Refusing to reveal their identity, the Pakistani immigrants said that they do not want to curse Pakistan as it is their motherland, but the situation there is not favourable for the minorities.
Amid the controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), minority Pakistani Hindu families continue to flee the Islamic country saying that they are being persecuted on the basis of their religion.
Nearly 100 Pakistani Hindu families crossed Attari-Wagah border and reached Amritsar on Monday. Meanwhile, around 200 families have reportedly crossed the border this year till now.
The 100 Hindu families, who crossed the border on Monday, said: “Humanity has died in Pakistan and they have told the Islamabad-based Indian Embassy that they want to settle in India.”
Several women, children and girls were among those who reached Amritsar with their belongings on Monday. They said they want to perform Hindu religious rites in Haridwar.
Some of the Hindu families also brought with them the mortal remains of their ancestors to immerse in the holy Ganges.
These Hindu families have been given a small duration visa, but the way they have brought their entire belongings hint that they don’t want to return to Pakistan.
Refusing to reveal their identity, the Pakistani immigrants said that they do not want to curse Pakistan as it is their motherland, but the situation there is not favourable for the minorities.
Some of the immigrants said that they have come to visit Haridwar and have been given a visa to perform the last rites of their relatives.
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who met these Pakistani immigrants, said that these people have been compelled to leave their country in order to save their religion.
“The committee had informed the Indian government about the religious persecution of the Hindu-Sikh minorities in Pakistan. We will soon meet Home Minister Amit Shah and will request the government to grant citizenship to these immigrants,” Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.
Most of the immigrants do not want to reveal their identity and are silent on the matter. Some of them, the sources said, are also well educated.
What remains to be seen is whether the City Compensatory Allowance (CCA) benefits will also be extended to these immigrants besides others who were forced to leave Pakistan after 2014 or not.
Source: India Today
