'Chaiwala' Arshad Khan confirmed as Pakistani citizen

The blue-eyed tea seller who captured hearts worldwide, Arshad Khan - popularly known as Chaiwala - has officially been confirmed as a Pakistani citizen.

The Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court accepted Arshad Khan's petition, restoring his citizenship status after NADRA verified all his documents as authentic. NADRA's board reviewed his case and reinstated his blocked identity card and passport, submitting a compliance report to the court.

Justice Jawad Hassan, while disposing of the petition, declared that Arshad Khan is not an Afghan national but a Pakistani citizen. According to the report, his original name is Zar Khan, son of Baz Muhammad Khan, born in 1999 in Shah Allah Ditta, Islamabad, where he also received his early education.

His father, Baz Muhammad Khan, obtained a Pakistani passport in 1984 and worked in Saudi Arabia from 1989. Arshad began running a tea stall at the Sunday Bazaar in Islamabad at the age of 17. He received his Nadra ID card in 2017 and his passport in 2016 after proper document verification by the relevant authorities.

Arshad Khan gained global fame in 2016 when his photograph went viral on social media, earning Pakistan international recognition and foreign exchange through media collaborations.

His lawyer stated that Arshad plans to resume his tea business at the Sunday Bazaar in Islamabad soon.