Migrant families are cheered by CAA notice

Many Hindu-Sikh families who have immigrated from Pakistan and Afghanistan throughout the years have found renewed hope and comfort with the Central Government’s recent announcement about the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). They claim that this completes their grueling trip and makes it possible for them to at last submit an application for Indian citizenship.

Relocating to Jalandhar in 2006 from Sialpur, Pakistan, Kala Ram describes his trip there with his wife and four kids. “Leaving behind our homeland, where we toiled hard to make ends meet, was no easy feat,” he says in his explanation. But we were forced to go to Punjab due to the prejudice against non-Muslims and the restriction of our celebrations and customs.

He said that his paternal aunt, who moved here after Partition, helped them settle in the city at the time by setting up visas. Ram, who has been fighting for citizenship for the last 18 years, is ecstatic to hear that the CAA is now being put into effect. “We’ve protested and written to the federal and state governments tirelessly,” he said. Words will never express how relieved we are to finally be able to fulfill our dreams of a life of dignity, owning a piece of land, and more.

With the possibility of becoming a citizen, Ashok Kumar, who moved to the city from Pakistan in 1999, expressed pleasure that their biannual battle to get visa extensions will soon come to an end. He explained how he and seven family members had fled the nation for safety concerns, and he wished for them to be granted permanent residency in our country.

Kumar pointed out that when Pakistani immigrants immigrated to Jalandhar following independence, some 300 families there were having trouble obtaining new visas. He said that in order to celebrate the passing of the CAA and get information on the citizenship application process, a team representing these families recently met with BJP officials in the city.

Notably, the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was notified on March 11 of this year after being passed by the Central Government in 2019, provides relief to migrants of different religions who arrived in India from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan up until December 31, 2014, facilitating their Indian citizenship. These migrants include Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians.