Big relief to persecuted minorities of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanisthan, no restrictions or deportations will apply till specific date

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, September 3, 2025

In a big relief to the persecuted Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikha and Christian minorities illegally staying in India the union home ministry has advanced the cut-off date to allow them continued stay provided they entered India on or before December 31 2024. An extraordinary issue of the government of India’s gazette issued on September 1 bearing the signature of the additional secretary in the union home ministry Nitesh Kumar Vyas has made this clear. As per the order the persecuted minorities who entered India without valid documents like passport or official travel papers etc will be allowed to stay on in this country without any restriction or disabilities by registering their names. The order , as mentioned in the gazette, will be known as ‘Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption ) Order 2025. However, the order is silent on the time and cut-off date for granting of citizenship to such persons even though their stay here will be valid.

This provides a big relief to many persecuted minorities who managed to enter India illegally without valid documents till December 31 2025 because of oppression and discrimination in the Islamic theocratic countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanisthan. As stateless citizens they had no right and they were liable to be deported but the new order gives them a huge relief and safety.

It was in December 2019 that the BJP-led Centre had amended the citizenship act to provide fast-tracked citizenship rights to the persecuted minorities of the three Islamist countries , sparking adverse reaction from the opposition. The situation was such that at the instigation of the opposition parities including anti-national and anti-Hindu NGOs riots broke out in Delhi where a mass sit-in by Muslims had commenced even without any knowledge of the contents of the CAA. But the latest amendment of the ‘Immigration and Foreigners Act’ to help the illegal stay of the persecuted minorities has so far evoked no reaction. There is however no official data on how many such people have been living in India without valid passport or travel documents.

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