50 Pakistani Hindu families arrive on religious pilgrimage, want to settle down in India

A group of 50 Hindu families from Pakistan arrived in India on Monday via the Wagah-Attari border to visit the holy city of Haridwar.

Many of these travellers who have arrived on a 25-day tourist visa told ANI they wish to settle in India, and slammed Pakistan for its treatment of minorities.

"After taking a holy dip in Haridwar, I will think about my future. However, I want to stay in India," said Laxman Das, a Pakistani Hindu.

The visit has come at a time when widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are raging across the country. The legislation grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

One Pakistani Hindu woman said that their family has carried all their belongings along and requested the Indian government to grant them citizenship under the CAA.