Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, February 20

Former CM Mehbooba Mufti on Monday sought intervention of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for renewal of her passport, saying she had been waiting for it for the past three years to accompany her 80-year-old mother on a pilgrimage to Mecca. She accused the J&K administration of arbitrarily rejecting the passports of thousands of people, including journalists and students, by “misusing national interest as a pretext”.

In a letter to Jaishankar, she said the J&K CID gave an adverse report against her passport application as granting the travel document to her would undermine national security.

She also highlighted the delay in issuing of passport to her daughter Iltija Mufti, who wants to pursue higher studies outside the country. Iltija had recently filed a plea in the High Court.

In 2020, Mehbooba and her mother moved the J&K High Court, which directed the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar “not to operate as the CID’s mouthpiece by denying passports on vague grounds”. “I was asked to approach the Passport Authority of India which I have done multiple times since 2021. Unfortunately, I have not received a positive response. The inordinate and deliberate delay is a grave violation of my fundamental right,” she added.

Long wait

Mehbooba Mufti says she has been waiting for a passport for three years to accompany her 80-year-old mother to Mecca.