Haryana Sisters Denied Passports Because They “Look Nepali”

It’s a commonality to read about incidents of racial discrimination on a daily basis these days. You’d think that now that we are in an all-new decade, discrimination on racial backgrounds wouldn’t be so prevalent but you’d be proven wrong.

According to the latest reports, two sisters from Ambala, Haryana were denied passports by the regional passport authority of the region because of their appearance. The two sisters have been granted their documents but a probe is underway to find out who noted that they had a “Nepali appearance” in their file.

Sisters, Santosh and Heena faced an incident of racism when they were denied visas on account of their “Nepali appearance”. Following this, the regional passport chief of Chandigarh, Sibash Kabiraj said, “I completely disapprove of the language of the comment on the official document, which mentions ‘applicant seems to be Nepali. An inquiry into the matter will be initiated to find out who wrote the noting and suitable action will be taken.”

The passports for the sisters have been granted since and will be handed over following standard procedures. Kabiraj went on to say that Indian citizens are granted passports after their citizenship is confirmed. There are times when Nepali citizens apply for passports but they aren’t granted the same. Instead, they are furnished with a document known as an identity certificate. The same document is given to Tibetan nationals staying in India too. Kabiraj said, “In this case, the official, instead of writing a comment on ‘their appearance’, should have adopted the due procedure and sought verification about citizenship from the concerned Deputy Commissioner,”.

According to the complaint submitted by the two sisters, it states that they were asked to prove their nationality even after showing necessary documents. This shall also be investigated in the probe. It was only after the Home Minister of Haryana’s intervention that the two sisters had their passport applications processed.

The entire incident came to light when the two sisters went with their father to the passport office in Chandigarh. Here they were denied passports after it was mentioned on their documents that “applicant seems to be Nepali”.

We are just bewildered at how ridiculous the entire situation is.