New Delhi: An inter-faith married couple from Uttar Pradesh were in for a rude shock when an official at the Passport Sewa Kendra in Lucknow on Wednesday allegedly questioned the woman for marrying a Muslim man and asked the husband to “convert” to Hinduism.
The accused passport officer was transferred on Thursday, a day after the incident took place. In a series of tweets directed at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Tanvi Seth claimed she was ill-treated by a passport officer named Vikas Mishra because she married a Muslim and did not change her name.
According to reports,Seth, who had applied for a fresh passport, and her husband, Anas Siddiqui, who applied for a reissue, had gone to the regional passport office at Lucknow’s Ratan Square on Wednesday when the incident occurred. “The gentleman at the counter (Vikas Mishra), looked at my documents and exclaimed saying ‘There is a problem and your passport can’t be made because apne toh ek Muslim se shaadi ki hai (you have married a muslim man)’,” the report quoted Seth as saying.
Seth claimed that though her documents were compete, her file was stopped. Mishra reportedly insulted Siddiqui and asked him to convert to Hinduism in order to ensure his reissue request was processed. “He told Anas to convert to Hinduism for his passport to be renewed. This is a case of moral policing and religious prejudice. I was made to feel insulted; I broke down,” Seth wrote in a tweet to Swaraj.
She further wrote: “I have never felt so insulted in the last 12 years of my marriage with my husband. It is my personal choice to choose a name I want to after marriage.”
On Wednesday, responding to the incident, MEA secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa) DM Mulay had said he sought a report from the Regional Passport Office in Lucknow. “Regret for inconvenience. I sought report from @rpolucknow Will take appropriate action,” he said in a tweet. The Regional Passport Office in Lucknow had also assured “proper investigation and appropriate action”.