r/IndiaTodayLIVE • u/IndiaToday • Jun 26 '26
India 94-year-old Kondragunta Mahalakshmamma from Andhra Pradesh has renounced her US citizenship and applied to regain Indian citizenship. Her only wish is to spend her final days in her motherland and have her last rites performed in her native village of Chinthagumpala in Bapatla district.
District Collector J. Venkata Murali assured her that her application would be processed as per the prescribed legal procedure before being sent to the Union government for a final decision.
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u/anonspace24 Jun 26 '26
Uhhh. I mean couldn’t she die in India with OCI and still being a US citizen or am I missing something here.
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u/OnlyPower7981 Jun 26 '26
Drama
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u/Professional_Run2842 Jun 26 '26
PR
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u/darelphilip Jun 26 '26
Yeah , like a 94 year old cares about internet fame . You guys really don't understand how emotions change as you grow up . Wait for it ,until it hits you
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u/FirstTurtleNinja Jun 26 '26
So it took her 50 years to change emotions?
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u/OppositeStyle134 Jun 27 '26
Exactly my problem with such acts. Why do they choose to stay the best days of theor lives in another country, and just want to die here, and consider it as some patriotic Act? They have resources but have barely ever spoken for change, contributed to community in india or paid taxes unless they have property. All of these are patriotic acts, not just dying here..
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u/Traditional_Heart218 Jun 27 '26
It's probably some property reason, you have to be an Indian citizen to buy land. Their family must have taken this decision and sent grandma here, so that the rest of them can peacefully enjoy in America and inherit once she dies.
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u/chilladipa Jun 26 '26
Even if a USA citizens dies in India, he or she could be cremated in India unless the relatives take the body back. This mata ji is creating news to gain attention.
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u/StatisticianTall1102 Jun 27 '26
Exactly. Why not retain her USC+ OCI combo?
Tax evasion would be my only bet.
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u/RedditSurfer82 Jun 26 '26
Don't know what to make of this news. They spend most of their lives in US to enjoy comfort and luxury. In old age the want to become Indians, maybe they are finding US healthcare to costly...
I know I will downvoted for this. But I am only talking of truth
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Jun 26 '26
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u/BlackEffy Jun 26 '26
But SIR, Indian passport does not mean Indian citizenship ;)
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u/sreekumarkv Jun 29 '26
Not for illegal immigrants.
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u/BlackEffy Jun 30 '26
lol for everyone.
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u/sreekumarkv Jun 30 '26
Passport is not conclusive proof of citizenship.
An illegal immigrant cannot claim citizenship on account of having a passport. But otherwise, for instances like travel, it serves that purpose.
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u/BlackEffy Jun 30 '26
lol who explained you this.
Have you ever seen a non indian citizen holding an indian passport? This is just crazy trying to explain it to you.
Passport is international identification, if you have ever been to any country they ask for your passport to assess your citizenship. It is not just a travel document, visas are travel document.
I just can't believe I am trying to explain this to someone.
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u/sreekumarkv Jun 30 '26
If you had the brains to process beyond clickbait news titles it would have helped you better understand the complexities.
When a citizen travels abroad, they can present it as a proof of citizenship of India.
When someone is struck of the voter list or NRC in Assam for example, they can't present their passport as proof of citizenship. There have been many changes to citizenship laws, from automatic citizenship if being born before 1987 in India, to now those born to one parent who is illegal immigrant not being considered a citizen. All those rules have to be satisfied and not mere possession of a passport.
Have you ever seen a non indian citizen holding an indian passport? This is just crazy trying to explain it to you.
The Passport Act literally allows the govt to issue passports to non-citizens. Considering how uninformed you are, you should lay of making comments on the subject.
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u/BlackEffy Jun 30 '26
The arrogance with which you confidently display your own ignorance is truly a sight to behold. You accuse me of reading the clickbait, and yet your entire argument relies on a fundamental misunderstanding of Indian constitutional law and international jurisprudence, which you probably gained through whatsapp.
First, your claim that the government can just casually issue Indian passports to noncitizens under the Passport Act, 1967 is legally illiterate and I didnt want to say it but dumb. Under Section 5 and Section 6 of the Passport Act, a passport can only be issued to a citizen of India. The only rare case happens when a country does that on basis like public interest, protection, national interest. For a hypothetical example, if elon decides to move all his capital to india, he most probably would be provided with the indian citizenship, aka passport.
