Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The dream of getting Indian citizenship to scores of Sindhi families, who came to Madhya Pradesh from Pakistan, remains a much cherished dream.
When Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was rolled out in 2019, they hoped that things would be easier for them but their struggle to get citizenship continues. Former Principal Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Assembly and ex President of Sindhi Community, Bhagvan Dev Israni said that cases of citizenship are pending with the Home Department over the years and it is unfortunate.
He alleged that most of Sindhi’s are not educated enough and despite this, no camps have been organised to facilitate Sindhi community people in getting Indian citizenship in a hassle-free manner. Nanikram Madhwani is a 65-year-old person who settled in Basoda of Vidisha district in 1990 after coming from Baluchistan province of Pakistan. Since the last 35 years, his wait for citizenship continues.
‘In Pakistan, it was not sure that one who has gone out of home will return safely or not. Hence in 1990, my family including wife and two children came to India and got settled in Basoda town of Madhya Pradesh. Since then my struggle to get Indian citizenship is continuing. However, two brothers of mine have succeeded to get citizenship,’ he said.
He added that documentation process continues to haunt his dream of getting citizenship. In every two years, he has to give affidavit at SP office about him and his family members. Avinash Kukreja (31) and his family used to live in Pakistan’s Sindh province.
His half family members came to Madhya Pradesh in 1992 and the remaining half in 2000. It was in 2016 that his family members applied for citizenship for the first time. Since then, their cases are pending. ‘We even applied under CAA but to no avail,’ he asserted. He added that buck is resting at the table of senior officers and they don’t tell us why the cases are pending. Avinash runs a shop at Narmadapuram.
113 cases pending in 13 districts
Government had replied in the recently concluded assembly session that 113 cases of citizenship are pending since 1997 till 2018 (excluding Bhopal and Indore districts). Citizenship cases are pending in 13 districts including Dewas (7), Rewa (3), Hoshangabad (7), Gwalior (21), Mandsaur (6), Satna (10), Datia (7), Ujjain (2), Katni (10), Burhanpur (1), Vidisha (6), Jabalpur (1) and Balaghat (24).
