The migrants lauded the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the citizenship bill which they said would put an end to their lives in exile. Hindu refugees at Majnu Ka Tilla were seen celebrating with sweets and gulal, Modi cutouts and Tricolour flags.
BJP MP Vijay Goel celebrates with Hindu refugees from Pakistan at Majnu Ka Tila.
Hindu refugees from Pakistan across the national capital were seen dancing to dhols and celebrating with sweets after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The migrants lauded the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the bill which they said would put an end to their lives in exile. Hindu refugees at Majnu Ka Tilla were seen celebrating with sweets and gulal, Modi cutouts and Tricolour flags.
They said that their children could now study and make their country proud. Talib Kumar, a man who moved to India in 2011 said he didn’t see a future in Pakistan.
“We were forced to convert to Islam. My woman and daughters weren’t safe there. Those were bad times. I don’t want to recall them,” said Talib.
Thanking Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Kumar said he’d never thought he would see this day.
“I moved to India in 2013. We were ill-treated in Pakistan and never felt safe. I was afraid they’d make me change my religion and that’s why we moved. I can’t explain how happy I am, now that we’ll officially be Indian citizens,” said Dimple.
Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel and Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari reached the refugee settlement to add to the people’s celebration.
“The bill will benefit the lakhs of Hindus who have been living as refugees in the country but will in no way, strip the Muslims of their rights in India,” said Goel.
BJP’s Manoj Tiwari accused the Congress of fooling the people in the North East.
“The North East has been given protection which will remain untouched. This bill is to give citizenship to the minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh not to strip anyone of their citizenship,” said Tiwari.
Celebrations were witnessed at Bhati Mines in Sanjay Nagar as well. Hindu refugees enjoyed with sweets and music. 35-year-old Madhukar told India Today TV how his people had suffered without citizenship.
“Without citizenship, even the people here in India used to call us Pakistanis. We couldn’t get jobs and it was very difficult to earn a livelihood,” said Madhukar.
Similar celebratory scenes were seen at Rohini, too where Hindu refugees from Pakistan took to the streets to dance and sing and celebrate the ‘historic’ moment. They were joined by Leader of Opposition in Delhi Vijender Gupta who reached the spot and distributed laddoos among the migrants.