They came in 2008, still wait for nationality

Some people who left their prosperous lives in Pakistan and crossed over to India in 2008 for a safe life have no choice but to sell vegetables and wait for Indian nationality. Aseem Bassi reports

Some people who left their prosperous lives in Pakistan and crossed over to India in 2008 for a safe life have no choice but to sell vegetables and wait for Indian nationality.

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In Amritsar's Khandwala area, there are a few vendors who moved from Pakistan to India to save their religion.

Channi Ram, a vegetable vendor, said, "I came to India with my brothers and parents in 2008 from the North West Frontier area. We just came because we were in a minority there and wanted to save ourselves from the pressures there."

"I had a business of medicines and earned about Rs. 1,500 daily but here I earn Rs. 150-Rs. 200 a day. We have no identity and feel that only Indian nationality can give us that," he added.