Betrayed by India: No Country for Pakistani Hindu Refugees

Bangalore: First they are refused visas, and then shoved into refugee camps for decades, and finally they are denied citizenship. Is there really no country for the Pakistani Hindus?

First Post covered the heart breaking story of Krishan Lal, one of the many 145 Hindus who fled Pakistan on a pilgrimage visa. He says “Hindus are like a fish out of water in Pakistan. They all want to come to India, hoping to put an end to their misery – but it is a different story here altogether,” as reported by First Post. Krishan now lives in a refugee camp in North Delhi, praying and hoping that the Indian government will offer him permanent refuge.

The Hindu minority, under attack in Pakistan, especially from abductions, rapes, and forcible conversion of their women, is desperate to get out. The tiny trickle of refugees has grown swiftly in the last year. Until mid 2011, 8 to 10 families crossed the border and the number has now increased to 400.

However, even this number is artificially low. It is kept down by stringent Indian visa regulations, especially after the 2009 Mumbai attack. Merely one in five visa applications are approved.

Those lucky enough to cross the border are pushed into refugee camps, where they suffer without rights or attention in a ‘no man’s land.’ They are treated as an inconvenience that is best ignored by the Indian government. For instance, Pujari Lal who fled Pakistan in 1999 after his teenage sister was kidnapped and raped, now lives in Khanna, Punjab, in a settlement with 1,200 other Hindu and Sikh refugees.