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Ahead of PM Carney's India visit, Canada moves to revoke 26/11 attack mastermind Tahawwur Rana's citizenship: Report
Tahawwur Rana, who is also a key associate of fellow Mumbai attacks mastermind David Coleman Headley, was extradited in 2025 after a long legal battle.
Ahead of Mark Carney's visit to India, the Canadian Prime Minister is reportedly working to revoke the citizenship of 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Tahawwur Rana Hussain.
As per documents obtained by Canada-based Global News, immigration officials under the Carney cabinet have been instructed to strip the terror attack mastermind of his Canadian citizenship, which he acquired in 2001.
Tahawwur Rana, the mastermind behind the 26/11 attack, which killed 166 people, was extradited from the United States to India in April 2025. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to moment he stepped out of the plane in New Delhi.
Rana, who is also a key associate of fellow Mumbai attacks mastermind David Coleman Headley, was extradited after a long legal battle.
“The District Court for the Central District of California had ordered his extradition on 16th May 2023. Rana then filed multiple litigations in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, all of which were rejected. He subsequently filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, two habeas petitions, and an emergency application before the US Supreme Court, which were also denied. The extradition proceedings were initiated between the two countries after India eventually secured a surrender warrant for the wanted terrorist from the US government,” read the statement issued by the NIA following Rana's arrest.
Canada working to revoke citizenship
The 65-year-old was convicted in the US in 2009 for plotting an attack against staff at a Danish newspaper which printed cartoons depicting Prophet Mohamed, Global News Canada reported.
With Rana now in India, awaiting trial for the charges against him for plotting the 26/11 attacks with Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Canada is working to strip him of his citizenship.
However, this revocation comes not because of the charges of terrorism against Rana, but because Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada believes he lied on his application form.
When Hussain applied for citizenship in 2000, he claimed to have lived in Ottawa and Toronto for the previous four years, with only a six-day absence from the country, the report cited a document by the IRCC.
An investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, however, showed that Rana spent most of his time in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. He also owned several properties and businesses during his time in Chicago.
Rana has been accused by the IRCC for "serious, deliberate deception" and a "lack of respect for the citizenship laws of Canada."
“Yours is a case in which it appears that you misrepresented your residence in Canada during the application process for citizenship by deliberately failing to declare your absences from Canada,” read an IRCC letter to Rana on May 31, 2024.
Despite the move, challenges for Canada remain ahead. If the Federal Court in Canada approve this revocation, Rana would still remain a permanent resident of the country and could reapply for citizenship 10 years later.
Carney to visit India this week
Amid India's strained ties with Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney will be visiting New Delhi on February 26. This visit to India comes as Carney moves to improve ties and expand Canadian trade beyond the US.
After his India stop, the Canadian Prime Minister will visit Australia and Japan.
The Labour leader's visit also marks cooperation between Ottawa and Delhi following a diplomatic breakdown in ties after the Justin Trudeau government accused India of plotting the assassination of Canadian-Sikh citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India has designated Nijjar as a terrorist for his involvement in the Khalistan movement, which is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs.
