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As India implements CAA, 200 Hindu, Sikh families want to return to Afghanistan

Narendra Modi government in New Delhi Monday implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act, popularly known as CAA, even as around 200 Hindu and Sikh families currently staying abroad want to return back to Afghanistan. Read More

Monday March 11, 2024 10:48 PM, ummid.com News Network

New Delhi/Kabul: Narendra Modi government in New Delhi Monday implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act 2029, popularly known as CAA, even as around 200 Hindu and Sikh families currently staying abroad want to return back to Afghanistan.

The amended Citizenship actwas passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019. The government however refrained from implementing it first because of the protest and later due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

The new act amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 to provide a fast-track pathway to Indian citizenship for migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who belong to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian communities and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

The amended CAA faced opposition and widespread protests, especially by Muslim organizations and rights activists, as the government proposed in the law to grant citizenship to foreigners based on their religion, and it includes all but Muslims who called the law discriminatory.

The Narendra Modi government decided to implement the amended CAA weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The government while introducing the law explained to give shelter to the 'persecuted minorities' outside India, totally ignoring the fact that the minorities in India itself are being persecuted.

Interestingly, along with the Modi government’s decision to implement the amended CAA, news reports came that some 200 Hindu and Sikh families currently staying in India and other countries who left Afghanistan after Taliban takeover in 2021 want to return back.

Talking to Tolo News, Manjeet Singh Lamba, the Head of the Sikh and Hindu community in Afghanistan, said around 40 and 50 Sikh and Hindu citizens are living in the country, but close to 200 Sikh and Hindu families are expected to return to the country in the next month.

"Since the Islamic Emirate has recaptured the country, our people are gradually returning. There are some problems with returning to Afghanistan, such as visa issues. Currently, fifty or forty-five people are living in Afghanistan," he told TOLO News.

Surjeet Singh, a resident of Afghanistan, called for the protection of minority rights, especially for Hindus and Sikhs in the country.

"Hindu families who had come before went back to India and are now returning. Their lands have been seized, and we want the Islamic Emirate to return our lands. Although there is now security, we want our security to be further ensured,” Surjeet Singh told TOLO News.

"We are business-minded people and create favorable conditions for business," said Jagmohan Singh, another sikh citizen.

The Taliban regime pledged that the rights of all minorities in the country are protected, and also said that if the lands of Hindu citizens have been seized, they can appeal to judicial and legal institutions.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, emphasized that if the lands of Hindu citizens has been seized, they can appeal to judicial and legal institutions.

"If their rights have been violated, the doors of all courts are open to them, they can file a lawsuit, and the Islamic Emirate supports them. We do not allow the rights of any Afghan citizen to be lost," Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesman said.

"The issue of seizing Hindu lands is being thoroughly and completely investigated. If someone's land has been seized or there is an attempt to seize it, it will be prevented, and the properties will be returned to their rightful owners," said Barkatullah Rasooli, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice.

 

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