Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday announced that Indian citizenship will be provided to the people belonging to the minority communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, who have immigrated before December 14.
Speaking at the Distribution of Nationality Certificate to Sindhi Citizens’ event in Lucknow, Rajnath Singh said, “I had earlier said people who have come to India from Pakistan and Afghanistan before December 14 due to religious persecution will be given Indian citizenship.”
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in July 2016, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to give citizenship by naturalisation to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Afghan Hindus and Sikhs 