Designer Khadijah Shah announced that she is relinquishing her US citizenship to accept a reserved National Assembly seat for women on the PTI’s ticket, after former premier Imran Khan offered it to her. Pakistani law prohibits dual nationals from serving as members of parliament. “Making the decision to relinquish my US citizenship, which guarantees freedom, safety, and opportunity, was not easy,” Shah wrote in an Instagram post. “However, Pakistan is my motherland, the place I call home, and the country where I’ve built my life. I cannot give up on it and my people.”

She maintained that she personally experienced “unimaginable injustice over the last year and a half”, but that the adversity instilled a sense of purpose within her. Shah added that she was driven by her desire to make a difference for Pakistan. “I’m honoured that Chairman PTI and my lifelong hero, Imran Khan, considered me worthy of representing his party and being part of his vision for Pakistan. I accepted his offer to take the reserved seat and hope to live up to his expectations and those of my fellow citizens,” the designer stated.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan