Mohinder, with a letter on her unsuccessful application, is appealing to the government to reconsider her case.
Application rejections dash dream of pilgrimage to Sikh holy site
Mohinder Kaur often gets misty-eyed whenever she hears news that her friends or acquaintances are going on pilgrimage to Pakistan’s Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, the founder of the Sikh religion.
The Seremban grandmother of six, who turns 75 next February, has been longing for decades to make the trip to the south Asian nation.
However, she has been unable to do so as she only holds Malaysian permanent resident status and is thus ineligible to apply for a passport.
“I arrived in Penang in 1973 after getting married to my Malaysian husband in India a year earlier.
“Our four children were all born here and they hold Malaysian identity cards,” she said.
As is the case of most married couples in Malaysia where one partner is a foreign spouse, Mohinder and her husband applied for her to be granted Malaysian citizenship, as this would allow her to apply for a passport.
Thrice her applications were rejected.
She had even tried after her husband’s death in 1995 but this too had been unsuccessful.
“Since it has been my lifelong wish to visit Nankana Sahib, my children and I approached several local travel agents.
“But they told me that this would be difficult as I hold an Indian passport.
“As I’m not able to make the trip, other members of my family have also refused to go,” she said.
Adding to Mohinder’s sadness was that she had been looking forward to visiting Nankana Sahib in November, in conjunction with the 555th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
Having never run afoul of the law since arriving on Malaysian shores half a century ago, she hopes the government will consider her plight.
In June, she received a letter from the Home Ministry stating that her latest application had been rejected.
“I understand that this is at the absolute discretion of the government but I hope that the authorities will review my case, as I have lived two-thirds of my life in this beautiful country,” said Mohinder, adding that she also had to seek treatment for asthma and other breathing-related medical problems.
In August, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his ministry had approved nearly 14,000 citizenship applications to-date.
He said based on data collected since 2013, 75% of these approvals fell under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution which involves illegitimate, adopted and foster children.
During the July 1 sitting of Dewan Rakyat, Saifuddin reportedly said his ministry aimed to resolve 17,000 citizenship applications this year.
