Tuesday, February 23, 2026 l Dalena News Desk
OTTAWA, CANADA — The Government of Canada has initiated proceedings to revoke the citizenship of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a 65-year-old Pakistan-born businessman currently in custody in India facing charges related to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, officials confirmed this week. The move comes as Ottawa prepares for an official visit to India by Prime Minister Mark Carney later this month.
According to documents obtained by Global News, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has formally notified Rana that it intends to strip him of the Canadian citizenship he acquired in 2001, concluding that he secured nationality through “serious and deliberate deception.”
Rana immigrated to Canada in 1997 and later became a naturalised citizen. However, IRCC says he misrepresented his residence history on his citizenship application, claiming to have lived continuously in Ottawa and Toronto for four years with only a six-day absence a claim later contradicted by an RCMP investigation showing he spent much of that period in Chicago, where he owned multiple properties and businesses.
Although Rana is widely known for his alleged involvement in plotting the 26/11 Mumbai attacks a coordinated three-day assault in November 2008 carried out by militants from Lashkar-e-Tayyiba that killed 166 people and wounded hundreds more Canadian authorities emphasised that the citizenship revocation is based on misrepresentation, not the terrorism charges themselves. He is currently facing trial in India after being extradited from the United States in 2025.
The matter has now been referred to the Federal Court of Canada, which must decide whether Rana’s citizenship was obtained through fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances. A hearing on the revocation was recently held, during which government lawyers requested permission to withhold sensitive national security information from the proceedings.
Rana’s defence team has challenged the revocation, arguing that it is unfair and violates his legal rights, but government officials maintain that the country’s citizenship laws must be upheld to preserve the integrity of the system. They noted such revocation actions particularly involving misrepresentation are rare.
The step comes against the backdrop of evolving Canada–India relations, which in recent years have been strained by diplomatic disputes over a range of issues, including security cooperation and allegations of foreign interference. Prime Minister Carney’s upcoming visit to India, set to begin on Feb. 26, is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, including in areas of trade, investment and diplomatic collaboration.