[chashickst]

PIO card: refused

I went to the HCI in London to apply for a PIO card on the basis of ancestry. I have British certificates linking me to my grandfather and

Baptismal certificate for my grandfather, stamped by the ArchDiocese of Calcutta
Indian Empire passport for my great-grandmother - domicile, residence, place of birth - all India

But I was refused on various spurious grounds "sir, this is a card for people of Indian origin"...ie. not white people. "Sir, you are excluded by the Govt. of India act 1935" also not true, my family was born within the current GanaRaj Bharat. "Sir, this is a British Empire passport. We don't accept it." Also untrue as far as I can see.

Well. I told them what I thought about all that. Which wasn't wise perhaps. But it did seem a sort of nonsense racist attitude to deliberately exclude all white people of Indian origin. Which I can't understand. Isn't that illegal?

Does anyone (Mr. John are you still here?) have any advice?

Is an Indian passport from 1937 excluded? If my great grandmother was elligible in 1950 (she was) should I just bring her death certificate as well to show that she could have got it in 1950?

It seems ridiculous. The Visas for India are getting more and more difficult. I want to continue learning Hindi, to teach English and just, well, jolly well take advantage of my birth right so that I can go to India and tend the family graves and buy a house if I wish and simply be Indian.

On my dad's side we are Indian for about eight generations and were not evil anonymous oppressors, just ordinary people. If we are not Indians then who is? What do you have to do be a 'Real Indian'?

Ah yes my point - has anyone used an Empire of India passport to get the PIO card?

[Lynne]

HI!  I'm new to this forum and have found it REALLY useful - thanks!  Can anyone help me with this question?  

I want to get my PIO - my late grandfather was born in India and I have just obtained a birth certificate from the government office in Amritsar, issued to me yesterday.  Is that all I need?  I have my mother's and my own birth certificates to prove lineage.  I don't have my grandfather's passport or any other documents.

Hope you can help!

Lynne

[Suresh Hinduja]

Hold on, I'll see if I can get one of the experts to chip in.