In Rajkot, 185 displaced individuals from Pakistan were officially granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), with Minister of State for Home Affairs Harsh Sanghvi declaring, “A new life has begun.”
The recipients, mostly Hindus along with some Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists, have been living in Gujarat’s Rajkot, Kutch, and Morbi districts after fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan. The event marked one of the largest distributions of citizenship certificates since the CAA rules were notified earlier this year.
“Keep smiling… from now on, you are citizens of India,” Sanghvi told the crowd, which responded with chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”
The Minister spoke of the trauma many of the applicants had endured, including the loss of family members and homes. “When you hear their stories, you cannot hold back tears. I salute their strength,” he said.
Contrasting India’s “pluralistic values” with what he described as the oppressive treatment of minorities in Pakistan, Sanghvi asked, “Why is there no global outrage over the atrocities on minority Hindus in Pakistan?”
The CAA, passed in 2019 but implemented in March 2025 after rules were notified, grants fast-tracked Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
So far, Gujarat has seen a significant number of such citizenship grants, in contrast to Assam, where only two applicants have reportedly been approved under the CAA.
For the new citizens, the ceremony marked the end of a long struggle.
“I faced a lot of hardships in Pakistan. But today, I proudly call myself Indian,” said Bhavanaben Maheshwari, who now lives in Rajkot.
Champa Khambhala from Morbi echoed her sentiment, saying, “Life in India is far better than in Pakistan, where Hindus can’t even celebrate festivals freely. Many of my family members are still stuck there. I hope they too get this chance someday.”
Government officials assured the new citizens that they would now have full access to welfare schemes, education, and healthcare.
