The Canadian government is pushing to revoke the citizenship of a Pakistan-born businessman accused of playing a key role in the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India that left 166 dead.
Documents obtained by Global News show that immigration officials have notified Tahawwur Rana Hussain that they intend to strip him of the Canadian citizenship he acquired in 2001.
The 65-year-old immigrated to Canada in 1997, and was later convicted in the United States of plotting to attack staff at a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Mohamed.
He is currently in custody in India, where he is awaiting trial on charges alleging he facilitated the Mumbai attack that was carried out by Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
But in its decision, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada wrote that Hussain’s citizenship was being revoked not for terrorism, but rather because 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 IRCC wrote in a report.
An RCMP investigation, however, determined he had actually spent almost that entire time in Chicago, where he owned several properties and businesses, including an immigration firm and a grocery store.
The revocation decision accused him of “a serious and deliberate deception,” and said his “lack of respect for the citizenship laws of Canada” had led immigration officials to wrongly grant him citizenship.
“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,” IRCC wrote to him on May 31, 2024.
“Your misrepresentation led decision makers to believe that you had met the residence requirements for citizenship, when it appears you had not.”
The government said it was referring his case to the Federal Court, which has the final say on whether citizenship was obtained by “false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances.”
A Toronto immigration lawyer representing Hussain, also known as Tahawwur Hussain Rana, has appealed the decision, arguing it was unfair and violated his rights.
A hearing related to the revocation was held in Federal Court last week. Government lawyers asked the court on Dec. 19 for permission to withhold sensitive national security information from the case.
An immigration department spokesperson told Global News that cancelling citizenship for misrepresentation was “an important tool for maintaining the integrity of Canadian citizenship.”
To ensure the process is fair, the Federal Court makes the final decision in such cases, Mary Rose Sabater said. “The Government does not take the revocation of citizenship lightly.”
She said she could not say how many such revocations had occurred because the department did not track them, but a review by Global News identified only three such decisions in the past decade.
‘A Canadian is a Canadian’
Revoking the citizenship of convicted terrorists became a politically-charged issue more than a decade ago, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government enacted a law that allowed Ottawa to do so — as long as the person had a second citizenship.
During the 2015 federal election campaign, the Liberals portrayed the legislation as a form of two-tiered citizenship and promised to repeal the law, using the slogan “a Canadian is a Canadian.”
Once elected, the Liberal government axed the law and reinstated citizenship to more than a dozen convicted terrorists who had been stripped of their Canadian nationality.
But under the Liberals, the government has continued to take steps to revoke the citizenship of Canadians implicated in terrorism — although only on the grounds of misrepresentation.
In 2024, Marc Miller, then the immigration minister, said he was looking into revoking the citizenship of Ahmed Eldidi, who was arrested for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in Toronto.
His comments came after Global News reported that the Egyptian-born Canadian had obtained citizenship despite having allegedly appeared in an ISIS execution video in which he dismembered a prisoner in Iraq.
The documents on the Hussain case show that in 2023, the government of then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-initiated revocation proceedings that began under the Harper Conservatives.
“It is important to note that the basis of these renovation proceedings is solely rooted in the allegations that you directly misrepresented your residence in Canada during your relevant residence period for Canadian citizenship,” the IRCC wrote to Hussain.
“The onus is on the applicant to be honest and truthful throughout the entirety of their immigration and citizenship application processes leading up to the grant of citizenship.”
Victims 'deserved it'
Should the Federal Court approve revoking Hussain’s citizenship, he would retain his status as a permanent resident, meaning he could still enter Canada and reapply for citizenship after ten years.
But first he faces a high-profile trial in India, where the Islamist attack he is accused of aiding has had a deep impact and fractured relations with Pakistan, where the terrorists were based.
The three-day siege at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a Jewish community center and other locations in Mumbai was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history. Two Canadians were among the dead.
Following the incident, Hussain allegedly said in intercepted communications that the victims “deserved it,” and the terrorists who conducted the assault should receive medals for “gallantry in battle.”
Because of Hussain’s citizenship, the case has helped feed India’s portrayal of Canada as a national security threat, although according to the documents obtained by Global News, he never truly lived in the country.
The attempt by immigration authorities to strip his citizenship is moving forward in court as Prime Minister Mark Carney is working to restore relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Carney will visit India, Australia, and Japan, from Feb. 26 to March 7, the government said Monday.
In India, he is seeking a trade deal, although the RCMP accuses Modi’s government of murdering a Sikh activist in Surrey, B.C., in 2023, and plotting to kill other Canadian opponents.
Canada also believes India has worked in cooperation with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which is responsible for many of the extortions that have spread fear in cities with large South Asian populations.
Who is Tahawwur Rana Hussain
Hussain served in the Pakistani military before immigrating to Canada as a skilled worker, crossing the border via Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge on Sept. 28, 1997, along with his wife and three children.
Three years later, he applied for Canadian citizenship, writing on his forms that he had resided in the country since his arrival. He was approved and took the oath of citizenship on May 31, 2001.
But questions arose after he was arrested in Chicago in 2009 on charges alleging he was involved in the Mumbai attacks, as well as a plot to kill staff of Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
Government documents show that 12 days later, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada asked American authorities for details of his U.S. immigration status and travel history.
Canada’s immigration department received the “package of information and documentation” from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Nov. 26, 2009, and asked the RCMP to investigate.
A jury convicted Hussain of planning attacks in Copenhagen and providing material support to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, but acquitted him of direct involvement in the Mumbai attack.
The RCMP wrapped up its in investigation in October 2012, and informed immigration officials that Hussain had been living in Chicago during the time he had claimed to be a resident of Canada.
