The Sino-India visa row replayed itself at Delhi airport last week, when two Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh (AP) were denied travel to China, as their visas were different from those of their team mates. China, in the wake of a territorial rift, decided to make the people of AP and Kashmir a part of its diplomatic chess with India. Visas for Indian nationals are pasted as a sticker on their passport. But when citizens of India from AP or Jammu and Kashmir apply for the China visa, their visas are issued on paper, not affixed on Indian passports. This was a reminder to India that China is still interested in keeping the disputed area status alive and does not consider these areas and its residents as a part of India.
India has banned travel of its citizens with different visas to ensure the integrity of the Indian passport, and that affected citizens get recognised as Indians, not disputed area residents. Travellers from those states dance aimlessly to the tunes of discrimination and failed diplomacy. The previous Indian foreign minister Mr Krishna stated, “It has come to the notice of the Government of India that China is issuing different visas to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We are taking up the issue with the Chinese Government. We will tell them that the visa related issue should be uniform; there should not be any discrimination among the Indian nationals while issuing visas.”
Any person with an ounce of intelligence could not agree more with what Krishna said. Clearly, what is the point of being the citizen of a country when you cannot travel or be recognised as one? Indian passport holders are Indian citizens and it is utterly humiliating to travel with a document you consider as your passport only to be told, Sorry, you ‘think’ you are an Indian but to us you are not, just because of your domicile or anything else that bothers us. It implies on the traveller a shameless facade of irrevocable disgrace. The land dispute should not hamper the travelling ability of residents of that area.
Ironically, while India protests to China about it, India itself is replicating a similar process elsewhere. The premise might be different but the similarity of the issue is still ‘discrimination’.
While maintaining excellent relations with the US, Canada and the UK, India applies different visa rules on a select group of their citizens. The visa rules for them are not applied on any other citizen, starting from the online visa application, all the way to the adjudication of the application. Their nationality does not matter nor their purpose of travel, it is just their origin, and to India, they are not Americans, British or Canadians due to it.
The reason for this selective treatment is because of their Pakistan ancestry. India and Pakistan can hardly be termed as two nations eager to bury the hatchet and have many issues they both encounter with each other, but what do these citizens have to do with it? They have emigrated or were born in the US, UK, etc, becoming US or UK nationals.
According to a State Department official, “The State Department considers US passports to be valid travel documents for all US citizens, regardless of whether they possess another nationality in addition to their US citizenship.” The same is the case with the UK and Canada.
But India does not accept US/UK or Canadian passports of citizens with the dual nationality of Pakistan. It asks them to apply on their Pakistan passport, which strips them of their travel rights reserved for Americans, Britons, etc. On the other hand, India specifically asks all other dual nationals to apply for a visa on their US, UK, etc, passport, and not on the passport of their other nationality. India does not allow dual nationality for its citizens but the US does allow it, and that does not take away the right of those dual citizens to travel on their subsequent passports. Those citizens who have renounced their Pakistan citizenship, the visa process and adjudication are still entirely different for them.
Those who are not dual nationals but are born in the US and have a parent or grandparent from Pakistan, their application process changes completely; their visa form is different and their application takes months whereas others get their applications adjudicated within days. The distinction is so widespread that the US and UK advise their citizens of Pakistan ancestry to expect a different visa experience than all other US or UK nationals.
There has never been a statement made by any high ranking official of the US or UK asking India to apply visa rules uniformly on all of their citizens. The silent consent to this selective process seems nothing but obvious. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs openly stands with their citizens asking China to end this discrimination among their nationals but the UK, US and Canada conveniently skip that option, making the tall pledge of ‘equality for all’ merely a hollow statement and nothing more.
This rule is attributed to security after David Headley’s barbaric scheming. He was a terrorist who lied for his visa, and was not even born in Pakistan. He used to work for the DEA with a well-documented criminal history. He succeeded in getting a visa because there were no checks performed on his application and he presented himself as the kind of ‘American’ India visa officers liked, one without any Pakistan connection.
So should all truthful citizens, who do not conceal their relationship with Pakistan because Headley lied and was not scrutinized, be punished? Can we improve India’s security by implementing origin-based visa processes that only targets one group? Hardly possible. There should be absolutely no compromise on India’s security, but for that there has to be a proper background check and vetting mechanism in place for all visa applicants, regardless of their origin/nationality or ethnicity.
Ask any China visa applicant from the AP or any India visa applicant from the US with Pakistan ancestry how they feel about being singled out from the rest of their countrymen. China has its reasons and so does India but does that make it right? Do they have the right to draw a line right between a person and his citizenship just because they do not like his origin or domicile?
An Indian citizen is nothing but an Indian citizen and an American is nothing else but that. Their passports should be treated with respect and travellers should not be vilified unless they are verified threats. And if one day we do end up filling this world with prejudiced check points reserved just for some because of their origin, we might as well make discrimination into a law. Sadly, some will agree.
The writer is a businessman based in the US and Dubai, and he tweets @Imfilmmaker