Surname disprencies in document between me and my father

Dear client,

Minor variations or abbreviation differences such as “Md. Afjal” and “Mohammad Afjal” are generally treated as name discrepancies rather than identity changes, particularly when the remaining particulars such as surname, parentage, address, date of birth, and other supporting documents substantially match. In such situations, a notarised or First Class Judicial Magistrate affidavit declaring that “Md.” is the abbreviated form of “Mohammad” and both names refer to the same person may help as a supporting document for clarification purposes.

However, for future legal verification exercises, including any citizenship-related scrutiny such as a potential National Register of Citizens process, an affidavit alone may not always be considered conclusive proof if core identity documents contain inconsistent entries. Authorities may examine the overall chain of documents collectively.

Therefore, it is generally advisable to maintain consistency across major identity records by seeking correction/update, wherever possible, in:

Aadhaar,
educational certificates,
PAN,
voter records,
passport,
and other government documents.

Since your father’s actual name in his own records is “Mohammad Afjal,” it is preferable that your documents uniformly reflect the same spelling/expansion to avoid future procedural complications. The birth certificate and school records are considered foundational documents, so correction in later-issued IDs may often be easier than alteration of foundational records.