New Delhi: Inside a small asbestos-roofed house in a northwest Delhi jhuggi colony, 42-year-old Radha and her family have little respite from the May heat. But they do find refuge from their worries in the form of a brand-new TV blaring a Hindi soap opera and bright blue dossiers confirming the Indian citizenship of five family members.
This slum cluster of about 200 shanties in Adarsh Nagar is quite different from most of its counterparts. It’s what many Hindu refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh call home. Some now finally clutch their Indian citizenship papers, years of waiting a distant memory. Others are lining up at the nearby Malkaganj post office for the verification process, their turn inching closer.
“We are free humans here. Our girls are free to go to school and take any course in the future, which will bring us prosperity someday. We have no regret about leaving Pakistan and are hopeful of our future,” Radha told ThePrint, tears spilling down her cheeks.
The Narendra Modi-led government’s new Citizenship Amendment Rules are making waves in the colony. Notified on 11 March, these rules kickstarted the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which Parliament enacted in 2019. Under it, citizenship is fast-tracked for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
Any Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, or Christian who entered India on or before 31 December 2014 without documents is eligible to apply.
On 15 May, the Union Home Secretary handed the first set of citizenship certificates to 14 applicants in New Delhi.
Recipients included Radha’s daughter Bawna (18), sons Harji (28) and Arjun (21), as well as their respective wives Laxmi (26) and Chandrakala (25). However, Radha’s own process stalled due to the unavailability of her father’s Pakistani passport. Her husband Madho, who has driven the citizenship process for many families in the colony, also faces delays due to “documentary work”. However, they are hopeful that their turn too will eventually come.
Other than the Adarsh Nagar family, the newly minted Indian citizens included 29-year-old Yashoda and her younger brother Bharat Kumar, who live in a similar jhuggi colony of Pakistani Hindu migrants in north Delhi’s Majnu ka Tila. It is a joyous occasion for them as they have waited for several years to be considered Indian citizens.
“With this certificate now, I am an Indian citizen,” Yashoda said. “I could never go to school and become something of my own. At least my children, especially the girls, will be able to make it to a better life. They can freely go to school and college and apply for jobs.”
Also Read: Proof of nationality, date of entry to India — what’s required for citizenship under CAA rules
‘Had to move out of Pakistan’
It’s been a long journey and wait for the families who entered India from Pakistan. Those who spoke to ThePrint all told stories of religious oppression and the desire to swap “fear” with freedom.
Back when they lived in Tando Allahyar city in Pakistan’s Sindh province, Madho owned a profitable banana plantation and a large house. But Bawna said the family never felt at home and lived in “constant fear”.
Education was also limited for the girls. Radha’s elder daughters Sita and Mina, now also living in India, attended primary school veiled in burqas. Their curriculum focused on reading Islamic texts, far from the life Radha envisioned for her children.
She also recalled a harrowing incident with her elder daughter, Sita.
“Our daughters never left the house, but one day, Sita simply went out to buy some chips,” Radha said, with her daughter Bawna translating her Gujarati words. “Her father (Madho) became paranoid, fearing she might be abducted and forced into marriage. He beat her and forbade any of us from going out again.”
The family eventually decided they could no longer live this way.
Their escape began with a pilgrim visa to Haridwar, sponsored by a relative in Gujarat. The family entered India on 22 March 2014 on the Thar Express at Munabao station in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur. From there, they went to Gujarat to comply with the norms of reporting to the nearest police station of their sponsors.
In 2018, the family moved from Gujarat to Delhi in search of better prospects. Harji and Arjun found work selling mobile covers in Azadpur, and Bawna passed the 10th standard from a government-run school at Majlis Park. Sita and Mina, who also migrated to India with them, are now married and have applied for citizenship.
There are many other stories like this. In Majnu ka Tila, another Delhi jhuggi colony, similar sentiments prevail. Hindus who fled Pakistan said they yearned for a life free from fear. Around 150 refugee families now call this place home.
“Our father had made up his mind that we had to move out of Pakistan,” said Yashoda, who was in her late teens when her family of 14 members left their home in Sindh’s Hyderabad.
“We could never go to school because our families feared that we would be converted to Islam and end up marrying a Muslim man there. It took two years to get all the documents processed. Finally, we took a train and crossed the Wagah border to enter India on tourist visas.”
Yashoda’s date of entry, per her citizenship certificate, is 9 March 2013.
Smooth process, with some cracks
The process of citizenship was largely smooth and speedy for most members of his family, according to Madho.
He applied for citizenship online from a cybercafe in early April after the new rules were announced, submitting all the requisite documents in digital form. An email from the government arrived within 15-20 days and they were called for verification at Malkaganj post office on 10 May.
“They verified all our digital documents by cross-checking against the originals,” Madho said. “They also asked questions about where we lived in Pakistan, relatives in India, and our date of entry.”
The following day, officers visited their home to verify Indian documents like Aadhaar and PAN cards. Soon after, five family members asked to come to the ministry on 15 May.
Madho and his wife Radha are still waiting for their Indian citizenship due to some missing paperwork, but they’re not overly worried.
“The officers asked for the passport of Radha’s father in Pakistan and we are trying to get it. We have it and are trying to get it here as soon as possible,” Madho told ThePrint.
He added that Radha has requested her brothers in Pakistan to send the document, and they anticipate that it will arrive before the next verification on 10 June. As for his own citizenship, Madho claimed he has been told it’s in the pipeline and that some applications take a little longer to process.
But there remains a more serious cloud over the family’s joy.
Madho’s son, Kishan, and his wife couldn’t travel with them in 2014 due to her pregnancy. They came to India later in 2016 and also live in Adarsh Nagar, but aren’t eligible for citizenship because they arrived after the rules’ deadline of 31 December 2014.
“We would request the government to consider cases such as ours where some family members are left behind due to unavoidable reasons,” Radha told ThePrint.
Yashoda also voiced similar concerns at her home in Majnu Ka Tila. She is worried about her husband and her parents, who are still waiting for their citizenship. Most of her relatives and in-laws are still in Sindh’s Hyderabad, and she often frets about their wellbeing.
‘Air of freedom’
Life in India hasn’t been easy for Radha and Yashoda’s families, who are among an estimated 30,000 refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan trying to rebuild their lives in India.
Radha recalled living without electricity in Adarsh Nagar for about three years, with all the residents enduring scorching heat, dirty surroundings, and oppressively cramped conditions in makeshift shanties.
But their story has a brighter chapter. With a sigh of relief and satisfaction, Radha pointed out recent improvements. Her sons have built a better house, and most importantly, electricity finally reached their doorstep 18 months ago.
“We have come a long way from what he began our lives with,” she said. “We bought this LED TV before the inauguration of Ram Mandir earlier this year.”
Despite all the hardships she has been through, Radha said she has no regrets about leaving the family business and house behind in Pakistan. For her, the “air of freedom” and peace come before prosperity.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)