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NEW DELHI: As a first step to granting Indian nationality to some 200,000 refugees from neighbouring countries, the BJP-led government has given citizenship to around 4,300 Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Afghanistan in one year, according to sources.
During the entire tenure of the previous government, the figure stood at 1,023. The refugees have been given citizenship on the initiative of Home Minister Rajnath Singh following BJP’s declared policy that India is a “natural home for persecuted Hindus” who will be welcome to seek refuge.
During his election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Pakistani and Bangladeshi Hindu refugees would be treated like any other Indian citizen.
Also read: 5,000 Hindus migrating to India every year, NA told
There are around 200,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan currently living in India.
Since the Modi government assumed charge in May 2014, nearly 19,000 refugees have been given long-term visas in Madhya Pradesh. Around 11,000 long-term visas were given in Rajasthan and another 4,000 in Gujarat, official sources said.
In April, the home ministry had unveiled an online system for submission of applications for long-term visas.
The decision has been taken to address the hardship being faced by the refugees who come to India with the intention to settle permanently.
There are about 400 settlements for refugees from Pakistan in cities like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jaipur. Hindu refugees from Bangladesh mostly live in West Bengal and northeastern states. Sikh refugees mostly live in Punjab, Delhi and Chandigarh.
By arrangement with the Times of India
Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2015
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Jun 15, 2015 06:44am
Well, not sure whether we should cry or smile for them. Irrespective, let us wish them the best.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:57am
Good move, its about time... welcome to India!
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Jun 15, 2015 07:01am
OMG! This is definitely bad a PR for Af-Pak. We should now consider giving asylum or nationality to Rohingya and Bangaladeshi stranded Bihari.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:11am
If India had not been tolerant, it wouldn't have the second largest Muslim population in the world.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:11am
I am glad Modi government is doing this. Hindus and Sikh has no other home but India, Muslims have 10-20 countries to call home.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:12am
No comments .................
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Jun 15, 2015 07:17am
Welcome to home...
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Jun 15, 2015 07:19am
Welcome to peaceful world
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Jun 15, 2015 07:22am
May be this will be an initiative for Pakistan to bring in 1000s of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh
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Jun 15, 2015 07:24am
This is indeed sad. There are 100s or 1000s questions cannot be answered why these innocent civilians lost their right to live in their countries belongs to. World cannot have double standards, religious intolerance causing lot of injustice and unbalance in the world. I hope people who encourage majority advantage and kick the minority religion out should think their religion also minority in some other country and how do they feel if they are kicked out by majority.
Religious harmony is like a tree. A tree needs, soil, root, trunks, branches and leaves to get the fruits. Cutting off some part of the tree will not bring full fruits. That's what happening in Syria and in Iraq, it will spread every part of the world, the fastest growing religion will fall from sectarian violence.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:25am
India is a natural home to all the persecuted refugees belonging to all the indigenous religions of India - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. India will also welcome persecuted Zorastrians, since they have no other homeland, but India.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:25am
This does not say much about our tolerance levels in Pakistan, but we in turn expect so much tolerance from their countries.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:26am
Welcome home
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Jun 15, 2015 07:29am
@Blue Saffron People who disagree with the choice made by their ancestors should be allowed to migrate I guess.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:34am
and the saga continues... sad but inevitable...
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Jun 15, 2015 07:45am
@Sandhu NO
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Jun 15, 2015 07:51am
Well done India but life not going to be easy for them here also.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:51am
Waiting for the day when petty politics will not stop people from both countries irrespective of religion to be able to cross border for business and tourism freely. Long live Indo-Pak friendship!
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Jun 15, 2015 07:51am
@Sandhu No.. not so fast
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Jun 15, 2015 08:15am
Sandhu - Muslims have over 45 countries of OIC which can give them citizenship and help them. Hindus and Sikhs have only India. There are a lot of poor people in India but we can share what little we have with our Hindu and Sikh brothers.
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Jun 15, 2015 08:27am
@Sandhu nope
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Jun 15, 2015 08:50am
@Arun Absolutely right
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Jun 15, 2015 09:10am
@Sandhu
20million Muslims came from Bangladesh are living in every city of India, last Months they got all the rights "Aadhaar Card" Also. once in Assam the population of muslims was less than 5% now it is approx 33%.
