Even after passport rules have been relaxed, majority of the people especially youngsters are still denied passports across Kashmir Valley, courtesy security reasons. The young are increasingly angry and frustrated.Zubair Hussain Malik son of Ghulam Rasool, a youth from Rakhmoman Bijbehara in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district told CNS that after completing all the formalities a year before, Passport Department has been asking him to submit another form, just because Intelligence and CID Department has given an adverse report that, “my brother was a militant and passport can’t be issued in my favour.”“I was never affiliated with any militant outfit. My police record is clear and yet I am being denied passport because my brother was a militant who had been killed in an encounter in 2006 in Kulgam district,” he said.
He said there are few employment options in the Valley and more than three lakh young people don't have jobs In such circumstances, it makes eminent sense to issue as many passports as possible and allow the young Kashmiri to make his future where he can. “I was mulling to leave for Gulf to find a suitable job there but CID department dashed all my hopes,” Malik said. Pertinently, Jammu and Kashmir is the only Indian state where passports are issued at the whim of the state intelligence department or CID. Applicants have to get clearance from the CID Department. In certain cases, CID officers can even recommend how long the passport should be valid for. (CNS)