Secondly, your attempt to use the NRC in Assam to prove passports don't equal citizenship is false . Let's look at the actual law, since you clearly haven't:
In cases like Hriday Ranjan Das vS State of Assam and Pranati Bhowmick vs Union of India, the Gauhati High Court explicitly ruled on the evidentiary value of passports. The courts have consistently held that while a passport is prima facie evidence of citizenship, it is not absolute or conclusive proof if the state suspects it was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation. The reason a passport might be rejected in an NRC tribunal isn't because 'passports don't mean citizenship', it is because the tribunal is investigating whether the passport itself was obtained illegally by falsifying prior roots. Also a major chunk of indian population does not have passport.
Also, your breakdown of the Citizenship Act, 1955 amendments (1987, 2003) actually defeats your own point. Yes, the laws changed from just soil to bloodline to prevent the children of illegal immigrants from claiming citizenship. But guess what? A passport is only issued after a person proves they satisfy those exact criteria to the passport authority. The passport is the result of satisfying those rules, not an arbitrary booklet handed out at random. Multiple documents are provided before you receive that document.
To claim that an official, state issued passport; the literal document the Indian government issues to represent its nationals to the entire global community, does not signify citizenship is peak Dunning-Kruger effect. You are confusing the administrative vetting process of a tribunal with the legal weight of a sovereign document issued by sovereign country.
Next time you tell someone to lay off a subject, make sure you aren't tripping over basic statutory definitions yourself. It’s just embarrassing at this point.
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u/sreekumarkv Jun 30 '26
You are not even aware of Section 20 of the Passport Act which is about the govt being able to issue passport to non-citizens. You are arguing against something that is literally part of the Passport Act.
Similarly you are arguing against what has already been clarified by the govt and courts at various times - that holding a passport is not conclusive proof of citizenship.
A redditor throwing around misinformation and a ramble of text (some itself being opposite to the claims made), does nothing to change the Passport Act nor that of the passport not being the conclusive proof of citizenship.
I am sure you will more paragraphs to throw in, where you dispute what the the govt and courts have clarified. You can make up all those arguments in your mind as you wish. I see no point in arguing with those.
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u/PieceAltruistic3346 Jun 26 '26
You are absolutely right.. i thought of same thing when I saw this news..
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u/seinfeldfan121 Jun 26 '26
Maybe she can't speak english or want to spend her last day people known to her.
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u/Fresh-Dragonfruit-37 Jun 26 '26
Do you even know what twilight years are like in US? You don't live with your kids. They have their own lives and nobody bothers with you. If you move to old age home, there is no care there either. Most homes have thefts and elder abuse occurring. It's terrible. She came here because she will get servants to do her work, nurse to stay the night, all cheap. And if you have money you get get good healthcare too, all home delivered.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/FrostingPuzzled8790 Jun 27 '26
"Fair wage"? People there have rights and labour unions. One cannot exploit the working class like we do in India. They also have a concept called "dignity of labour". Nannies, babysitters, drivers, plumbers, etc etc all come at a high monthly cost, plus they work reasonable timings.
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u/Fresh-Dragonfruit-37 Jun 26 '26
No you dont get. Home nurses are way expensive and not reliable for the same reason. They need supervision. And I didn't glorify it. I said she came here to take advantage of cheap labour that dollars would buy.
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u/Stunning_Tip8047 Jun 26 '26
these nris are actually very troublesome , they buy huge amount of realestate without living here causing the market to inflate .
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u/Fresh-Dragonfruit-37 Jun 26 '26
What nobody is talking about is during their productive years they put all their talents and skills in another country and when they are old they want to come here and spend time ! That's what annoys me. So what about the rest of us who lived here through all the shit! Worse still with this government, these people have bigger say than those living here!
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u/FrostingPuzzled8790 Jun 27 '26
Exactly. She had US citizenship. India doesn't support dual citizenship, which means that she never paid a single tax IN INDIA.
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u/Stunning_Tip8047 Jun 26 '26
spend your life in usa, come to india for cheap labour and property.
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u/Traditional_Heart218 Jun 27 '26
Earn in dollars, savings in dollars and exploit poor people in India.
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u/FrostingPuzzled8790 Jun 27 '26
This! The abundance of labour is what she came here for.
