Passport officer accused of harassment gets Sena support
NEW DELHI: THE Uttar Pradesh unit of the Shiv Sena on Friday accused the state and Central governments of trying to appease Muslims after the Ministry of External Affairs issued passports to an interfaith couple who had alleged harassment by a passport officer. “The government is trying to appease Muslims. It’s a matter of national security. We will honour officer Mishra, who tried to stop wrongdoing but was transferred,” the UP unit of the party said in a statement.
A delegation of the party, led by party leader Anil Singh, met Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and urged him to withdraw the transfer order of passport officer Vikas Mishra. Defending the passport officer, Sena leaders said that he was actually doing his work diligently and the decision to transfer him was wrong. Questioning the promptness of the external affairs ministry, the Shiv Sena said that while other Indians were waiting for months to get their passports, Tanvi Seth and her husband Anas were issued one in a matter of days.
Earlier, the Shiv Sena had announced that it would honour Mishra, saying that he had dared to question the veracity of documents shown by a woman who wanted to retain her Hindu name but used a Muslim name in her ‘nikahnama’.