New Delhi:

These are “new birth certificates”. This is how Dayal Singh, a refugee from Pakistan, described the citizenship certificates issued to him, his son and his daughter.

Mr Singh, 47, who has been living in a shanty in North Delhi’s Majnu-ka-Tilla since 2013 after he migrated from Pakistan with his family, was among the 14 people to be given the certificate under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Wednesday. The law grants Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Singh’s wife Mira, 40, and his other five children are yet to get their certificates but she is happy that a part of the family is now ‘Bharatiya Nagriks’ (Indian citizens).

“Our journey was filled with challenges due to the identity we carried with us. But now we are ‘Bharatiya Nagriks’,” said Mira while talking to PTI in the shanty that is part of a camp for refugees, some of whom stay in tents.

Most are engaged in odd jobs such as selling chips and other packed food items, water bottles and mobile phone covers on the roadside to make ends meet. “My father-in-law used to always say ‘One day we will be called Bharatiyas and that will be the biggest day of our lives’. He died waiting for that day,” Mira said, adding that he will be happy today.

Every migrant family at the camp has endured years of hardship, she said.

“Here, two or three families with 15-20 people live together in cramped conditions with minimal resources. We started getting our children married off quickly to secure their future,” she said.

The citizenship certificates were handed over to Singh, his son Bharat Kumar and daughter Yashoda, and the 11 others by the Union home secretary after their applications were processed online through a designated portal.

It was a day of celebration, Jhula Ram, who migrated from Pakistan’s Sindh province, said.

“We took our first step in India on October 5, 2013. Yesterday, we became citizens of this country. Our family has 18 members, and three of us have received our ‘birth certificates’ (citizenship certificates),” he said.

Reflecting on his life in Sindh, Ram said, “I was young at that time but we used to live in a tense atmosphere. Whenever something happened against them, we used to become targets, and we were threatened.” “Near my house (in Pakistan), there was a temple of Devi Maa, which I still miss as it is one of my only good memories from childhood. I do miss that temple but now I’ll start going to Vaishno Devi (in Jammu),” Ram told PTI.

Ram said, “Our children will be proud and happy with the decision we made. It will eventually make their lives easier.” Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mira said the new identity will secure the future of her family. She has named her youngest daughter, 14, after the late actor Sridevi.

A 58-year-old resident of the camp, who did not want to be identified, said, “We came here in 2015, and as per the CAA, only those who came to India on or before December 31, 2014, will get the CAA’s benefits.” Shantaram said, “Our people are being accepted and will no longer be called refugees. People call us Pakistani refugees but now we will be called Indians. However, my family and I came in 2015.” “I run a shop here and am just making a living. I have 50 members in my family, and we are all in the same situation, not knowing what we will do,” he said The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

After the enactment, the CAA got the president’s assent but the rules under which the Indian citizenship was granted were issued on March 11 this year after over a delay of four years.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the decades-long wait of those who faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan is over.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

North 24 Parganas (West Bengal):

In a blistering attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo came to power on the promise of a government for “Maa, Maati, Manush” but was now catering to “Mullah, Madrasa and Mafia”.

Addressing a rally at Bongaon in the North 24 Parganas on Tuesday, the Union Home Minister said the TMC government provided a monthly honorarium to Imams but not a penny to priests and custodians of temples.

“The TMC came to power on the slogan of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’. However, their focus has now shifted to ‘Mullah, Madrasa, Mafia’. The Imams here are paid an honorarium but the priests and keepers of temples get nothing. While there are no obstacles to Tazias (procession of Muslim mourners on Muharram), there are regular roadblocks to taking out immersion processions on Durga Puja and Kali Puja. Should this be allowed to continue,” Mr Shah said.

He also slammed Mamata Banerjee for spurning the invite to the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya and said, “Despite receiving a formal invitation, she did not attend the inauguration ceremony (at the Ram temple) to appease a certain vote bank. You (people) are not her vote bank, the infiltrators are. She is scared of rubbing her vote bank the wrong way.”

Also accusing the chief minister of spreading falsehoods over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he said she was ‘misleading’ people on the central legislation that is aimed at granting asylum and permanent residency to immigrant minority settlers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“Mamata Banerjee is misleading the people saying the CAA could invite trouble for the people. I want to assure you all that the legislation is not aimed at bringing any harm to anyone. All bonafide citizens can go on leading their lives here with dignity. No power in the world can stop Hindu, Sikh, and Jain refugees from becoming citizens of the country,” he said, alleging that the ruling TMC was trying to turn infiltrators into Indian citizens while coming out in Opposition to the CAA, which is aimed at granting permanent residency to oppressed minorities, including the Matuas who crossed over from Bangladesh.

