Following a series of tweets to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, a Lucknow-based woman has finally got her passport after she was harassed by an officer.
Tanvi Seth, who is married to Mohammed Anas Siddiqui, claimed that they were harassed by an officer at the Lucknow Regional Passport Office (RPO) since she had not changed her name. She claimed that the officer questioned her marital status, and even put her husband's passport on hold.
She said he was very loud, and made attacking hand gestures causing the couple a great deal of embarrassment.
Seth immediately tweeted to Sushma Swaraj, highlighting the incident. In response, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) sent an official to the Lucknow centre to meet with the couple and clear the situation.
While flashing the issued passports, Seth said, "We hope it doesn't happen to anyone else. In our 11 years of marriage, we never faced this. Later, officials apologised and we got our passports."
Siddiqui said, "I was told I should change my religion and take 'pheras'. We have all legal documents to apply for a passport. We had tweeted to Sushma Swaraj ma'am and we were asked to meet an officer at the regional passport office. I am thankful to the officials for taking up the matter."
The RPO clarified that the passports have been issued, and action will be taken against the offending officer. He has received a show-cause notice pending further investigation.
While Swaraj is yet to respond to the incident, time timely reaction of the MEA is a clear indication of her success in the role. Over the last few years, Swaraj has been lauded for helping Indian citizens worldwide, after their complaints were posted on Twitter.
Swaraj is currently on a week-long tour of several European countries.
[With inputs from ANI]
