Shipping Min Mandaviya hands over citizenship certificates to 7 Pak refugees

Union minister M L Mandaviya on Friday said he has handed over citizenship certificates to seven Pakistani refugees in Kutch, Gujarat.

Shipping Minister Mandaviya met the Pakistani refugees, who have taken shelter in Gujarat's Morbi and Kutch districts, on Friday.

"Citizenship Amendment Act will extend an opportunity of leading a dignified life in India, to the minorities facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Mandaviya told PTI over phone.

The government notified the Citizenship Amendment law on December 13 after the Act passed by Parliament received the President's assent. The law has sparked protests in various parts of the country.

The law seeks to grant citizenship to Hindu, Parsi, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian migrants who have fled persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and arrived in the country on or before December 31, 2014.

Mandaviya said Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is making all efforts to provide relief to these minorities who have been victims of the religious persecution.

An official accompanying him said there was celebratory mood among the refugees in the area.

"People coming from different walks of life greeted each other by distributing sweets, bursting crackers and putting colours on each other. While welcoming this Act, their faces were full of happiness and satisfaction," the official said adding the refugees welcoming the decision saying it was like restoring trust and faith in humanity.

"A new hope has been instilled among the people who have been leading a destitute life full of insults," the Minister said.