeal filed by state police against a single bench judgement and held that passport of a person cannot be withheld for the offences committed by other members of his family.

“The evils of other family members should not travel upon the writ petitioners (persons to whom passport is denied) when admittedly they are not shown to be in nexus with any of the activities prejudicial to security of the state or in any manner adversely affecting sovereignity and integrity of the country,the Division Bench comprising justice Varinder Singh and justice Ghulam Hasnain Masoodi ruled in a landmark judgement on June 2,2010.

Dismissing the police appeal and uphelding the single bench judgement,The bench observed “the learned single judge did not find any justification for not issuing passport to the writ petitioners on the basis of said objections (raised by CID). We have also gone through the objections carefully and do not find any infirmity in the approach adopted by the learned judge.

Therefore,the impugned judgement/ order of the single judge does not call for our indulgence to take a different view from the one already taken”.

The judgement assumes significance as hundreds of people in militancy infested kashmir have been denied passport by the authorities on this ground.