Daijiworld Media Network - Amristar (SHP)
Amritsar, Feb 4: Earlier on Monday, officials asserted that over 200 Pakistani Hindus crossed over to India through the Attari-Wagah border with no desire to go back.
The Pakistani Hindus came on a visitor's visa but some of them claimed that they felt unsafe in Pakistan and hoped to get India citizenship after the enactment of the CAA.
Akali leader and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa was at the border to receive four families who he claimed had 'fled' Pakistan due to religious persecution.
The border officials reported a rise in the number of Hindus travellers from Pakistani via Attar-Wagah border.
The Citizenship Amendment Act aims at giving Indian nationality to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in the three countries.
It was observed that most of the travellers were belonging to the Sindh and Karachi areas. Some of them carried luggage and were seeking asylum in India.
One of the Pakistani Hindus on the condition of anonymity said after the enactment of the new citizenship law, Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan and Afghanistan were 'optimistic' of getting Indian citizenship.
Most of them were travelling to Rajasthan to meet their relatives, they said.
"We are not feeling safe in Pakistan. Our girls feel insecure as they fear that they could be kidnapped any time by hardliners while police watch as mute spectators. Our girls cannot walk freely in the north-west area of Pakistan," said a woman.
Two more women, requesting anonymity, told the instances of Hindu girls getting kidnapped was a routine affair in Pakistan and no family dared to lodge a complaint with police against fundamentalists.
Sirsa said he would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and would request him to grant them Indian citizenship.
"4 Hindu-Sikh families have fled Pakistan to save their life and religious faith. I recvd the family members today at the border. We are meeting HM @AmitShah Ji tomo to request him to grant them citizenship at the earliest possible," Sirsa tweeted.