Kashmiri girl claims passport denied due to ex-militant uncle

Srinagar: A 15-year-old girl from an orphanage in Jammu and Kashmir has claimed she has not been issued a passport to study in the US as her uncle was a former militant but Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday pledged that she won`t be denied the document.

Sufaira Jan, hailing from Budgam district of central Kashmir, had applied for the passport after she got a one-year US scholarship under the India-US youth exchange study programme in March. She claimed the CID did not clear her case for issuing passport as her uncle was a militant, who surrendered before the authorities in 1995 -- three years before she was born. "The government doesn`t understand that if my uncle was a militant in the past, and has now surrendered and lives a normal life, what is my fault? I am not a militant," Sufaira said. Meanwhile, Omar said he has asked the CID to look into the case. "Needless to say she will NOT be denied a passport because of her uncle`s past. All such pending cases of previous denials are being cleared," Omar tweeted. Inspector General of CID B Srinivas told a news agency that Jan applied for passport only three months ago. He said the verification has been completed and the final letter will be sent to the Regional Passport Office here in a couple of days. "The girl in question has got clearance both from police and CID and as such no one can deny her the passport," Srinivas said. PTI