Rewaram Bheel, 90, who migrated to India from Pakistan in 2001, has waited for this for 18 years. On Monday, he will finally vote for the first time in an Indian election after getting Indian citizenship on January 1.
Rewaram, who came from Pakistan’s Tando Sumro, is among the 1,000 Pakistani migrants eligible to vote for the first time in Jodhpur. Polling for 13 of Rajasthan’s 25 Lok Sabha seats, including Jodhpur, will be held Monday. “We came to India on May 18, 2001. Since then, we were waiting for citizenship. On January 1 this year, my parents and wife along with me got the citizenship,” said Rewaram Bheel’s son, Govardhan Bheel.
Govardhan Bheel studied nursing and homoeopathy in Pakistan. He lives in Jodhpur’s Radha Bheel Basti. “We are among the lucky ones who have got Indian citizenship. There are hundreds of others waiting to become Indian citizens,” he said.
In 2016, the Union home ministry gave powers to district magistrates and state home secretaries to grant citizenship to Hindus, who have migrated to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. An official, speaking anonymously, said over 1,000 Pakistani migrants were given Indian citizenship in January of the 3,090 applications Jodhpur district administration received.