CAA Effect: 18 Hindu Refugees From Pakistan Granted Indian Citizenship at Camp in Ahmedabad – News18

Days after the successful implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 18 Hindu refugees from Pakistan, who have been residing in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, were granted Indian citizenship.

The documents were given to them during an event at a refugee camp attended by Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi. The camp was organised at the district collector’s office on Saturday,

“It is expected that all of you will be determined to participate in the development journey of the country,” Sanghavi said, adding the central and state governments were committed to bringing all those who have obtained Indian citizenship to the society’s mainstream.

Gazette notifications of 2016 and 2018 empowered the district collectors of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Kutch in Gujarat to grant Indian citizenship to people of minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, according to an official release.

With this, a total of 1,167 Hindu refugees from Pakistan residing in Ahmedabad district have so far been granted Indian citizenship, it said.

On March 11, the Centre government announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, paving the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

With this, the government aims to start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries.

Meanwhile, amid criticism of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) from the US and other parts of the globe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said it is important to put it in the context of the Partition, and underlined that there are a “number of examples” in which many countries have fast-tracked citizenship.

The US on Thursday said it is concerned about the notification of CAA in India and is closely monitoring its implementation.

(With PTI inputs)