Arshad Khan ‘Chaiwala’ declared Pakistani citizen; NADRA restores ID card

ISLAMABAD: Arshad Khan, the tea seller who gained global fame in 2016 for his striking blue eyes after being photographed as the “Chaiwala,” has officially been declared a Pakistani citizen, with his national identity card reinstated.

According to Arab News, Khan’s counsel, Umer Ijaz Gilani, informed the Lahore High Court on Monday that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) had unblocked his client’s computerised national identity card.

“Today, we informed the court that the computerized national identity card of Arshad Khan, commonly known as Chaiwala, has been unblocked,” Gilani said, adding that the matter was taken up at the highest government level following the court’s notice in April.

A NADRA verification board later reviewed Khan’s family records, including decades-old identification documents, and confirmed that he was a Pakistani citizen. Gilani told the court that NADRA subsequently restored his CNIC and that the court had “disposed of our constitutional petition” after the authority’s confirmation.

He said Khan’s documents had been “mistakenly blocked” in 2017 following a television report that falsely claimed he was an Afghan national.

Pakistan’s campaign of deporting Afghans has intensified over the past year, with authorities repatriating more than 800,000 Afghans since 2023 as part of a nationwide drive against undocumented foreigners.

The crackdown has heightened fears among cross-border families accused of holding invalid documents, including Khan, whose national ID and passport were suspended after the media rumor surfaced.

The Lahore High Court had taken notice of Khan’s petition earlier this year, seeking restoration of his blocked identity card and passport.

Following NADRA’s verification, Khan’s citizenship was reaffirmed, clearing him to renew his passport and resume international travel under his brand “Café Chaiwala,” which operates successfully in Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

Earlier, Arshad Khan told the BBC Urdu that his ancestors migrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan before the 1970s and that he and his siblings were born in Islamabad.

According to him, his father obtained a Pakistani national identity card in 1984 and later used his passport to work in Saudi Arabia.

Arshad also mentioned that his father had two wives. “Both my stepmother and biological mother are Pakistani Pashtuns. My maternal grandfather and uncles all hold Pakistani ID cards. The only exception is my mother, who never got an ID card — primarily because at the time, women often avoided having photos taken for such documents.”