Pak Hindu refugees in Jodhpur celebrate as government notifies CAA rules

Jodhpur: "This is like real Ram Rajya for us," said a Hindu migrant from Pakistan residing here as celebrations broke out after the Centre implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament.

In the settlements of Hindu migrants from Pakistan, the residents lit lamps and burst firecrackers on Monday night soon after the rules to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014, were unveiled.

"We had been waiting for this for long. With this (CAA) becoming a reality, many those in line for citizenship can hope to become Indian nationals soon," said Dinesh Bheel, a Hindu migrant from Pakistan.

Expressing delight over the development, another migrant Perumal said this would pave the way for citizenship and help the distraught migrants in leading a better life.

"We can get citizenship after six years of residing in India. This will help lots of those who have been waiting for citizenship", he said.

With the unveiling of the CAA rules that came days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from the three countries. The rules come into force with immediate effect, according to a gazette notification.

According to Seemant Lok Sangathan, which advocates for Pakistan migrants in India, around 35,000 migrants in Jodhpur have been waiting for citizenship. The influx of these Hindu migrants from Pakistan has increased in the past 10 years, it claimed.

Welcoming the implementation of CAA and the reduction in residency period from 10-12 years to 6 years, the president of the Seemant Lok Sangthan Hindu Singh Sodha said, "But the CAA talks about only those migrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, and those who came afterwards, will be eligible for citizenship as per the old law".

"This condition is injustice for about 20,000 people who came to India after this date in the past 10 years," he said.

A large number of Hindu migrants from Pakistan reside in Rajasthan's western districts such as Barmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur.