NEW DELHI, India: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Indian government has granted citizenship to around 4,300 Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Afghanistan since it assumed power as the party aims to fulfill its manifesto “natural home for persecuted Hindus”.
The number makes a huge difference comparatively as the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Coalition government in India gave Indian citizenship to 1,023 Hindus and Sikhs from the two neighboring countries during its entire tenure.
Prior to becoming the country’s prime minister in May 2014, Narendra Modi had announced during his election campaign said that Pakistani and Bangladeshi Hindu refugees would be treated like any other Indian citizen.
His ruling BJP aims to grant Indian nationality to some 200,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees from neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who are currently living in India.
The official sources said as citied by Indian media that since the Modi government assumed charge on May 26 last year, nearly 19,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have been given long-term visas in Madhya Pradesh state.
They further said that around 11,000 long-term visas were given to refugees in Rajasthan and another 4,000 in Gujarat.
There are about 400 settlements for refugees from Pakistan in Indian cities like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jaipur. Hindu refugees from Bangladesh mostly live in West Bengal and northeastern states. Sikh refugees mostly live in Punjab, Delhi and Chandigarh.
