'These ID cards have so much power.' Meet the teen gymnasts fighting for an official identity in Pakistan - Coda Story

If this gymnastics team wins their citizenship case, they can help millions of stateless Pakistanis get digital identification cards
Karachi’s Imkaan Gymnastics Team has won top prizes in online competitions held during the Covid-19 pandemic by Russia and the Philippines. But, without legal identification, they are barred from traveling to compete outside Karachi. despite many Bengali-speaking families living in Pakistan for generations, none of their parents have government issued ID cards.
Pakistan has been celebrated internationally for its wide-ranging centralized digital identification system. The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) issues ID cards which control nearly all aspects of life in the country, including school enrollment, employment, bank accounts and phone plans. But millions, like the Imkaan gymnasts and their families, have fallen through the program’s cracks.
Now the team is fighting back, appealing to the Interior Ministry to grant them citizenship on the basis of birthright. If they win, their case will set a precedent for more than three million stateless people in the country.
This is their story.
The story you just read is a small piece of a complex and an ever-changing storyline that Coda covers relentlessly and with singular focus. But we can’t do it without your help. Show your support for journalism that stays on the story by becoming a member today. Coda Story is a 501(c)3 U.S. non-profit. Your contribution to Coda Story is...

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.