India TV: New
Delhi: Friday, 06 March 2020.
The
Indian government had established a total of 49 settlements in the National
Capital alone to accommodate Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan at the time
of Partition, a new Right to Information (RTI) reply has revealed.
According
to the reply from the Land and Development Office at the Ministry of Urban
Development, at least 42,145 refugees from Pakistan were made to settle in
these neighbourhoods.
The
RTI reply, dated March 3, was in response to a question by Delhi Congress
worker Tejpal Singh, who had sought information on the number of Pakistani
refugees who had sought shelter in India at the time Partition of the
subcontinent in 1947.
The
reply from the government reveals that the highest number of refugees were made
to settle in Jheel Kurenja in east Delhi (3,015). More than 2,000 refugees were
allotted homes in the Tehar area (2,841), Chittaranjan Park (2,147), Old
Rajinder Nagar (2,337) and Ramesh Nagar (2,332).
The
RTI reply surfaces at a time when the government is facing flak from the
Opposition, led by Congress, over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act
(CAA). While the critics of the new citizenship law have claimed that the
legislation is discriminatory in nature as it excludes Muslims, the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) has rebutted the allegations by pointing out that the act
only fulfils promises made by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and
Mahatma Gandhi to Hindus and Sikhs of Pakistan.
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