Pakistani Hindus in India still awaiting citizenship

August 19, 2012
PH

Jalandhar, August 19: With Hindus who migrated from Pakistan more than a decade ago struggling to get Indian citizenship, they are unable to help Hindus in Pakistan, who want to come to India, due to discriminatory treatment.

"I am getting calls and message from my relatives asking for help in crossing the border and coming to India. However, when we have not been granted citizenship even after 13 years, we are unable to help them," said Ashok Kumar, who migrated to India in 1999 and is settled in the city.

More than 250 families have been awaiting citizenship in Jalandhar.

"We have requested the authorities to grant us Indian citizenship after submitting complete documents, a number of times, but it seems our file is yet to move forward."

Three months ago, residents received a communication from the deputy commissioner asking for resubmission of required documents with personal verification.

"However, we are ready to extend all possible help to Hindus who manage to cross the border into India, as we can understand their plight," Kumar, a supervisor in a sports goods factory, said.

"We applied for Indian citizenship, which has been denied till now.

Ultimately, our passport expired in 2006." Kumar said, adding that the district administration had also sent some letters, some of which instructing them to go back to Pakistan.

When contacted, deputy commissioner, Priyank Bharti, told HT that few months ago, he had received a communication from state's home department, wanting him to conduct verification of migrated Hindus. Accordingly, the list of verified names was sent.

However, later the home department had raised some objections on some names.

"Personal inquiry of some of the applicants is still pending, which will be cleared soon," he said. He added that once the process was complete, the state home department would send the final list to the union home ministry for final approval of granting citizenship.

Kaushlya Devi, 60, another migrant, said that she along with family members took shelter in India, after facing a threat to their lives in Sialkot, Pakistan.

"In Pakistan, fundamentalists were pressuring us to adopt Islam. When we opposed the diktat, we were harassed and mentally tortured," Kaushalya said.

She added that each migrated family had shelled-out Rs. 15,000 on completing the files for wanting citizenship, but nothing had been accomplished.

Hans Raj, 68, said that during his stay in Pakistan, his religion came in the way of his marriage. Finally, he decided to shift to India.


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News Network
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Harried Yes Bank depositors rushed to ATMs to withdraw cash but faced multitude of problems including closed down machines and long queues, after the RBI placed the bank under a moratorium, capping maximum withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month.

Aggravating the problems of depositors were difficulties accessing the internet banking channel, which ensured that they can't transfer the funds online as well. At an ATM in south Mumbai's Horniman Circle, with the RBI headquarters overlooking it, the shutters were pulled down.

The guard on duty said the machine was non-operational before he reported to work late in the evening and he was ordered to shut it after 2200 hrs. In the residential area of suburban Chembur, one ATM was dispensing cash but had a long queue of anxious depositors.

One man said it was still possible to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 in multiple transactions from the machine.

However, another machine nearby had run dry within minutes of the RBI announcement, a woman said.

The regulatory actions, undertaken by the RBI and the government, came hours after finance ministry sources confirmed that SBI was directed to bail out the troubled lender.

For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Lucknow, Jul 21: Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon, a veteran political figure in Uttar Pradesh where he had served as a cabinet minister, died at a hospital here early Tuesday.

The 85-year-old was admitted to the hospital on June 11 with breathing problems, fever and difficulty in urination.

He died at 5:35 am in Medanata Hospital, according to his son Ashutosh Tandon, a UP cabinet minister.

Lalji Tandon is survived by wife and three sons.

His body will be kept at his official residence in Hazratganj and later at his Sindhi Tola residence in Chowk to enable people to pay their last respects.

The last journey will start at 4 in the evening for the Gulala Ghat where his last rites will be performed later in the day, Ashutosh Tandon said in a statement.

The UP government has announced three days mourning as a mark of respect to Lalji Tandon, a former cabinet minister, a government spokesman said.

Belonging to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani era of BJP leaders, Lalji Tandon proved himself as an able administrator during his decades-long political career in Uttar Pradesh.

A former Lok Sabha MP, he was later given gubernatorial responsibility.

He took oath as Madhya Pradesh governor on July 29, 2019, when the Congress was in power in the state, after serving in the same post in Bihar for nearly 11 months. 

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday said that he has never seen innocents like the Indian people, who believe the claims made by the government on the implementation of its programmes. The former Union Minister, addressing a literary event, said, "I have never seen innocents like the Indian people. If something appears on print (and named two newspapers also), we believe it. We believe anything."

Claims like all villages having been electrified in the country and toilets built for 99 per cent of families in India were being believed, he said.

Similar was the case of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or PM-JAY is a flagship health care scheme of the Centre), he alleged.

Stating that his Delhi-based driver's father had to get a surgery done under the scheme, he said, however, it could not be performed.

"I asked him (car driver) if he had the Ayushman card and he showed a card and I told him to take it (to hospital). In hospital after hospital, they said they were not aware of anything like that (Ayushman scheme). But we believe that the Ayushman scheme has come to the whole of India," he said.

Further, he said "we believe that for any disease, treatment will be done (indicating the Ayushman scheme) without shelling out money. We are being innocents."

Many news items and data were contrary to the truth, he added.

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