New Delhi

It was in 2017 that the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj while responding to a desperate appeal by an Indian stuck overseas for help, said in a lighthearted viral Tweet, "Even if you are stuck on Mars, Indian Embassy there will help you."

This seems to be true in the case of 50-year-old Nazneen Mohammed Malik, an India-born Qatari citizen, who has been trapped inside the Hamad International Airport in Doha—without a passport, unable to enter Qatar, and unable to travel anywhere else.

The Maharashtra-born woman had given up her Indian citizenship a few years ago after, she and her husband, Imtiaz Malik, acquired Turkish citizenship through Turkey's investment-for-citizenship programme, hoping for a more secure future for their family.

Today, that decision has left her effectively stateless.

Nazneen and her husband, a Qatar Airways employee, had lived in Doha for years with their three sons.

In 2022, the couple invested in property in Turkey to qualify for Turkish citizenship. They say they later discovered that the developer was under criminal investigation and that the property had been seized by the Turkish authorities.

When the couple travelled to Istanbul on June 16 to resolve the matter legally, Turkish authorities confiscated their passports and detained them separately. Imtiaz remains in detention, while Nazneen was deported to Doha the following day without any travel document.

A ticket for Nazneen to travel to Mumbai

Their dreams of living a happily ever after in Turkey were shattered in the same country where they had put in their hard earned money.

Although she still holds a valid Qatari residence permit, immigration rules require a valid passport for entry into Qatar. As a result, she has remained stranded inside the airport since June 17.

She was allowed to board the flight from Istanbul to Doha with her Qatari Identity papers.

The ordeal has taken a heavy toll on her health. Nazneen recently underwent abdominal surgery and suffers from diabetes, hypertension and thyroid-related ailments. Her prolonged stay at the airport has deprived her of regular medical care.

Her family has also been thrown into crisis. Two of her sons are alone in Doha, including one who is autistic and requires constant therapy, while another is preparing for his Class 12 examination.

Nanzeen Mohammad Malik's Indian passport

Ironically, the country whose citizenship she acquired through investment has offered her little relief. Instead, assistance has come from the country whose passport she had surrendered.

Despite Nazneen no longer being an Indian citizen, the Indian Embassy in Doha has taken up her case with the Ministry of External Affairs on humanitarian grounds.

According to sources, the government has issued her an Emergency Certificate that would enable her to travel to India after the necessary formalities are completed.

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Nazneen's case underscores the vulnerability of those who renounce their original citizenship in favour of investment-based nationality. What began as a search for greater opportunities has left her caught between two countries—unable to return to one and abandoned by the other.