Bharat Kumar's prolonged struggle to establish a home in India after fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan finally ended after an 11-year wait. He was one of 14 people granted Indian nationality under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Wednesday.
"It is a great feeling to be an Indian. It has given a new life to me," the 24-year-old told PTI minutes after he received the citizenship certificate from Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla at a special function held here.
Kumar said his family came to India to escape religious persecution in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
"When we came here, I was just 13 years old. We had to leave Pakistan as it was difficult to live there under constant fear," he said about the life across the border.
Kumar's family resides in the Majnu Ka Tila area of Delhi and is involved in a small business. He mentioned that five individuals obtained Indian citizenship in his neighbourhood on Wednesday, and over a hundred had applied for it.
"We were told that the rest of the applicants will also get the citizenship in due course," he said, adding that getting Indian citizenship is a "dream come true" for him.
He mentioned that they were thankful to the government for putting an end to the uncertainty and their difficulties.
Seetal Das, who resides in Majnu Ka Tila and makes a living by selling mobile phone covers, stated that his family of 19 also migrated from Sindh, Pakistan in 2013. On Wednesday, three of them were granted citizenship.
"I am very happy. The government has fulfilled our desire. Now I can live a dignified life in India." Asked about the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Kumar said he would miss exercising his franchise this time as the deadline to include his name in the voters' list is already over. "I will definitely vote in the next election as an Indian," he told PTI.
Yoshoda, who, too, came from Sindh in Pakistan and received Indian citizenship on Wednesday, said she can now live a dignified life as an Indian.
Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said that with her Indian nationality, her family's and children's future would be secured now. "My long wait for getting Indian citizenship is over now. I am really happy."
The first set of citizenship certificates under the CAA was issued on Wednesday in New Delhi to 14 people. This comes nearly two months after rules under the contentious law were notified to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from three neighbouring countries.
The Union Home Secretary handed over the certificates to the 14 people after their applications were processed online through a designated portal.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.
After the enactment, the CAA received the president's assent. However, the rules under which Indian citizenship was granted were issued on March 11 this year after over four years of delay.
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