78 State power and identification schemes in Rakhine By 1917 when attempts were made to standardise the passport, there were eight different kinds of official passport (four red and four black) issued in India in addition to a plethora of other bureaucratic documents in use (Mongia 1999; Singha 2013; Roy 2016). The much-criticised tiered and colour-coded ID system of citizenship ID cards in Myanmar today that was introduced in 1989 has similarities with the ID card schemes in British India and in wartime Britain, where ID cards were also colour-coded according to racial or national origin in order to identify security threats (Agar 2001; Thompson 2008). The pilgrim passport and later pilgrim pass were issued in 1882 to Muslims for the purpose of Hajj (pilgrimage). It offered them a mobility that was not always accorded to other populations. This pass enabled Muslims on pilgrim travel documents to trade and forge international links (Singha 2013). However, the movement of Muslims to the Middle East drew suspicion and concern relating to pan-Islamic, anti-imperialist movements. As Britain entered WWI such mobility placed Muslims travelling to areas under Ottoman influence under greater suspicion and surveillance. Security concerns during and after WWI resulted in the Passport Act of 1920 which made the passports for international travel mandatory.25 Travel was restricted out of British India by limiting the issuance of passports and visas (Jayal 2013; Singha 2013; Roy 2016; Sriraman 2018). Singha (2013) argues that Muslim pilgrims were exempted from restrictions as their travel documents provided a technology through which the Government of India could put them under surveillance to gather information about enemies. Also, on the basis of the 1920 Passport Act, attempts were made to prevent the re-entry into India of some Indians, including Muslims. This included those believed to be connected with the Irish republican Sinn Fein movement, Bolshevik groups, and certain Islamic groups believed to be involved in anti-imperialism or ‘sedition’ (Singha 2013). The transnational mobility of Muslim populations was similarly cast as a threat to the nation of Burma by Ne Win, as he spelled out in his speech prior to the enactment of the 1982 Citizenship Law.26 Rohingya narratives also underlined the importance after independence of travel documents and passports issued for the purpose of Hajj. A treasured Burmese passport dated 1954 was brought out during an interview in India issued to a Rohingya man from Maungdaw for travel to Saudi Arabia.27 Passports and visas issued for pilgrimages continued to enable international mobility for Burmese Muslims and Rohingya in independent Burma. This provided commercial opportunities and international business connections as well.28 One high-status interviewee explained how the ID systems for Hajj changed over time, as suspicions of Muslim mobilities grew and Rohingya statelessness was slowly produced in Myanmar. He explained that he had been on Hajj and travelled throughout the Middle East on multiple occasions in his lifetime. The initial travel documents and visas were issued from Yangon. Towards the end of 1980s, the internal journey between Maungdaw and Yangon became