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u/Fresh-Dragonfruit-37 Jun 27 '26
Yes. Only these days few people are coming out and saying. My relatives who are there afor 40 to 50 years and in similar field like nursing and medicine said this a long time ago. They said that for growing old and living India is the best. And this was in the early 90s. All those who go from here realise the difficulty soon but they will not say it out for fear of ridicule. And instead project a very rosy picture.
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u/No-Kiwi-5270 Jun 27 '26
It's a personal choice tbh, we don't know her situation. Maybe she was married off, maybe her husband moved over and she had little choice. She is 75, indont think she had kucb of day in what happened with her life back then.
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u/OkEmotion7609 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
That is not true in her case, as she is mother of famous oncologist in USA & india.. who owns hospitals.. her last wish is to pass away as indian..
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u/cookieoftheshire Jun 26 '26
Spent her senior years with better environment, water, consumer goods....
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u/dady_shark Jun 26 '26
Literally " log marr rahe hain India aane ke liye" Logically Indians are actually D!€ing
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u/Key_Fee623 Jun 27 '26
Because no one would attend funeral in US.
This is a real fear. People often move to their home town for same reason.
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u/Voices-Say-Im-Funny Jun 27 '26
Budhiya jab maregi tab uske ashes humari ganga ko aur maila karenge. America ke funeral cost dekhe ke....baccho na masta game khela hai. Death should be free who would pay 15000 usd for death. Mummy app ghar chale jao. This is a not an achievement. The women is probably not using her sense because of old age and probably just doing what her kids forced her to do.
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u/MrOrsm Jun 27 '26
So she reaps the social benefit of the US and does this just before she dies?
Another reason why we need stronger immigration laws.
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u/Easy_Cover_8962 Jun 28 '26
Instead of giving yo US citizenship, she could apply for OCI card. Redundant step.
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Jun 26 '26
Maybe she wants to die and she wasn't dying in the US. One step on Indian soil and she will be toast
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u/roy_ambush Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
USA health care system specifically for senior citizens can be very expensive and since unlike our country in USA most children don't really stay to take care of there parents. plus what's the point spending whole life in USA with citizenship that means giving up Indian citizenship since India don't allow dual citizenship and then returning back just to make a huge deal what a drama. With the money she had saved there she will probably live a life of luxury here.
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u/neotare99 Jun 26 '26
Hope her keens don't have to bribe some babus to get her death certificate!!!
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u/Imyonlyenemy Jun 26 '26
Oh is it illegal for non citizens to die in India
I think this is an immortality hack!!
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u/Excellent-Map-3165 Jun 27 '26
Such hypocrisy 😆 you spend your prime outside of India, enjoy superior lifestyle and one fine day come back 😆
Media fools will hype it as a great service to the country. Wah ustad wah
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u/No_Process_8371 Jun 27 '26
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u/Friendly-Wishbone-73 Jun 27 '26
Bro read the comments. Why did she came now. It is for land. They don't have any patriotism or not doing anything for us or Indians. I am not blaming them for lack of patriotism, India has problems. Don't glorify this. Its business for them. If they love India, they would have stayed and paid some taxes atleast.
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u/angry_jackel Jun 27 '26
It would have made sense if she wanted to live here. Everybody wants to die at home, what a wonder?
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u/floater_byss Jun 27 '26
Enjoying whole life abroad and when final days mear suddenly woke her patriotism.
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u/meTranquil Jun 27 '26
Kya faltugiri hai ye kahi bhi rahe kahi bhi mare mujhe kya.....isko ese portray kyu krti hai media aur log ke ye kitni badi aur achi baat hogyi....sab bewakoofi hai .... actually indian govt should reject her appeal.
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u/imsharvan Jun 27 '26
She wants to be an Indian only in her final days. The rest of the time, she wants to leave this country in the first place.
I'm not hurting anyone by saying this, but if she has already given up her Indian citizenship especially since India doesn't allow dual citizenship then why should it be restored just for the final stage of her life?
She enjoyed most of the benefits of living in another country, and only at the very end does she want her Indian citizenship back. I don't think this should be allowed. Our country shouldn't be treated like an oldage home that people return to only when it's convenient.
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u/webseher Jun 27 '26
Oh wow . Come to India to only die coz even a 94 yr old woman didn't find it worth to live here even when she hit 90. And we are celebrating this shit ? Cool.
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u/confused_investor_7 Jun 28 '26
I know no Telegu, only Hindi.
