The article debunks several common misconceptions, including the notion of Hindi being India's national language, the origin of the Qutb Minar's name, the visibility of the Great Wall of China from space, and the passport's status as a citizenship document, clarifying that Hindi is an official language, the minar is named after Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, no man-made object is visible from low Earth orbit to the naked eye, and a passport denotes nationality, not citizenship. This distinction, recently highlighted by a foreign office official, sparked controversy, with critics like Asaduddin Owaisi raising concerns about the increased burden on citizens to prove their nationality and citizenship in India, a process made complex by the absence of a dedicated citizenship card and the diminishing relevance of historical documents like ration cards. While foreign nationals can obtain citizenship certificates, native-born Indians face a convoluted path to proving their citizenship, with senior citizen cards being one of the few readily available documents that indirectly affirm this status.

The article debunks several common misconceptions, including the notion of Hindi being India's national language, the origin of the Qutb Minar's name, the visibility of the Great Wall of China from space, and the passport's status as a citizenship document, clarifying that Hindi is an official language, the minar is named after Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, no man-made object is visible from low Earth orbit to the naked eye, and a passport denotes nationality, not citizenship. This distinction, recently highlighted by a foreign office official, sparked controversy, with critics like Asaduddin Owaisi raising concerns about the increased burden on citizens to prove their nationality and citizenship in India, a process made complex by the absence of a dedicated citizenship card and the diminishing relevance of historical documents like ration cards. While foreign nationals can obtain citizenship certificates, native-born Indians face a convoluted path to proving their citizenship, with senior citizen cards being one of the few readily available documents that indirectly affirm this status.

The article debunks several common misconceptions, including the notion of Hindi being India's national language, the origin of the Qutb Minar's name, the visibility of the Great Wall of China from space, and the passport's status as a citizenship document, clarifying that Hindi is an official language, the minar is named after Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, no man-made object is visible from low Earth orbit to the naked eye, and a passport denotes nationality, not citizenship. This distinction, recently highlighted by a foreign office official, sparked controversy, with critics like Asaduddin Owaisi raising concerns about the increased burden on citizens to prove their nationality and citizenship in India, a process made complex by the absence of a dedicated citizenship card and the diminishing relevance of historical documents like ration cards. While foreign nationals can obtain citizenship certificates, native-born Indians face a convoluted path to proving their citizenship, with senior citizen cards being one of the few readily available documents that indirectly affirm this status.

There are certain false notions that most people carry around, without ever checking—such as Hindi is the national language of India, that Qutb Minar is named after Qutbuddin Aibak, that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space, that the passport is a citizenship document, and so on and more.

In truth, Hindi is only the official language of the Union, along with English. The minar in Delhi is named after Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a pir revered by Sultan Iltutmish who built its top storeys. No man-made object on the earth is visible to a low-orbiting astronaut’s naked eye. And a passport no longer says that the bearer is an Indian citizen. The whomsoever-it-may-concern message printed inside the front jacket of a passport booklet says only that the person is an Indian national.

Yet, it created a teacup storm when a foreign office mandarin said last week that a passport is only a travel document, and not a citizenship card. It made AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi wonder whether one would require a BJP membership card to prove one’s Indian’s citizenship.

The problem is neither with the foreign office mandarin, who was only stating a truism, nor with the multitudes who are ignorant about citizenship rules; most people don’t even know the traffic rules. Nor with Owaisi; he was articulating—a bit rhetorically—the fear among several crore Indian citizens who were first asked to prove their patriotism, then to prove their nationality, and now to prove their citizenship and voting rights under the SIR. So much so, proving one’s citizenship in India has become tougher than solving a Marc Breman cryptic crossword puzzle.

Over the decades, most Indians, unless travelling abroad, had been using the ration card to prove citizenship when required, but the rationing system is no longer as universal as it used to be during the world war or the pre-green revolution days. Then came the Seshan card. It identified you as a voter, but was issued to only those above 18. Since only citizens can vote, it was assumed the person with an election card was an Indian citizen. But you couldn’t just walk into a polling booth flashing your voter card and ask to be allowed to vote; your name had to be in the voter list.

What remained were the driving licence, the income-tax card and the passport, but all three are issued only to too few, and none of these certify that the holder is a citizen.

The fact is that there is no such thing called a citizenship card in India.

Ironically, there once was. Passports issued till the 1990s were stamped “Citizen of India”. My first passport, issued in 1988, was stamped on the first page “citizen of India”. Check yours, if you had one.

Most countries don’t have citizenship cards, but then they don’t ask their people to prove their citizenship as frequently as we do. And even the government seems to be a bit in the muddle. To a Lok Sabha question last year seeking the list of documents that prove one’s citizenship, the government had no definite response, except to say that citizenship is determined on the basis of the 1955 citizenship act and the rules thereunder.

Ironic it may sound, it is easier for a foreign-born person to prove his citizenship. He can apply and get an Indian citizenship by registration or naturalisation, and get a citizenship certificate. Not so in the case of most of the rest of us, born, bred and breeding in India.

There’s a way, if you have the will and the longevity. Wait till you are 60. Most state governments issue ‘senior citizenship cards’ that fetch you travel and health care benefits.

Good enough, aren’t they?

prasannan@theweek.in

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