Amna Lakdawala, 25th November 2022, Mumbai Uncensored:
25 Hindu refugees who had left Pakistan because of religious persecution were granted citizenship by India in August, and they can now vote, thanks to the Central Government!
A precious possession was presented upon the 37-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Sunil Dev Maheshwari, in August: Indian citizenship. He is now qualified to vote in Gujarat’s next assembly elections, which will take place next month. After receiving citizenship in Rajkot, Sunil and 24 other Hindu refugees from Pakistan will cast their first votes in an election in India.
“I have lived in this nation since my parents and I arrived in Gujarat in 2009 after fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan. The best day of our lives was August 12, when 25 Hindu Pakistani immigrants were given full Indian citizenship in Rajkot. We are pleased that we will be allowed to vote this time because we have received an Aadhaar card as well as other Indian credentials”, the man remarked.
Sunil is a marketing executive for a local private company that resides in a rental home in Rajkot’s Bhagwatipara neighbourhood. In 2014, he wed a Hindu refugee from Pakistan; they have two children. “Now that we are citizens of India, no one can refer to us as Pakistanis because we are no more foreigners. We are quite happy to be Indian”, he continued.
Approximately 500 Pakistani Hindu immigrants are reportedly residing in Rajkot and waiting to be given Indian citizenship, according to sources. 25 Pakistani migrants, the majority of whom were Hindus, received citizenship from the minister of state for the home, Harsh Sanghavi, in Rajkot in August. As per sources, many refugee families waited 16 years for citizenship and will now participate in the largest democracy in the world by casting their votes.
Before any of this, the central government changed the Citizenship Act, enabling Pakistani minorities to become citizens of India.
