Image Representing Hindus in Nagpur, Pakistan, Prepare for Indian Citizenship Under CAA

Hindus in Nagpur, Pakistan, Prepare for Indian Citizenship Under CAA

Amid the fervor around the announcement by the government that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 will be implemented

by Nagpur Trends Team | Published on 2024-03-14 16:05:37

Amidst the excitement surrounding the government's declaration to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), approximately 2,000 Hindu Pakistanis living in Nagpur are getting ready to submit their applications for Indian citizenship.

In order to live in India without having to deal with the headache of applying for more paperwork and visa extensions, migrants from the neighboring nation are figuring out the ins and outs of submitting their online applications. Furthermore, a few of their relatives who entered the nation recently are requesting an extension of the deadline in order to make accommodations for them.

Four years after Parliament passed the CAA, the Center put it into effect on Monday by releasing regulations. For undocumented non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India prior to December 31, 2014, the bill seeks to accelerate citizenship.

According to media sources, Vinod Raheja, who is from the Pakistani province of Sindh and is originally from Ghotki town, narrated how his family crossed into India on visitation visas on December 31, 2014, at the Wagah-Attari border. He expressed amazement at the "life-changing event" that was the CAA and has already filed his online application to become an Indian citizen.

Raheja used to be a cloth dealer in Pakistan and currently resides in the Jaripatka neighborhood of Nagpur, which is home to many Sindhis. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for putting the CAA into effect and expressed his happiness at the prospect of obtaining Indian citizenship.

Raheja, who works for a private company, pleaded with PM Modi to extend the deadline for immigrants so that families like his mother-in-law's, who came six months after him, would not have as much paperwork to complete. After relocating to India in 2012 from Quetta, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, Sagar Wadhva is excited about settling there permanently. His online application for citizenship has also been filed.

Rajesh Jhambia, a local social worker who promotes migrant rights, stated that he received 100 online applications. He expects to submit about two thousand applications from Nagpur for citizenship. Similar to Raheja, Jhambia urged Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to take into account the cases of migrants who arrived after 2014.