Theres a ray of hope for thousands of Pakistani refugees who fled to India over the past few decades. The Centre has removed the main roadblock to their acquiring Indian citizenship and intends to tell the states to reach out to 12,000 eligible Pakistani nationals to complete formalities to
become Indian citizens.
According to home ministry records, these 12,000 Pakistanis most of them Hindus entered India on long-term visas before 2004, 75% of them
having migrated to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The government has waived off the rule requiring them to produce a certificate from the Pakistani government to establish they have surrendered their Pakistani citizenship. This was a major hurdle since this certificate wasnt forthcoming, a ministry official said.
Instead, all they have to do is produce an affidavit to this effect.