A woman from Manipur has shared about the alleged harassment her sister faced at the hands of a passport officer. In an Instagram post, she claimed that her sister’s nationality was questioned even after producing valid Aadhaar and PAN cards. She described the incident as “disrespectful” and added that no one should be “made to prove their identity beyond valid documents in their own country”.
‘Disrespectful, completely uncalled for’
“Had to say this. My sister’s passport verification today turned into a nationality interrogation,” Kuki wrote in an Instagram post.
She continued, “Even after giving Aadhaar, PAN, residence proof, everything. The officer kept saying, ‘How do I know you’re not Bangladeshi? Ye documents toh koi b bana leta hai aajkal [anybody can get these documents made these days].’”
Kuki said questioning the valid documents felt unnecessary and humiliating.
“Disrespectful. Biased. Completely uncalled for,” she further expressed. “No one should be made to prove their identity beyond valid documents in their own country.”
Kuki also revealed that their father served in the Indian Army for 30 years.
In her post’s caption, she explained that the officer also refused to accept soft copies of their parents’ IDs. “He refused to accept soft copies of our parents’ IDs (they’re in Manipur) and kept insisting on hard copies, while continuing to question who we are and where we belong.”
“We respect the process, but disrespect and discrimination should never be part of it. Sharing this here because no one should feel questioned about their identity in their own country,” she went on to say.
What did social media users say?
“Even after submitting every valid document, I was spoken to like I was guilty of something. No citizen should be treated with suspicion in their own country. The officer kept justifying his behaviour in the name of ‘national security’, but disrespect is not security, it’s bias,” said one social media user.
Another added, “Had a similar frustrating experience trying to get a Police Clearance Certificate. Had to make repeated visits to the police station. Had to submit documents not mentioned on the portal, including testimonials from 2 people who could ‘verify’ my character. Took 2 months and 7 visits to the police station.”
“Making duplicate documents is a problem with the system. Fix the system instead of asking questions to the public,” said a third.
Many even tagged Delhi Police and urged the officials to take necessary action.
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