Two sisters seeking to become Indian citizens are currently stateless after failing to procure a document that could prove that they have renounced their citizenship of Pakistan.
The sisters, who have been living in India's Kerala state since 2008, surrendered their passports to the Pakistan High Commission in India in 2017, they recently told a court.
But as they were under 21 years, the minimum age for renouncing citizenship in Pakistan, the high commission did not issue their renunciation certificates at the time, they said.
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.
