G S Paul, Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 25. Niranjeet Kaur and her schoolmate Satya have completed plus two from a local school but are clueless about their future prospects because they have been summoned again to their native town of Peshawar in Pakistan for visa formalities before seeking admission in a college.
Their elders, who have been on petty jobs for over a decade here, would have to accompany them them back to Peshawar to furnish documents to seek extension for their stay in India.
Today, 20 such Pakistani Sikh families, on an initiative taken by Surinder Kumar Billa, president, All-India Hindu Shiv Sena, assembled at the Durgiana Temple complex, urging the Indian Government to grant them Indian citizenship on the plea that they had been living here for over 15 years now.
As Pakistani nationals, they have to go back to Pakistan once every five years to get their passports renewed and every second year to the New Delhi Embassy for their stay permit. “We are scared. Whenever we go back to Pakistan, we are subjected to humiliation by the Pakistani officials. Moreover, life over there is hell, especially for girls. The education scenario is very bad. We demand that the Indian Government grant us citizenship”, said 18-year-old Niranjeet, who came here when she was three.