Rohnigya Mislims approx 10,000 Living in India peacefully.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:12am
These counties should also give their citizen ship to Indian muslim in Kashmir who does not want to live in India.becaus Indias infrrastructor is not improving at the pace as its population is increasing.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:14am
How many muslims from India take refuge in Pakistan.... ZERO. Still criticize India??
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Jun 15, 2015 09:15am
It is indeed a shame that we have not been able to protect our minorities. However minorities in India also do not fare well. It's a fact
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Jun 15, 2015 09:16am
Hope this new home works out better.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:22am
very good india. We cannot take care of our minorities. Thanks again.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:24am
@Arun As a Muslim, a very depressing situation for me personally where people living in their ancestral homes for Centuries are forced to leave obviously because of religious intolerance, who are of the same blood etc. This is all because of sad aftermath of partioning of India, based on religion and creation of Pakistan and those intolerant Muslims calling themselves as such should be ashamed of this fact.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:25am
@Kumar No Modi government is not doing thing as we want our Hindus and Sikhs at home not in India.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:27am
The Indian Home Minister in May 2015 announce in press conference to remove difficulties in this matters and extend this facilities plus long term visa to other minorities in Pakistan. The new policy may be declare very soon.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:35am
Majority of Hindus living in Pakistan originate from Provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh. Two regions where Indians are actively involved to stir chaos and unrest. And this news of rewarding it's James Bonds with the apple pie only validates our case against India
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Jun 15, 2015 09:36am
@Simran Kaur you have forgotten the Jews. India is the only country in the world which accepted the Jew immigrants with open arms. Not only they settled down and lived happily for several centuries, they assimilated in Indian mainstream voluntarily. In my native Maharashtra they adopted Marathi surnames while retaining their Jew first names. After the formation of Israel many migrated to the new country to seek greener pastures but they continue to retain their Marathi/Jewish identity with pride. this speaks for our tolerance for immigrants.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:40am
@Arun That is a compulsion on India, otherwise India leaves no stone unturned especially under BJP rule to keep muslims agitated.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:44am
How are these Sikhs and Hindus different from Rohingyas in terms of suffering they underwent ? While Pakistan has time and money for Rohingyas, it has nothing to offer to its own people, who finally uprooted themselves from their ancestral lands to land in an unknown cities in India.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:44am
India is a “natural home for persecuted Hindus”----------- not muslims? Secular eh?
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Jun 15, 2015 09:45am
Pakistan, Do not allow them back even if they want to. Let them face the music in India
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Jun 15, 2015 09:45am
Very soon Indian Hindu will start massacring Sikh's in India.
Remember Sikh brothers, Pakistan is with you and will provide all assistance.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:47am
@Sandhu but why.. Hindustan already given saperate land for Muslims, Pak & BD. we have already muslim brothers & sisters in India worlds 2nd Largest population.
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Jun 15, 2015 09:59am
It is not that India is a natural home for Hindus, it is that these Pakistani Hindus were alienated in their own homeland, embarrassed to say my own homeland.
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Jun 15, 2015 10:22am
great job done! thanks to our PM modi!
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Jun 15, 2015 10:33am
CANADIANS are helping every citizen of the world who has trouble at home land. Now it is essential to help SIKHS.
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Jun 15, 2015 10:36am
@Sandhu Yes but you have to get visa approval for atleast 10 years to get a Indian Citizenship.
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Jun 15, 2015 10:39am
Good work by Indian government...
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Jun 15, 2015 10:40am
Good riddance
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Jun 15, 2015 10:40am
Displays the Pakistani attitude towards minorities.
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Jun 15, 2015 10:42am
@sandhu....there are millions of Bangladeshi Muslim refugees living in India
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Jun 15, 2015 10:43am
India is the only country in the world where Hindus, Muslim, Sikhs, Christians and others live under one roof with peace and harmony. There is no discrimination against any religion including Islam which is taught in schools as the 'religion of peace' and rightly so as Muslims of all sects live peacefully in India. We welcome our Hindus and Sikhs brothers from Pakistan and Afghanistan in India and all should be given Indian citizenship on priority along with monetary help.
