Still waiting to become Indian citizens, refugee Sikh and Hindu families from Afghanistan and Pakistan are just political bystanders in the Punjab poll process. Several such families reside in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and even Delhi. Many among them who spoke to The Indian Express said they were tired of making appeals to political parties to give them citizenship.

“Don’t talk about it. There is no use of making any demand. We are tired now,” said Ajitpal Singh, owner of Khalsa Tyre at Jahajhgarh market when asked if the Afghan refugees had any hope from the political parties to get them citizenship.

“Political parties don’t do anything for their voters. We don’t even have votes,” he said.

The families living in Amritsar said they were at the mercy of intelligence agencies and other authorities, who ask them to get their refugee status renewed every year. And then there is the constant fear of being asked to leave, apart from limited legal rights as compared to Indian citizens.

The BJP-led Union government had passed CAA in December 2019, however, Congress government in Punjab had passed resolution against Citizenship Amendment Act in January 2020.

As CM, Capt Amarinder Singh had vowed to fight tooth and nail against the CAA. After forming a new party and entering into an alliance with the BJP, he hasn’t spoken on the issue.

After passing of CAA, local BJP unit had mobalised Hindu and Sikh families migrated from the Afghanistan and Pakistan and arranged their meeting with then Amritsar DC Shiv Dular Singh in 2020.

Families had requested DC to give them benefit of new law as soon as possible. However, nothing has happened yet for these families.

Another refugee Surjit Singh said, “There are around seven Afghan families in Amritsar and 25 Pakistan Sikh families. We all had applied under the old provision in law to get citizenship. But that was like an impossible law. Under old law, we were able to apply for citizenship only after 11 years of living as refugees. Then there was long process to apply for citizenship. I don’t know anyone who got citizenship under old law though they were eligible. We all are eligible under the new law.”

It is interesting that despite running campaign to justify CAA, the state BJP has not made any effort to bring the benefits of law to those who actually faced religious prosecution.

On why Hindus and Sikh refugees in Punjab and Delhi have failed to get any benefit of CAA so far, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “Rules are being framed under the law and these families will get citizenship as soon as rules are framed.”