Congress leader Pramod Tiwari on Wednesday said a passport should not have been issued to Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani at this juncture.
"Geelani has never hid his feelings, he is against Constitution of India. He even did not declare his nationality when the form was filed initially. If he is shy of staying in India then he should not have been given, but it is the discretion of BJP government at the Centre....I think they should not given this permission at this juncture," Tiwari told ANI.
A short duration validity passport was issued yesterday to Geelani, who wanted to go to Saudi Arabia to visit his ailing daughter.
The Hurriyat hardliner had earlier stoked controversy by saying that he was "not an Indian citizen by birth".
The passport row had fanned a political storm with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asking him to declare his nationality as Indian and apologise for his "anti-national" activities.