SIR: AEROs asked to seek ‘citizenship certificate’ from suspected foreign nationals, despite Indian passport

With hearings of notices under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) under way, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) said they are being asked to identify voters whom they suspect are foreign nationals from Nepal or Bangladesh and demand “citizenship certificates” from them, even when they produce an Indian passport.

A few of AEROs that The Hindu spoke to said they were “bypassing” these instructions in most cases, but claimed that they were under pressure during weekly meetings, where they were repeatedly told to seek citizenship certificates and no other documents.

Explaining their concerns, one AERO said, “If a person has an Indian passport, is it not enough to establish that they are Indian? How do we ask a person who has all the documents to show a citizenship certificate? A citizenship certificate is not even mentioned in the indicative list of documents.”

AEROs said their concern was that if they accepted a citizenship certificate as the only proof, they could be compelled to declare citizens without a citizenship certificate as “ineligible voters”. “But what if we are later asked to explain why the person was declared ineligible when they had an Indian passport?” an AERO questioned. 

Not in indicative list

AEROs also pointed out that a citizenship certificate obtained through naturalisation requires a person to meet a cumulative residence requirement of 12 years. They questioned how they could ask an elector to produce a document that is not mentioned in the indicative list of documents, and which also take considerable time to obtain — up to six months, depending on the verification and purpose. 

The AEROs also told The Hindu that the last weekly meeting was held on September 25, attended by more than 1,000 AEROs across different jurisdictions in Bengaluru, where the same instruction was repeated. Several AEROs said they objected, arguing that asking for a citizenship certificate could effectively result in citizens being “profiled” or treated as ineligible on that basis. They said their concerns remained unaddressed. 

They added that in many cases, residents originally from Nepal had themselves admitted that they were Nepali nationals and had been living in the city for several years. “In such cases, we have collected documents of their parents and grandparents. A few did not have their grandparents’ documents to establish that they were Indian. We have sought clarity on these cases during the meetings, but for the time being, we have uploaded whatever documents were provided,” an AERO said. 

The AEROs said the instructions were given only “orally” and not in writing, making it more difficult for them to demand such documents from electors. “Moreover, in many cases, when we tried asking, many people did not know that there was a certificate like this. We fear that we might come across as boased,” an AERO said.

CEO denies claim

However, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V. Anbu Kumar denied the AEROs’ claims, saying that no such instructions had ever been issued.

When The Hindu contacted Additional District Election Officers (ADEOs) in Bengaluru, officials said that when a person is identified as a “possible foreign national”, they are being asked to produce documents relating to both their parents and grandparents to establish ancestry. The official added that asking for a citizenship certificate or similar proof may have been suggested “indirectly”, but that no such instruction had been issued.