Bhagchand Bheel, a Pakistani Hindu immigrant to India from Karachi in 2014 who currently resides in Jodhpur while waiting for Indian citizenship stated Firstpost how 35,000 migrants, including himself, had been living in appalling.

Speaking about the tweet made by Cabinet minister Hardeep Singh Puri, he said ““I was shocked out of my senses when I came to know about this. I can’t believe this. This is just like feeding a snake with milk, while kicking about those who look up to India as their home and who celebrate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. If we read the kalma, will Centre give us Indian citizenship and houses to live in? Now, people from Pakistan taunt us: ‘you went there to find a home, but you live in tents and camps’. We have no answer and on top of that the Indian government does this to us,”.

Jay Aahuja who is the co-founder of non-profit ‘Nimittekam’ that has been devoted to rehabilitating Hindu and Sikh families from Pakistan in India expressed his sadness. He told Firstpost “If the Hindu refugees from Pakistan, who have been languishing across several cities in India, convert to Islam, will Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri provide them with houses?”

Jay Aahuja further said “I am unable to believe this. So Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh live like dogs in Jodhpur, Jaipur and Delhi, and this government is providing houses to Rohingya Muslims. IF we convert these Hindus to Islam, will you (Hardeep Singh Puri) provide them shelter too?”

Banna Ram who is another Hindu migrant from Pakistan stated Firstpost his grief about the miserable condition in which they survive. He said “I don’t even get enough to eat and these Rohingya Muslims are getting houses and security and all facilities. Why? I feel cheated. Most of the thousands of Pakistani Hindu migrants in Jaisalmer are fighting to barely survive,” Ram said, adding that the only form of employment available is with mines and agricultural farms as labourers. “I broke my back since I was made to lift a stone heavier than I could. Since then I have been in bed. I just pass by one day at a time. Don’t I deserve something from the Indian government?”

In the meantime, “Nimittekam” fights to secure employment for these refugees wherever possible.The non-profit organisation assisted 10,000 Pakistani Hindu and Sikh refugees in migrating to India, and has been successful in obtaining citizenship for 3,000 of these immigrants.

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