Bhopal: Six Pakistani migrants awarded Indian citizenship

Six Pakistani migrants who had been residing in Madhya Pradesh for decades were awarded Indian citizenship on Wednesday, according to officials. Narottam Mishra, the state’s home minister, claimed the migrants were being persecuted because of their faith.

“Indian citizenship has been provided to these Hindu migrants who reached here due to religious persecution in neighbouring countries. The state government has completed the process and handed them Indian citizenship certificates today,” Mishra told reporters.

Nandlal and Amit Kumar are from Bhopal, while Arjundas Manchandani, Jairam Das, Narayan Das, and Saushalya Bai are from Mandsaur, according to the minister.

Talking to reporters, Manchandani said, “We are happy that the government has provided us citizenship. I was neither an Indian nor a Pakistani for the last 31 years, but now I am an Indian citizen”.

The CAA, which was approved in December 2019, speeds up the process of granting Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who came in India prior to December 2014 because of religious persecution.