Passport officer shamed inter-faith couple, told to embrace Hinduism

LUCKNOW: A passport officer in Lucknow allegedly shamed an interfaith couple and asked the husband to convert to Hinduism to get passport renewed.

Tanvi Seth, a Hindu, who married Mohammad Anas Siddiqui in 2007 were allegedly shamed by a officer at the counter named Vikas Mishra.

According to media reports, on 20 June, Tanvi and her husband Siddiqui, went to a Passport Sewa Kendra at Ratan Square in Lucknow, but the passport officer didn’t just reject the application, he also called out Muslim husband’s name and insulted him too and asked Tanvi to leave Anas and marry a Hindu.

She quoted him as saying: “Aapke saath to masla hai. Aapne Muslim se shaadi ki hai to aapka naam Tanvi Seth kaisai ho sakta hai?”

“When I reached counter C5, the official, Vikas Mishra, told me there was an issue with my file since I had married a Muslim, and yet retained my maiden name. He shouted at me and insulted me in front of everyone and sent me to the office of an additional passport officer, who was sympathetic to me and asked me to reach the main branch in Gomtinagar on Thursday,” Tanvi told TOI.

“When he read the spouse’s name as Mohd Anas Siddiqui, he started shouting at her and said that she should not have married me. My wife broke into tears, after which Mr. Mishra said that she should get all the documents corrected with a changed name,” Siddiqui told to News18.

In a series of tweets, addressing it to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Tanvi  escribe the ordeal how she and her husband were humiliated .

https://twitter.com/tanvianas/status/1009353189852958720

https://twitter.com/tanvianas/status/1009353663427547137

https://twitter.com/tanvianas/status/1009353663427547137

https://twitter.com/tanvianas/status/1009362865260777473

https://twitter.com/tanvianas/status/1009364417115541505

The couple works in a multinational company in Noida and is parents to a six-year-old daughter.