AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday, 26 June 2026 shared his views in an exclusive interview covering three flashpoint issues: the ongoing row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the passport-citizenship documentation controversy, and Iran's reported invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Context

Owaisi, the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad and a consistent voice on Muslim citizenship rights, addressed all three subjects in a single sit-down interview, signalling their interconnected political weight ahead of upcoming electoral cycles. The interview comes at a moment when citizenship documentation and voter-roll processes have become contested terrain in Indian politics.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has drawn scrutiny from opposition leaders who allege it disproportionately burdens Muslim and marginalised communities with documentation requirements. Owaisi has previously argued that such exercises echo the logic of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which left lakhs of residents — disproportionately Muslims — facing exclusion after the Assam NRC final list was published in August 2019.

Policy Backdrop

The passport-citizenship row intersects with a broader legislative and administrative framework that has been contested since the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in December 2019. The CAA fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, a criterion that critics, including Owaisi, have consistently termed discriminatory and constitutionally suspect.

Questions around passport issuance for individuals whose citizenship status is under documentation dispute have surfaced in multiple states, with affected residents — particularly in border regions — caught between administrative requirements and unresolved NRC appeals. Owaisi has been among the most vocal parliamentary voices connecting these threads.

On the diplomatic front, India and Iran have maintained pragmatic bilateral ties anchored in energy cooperation and the strategic Chabahar port project, even as geopolitical pressures from sanctions and differing stances on regional conflicts have complicated the relationship. The reported Iranian invitation to PM Modi for Khamenei's funeral would, if confirmed, represent a significant diplomatic moment requiring careful calibration by New Delhi.

Stakeholders and Impact

The SIR and passport-citizenship issues directly affect Muslim voters in border states, as well as communities that have historically struggled with documentation access. Civil society groups monitoring electoral roll revisions have flagged patterns of deletion and re-enrolment demands that they say fall unevenly on minorities and the poor.

On the Iran question, the stakes are diplomatic: how India responds to an invitation tied to a major leadership transition in Tehran will be read closely by both Gulf partners and Western allies. Opposition leaders like Owaisi have previously questioned the government's posture on Iran, particularly in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict and India's abstentions at international forums.

What's Next

Parliamentary debate on citizenship-related legislation and state-level electoral roll revision exercises are expected to remain live political issues through the next election cycle. Any formal government response to the Iranian invitation — or a confirmed decision by PM Modi on attendance — will set a precedent for India's diplomatic protocol during foreign leadership transitions.

Owaisi's interview signals that AIMIM intends to keep citizenship documentation and India-Iran diplomacy at the centre of its political agenda, using every parliamentary and public platform available to press the government for clarity.