Uncertainty and insecurity loom over a former Indian national, who changed her nationality about 19-years-ago to marry a Pakistani man, as Pakistani authorities delay in renewing her Pakistani national identity card.
Sharjah based Kajal Rasheed Khan, who changed her name, religion and nationality to marry Mohammad Rasheed Khan, applied for the renewal of her Pakistani Identity Card on July 31. However, Pakistani authorities are delaying the same as her documents are still “being verified”. Normally the process which takes about 10 days have still been pending with the Pakistani authorities for over 3 months now, as a result of which Kajal’s bank accounts are now frozen in Karachi.
Kalpana, a Hindu girl, who married Mohammad Rasheed Khan in 1996 in Mumbai, thereafter converted to Islam and changed her name to Kajal. Interestingly, 60-year-old Rasheed Khan, who has four wives including two each from India and Pakistan and 10 children, had come to the UAE from Karachi in 1989 and opened a supermarket in Dubai.
Incidentally, one of his Indian wives lives in India with two daughters.
Kajal, whose existing Pakistani ID card is valid until 2023, had to apply for the new smart ID card to operate her bank accounts in Pakistan, which were frozen. Kajal’s husband Rasheed says that while all documents are submitted, there is no progress from Pakistani authorities’ side.
“I fail to understand why my wife’s application is on hold as it is just a renewal of the ID card. She already holds valid Pakistani passport and Pakistani citizenship certificate,” he was quoted as saying.
Kajal, who lives with Rasheed, is an architect by profession. She has a letter issued from the Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai confirming that she had surrendered her Indian passport and was issued with a Pakistani passport in 2001. Still, due to the Pakistani authorities sheer negligence, she now fears to lose her identity in a country which she preferred to be hers.