Click to play videoJalandhar: Independent India is all set to turn 60. But the families along the Punjab-Lahore border feel that the Independence Day holds no meaning at all.
People in a small hamlet near Jalandhar in Punjab say they no longer belong to either India or Pakistan. They call themselves the 'nowhere people'.
75-year-old Mulk Raj left Pakistan in 1995 and moved to India as he felt his family was being persecuted. He cancelled his Pakistani citizenship in 2003 and applied for Indian citizenship but till this day he remains an illegal resident.
“We had no freedom in Pakistan. Could not go to temples or even cremate the dead properly. Here at least all that is there. But I have no country to call my own. Neither a Pakistani, nor an Indian. There were 10 of us who came to India on a valid visa,” said Mulk Raj, resident, Jalandhar.
His wife says, “There is no country for us. We don't have the money to now go back to Pakistan. All our relations are here.”
35-year-old Ajit Ram has the same story to tell. He left Sialkot in 1998 and moved to Punjab where he married Anju, an Indian. But the uncertainty about Ajit's citizenship status has strained their marriage.
“I regret marrying him. I have also got into trouble,” said Anju.
“I have got married here. How can I go back now to get more documents? I don't have any money too,” explains Ajit Ram.
The district administration is unaware of the matter but the police have now contacted the Indian government to help find a solution.
SP Headquarters Jalandhar Satinder Singh says, “Hindi families from Pakistan have migrated here and are asking for permission to stay on. We have got in touch with the government to find a way out.”
Independence day means little to these 'no where people'. Ironically, they are dependant on both India and Pakistan to find a way out of their 'nationless' state.
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