Two sisters living in India’s Kerala state have been left stateless after failing to provide proof that they had renounced their Pakistani citizenship.

The News, citing BBC, reported that the sisters told a court they surrendered their Pakistani passports to the High Commission in New Delhi in 2017.

However, they said renunciation certificates were not issued because they were under 21 at the time — the minimum age required in Pakistan to formally give up citizenship.

They approached the High Commission again after turning 21, but it still refused to grant the certificate without giving any explanation, says the petitioners’ mother, Rasheeda Bano (her daughters didn’t want to speak to the media). She and her son are now Indian citizens but her daughters, she says, have been in limbo for years.

The situation, she says, has severely impacted her daughters’ lives, as they are unable to even apply for passports.

The BBC has reached out to the Pakistani High Commission in India but hasn’t received a response.

Neighbours India and Pakistan share a tense relationship which has often spilled over into hostility, like in May this year, when the countries engaged in a four-day military conflict. But migration is not uncommon, especially among members of families who ended up on different sides of the border when India was partitioned and Pakistan was created in 1947.

Over the past few decades, the process has become harder as there is much higher scrutiny of documents. As of December 2021, citizenship applications of more than 7,000 Pakistani nationals were pending with the government, according to data shared in parliament.

Bano says that when the Pakistani High Commission did not provide the renunciation certificate, she requested them to return her daughters’ passports, but this wasn’t done.

The sisters have in their possession a certificate given by the high commission in 2018 which states that they have submitted their passports and Pakistan has no objection if they are granted Indian citizenship. But Indian authorities have refused to accept this in place of a renunciation certificate, forcing the sisters to move court.

Last year, a single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court ruled in their favour, saying that it was clear that the petitioners wouldn’t be able to produce the document.

“It would be directing them to do the impossible,” the court observed, ordering the Indian government to grant them citizenship. But the federal home ministry appealed against this and on August 23 this year, a two-judge bench of the same court overturned the earlier order.

“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 said. “The formal renunciation process is the mechanism that ensures this legal clarity,” the court added. The sisters have the option to appeal against the order in a higher court.

According to Pakistan’s rules, people under the age of 21 cannot renounce their citizenship independently, but their names can be included in the renunciation application filed by their father.

The sisters’ father, Mohammed Maroof, was born in Kerala but was adopted by his grandmother after he was orphaned at the age of nine. When she migrated to Pakistan in 1977, she took him along.

Their mum Bano said her parents were also Indians but they got stuck in Pakistan while visiting relatives in 1971, after borders were shut when the two countries went to war.

Unable to return even after months, they found it easier to apply for Pakistani citizenship. She was born a few years later.

Bano and Maroof, who have four children, moved to India in 2008 on long-term visas to be closer to their “roots”. But Maroof was unable to adjust to life in India and soon returned to Pakistan.

Bano and her son, who was above 21 years of age, were eventually granted Indian citizenship.

She said the family often faced stigma when they produced their Pakistani identity documents, but at least they had something to fall back on — for the sisters even that is not an option anymore.

Simple tasks like getting a mobile phone connection, or enrolling their children in school was difficult for them, she said. Authorities eventually allowed the sisters to get an Aadhaar Card, which acts as an identity document in India. But that’s still not considered proof of citizenship, denying them basic rights.

Bano says her daughters’ lives have also been affected by the lack of passports. The husband of one of them had to leave his job in the Gulf and come to India as she couldn’t travel to him. Meanwhile, her other daughter has a son who needs medical treatment abroad but she is unable to leave India.

“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?” says their lawyer M Sasindran.

“They are stuck now”.

Originally published in The News

China on Wednesday flexed its military might as world leaders converged in Beijing for the country’s largest-ever military parade on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, marking the victory of China in the World Anti-Fascist War.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, flanked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, termed the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation “unstoppable” as he warned warned the world was facing a choice between peace or war.

During the parade, President Xi inspected the massed troops and weaponry from an open-topped limousine down Beijing’s vast Changan Avenue before turning back to join his guests in a seating area above the iconic portrait of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen, the entrance gate of the historic Forbidden City.

China’s huge collection of military vehicles and heavy weapons rolled past the dignitaries, while images of thousands of servicemen and women in immaculate uniforms marching in tight ranks and soldiers jumping in and out of vehicles were shown in a slick state media broadcast.

Beijing residents went out into the streets to catch a glimpse of a spectacular flypast involving scores of warplanes and helicopters, some making an “80” formation.

President Xi Jinping declared China “unstoppable” during a speech on Wednesday, opening a massive parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was among 26 world leaders present to witness China’s largest-ever military parade, a display of strength orchestrated by Xi to highlight Beijing’s growing influence on the global stage.

“The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable, and humanity’s pursuit of peace and development will prevail,” Xi said in a televised address.

“Humanity once again faces a choice between peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes or zero-sum games,” he added.

The president urged countries around the world “to eliminate the root causes of war and prevent historical tragedies from recurring.”

“Common security can only be maintained when nations treat one another as equals, live in harmony, and provide mutual support,” he said.

China’s largest-ever military parade on Wednesday showcased its growing firepower and geopolitical clout, as Xi seeks to present Beijing as the custodian of a post-U.S. international order.

Accompanied by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Xi was shown on television walking along a red carpet to take his seat at the lavish Tiananmen Square event, commemorating 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II.

Wearing a suit in the style of those worn by former leader Mao Zedong, Xi earlier greeted around two dozen largely non-western leaders in attendance, including Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, who made a surprise appearance despite widespread protests at home.

He was shown saying “Nice to meet you” and “Welcome to China” in English.

The highly choreographed “Victory Day” spectacle comes as US President Donald Trump’s “America First” stance and trade wars have strained Washington’s long-standing alliances.

Asked whether he sees the parade as a challenge to the United States on Tuesday, Trump said he didn’t and reiterated his “very good relationship” with Xi.

“China needs us much more than we need them,” he added.

More than 50,000 spectators at Tiananmen Square packed into stands in Tiananmen Square awaiting the 70-minute showcase of aerial displays, marching troops as well as cutting-edge military equipment such as hypersonic missiles, unmanned drones and outfitted tanks.

Major roads and schools have been closed in Beijing for the parade, the culmination of weeks of painstaking security preparations and midnight rehearsals.

Xi will review the troops lined up in formation before delivering a keynote speech atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing, where a portrait of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong overlooks Tiananmen Square.

Vision for new global order
Xi has described World War Two as a turning point in the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, in which it overcame Japanese invasion and humiliation to emerge as a rising global power.

He is expected to emphasise China and Soviet Russia’s role in defeating fascism and defending the postwar international order in his address.

Earlier this week, Xi outlined his vision of a new global order at a regional security summit, urging unity against “hegemonism and power politics” widely seen as a swipe at the United States and Trump’s tariffs on both allies and rivals.

Putin has already used the occasion to sign deeper energy deals with China, while the gathering offers Kim an opportunity to gain tacit backing for his sanctioned nuclear programme.

Kim, attending his first major multilateral event, is the first North Korean leader to join a Chinese military parade in 66 years.

His daughter Ju Ae, viewed by South Korean intelligence as his likely successor, is making her first international appearance after years of being seen alongside him at domestic events.

Authorities have left nothing to chance for the high-profile event.

Local governments across China have mobilised tens of thousands of volunteers and Communist Party members to maintain security and prevent unrest ahead of the parade, according to online recruitment notices.

“President Xi will use this opportunity to demonstrate that the military is firmly behind him,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.