Children of Afghan Sikh refugees taking lessons at a coaching centre in Delhi on Thursday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar http://blogs.thehindu.com/delhi/?p=24059NEW DELHI: Seventeen years after he fled Afghanistan and landed in New Delhi, Hadit Singh is trying to make a fresh beginning as an Indian citizen. With his family of four he is among the thousands of Afghan Sikhs (as they are colloquially known) who want India to accept them as citizens and start life anew.
The fear of death behind them and among their “own people” these Afghan Hindus and Sikhs say though they feel at home in the country, their wait for the official document to pronounce them Indian nationals has been rather long. “We applied for citizenship in 2003, while my children and I have been granted citizenship recently, my wife is still awaiting hers. It sort of leaves the family divided,” said the Mahavir Nagar resident.
There are hundreds of families like Singh’s. Citizenship has been granted to a few but the others are left to make annual trip to get their permission to stay renewed. “Sikh refugees from Afghanistan who have come to India are granted a stay visa, which needs to be renewed every year,” said Narinder Singh who is also waiting grant of citizenship.
Gainful employment
India is home to 8,400 Afghan refugees of whom 7,560 are Hindu and Sikhs refugees. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees about 4,000 of the Hindu and Sikh refugees have shown interest in applying for Indian citizenship and as on date more than 510 are now Indian nationals.
In the absence of citizenship, these refugees find it hard to land gainful employment. “We cannot do business unless we have documents to prove we are Indian nationals. We can only do private jobs. For some families who are poor and do not have jobs, the gurdwaras offer ration,” said Daya Singh, who came to Indian from Jalalabad in 1992 and was recently granted citizenship.
Getting children admitted to school in the absence of any relevant documents is equally daunting. “Children who were born here have an advantage over those who were born in Afghanistan,” he said.
The community is very keen to ensure that the youngsters are part of mainstream education and are given vocational training as well. “Back in Afghanistan we could not send our girls to school, they could not pursue higher education. But here we want to make sure that none of our children remain uneducated. The Khalsa Diwan, a non-government organisation, has been helping Afghan Sikh students get admission in schools, pay their fees and also offer free tuitions and vocational training,” said Daya Singh.
Even as they talk of how well the children blend with their Indian counterparts and how the families struggle to keep the kitchen fires burning, the one complaint that keeps raising its head is the time consuming process of being granted citizenship.
“We have no idea where our files are wedged. We have filed the papers with all the relevant documents attached, provided the required information, and yet there is no word on the status of our application,” complained Narender Singh.
