Over 1,000 Pakistani Hindus who came to India didn’t return to Pakistan

Over 1,000 Pakistani Hindus who entered India in the last two months after the enactment of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) have not returned to Pakistan on the expiry of their visas.

Many in the recent influx of Hindus from Pakistan to India through the Wagah Attari border in Punjab may have set their sights on availing the benefits of the new legislation.

In January this year alone, nearly 900 out of the about 1,200 Pakistani Hindus who visited India did not return to Pakistan. Last week, a Deccan Herald report highlighted the rise in Pakistani Hindus visiting India post the CAA.

In December last year, some 220 Pakistani Hindus of about 850 who entered India did not return to Pakistan on the expiry of visas. This was also seen in November in the run-up to the passing of the new law.

While the cut-off date to avail citizenship under the CAA is Dec. 31, 2014, non-Muslim citizens from Pakistan, mostly Hindus, seem to be encouraged to visit India with hopes of citizenship. About 2,500 Pakistani Hindus have crossed into India since December. Scores of them have preferred to stay put.

Among the group of nearly four dozen Pakistani Hindus who crossed over from Pakistan to Punjab last week was 22-year-old Lali, a Pakistani Hindu girl, who reportedly expressed her desire to remain in India.

The CAA provides eligibility to Hindus and other religious identities, barring Muslims, facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to avail Indian citizenship. The Congress-ruled Punjab is opposing the CAA. The state is among the few that have passed a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha asking the Union Government to repeal the law.