Delhi Assembly elections 2025: In a historic moment for democracy, Pakistani Hindu refugees in Delhi exercised their right to vote for the first time in the Assembly elections on Wednesday. Many of these first-time voters expressed a deep sense of pride and belonging as they stepped into polling booths, their inked fingers symbolising a new chapter in their lives. For years, they lived in uncertainty, awaiting legal recognition, and now, with citizenship granted, they finally had a voice in shaping the future of their adopted homeland.
At a polling booth in Delhi’s Majnu Ka Tilla, Reshma pressed the button on an electronic voting machine on Wednesday with a sense of pride as a smile spread across her face. For the first time in her life, the 50-year-old woman cast her vote – not just to choose a candidate, but for her family’s future.
Reactions from Hindu refugees
Reshma is one of 186 Pakistani Hindu refugees who, after years of uncertainty, exercised their voting right for the first time in the Delhi Assembly polls, marking a powerful moment in their journey from statelessness to citizenship. They all got Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Dharamveer Solanki, president of the Pakistani Hindu refugee community, expressed hope that their struggles would lessen. “Now, we won’t have to constantly change our location. We will finally get permanent homes and a stable means of livelihood,” he said. Solanki said that people from our community were so excited that they queued up outside the polling booth in Majnu Ka Tilla — a resettlement colony for the refugees.
Pakistani Hindus take refuge in India
For decades, thousands of Pakistani Hindus have sought refuge in India, fleeing religious persecution. Many settled in Delhi’s Majnu Ka Tila, living in makeshift shelters, and taking up daily wage work. On March 11 last year, the Central government announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, paving the way for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, to obtain Indian citizenship.
(With inputs from PTI)
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