Although he had not spent enough time in the country to qualify for citizenship, Hussain had lied in his application form in order to acquire status as a Canadian national, according to the allegations.
Chris Alexander, who was then the Minister of Immigration in the Harper government, signed the paperwork recommending the revocation of his citizenship for misrepresentation.
On trial in India
On June 10, 2020, India asked the U.S. to extradite Hussain to face charges over the Mumbai attack. Two weeks later, Canadian immigration resumed efforts to revoke his citizenship.
In 2024, Canada notified Hussain it was sending his case to the Federal Court for a decision, dismissing his complaints that he was chronically ill and thought he had met the residence requirements.
“In short, I always thought that I am maintaining my Primary Residence in Canada,” he wrote in a letter. “In my Canadian citizenship application I did not knowingly conceal material circumstances or committed [Sic] fraud.”
The U.S. announced on April 10, 2025 that Hussain, described in the news release as a “Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan,” had been extradited to India to face 10 charges over the Mumbai attack.
“I’m glad that day has come,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, wrote on X, noting that six Americans were among those killed during the assault.
India has accused Hussain of giving his childhood friend Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen who had changed his name from Daood Gilani, a fake cover story so he could travel to Mumbai to scout potential targets for the LeT.
Using the ruse that he was opening a branch of his immigration business in Mumbai, and that Headley was the office manager, Hussain allegedly helped his alleged co-conspirator get an Indian visa.
“Over the course of more than two years, Headley allegedly repeatedly met with Rana in Chicago and described his surveillance activities on behalf of LeT … and LeT’s potential plans for attacking Mumbai,” the U.S. Justice Department wrote.
His arrival in India garnered national headlines, with the National Investigation Agency calling the “mastermind” of the Mumbai attack and a “Canadian national.”
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
So much easier to get along
One guy big deal we have millions of his kind we need ice or we’re dead.Get them all.
And more censorship in the comments section from Canada’s propaganda arm. Nice work global
Plz…we dont need terrorists who massacred innocents from across the world in Mumbai. P.S, it included Americans, Jews, bharthiya and many more
Wow this guy gets around ..
A real globe Trotter …wonder what other no good he’s been up to..
2008×10,000 should be the number of Indians being kicked out of Canada, not a reference to the year.
Indian government is hell bent on committing crime in Canada and interfering in Canadian politics and here we are, making trade deal with such a rouge and terrorist nation.
And what about the criminal activities like assassinations and extortions happening in Canada which RCMP has proven time and time again are run directly by Indian government. If Canadian law enforcement has evidence against Indian government’s involvement in these criminal activities on Canadian soil then that is it. Take action against Indian government. But the more our law enforcement agencies are bringing out the evidence against Indian government, the more Mr Carney bent to make new trade deals with them. This shows how seriously India takes our law enforcement agencies and their investigations. And Canadian Sovereignty as a whole.
And of course, parliament begins and Carney flies the coop. Just like they did with Trudeau. Keep him out of parliament and debate. Especially when the truth was bearing down and a non confidence vote is always looming. He has to have enough air miles to fly the around the globe non stop about a thousand times.
I would like to see Harper’s idea expanded. Any naturalized citizen who becomes involved in any organized crime be it human trafficking, car thefts, drug trade, aiding foreign enemies, extortion, terrorism should have their citizenship revoked.
Its not just him , you need to remove all entries under Justin Trudeau’s corrupt run , all from 2013 forward are to be removedand they can re apply
Amazing how many PP fans don’t like trade unless it’s on trump’s terms.
As former Vice Prime Minister of Canada, I should have been invited.
I applied for Canadian immigration primarily because I wanted my two sons to live and grow up in a civilised social setup. I was born in a muslim family but I never had half as much of an orientation towards the religion my parents believed in and I always considered people on the basis of what or who they were rather than what they believed in. My case was not given an approval for unexplained reasons. I was contented with the thought in my mind that the Canadian immigration authorities had their own priorities to accept or reject cases. But when I hear about the likes of cases of this terrorist, I am forced to think as to how such an individual got through and I didn’t. The question mark will persist in my mind for the rest of my life as to why my sons couldn’t avail this chance and why this terrorist could? Is it that the Canadian immigration authorities decide cases on the roll of a dice?
I’m truly disappointed
Do not worry Canadians, I will watch over you while my protégé is traveling around the world
Sikh activist in BC !!! Really global lol
Parliament is starting up again this week…and TrudeauCarney is heading out of town, once again……just another holiday coincidence under the guise of trade deals!
Why is this being debated, remove citizen ship immediately
Carney has gone to India to try to recruit more people to move to Canada. We are a nation of lawbreakers and no-one cares.
Canadas fascination and love for terrorists is troubling. The deadliest terrorist attack in Canada’s history was the bombing of the air India flight that took the lives of over 300 innocent Canadians today that same radical ideology is thriving one would think that government and police would put a stop to a radical ideology that kills over hundreds of Canadians, but no instead of Canada is a hot bed for Khalistan extremism. Every political leader of all parties at all levels bends over for them.
But Trudeau said “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”
Why dismantle the Harper law of revoking citizenship…because you can? it made too much sense?
With today’s tech there is no need to spend 1 of every 5 days out of country.. Karney has become addicted to travel and the “world stage”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is responsible for creating a climate in India in which Hindu attacks on minorities are tolerated. We shouldn’t be mending fences with this.
These always lead back to LPC incompetence. Go figure!
I’m not actually doing anything in India except dining with some W E F buddies on your dime. Then when I get home I’ll get right back to bending the knee to you-know-who. Oh and I owe him an extra blow job because of all the Olympics bets I lost to him.
Boot the turd back. Nothing to do with trade or anything else. What’s the hold-up?
Good