Over 1,000 Pakistani Hindus don’t return from India

CHANDIGARH: Over 1,000 Pakistani Hindus who entered India in the last two months after the enactment of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) have not returned to Pakistan on the expiry of their visas, foreign media reported.

Many in the recent influx of Hindus from Pakistan to India through the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab may have set their sights on availing the benefits of the new legislation.

In January this year alone, nearly 900 out of the about 1,200 Pakistani Hindus who visited India did not return to Pakistan.

In December last year, some 220 Pakistani Hindus of about 850 who entered India did not return to Pakistan on the expiry of visas. This was also seen in November in the run-up to the passing of the new law.

As per the CAA law, migrants of six non-Muslim communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian — who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 will be given Indian citizenship. The law sparked countrywide protests and violence at some places in which approximately 25 people were killed.