Lal Chand, now 56, still recalls the evening of a Thursday in 2011 when his life changed forever. At around 6 pm, in a busy Kabul market, an armed group of assailants dressed in police uniforms attacked him and four others.
“They made us hostage in a Toyota vehicle in which we were travelling for nearly five minutes in broad daylight and snatched our bag which had nearly Rs 13 lakh in Afghan currency. That day, I decided to move out of Afghanistan and move to India, realising that life is above everything,” he says. Today, Lal Chand lives in Faridabad, Haryana, and works for a private company after immigrating to India permanently in 2013.
He is among 355 people from Pakistan and Afghanistan who have been granted Indian citizenship in Haryana over the past two years. Most are Hindus, with a smaller number of Sikhs. Over 300 migrated from Pakistan, while the remainder came from Afghanistan. Many of these families had arrived in India during the 1990s, while others continued to migrate until 2014.
Their citizenship has now been formalised under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), which amended the Citizenship Act, 1955, to provide a fast‑track pathway for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
After settling in Haryana, many of these families earn their livelihoods by selling fruits and vegetables, while those with greater resources engage in the medicine trade. “Only 20 per cent of the families are resourceful, while the rest are engaged in small‑scale work like rehris of fruits and vegetables and tyre puncture shops,” says an official.
Lal Chand’s family had lived near Kabul for generations. But after the fall of President Mohammad Najibullah’s Soviet‑backed regime in 1992, they faced harassment and insecurity. Lal Chand and his wife migrated to India that same year, where they were blessed with a daughter. In 2007, he returned to Kabul to work for a pharmaceutical firm importing medicines from India. However, the 2011 assault forced him to leave Afghanistan permanently.
“Armed men dressed as police, carrying AK‑47 rifles and pistols, stopped us in the middle of the road after hitting our Toyota car with theirs. They snatched the bag containing Rs 13 lakh in Afghan currency after beating us. It was money belonging to the firm I worked for,” he recalls.
The next day, the firm lodged a complaint, but police denied any link to the attackers. “I don’t think anyone was arrested despite the complaint. After this incident, I decided to move to India,” Lal Chand adds.
The struggle for livelihood
Prem Chand, now 26, also migrated to India in 2011 from a small city in Sindh, Pakistan, when he was just 11. His family was part of a group of nine families, totalling nearly 50 members, who moved together.
“There were no government jobs and amid changing circumstances, we anticipated our future to be bleak. The families that shifted to India took this step to secure a better future,” he explains.
Prem Chand, who had studied up to seventh class in Pakistan, continued his education in India, eventually completing a Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) from a private college. His family first settled in Delhi before moving to Haryana, where they now sell fruits and vegetables on rehris in a mandi.
“Before citizenship, we had to extend our visa every two years and undergo periodic police verification. Now, we have got citizenship, and nothing is bigger for us than this,” he says.
‘Not just a legal status but a lifeline’
Many families who have been granted citizenship prefer not to reveal their identities, fearing difficulties due to their past. One woman, who requests anonymity, says, “The procedure for getting citizenship was very smooth. All formalities were completed in nearly one period, which included my online application and an interview at the post office.”
According to Lalit Jain, IAS, Director for Citizenship in Haryana, applications are filed online and examined by a district‑level committee comprising officials from the postal department, civil administration, and the central government. Final approval is granted after scrutiny at the director’s level and clearance from security agencies.
“The stories of Lal Chand and Prem Chand reflect the larger narrative of persecuted minorities from Afghanistan and Pakistan who have found refuge and stability in India. For them, citizenship under the CAA, 2019, is not just a legal status but a lifeline, freeing them from the uncertainty of visa renewals and giving them a secure future in Indian society,” says an official.
Lal Chand lives in Faridabad and works for a private company after immigrating to India permanently in 2013 (Express photo/special arrangement).
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