Around 500 Hindu refugees from Pakistan living in Gujarat gathered in Mehsana on Tuesday to celebrate the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
These refugees, awaiting Indian citizenship, currently reside in the state's Mehsana, Ahmedabad and Banaskantha districts, said BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jugalji Thakor, at whose farm house they gathered to praise the Narendra Modi government for passing the legislation.
"Around 500 Hindu refugees from Pakistan, living in different parts of Gujarat, gathered here because they wanted to express happiness over CAA as they will soon be granted citizenship," Thakor told reporters.
They were persecuted and tortured in Pakistan and, hence, fled to India, he added.
"They were worried for a long time about getting Indian citizenship. People who talk about human rights do not talk about Hindus, Buddhists, Jains. It is the Narendra Modi government which has made this (CAA) possible," he claimed.
The amended Act provides for granting citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.