“We feel like Indians today…,” says 30-year-old Radhe Krishna Advani, a Pakistani Hindu immigrant who voted for the first time in Delhi on Wednesday after obtaining Indian citizenship.
Radhe came to India in 2013 with his mother, father, wife, and two children. He and thousands of such immigrants have been living in two camps in Majnu Ka Tila and Adarsh Nagar. Like many other Pakistani Hindu immigrants from the area, who are daily wagers, he works at a mobile repair shop.
Voting for the first time made him feel that he belonged to India, especially Delhi. “I never voted in Pakistan and once we came to Delhi… we felt at home. Today, we feel that we really belong here,” he shares.
On Wednesday, more than 150 Pakistani immigrants from Majnu Ka Tila voted in the Delhi Assembly elections after receiving Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act last year. The process to grant citizenship to such persecuted immigrants began last year in May with 14 persons.
Radhe credits BJP workers for ensuring he and his family got their voter IDs. While Radhe and his father, Mahadev Advani, received the voter ID cards, the women of the house could not as their certificates were submitted late. “We got our citizenship six months ago and 1.5 months back, we received our voter ID cards,” he says. Now Radhe wishes that the next government looks into the issues of the people living in both these camps.
“In our area, we have a private company (Tata Power) supplying electricity which is very expensive. We hope the government provides us subsidised electricity just like the other areas in Delhi,” he says.
He says every now and then the residents of the area get notice of vacating the area which makes them feel very vulnerable.
“Kejriwal ko hamne dekh liya… we want BJP in power (We have seen enough of Arvind Kejriwal. Now we want BJP,” says Radhe. He says BJP workers “keep working for us and AAP has not done anything.”
Radhe and his brother Lakshman (21) say that during campaigning nobody came from the AAP while BJP people kept visiting.
Nehru Lal (30), Lakshman’s neighbour, says that voting made him feel like “a true Indian” but he wishes for better job opportunities for his people. Nehru and his wife both voted in the polls held on Wednesday.
“We are daily wage workers and would like to request the government to help us get better job opportunities and education for our children,” he says.
