Post CAA, hundreds of Hindus from Pakistan enter Punjab on foot

An unprecedented influx of hundreds of Hindu families from Pakistan crossing over to the Indian side in the last few weeks from the Wagha-Attari border in Punjab has taken place post the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

What is intriguing is that, unlike routine tourists, all these groups of Hindu families have entered Punjab walking all the way through the border over the weeks with assorted bundled up belongings loaded on them. According to sources, in excess of 200 such Hindu families have entered Punjab after CAA was implemented.

Most of these Hindu visitors carried loosely tied clothes and other belongings wrapped up in sheets as they walked their way into Punjab. These Hindu visitors have moved in with valid visitor visas. The influx of so many Hindu families in groups at the time the CAA was being implemented has given rise to speculations that these visitors might choose to stay put in India. However, all this will be clear only on the expiry of their visas.

While the cut-off date to be eligible for Indian citizenship under the new citizenship law is December 31, 2014, Hindus and other religious identities included in the new Act are hopeful of availing benefits of the CAA sooner or later. The sudden influx of Hindu families through the India-Pakistan border has surprised security agencies who maintain that the arrival of these visitors with ‘much of their belongings’ started around mid-December.

All the hundreds of Hindu families have one or the other known contact on the Indian side to visit. While it may be premature to infer anything on the intent behind the movement, the next move of these Hindu visitors on the expiry of visas will be keenly watched.

Congress-ruled Punjab was the first northern state and second in the country after Kerala to pass a resolution asking the Centre to reconsider the CAA. There are pockets in Punjab where Sikhs and Hindus, who had crossed over from Pakistan to Punjab decades ago, have settled. These scores of Sikh and Hindu families from Pakistan initially rejoiced after the new bill was passed, but now are unsure of their fate of citizenship with Punjab deciding not to implement the CAA.