The Hindus in Pakistan have refused to accept India’s offer of citizenship under the recently-passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019.
The Pakistani minorities including Hindus said they are not interested in taking refuge in India and refused to accepted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘humanitarian’ gesture.
It may be mentioned that the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019 was passed by the Indian Parliament last week and it became an Act after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bill on December 12.
The new Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have migrated to India after facing persecution on grounds of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they fulfil conditions for grant of citizenship.
Also read: CAB becomes Act, gets President Kovind’s assent
The Pakistani minority people have condemned the new Act, which discriminates against Muslims.
A media report quoted Dileep Kumar, a Dubai-based Pakistani Hindu, as saying: “The law from India is totally against [the] spiritual norms of humanity and Sanatana dharma.”
Sanatana dharma is a term that is used in Hinduism to denote the set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste or sect.
Also read: SC refuses stay on CAA
Massive protests continue against the new Act in various parts of India, mainly Assam and even abroad.
A media report quoted Raja Asar Manglani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, as saying: “This is a unanimous message from Pakistan’s entire Hindu community to Indian Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. A true Hindu will never support this legislation.”
Manglani also said the new citizenship law has violated India’s Constitution.
The Sikh community of Pakistan has also denounced the new law.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a series of tweets on Monday said: “The Modi government continues to curb and undermine the rights of minorities in accordance with Hindutva supremacist ideology.”
On Tuesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said a big refugee crisis is looming in South Asia following the passage of the CAB by the Narendra Modi-led Indian government.
Pakistan’s three Hindu lawmakers also slammed the CAA on Friday saying that the NDA government should not “drag” the Hindu minorities across the border into controversy for its political mileage.
A media report quoted Sachanand Lakhwani, a member of the provincial assembly of Sindh, as saying that by dragging Pakistan’s Hindus into the issue, India has interfered in their internal matters.
A member of the national assembly from Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf, Lal Chand Malhi reportedly said Amit Shah is projecting that the CAA is the only lifeline for minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and that Hindus are a proud minority in Pakistan to make their country better.