There are several people who are stateless living in the northern districts of Kerala, such as Malappuram and Kannur. This include the first and second generation of people who migrated to Pakistan in search of work. A 26-year-old Mafeeda was born in Kannur district of Kerala, where she lives now. Though she was born in India, she is not a citizen of this country. Just like Mafeeda, a 52-year-old Shahid from Kathiroor still carries a Pakistani passport. His father migrated to Pakistan in the 1960s and Shahid and his three siblings were born in Karachi. Like Mafeeda, his parents too used to come to Kerala every year in the initial years of migration. Later, they had to take the Pakistani passport.
Their struggle to buy land, acquiring a passport, getting a better job, or even better education is an unbelievable task.
Reporter: Shahina K. K.
Camera: Aman Saji Dominic
Voice Over: Danita Yadav
Script Writer/Editor: Divya Tiwari
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#Kerala #Pakistan #Migration #Migrants #Citizenship #IndianCitizenship #India
Their struggle to buy land, acquiring a passport, getting a better job, or even better education is an unbelievable task.
Reporter: Shahina K. K.
Camera: Aman Saji Dominic
Voice Over: Danita Yadav
Script Writer/Editor: Divya Tiwari
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#Kerala #Pakistan #Migration #Migrants #Citizenship #IndianCitizenship #India
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00My friends talk to me in a tone of voice,
00:04saying that I am a Pakistani.
00:06I don't take it personally.
00:14I had a financial problem in the past,
00:16so I settled there for a while.
00:20This is 26-year-old Mafida.
00:23She was born in Kerala, but is not an Indian citizen.
00:26Decades ago, her father left for Pakistan
00:28in search for work and took her along.
00:30They never imagined they would get stuck.
00:32I have a daughter.
00:36My father took her away
00:38when she couldn't stay here
00:40because of financial problems.
00:42My mother and father
00:44went to India.
00:46We used to go to the Indian hospital
00:48once a year.
00:50I don't know if it was in 1995 or 1998,
00:52but that was the last time
00:54I went to India.
00:56I stayed there for 10-12 years.
01:00I got my passport there.
01:02I still have my passport there.
01:04I have a copy of the passport
01:06that I lost there.
01:08I have it in my email.
01:10I was born and raised in Kerala.
01:12I have it in my email.
01:22Now, Mafida's biggest concern
01:24is her younger brother.
01:26He has no passport, no nationality
01:28and no future.
01:30I don't know what will happen
01:32in the future.
01:34I don't know if I will be able
01:36to go abroad.
01:38I have a good chance
01:40of going abroad.
01:42But I don't have a passport.
01:5024-year-old Mohammad Ismail
01:52is an MBA, hoping to build a career.
01:54But his degree is now just
01:56a piece of paper.
02:08His mother, Rashida Banu,
02:10fought a 16-year-long legal battle
02:12to gain Indian citizenship.
02:14She won, but only for herself
02:16and one daughter.
02:18The rest of her children remain stateless.
02:22I was born in August 2008.
02:24It's been 17 years now.
02:30We all came together.
02:34My mother didn't feel safe there.
02:36She didn't like the culture there.
02:38We are basically Malayalis.
02:40We are not pure Pakistanis.
02:42My mother struggled a lot.
02:44She studied in a town called Kathirur.
02:46She studied first and second
02:48in an English medium school.
02:50Later on,
02:52she studied in Kundoor Mala
02:54from 7th to CBC.
02:56Then she moved to a government school.
02:58She got an Aadhar card.
03:00Because of the Aadhar card,
03:02we were able to get
03:04a lot of things.
03:06We were able to get an admission.
03:08I studied in Kathirur
03:10from 8th to 12th.
03:12After that, I completed my degree
03:14from here.
03:16I am a BBA.
03:18I studied in a private college
03:20in Pondicherry University.
03:22It's called Mahi Cooperative College.
03:24I studied there regularly.
03:28I don't have a passport.
03:30I can't even go to Bangalore
03:32or Mysore for an internship.
03:4052-year-old Shahid,
03:42born in Karachi,
03:44returned to Kerala in 2011,
03:46hoping for a better future.
03:48But a decade later,
03:50he still carries a Pakistani passport.
03:52My father died in a car accident.
03:54He died at a young age.
03:56My mother
03:58was around
04:0010-30 years old.
04:02I don't know exactly.
04:04My father got married
04:06in Aadhar.
04:08We got married in Aadhar.
04:10My mother and father
04:12died in Aadhar.
04:14I have a brother-in-law
04:16from Saudi Arabia.
04:18We are a family.
04:20Aadhar is not like that.
04:22It wasn't like that in the past.
04:24It was very strict.
04:26We didn't go beyond
04:283-4 months.
04:30We filed a case
04:32directly at the SP office.
04:34It's been 4 months
04:36since we got our passports.
04:38In August.
04:40We went to Delhi and
04:42filed a case.
04:44We didn't give a 2-year stay.
04:46We had a paper.
04:48We had to go to Delhi and
04:50get a reply.
04:52We didn't get a reply.
04:54We had a paper
04:56for a long-term visa.
04:58We didn't get a reply.
05:00We had to apply for
05:02nationality
05:04only after we got our passport
05:06and INU valid.
05:08For many,
05:10nationality means no access to opportunities,
05:12no property, no travel,
05:14no certainty.
05:16Do you own a house?
05:18No, it's a rental.
05:20We have a lot of problems
05:22with our in-laws.
05:24We don't have
05:26a lot of money.
05:28It's very clear.
05:30Even marriage is a struggle.
05:32Even when I think about it,
05:34I don't know if I can
05:36bring her to the Gulf.
05:38Despite the struggles,
05:40they find no hostility from locals.
06:08The process is painfully slow,
06:10wrapped in red tape.
06:12It took us a month
06:14to find out about this.
06:16We went to the SP office
06:18and they told us
06:20that we can do something
06:22if they send someone.
06:24We had a lot of problems.
06:26Everyone knows about it,
06:28but not us.