Arshad Khan, the 'Chaiwala' made him an internet sensation and an entrepreneur but presently he is facing deportation from Pakistan.

Life has been a rollercoaster ride for Arshad Khan, the tea vendor who became a viral sensation in 2016. His blue eyes caught the eyes of the internet and by 2024 November, he got an investment of 10 million Pakistani rupees in the Shark Tank series.

But since then, life of Arshad 'chaiwala' took a turn for the worse, with Pakistani authorities suspending his passport and national identity card.

It was a normal day at his tea stall for Arshad Khan in 2016 when a photographer, Javeria Ali, clicked his photo and shared it on social media.

The photo went viral, with both women swooning over, and men impressed by his stunning looks, particularly those blue eyes. He was interviewed in Pakistani media, and his tea stall soon became a bigger business. By 2023, he opened his outlet in London in 2023.

However, now a case pertains to whether Arshad is really a Pakistani or not. According to reports, his mother is Pakistani, but his father is a Pashtun of Afghan origin. But by way of birth, Arshad is a Pakistani. He was born in 1999 in Pakistan's Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Now, Arshad has been caught in the Pakistan government's strict implementation of removing Afghans, or people of Afghan origin. The deadline to expel Afghan nationals had passed at the end of March, and thousands have been sent out of the country.

‘Nadra’ (National Database and Registration Authority) is Pakistan's agency for the national identity database and registration of citizens. It issues the CNICs (Computerized National Identity Cards) as well as child registration certificates and identity cards for overseas Pakistanis. According to the Nadra and the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, Khan has not been able to provide evidence to prove his citizenship.

As a result, both of his national ID card and passport have been blocked. Arshad is fighting back in court. Arshad has moved the Pakistan High Court, pleading for the unblocking of his passport and ID card.

Pakistan has been dealing with refugee flows from Afghanistan for decades. As tens of thousands crossed the border from the war-torn nation, Pakistan had issued Afghan citizenship cards or ACCs to them.

Pakistan had deported 500 Afghan refugees before expiry of refugee registration deadline.

Now, Pakistan wants all those holding ACCs to go back to Afghanistan, particularly as relations between Islamabad and the Taliban regime in Kabul have gone sour. While some 800,000 Afghans have exited Pakistan, some 3 million still remain in the country.

Arshad Chaiwala now fears deportation from Pakistan. He is basically caught in the crossfire of these developments and fears he would be deported. His passport was also first blocked in 2017 after media reports said he was not a Pakistani.

The reason for the blocking is that he is unable to provide details about his family from before the 1978 Afghanistan war, which was the reason for their migration to Pakistan.

Previously, a National Geographic ‘Afghan Girl’ was also deported from Pakistan. A judge had ordered the “Afghan girl”, made famous by a 1985 National Geographic cover photo, to be deported from Pakistan.

Sharbat Gula was arrested in Peshawar for illegally obtaining an ID card and was sentenced to 15days in jail with a $ 1,000 fine. Gula pleaded guilty before a court to using fraudulent identity papers, and a judge ordered she be sent back to Afghanistan with her four children,

“The government and the people of Afghanistan awaited Sharbat Gula with great emotion, and was welcomed back very warmly,” Afghan Consulate Official Abdul Hameed Jalili said.