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Jun 15, 2015 10:48am
This is a great step... Welcome Home
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Jun 15, 2015 10:54am
I think both the countries should again give option to its people to choose which side they wish to live
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Jun 15, 2015 10:57am
I lived in Mumbai and I have lots of muslim friends who's family moved from Pakistan during partition. Trust me lots of them had everything that I kind of wished to have as an child
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Jun 15, 2015 11:11am
India is indirectly claiming Pakistan and Afghanistan were part of India once and can reclaim these lands at any time and nobody should object to it.
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Jun 15, 2015 12:10pm
What's so surprising about this ? Millions of indians and pakistanis moved from their native land and got the nationality of western countries for securing their future,and this process is still on. They do so because they know that while living in india/Pakistan they can not get what they wish to have in life. Simple!
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Jun 15, 2015 12:26pm
Sad for me as they leave my country and as we see Muslim countries as a whole become volatile and difficult to predict future, good move....
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Jun 15, 2015 01:57pm
This adds to the number of millions of hungry mouths in India
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Jun 15, 2015 02:40pm
According to the estimates based on 1998 census, there are 4.5 million Hindus and Sikh living as bonafide citizen of Pakistan.
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Jun 15, 2015 02:41pm
@Najma Hisham Yours is the best comment I have read on here for a long time. Requires someone really brave to admit the truth. Hats off to you.
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Jun 15, 2015 03:07pm
Life might not be easy ,yes, but it would be life with full freedom and without fear .
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Jun 15, 2015 03:08pm
@Jason - Best comment of them all.
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Jun 15, 2015 03:11pm
While I wish them all the best, it is a very sad reflection on us. Just shows how low we have fallen. Our society will be worse off without this religious diversity, only time will tell.
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Jun 15, 2015 04:15pm
Good for Modi
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Jun 15, 2015 04:22pm
@Faraz Still minorities in India prefer India to Pakistan. They are free and safe.
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Jun 15, 2015 04:26pm
God bless!
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Jun 15, 2015 04:51pm
@AIB
You are correct.There are many Kashmiris who consider they are not citizens of India.They should like Hindus are doing migrate to Islamic nations to live amongst their brothern
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Jun 15, 2015 04:52pm
@Sajjad Khan
This only prove that Partition was a correct decision and if not there would be more riots and blood shed.
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Jun 15, 2015 04:55pm
@Ahmed
No,they have other homes and co relgionists who can accommodate them
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Jun 15, 2015 05:00pm
In India we are living in the midst of crowd, but still there is place in our hearts and our land - so welcome.
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Jun 15, 2015 05:02pm
Great ... India is a so called secular country and they can live there happily , as they are Hindus...Indian Govt is more secular with Hindus , if you all know, what i mean by that.
As long as Pakistan is concerned, we are good and we never claimed to be secular.
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Jun 15, 2015 05:08pm
@Beena Siddiqui only if you say you are good. Your minorities are running away from your country and you call your country good?
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Jun 15, 2015 05:20pm
@Sajjad Khan Dear Sajjad, your line that people from their ancestral home have to move away is very touching. What have we all done??? without mercy without humanity forced human beings to migrate. What are we????
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Jun 15, 2015 05:24pm
It hurts me to observe, so many Hindus would migrate to India due to the prevailing conditions in Pakistan which are forcing them to migrate. It is a sad era for Pakistan, indeed where the minorities are living in fear and trying to leave their birth place, not by choice!
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Jun 15, 2015 05:24pm
1000 here and there is nothing compared to millions we accepted from Afghanistan
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Jun 15, 2015 05:43pm
@Jamil
"May be this will be an initiative for Pakistan to bring in 1000s of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh"
Fat chance of that happening. Pakistan was created for Indian Muslims, yet Pakistan slammed the door shut on those migrating to Pakistan in 1951.
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Jun 15, 2015 05:48pm
@ray rahman Ray, no one leave place of their ancestors, leaving everything behind, that easy. It's tragedy for anyone, hindus, muslim...any human....
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Jun 15, 2015 05:54pm
Just before partition Hindu+Sikh population of West Pakistan was about 25%, today it is close to 1%, a loss of 24%.