“I want to remind Mamata Banerjee that the central government, and not state governments, reserves the right to grant citizenship,” he added.

Assuring that the Matua community, which inhabits Bongaon and elsewhere in the North 24 Parganas, would be able to avail rights under the CAA if the BJP comes to power in Bengal, Mr Shah added, “Four phases of polling have been completed. The elections to 380 seats in the Lok Sabha, including 18 in Bengal, are done and dusted. I can tell you today, that of the 380 seats for which polling has already happened, PM Modi has secured absolute majority, winning 270 seats. The battle for us now is to cross 400-plus seats.”

Warning Mamata Banerjee that those involved in ‘scams’ wouldn’t be spared, the Union Home Minister said, “From ‘cut money’ culture to infiltration, from bomb blasts to Bhatija’s (CM’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee) goons harassing people, from ‘Syndicate Raj’ to utter lawlessness, Bengal is staring at a state of complete lawlessness. Only Narendra Modi-Ji can save the state from plunging further into the abyss. Those involved in the chit fund scam, teacher recruitment scam, municipal recruitment scam, ration scam, cow and coal smuggling should be ready to go to jail. No one will be spared.”

Amit Shah was campaigning for BJP candidate Shantanu Thakur, who is pitted against the TMC’s Biswajit Das in his bid to secure a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from Bangaon.

Polling in Bengal is being conducted across all seven phases and the counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

North 24 Parganas (West Bengal:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Trinamool Congress and said that infiltrators are flourishing under the Mamata Banerjee rule and guaranteed to the people of West Bengal that nobody can stop the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state.

Addressing a rally in Barrackpur, PM Modi gave five “guarantees” to the people of West Bengal.

“I want to give five guarantees to the people of Bengal: – Nobody can give reservations based on religion. Reservations for SC, ST, and OBC will not be touched. Nobody can stop you from celebrating Ram Navami. The judgement of the Supreme Court on Ram Mandir will not be quashed. Nobody can stop the implementation of CAA,” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister’s remarks on the Ram Mandir verdict came days after former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had vowed to overturn the Supreme Court’s Ram Mandir verdict if Congress forms the government at the Centre.

PM Modi slammed the Opposition and said that they had made the CAA a “villain” adding that the CAA is to provide citizenship.

“Vote bank politics has presented a law like CAA, which protects humanity, But opposition made it a villain. CAA is a law to give citizenship to the victims, it does not take away anyone’s citizenship. But parties like Congress-TMC painted it with the colour of their lies,” he said.

The Prime Minister alleged that the infiltrators are flourishing under the protection of TMC in the state.

“There was a time when many scientific discoveries were taking place in Bengal, today under the rule of TMC, the home industry of making bombs is running in many places. There was a time when Bengal used to revolt against the infiltrators, but today the infiltrators are flourishing here under the protection of TMC,” he said.

He further hit out at the West Bengal government over the law and order in the state on several religious occasions when violent incidents have been reported, and said that it has become difficult for a common man to follow his faith in Bengal.

PM Modi continued his attack on the state government and highlighted the Sandeshkhali incident saying that goons of TMC are threatening the women of Sandeshkhali.

“Goons of TMC are threatening the women of Sandeshkhali only because the culprit’s name is Shahjahan Sheikh. They are trying their best to save and protect him from legal action. Don’t be afraid of TMC. You must give your full mandate to our candidate; each vote will reach me. Viksit Bengal is crucial for Viksit Bharat,” he said.

Mentioning the West Bengal teacher’s recruitment case, PM Modi said that the money that TMC extorted from the people would be lawfully given back to the people.

“Modi will not let the corrupt leaders sit peacefully. They will be reprimanded! No corrupt leader will be spared. The money that TMC extorted from you will be lawfully given back to you,” he said.

Voting will take place for eight Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal in the fourth phase of voting to be held on May 13. The constituencies are Baharampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Bardhaman Purba, Burdwan-Durgapur, Asansol, Bolpur and Birbhum.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC won 34 seats in the state, while the BJP had to settle for 2 seats. The CPI (M) won 2 seats, while the Congress bagged 4.

However, the BJP came up with a much-improved showing in the 2019 polls, winning 18 seats against the TMC’s 22. The Congress’s tally dropped to just 2 seats, while the Left scored a blank.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)