India grants citizenship to 4,300 Hindus, Sikhs from Pakistan, Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: The Indian government has given citizenship to about 4,300 Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Afghanistan in one year, Times of India reported.

The refugees have been granted citizenship on the initiative of Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh following BJP’s policy that India is a “natural home for persecuted Hindus.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in election campaign that Pakistani and Bangladeshi Hindu refugees would be treated like any other Indian citizen.

About 200,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are living in India.