Pakistani Woman Seema Haider Welcomes CAA, Hails PM Modi

Pakistani woman Seema Haider, who illegally entered India and married Indian national Sachin Meena, has welcomed the Centre's decision to notify the rules of implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

She also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his decision to implement the CAA while claiming that the CAA would help her get Indian citizenship.

However, Haider won't directly benefit from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), enacted by Parliament to expedite citizenship for undocumented migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, provided they are non-Muslims and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

"The Indian government has implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act today in our country. We are very happy about it and congratulate the government for it. Truly, what Modi ji has done what he had promised. I will be indebted to them throughout my life and keep thanking them," PTI quoted Haider as saying in a video.

"On this happy occasion, I congratulate my brother advocate A P Singh for his work as now my citizenship-related obstacles would also be removed with this law," the Pakistani national said. In the video, she is heard saying "Jai Shri Ram", "Radhe Radhe" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

Her advocate Singh also hailed the Centre's announcement and said the decision would help people of different religions from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who were facing citizenship-related problems in India.

"It's a big day for the people who were persecuted in these countries and somehow managed a living here (India)," Singh said.

Seema, originally from Jacobabad in Pakistan's Sindh province, was caught living illegally with Sachin Meena, an Indian national who is now her husband, in Greater Noida. Last May, she left her home in Karachi with her children to journey to India via Nepal.

In February, Haider's Pakistani husband Ghulam Haider hired an Indian lawyer to seek the custody of their four children.

On Monday, the government implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019, finalizing the rules four years after Parliament passed the controversial law. This legislation aims to expedite citizenship for undocumented migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who are non-Muslims and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

The Modi government will now begin granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants-Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians-from these three countries. The rules, announced just days before the Lok Sabha elections, come into effect immediately, as stated in a Gazette notification.