September 2, 2025

Imagine being stuck in a life where you belong nowhere! This is the tough story of two sisters living in Kerala who want to be Indian citizens but are caught in a messy citizenship puzzle. They surrendered their Pakistani passports in 2017 at the Pakistani High Commission in India. But wait, there’s a twist. Since they were under 21 years old—Pakistani law says you must be 21 to renounce citizenship—the High Commission didn’t give them the renunciation certificates then. When the sisters tried again after turning 21, the commission simply refused to issue the certificates without any explanation. Their mother, Rasheeda Bano, who has Indian citizenship along with her son, shared that her daughters have been in 'limbo' for years. This lack of documents is no small matter. Without the renunciation certificate, Indian authorities refuse to grant the sisters citizenship or even let them apply for Indian passports. Due to this, normal life hacks like getting a phone connection or enrolling their children in school are a struggle. One daughter’s husband had to quit his Gulf job because she can’t travel, and the other daughter’s son needs urgent medical treatment abroad but can’t leave India. The sisters have a certificate from the Pakistani High Commission saying Pakistan has no problem if they become Indians. But this document is not good enough for India. So, they took the case to court. A Kerala High Court single-judge bench ruled in their favor last year, saying the sisters couldn’t produce the impossible document and ordered the Indian government to grant them citizenship. Drama intensified when the federal home ministry appealed, and in August 2023, a two-judge bench overturned that order stating, “For a person to be considered a citizen of India, they must be recognised as such by the Indian state alone, without any competing claims from another country's government.” It added that the renunciation process ensures legal clarity. According to Pakistani rules, those under 21 can’t renounce citizenship themselves but must be included in their father’s application. The sisters' father, Mohammed Maroof, originally from Kerala, moved to Pakistan in 1977 with his grandmother after being orphaned. Ms. Bano explained that the family first moved to India in 2008 looking for their roots. Her husband soon went back to Pakistan, but she and her son became Indian citizens. The sisters, however, remain stuck because after surrendering their passports, they can’t return to Pakistan to get the needed certificates. Lawyer M Sasindran summed it up: “The sisters didn’t get the certificate in 2017 because they were then minors. Now that they are adults, they can't go back to Pakistan because they have surrendered their passports. So how will they get the certificate? They are stuck now.” India and Pakistan share a complex history, and migration stories like these highlight the human side of divided borders. The sisters are now left hoping the law will finally grant them a place to call home.

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Tags: Statelessness, Indian citizenship, Pakistani high commission, Kerala, Citizenship renunciation, Legal battle,