1500 Pakistani Hindus return home as citizenship hope fades in India

Jaisalmer: An organisation working for persecuted minorities in Pakistan, Simant Lok Sangathan said that about 1,500 Pakistani Hindu refugees returned home across the border, as they saw no hope of getting citizenship here in India due to strict laws for refugees, TOI reported.

These Hindus had fled Pakistan for India due to the atrocities faced there as minorities. According to official reports, 334 Pakistani Hindu refugees have returned home this year till July.

According to the Simant Lok Sangathan, the Hindu refugees from Pakistan are really discontent due to the limp communication between the state and the central governments. They said that most of these refugees are poor and have no money to fulfil the formalities required to acquire Indian citizenship. Most also lack knowledge and understanding of the procedures.

The group also claimed that there are about 25,000 such Hindus who want to get citizenship of India. And even if these poor people somehow arranged the money and spent it all on the formalities of citizenship, it is not assured, so they pick the less demanding of the two choices and return home.

In the past five years, only some 2,000 Pakistani Hindus have gotten citizenship of India. As per the rules of the Indian Home Ministry, their Pakistani passport has to be renewed and also need a certificate from the Pakistani embassy as proof that they have surrendered their passport. This whole procedure is costing them anywhere between 8,000 to 15,000 rupees.

There is no indication from the Indian government currently to ease the process of citizenship for Hindu refugees from Pakistan.

Source : Indian Express