Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru, Nov 18: A directive by a senior police officer regarding passport applications has created a row in the state prompting the directive to be withdrawn.

The said directive was issued by a senior police officer, ADPI Amar Kumar Pandey from Internal Security Division of state police department.

The directive was sent to police commissioners in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum where the Christian and Muslim communities have significant population. The directive had asked to gather more information from the applicants about their religion.

If the applicants are Muslims, they should specify- whether they are Sunni or Shia. If they are Sunni, they should specify the sect they belong to. And if the applicants are Christians, then they should specify whether they are Protestant or Catholic- The directive said in part.

When asked about the directive, Pandey justified his directive saying it was done for security reasons after learning about present security concerns throughout the world. He also confirmed that directive had been withdrawn presently and a decision would be taken regarding the same in three to four days after some review. He did not give reasons for the withdrawal of the directive.

But the home department is not happy with this directive. As per some analysis, separate type of applications cannot be kept for different communities. The guidelines from home department have to be strictly followed in this regard. Surprisingly some communities were completely left out in the directive.