Pak woman gets Indian citizenship after 13 years

After a long wait of 13 years, a Pakistani woman was granted Indian citizenship. Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal handed over the certificate of Indian citizenship to Tahira Hazoor last evening, officials said here today. Tahira had got married to Maqbool Ahmad, a resident of Qadian, Gurdaspur, in 2003. 33-year-old Tahira, who hails from Faisalabad in Pakistan had applied for Indian citizenship in March 2011 after completing the mandatory 7 years of stay in India. Even the Punjab government had recommended her case to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs but she was neither granted Indian citizenship nor a temporary visa for Pakistan. In the absence of citizenship, for last 13 years she was not allowed to move out of Qadian, she said. She has two daughters and a son from her marriage, all of them have Indian citizenship and are free to move to any place, Tahira said. Elated over getting Indian citizenship, Tahira said she will first go to Pakistan to see her mother who has been unwell for last the five years. She said she will also apply for Indian passport soon. Her husband Maqbool and her daughter Sumayala are currently in the UK to attend the wedding of a relative. She could not accompany them because she did not have Indian citizenship and passport.