For comparison muslim population in what is now India was around 9%, today it is about 15%. Gaining in percentage against a population 10 times bigger should give you an idea how much muslim population has increased in India.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:08pm
Lets find out how many Muslims in India want to migrate to Pakistan and how many Hindus from Pakistan want to migrate to India. The result will indicate the level of tolerance and health of the country.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:18pm
@Faraz - Minorities in India fare much better in India than the minorities in India. That is why minorities are disappearing from Pakistan; however, they are growing in India. Pakistan has facilitated extremism and this is the result. Its a shame that this is happening; however, there is no public outcry to stop it minorities from leaving Pakistan.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:41pm
This is an indictment on Pakistan's treatment of it's indigenous population. Shame on it's ruling elite and intolerance!
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Jun 15, 2015 06:48pm
It is disappointing. Few families separated 68 years ago. India and Pakistan need to give opportunities to their citizens if they want to change their nationality, irrespective of their religion.
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Jun 15, 2015 06:57pm
@Ahmed India is host to Bangladeshi muslims and also rohingya as well.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:06pm
The number of Sikhs getting Canadian citizenship and moving away from India for a number of reasons runs into tens of thousands. Have seen a large number of Sikh community in Toronto, Canada.
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Jun 15, 2015 07:41pm
@Jamil : "May be this will be an initiative for Pakistan to bring in 1000s of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh". All Muslims seek Asylum in NON-MUSLIM COUNTRIES
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Jun 15, 2015 07:54pm
We have not granted visas to 600,00 Pakistanis ( E. Pakistani ) and financial help to come to Pakistan. They have been living a sub- standard life in Bangladesh since the creation on BD.
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Jun 15, 2015 08:08pm
@N.S - Sikhs move to Canada as they have family there. They move to the US or Canada or England or the same reason Pakistanis and Indians do...opportunity! Go to India and see how Sikhs are respected. In cities outside of Punjab, most visitors to Gurudwaras are Hindus. That is the respect shown to them.
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Jun 15, 2015 08:19pm
Pakistan and Afghanistan does not knows what they are loosing when it comes to Sikh community, I m not a Sikh but I have never seen a Sikh with a begging bowl, they would do jobs, mostly business that adds to that country's economy. A proud hard working community that any country would not want to go.
...unless its religious blindness that does not see beyond ..
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Jun 16, 2015 03:22am
It is a very sad news. Our citizens should not leave the Pakistan because of injustice of Nawaz. They should be provided with all kinds of free treatment.
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Jun 16, 2015 04:59am
@Kumar : 53 official Islamic Republics,Kingdoms, at last count, and some Muslim-majority countries.
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Jun 16, 2015 06:16am
@HZR You are correct. Partition was very good decision but implemented in clumsy manner. There are still millions of Muslims living in this part of Attari and many Hindus and Sikhs stuck past Wagha. leaders of the both countries should sit down and negotiate peaceful way of transferring population from both sides.
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Jun 16, 2015 08:29am
India is the natural home for these people
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Jun 16, 2015 08:48am
Sad to see them go. They are our people (irrespective of what religion they follow religion).
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Jun 16, 2015 11:57am
Even more are getting nationalities from Canada and Australia. Why is it always an issue when comes down to India?
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Jun 16, 2015 01:54pm
The real tragedy is that despite knowing the persecution by religious bigots, openly supported by governments in Pakistan & Afghanistan, it is taking so much time to grant citizenship. It is sad that only 2% of the refugees have been granted citizenship.
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Jun 16, 2015 02:40pm
@someone
We accepted millions of Muslims from Bangladesh...
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Jun 16, 2015 04:37pm
@Prasun anand Including muslims who believe in humanity and co-existance. All are welcome.
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Jun 16, 2015 04:52pm
@SUNIL India have lot of empty fertile places. Every new generation villager want to move to cities that is also a problem of India because they get job opportunities, good schools, colleges, hospitals, supermarkets, transport facilities.
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Jun 16, 2015 11:41pm
@Ahmed Actually Saudi Arab is for Muslims. How many of Non Arab muslims can ever dream to have that citizenship, eh.
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