Persecuted Hindu refugees cheer for CAB, thanks Modi, Shah for the historic bill granting citizenship

New Delhi, December 11: As the house argues on Citizenship Amendment Bill which has been tabled in the Rajya Sabha today, there is something which drags our attention to know what the refugees feel and want from the government. Given a green signal in Lok Sabha, the CAB has given hope and a lifeline to the persecuted Hindus of Pakistan, who currently live in India as refugees. They have thanked the Modi led government for bringing in the CAB granting citizenship to minorities.

 

Following the passing of the bill in the lower house, Pakistani Hindus living in Rajasthan have thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for bringing the historic bill to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities belonging to the three neighbouring countries Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Currently, there are around 25,000 non-Indian citizens in Rajasthan who migrated from Pakistan after facing severe persecution on the grounds of their religion.

On Monday, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes in Lok Sabha. It seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014. The proposed legislation applies to those who were forced to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion. It aims to protect such people from proceedings of illegal migration. The cut-off date for citizenship is December 31, 2014, which means the applicant should have entered India on or before that date.

According to the information given by the Rajasthan Home department, nearly 17,652 immigrants from Pakistan are registered at Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) across 18 districts. Out of which 6,127 of them are eligible to become Indian citizens under the existing rules. In Punjab’s Amritsar, around 20 families of the Sikh and Hindu faiths that have been migrated from Pakistan hailed the introduction of CAB in Parliament.