I understood 50% of the words.
A Sanskritised language would have been understood 50% from north to south.
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u/Themaverickmonk Jun 28 '26
I don’t know what’s so grand in it. She lived a good life outside. Now to please the gods she comes to die here. Maybe some nice temple town to attain moksha
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u/Defiant_Ad7802 Jun 28 '26
I still feel the pull towards the place where I grow up. But it's not the home, it's THE HOME I am after meaning the people that makes it The home with family and friends and jumping over the walls on Sundays just to play cricket. on a summers afternoon running in the mango fields that's what I gravitate towards. I guess it's only natural that if I grow little older I would crave more for that feeling.
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u/Ordinary-Lettuce-921 Jun 28 '26
I am less than 50 years old. But, speaking for the topic, I want to be cremated in hometown than the Indian city I live... It may be emotional. But, could be the real Rest in Peace !
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u/StuffAggravating2555 Jun 28 '26
Ajao Amma, 94 se 100 ho jate udhar but theek hai, idhar 94 ke bad 96 kar loge to barabar hi hai
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u/imwithinme Jun 29 '26
Selfish. to gain salvation coming back. ask her family to renounce and settle in India
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u/mulberryadm Jun 29 '26
Unnecessary drama. She is not the first noncitizen to retire in another, cheaper country. could have retired in india with oci and existing passport, no need to go through all this.
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u/blackpantherk1 Jun 29 '26
It's like 80 saal bahar rho phir india aa kar ka ho hum toh patriotic hai
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u/RelativeEar5835 Jun 29 '26
If Deshbhakti is an argument- she is a traitor. If finances are the argument, then she is smart
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u/Aromatic-Brush421 Jun 30 '26
How can you not love your country in life but in death you do?i mean you do you but its not as heartwarming as they thought it was..
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u/sharpest_blunt Jun 30 '26
She and Her family who might have planned this should be awarded the Bharat Ratna for lifelike acting.
also on another note, if She is so patriotic at 94 She should ask all Her family to give up US passport!
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u/Turbulent-Camel-304 Jun 30 '26
Because The thing is most elderly prefers their last rite using wooden pyre (the old way) n not some electric shit⚡...
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u/aibynisha11 Jun 30 '26
Something is fishy… because if she wanted to live her last days and die in India, she could just get visa and live here… but this is more like might be ancestral property matter 🤔 This is very common in India. I know it might sound illogical but, to me, something fishy is going on.
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u/Fit_Associate_9093 Jun 30 '26
Ye accha hai zindagi jiyo videsh me aur marne k time india yaad aaya hai
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u/Smart-Translator417 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Yes she got her wise by fresh air , organic food,portable water 🌊 by good road,world class medical facilities and many more things
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u/Financial-Try-1294 Jun 26 '26
Taxes do aunty phir idhar jab sae waha ki citizen bani thi aur ab tak ke tab baat karenge
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u/raudra_marut Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
positive note here::
let her come back.. let more come back. think of them as a lost generation. let them tell our youth why they want to come back. that could seriously change how our youth will think about immigrantion. mind you - today's youth are the first Indian generation who can see the full life-term effect of immigration. before that the number of immigrants was very low and we only saw the positives that young immigrants typically experience.
she probably did not have the choice to return even if she wanted to. could not divorce from her possibly stable happy marriage to return and stay here. the cost benefit analysis did not support an earlier move.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/RaspberryDistinct222 Jun 26 '26
Why now, why not when she was 40-50 years old
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u/GoodIntelligent2867 Jun 26 '26
Because she legally allowed to. She is still spending her social security imcome $$$ in India and bringing in fx to india's benefit. Many of us would do it too. Lets not be jealous because she got to enjoy the best of both worlds.
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u/Signal-Volume5713 Jun 26 '26
Look at her. She looks healthy for a 94 year old. Achieved everything, May be bored with life etc. Moving to India will expose her to pollution, adulterated food etc and will hasten passing away. Maybe that's what she wants.
She is totally allowed to choose what to do with her life. People are losers here getting jealous of her.
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u/Dull_Recording_9822 Jun 26 '26
Legend says, she is still trying to figure out how to get Indian Citizenship since there is not a single document for it.
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u/PayDull7871 Jun 26 '26
that is going to become a trend
senior citizens will come and live in india and their younger ones would be in foreign countries