Overstaying Pakistanis and the Case for an NRC

The window for Pakistani citizens to return to their country from the Attari check post in Punjab was extended recently. The original deadline was 27^th April and, 29^th April in case of Pakistanis with medical visas. The number of those leaving India was in hundreds even as it became painfully obvious that a large number had overstayed, some even by many years.

This is an unusual situation where screening of people living in the territory of India has become urgent, a step that should have been taken much earlier.

Some of these cases are strange to read. One such case is that of a Pakistani citizen named Osama. In an interview to the news agency ANI, Osama said he had been living in India for 17 years and had even voted during elections in the country.

“I am currently pursuing my bachelor’s degree. I wanted to appear for job interviews after my examinations. I have been staying here for the last 17 years. I appeal to the government to give us some time. I have cast my vote here; I have my ration card…Whatever happened there (Pahalgam) is wrong. I condemn this incident. It is a very shameful act…I have completed my Class 10th and 12th here, what will I do there? What is my future there?…” he said.

In another such case is that of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police constable, one Iftkhar Ali. Ali, who had served in J&K police for 27 years and was posted at Katra turned out to be a Pakistani citizen and was ordered to be deported. His deportation was prevented after J&K High Court stayed the order.

This is a travesty, to say the least. Pakistani citizens remain hidden from view and continue to enjoy the benefits of residence in India while citizens who belong to minority religions in that country have to run from pillar to post just to remain in India. If that were not enough, a provision meant to provide succour to them—the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019—is described by influential opinion-makers and intellectuals as “anti-Muslim.”

It is high time that India took steps to safeguard its integrity that is now visibly under demographic threat. Mass migration from Bangladesh into states in Eastern India and the North East has altered the demography of many states. The case of Pakistanis staying in India—by marriage and other means—while not renouncing their Pakistani citizenship, add to the list of dangers posed by outsiders living freely in the country.

One solution is a thoroughgoing, India-wide, National Register of Citizens (NRC). This will, however, not be an easy step. For one—as the case of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in India shows—they are quick to obtain identity documents fraudulently. For another, the judicial system comes to their rescue almost immediately. This is the result of activist lawyers purposely wanting to ensure that such elements remain in India.

The results of the NRC in Assam show how easy it is to subvert the system. The NRC in Assam is different from what can be done in India. There, a person had to show a linkage to an earlier NRC, going back to 1951, and unless one could do that, inclusion in the latest NRC was ruled out. Yet, even with that safeguard, crores of Bangladeshis were able to evade the dragnet. In India, where no such exercise has been done before, this task will not be a bureaucratic nightmare but a nightmare for bureaucrats.

It is high time that India devised a way to identify and remove such elements if it wants to preserve its integrity.

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