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Jaipur, March 11 (HS). The Central Government has issued the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Monday. With this, this law has come into force across the country. With the implementation of CAA, the way will be cleared for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to get citizenship. Rajasthan will also benefit from this. Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are living in various districts here.
More than 35 thousand people living in the border areas of Rajasthan were waiting for the notification of CAA. These are the people who have come to various districts of Rajasthan from Pakistan and are living as refugees and have been waiting for Indian citizenship for years. A large number of Hindus who migrated from Pakistan live in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner bordering Pakistan. There are 18 thousand registered Pakistani Hindus living in Jodhpur alone, who have been waiting for Indian citizenship for many years. Troubled by the oppression in Pakistan, these people who came to India on long term visa, were waiting for Indian citizenship for a long time.
Under the Citizenship Amendment Act, refugees from three neighboring countries Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan are to be given citizenship. Under the law, six religious minorities (Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians) who came to India before December 2014 will be given citizenship. CAA was approved by Parliament in December 2019. It has been implemented after four years. After the issuance of CAA rules, now Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan can be given Indian citizenship till 31 December 2014.
Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangathan, which has been working for a long time for citizenship of Pakistani Hindu refugees in the border districts, says that many of our problems will end with the implementation of CAA. Sodha says that from our side we have given many suggestions to the government to simplify the process, now it remains to be seen what rules and by-laws the government brings, because after the law is made, due to the complexity of the rules, they have to be implemented. gets tough. Most of the Hindu refugees who have come to Rajasthan are those who have complete documents and after the implementation of CAA, they will not face much problem in getting citizenship. Sodha says that most of the people have complete documents, but we have also given suggestions to the government about those who do not have them and hope that the government will work on them. He said that after the implementation of the law, the government should organize special camps to grant citizenship so that this work can be completed as soon as possible. He says that even after December 2014, a large number of people from these countries have come to India. There should be provisions for them also in the rules and bye-laws. Also, they should also be notified.
Sodha says that with this provision one will get citizenship in six years instead of seven years. We welcome this. On the demand of the government, we had suggested that there should not be any time restriction in this, because even after December 31, 2014, thousands of people have come back from Pakistan after being tortured and this sequence is continuing. In such a situation, provisions will have to be made to give citizenship soon to those who came from January 1, 2015 till now. For such people, the pain of getting entangled in the long process of citizenship will not end. It is necessary to create a permanent mechanism to end this. If the government wishes, it can make provisions in its rules while implementing it.
Sodha told that Hindus coming on religious pilgrimage from Pakistan via Wagah Border come directly to Jodhpur or Jaisalmer after going to Haridwar. In Jodhpur, people live by building huts on the rocky ground around Chaukha and Kali Beri. They survive on daily wage labor and as time passes, they move to other settlements. Hundreds of such families can be seen living in huts near Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. Those who leave their homes and come to Pakistan feel only relieved that they are safe here. Most of the Hindus in the Sindh area of Pakistan bordering India belong to the Bhil and Meghwal communities. They do not get any kind of facilities there. After getting citizenship, according to the law of India, they will be able to get the facilities of reserved category due to being SC and ST. After citizenship, caste certificate is issued, through which their children will also be able to avail the benefits of reservation. The same system applies to OBCs also.
Jai Ahuja of Nimittekam organization says that there was a provision for early citizenship in the Citizenship Act of 1955. But, there is no provision to give citizenship to the entire family. Now after the issuance of CAA notification, the way for people coming from these countries to get citizenship will be paved.