“The issue falls under Union Home Ministry,” replied Sushma Swaraj.
HYDERABAD: 23-year-old Syeda has been living in India on an extended Pakistan visa as she was born in Pakistan but migrated to India with her parents as a child.
Syeda who has been living in Hyderabad, Telangana since she was a child is seeking Indian citizenship from more than a decade
Since all her previous attempts were in vain, she has now appealed to union home minister Rajnath Singh, as external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj replied her that her issue falls under the union home ministry.
Her application has been pending with the home ministry for the last seven years.
In her letter addressed to Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, she mentioned that her father was an Indian national and her mother was granted Indian citizenship in 2010.
The Pakistani national had first applied for Indian citizenship on August 26, 2003. “I was given oath of allegiance and asked to apply after coming of age,” she said in the letter to the home minister.
Though she applied, she was asked to once again put in her application under different sections. Her latest application dated March 26, 2010 has been pending with the authorities. She also gave her third oath of allegiance in August 2014.
“I have done my entire schooling here. I have been a merit student all my life but ever since I graduated, I have been waiting for my Indian citizenship,” she said, as she is going through a difficult phase of life.
Life has become quite hard for Syeda. “I cannot work. I cannot study further because that would require me to change my visa. I can’t travel anywhere inside the country. I could not write many entrance examinations because of travel restrictions. I have to renew my Pakistan passport again,” she said.
“I have lived here all my life. I do not want to move to another country away from my family and parents,” she said in her plea to the home minister.
“My entire career and future will be decided by this. Please help me get my citizenship at the earliest,” she said.