Two decades on, five from Pak given Indian citizenship in Rajasthan's Kota

Five people who had come to India from Pakistan around two decades ago were given citizenship papers by the district administration here on Friday. They have been living in the city with their relatives and had traveled to India from Abdu village in Sindh's Shikarpur village.

They were garlanded and given the papers by Kota Collector Om Kasera. Those given Indian citizenship are Rekha Bhojwani, Sonam Kumari, Muskan, Sandeep Kumar and Sudaman.

"A long-awaited dream has today come true with the citizenship of India," said one of them after receiving his papers. As soon as the citizenship papers were handed over to them, they raised slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ji Jai' and 'Vande Matram'.

The state government had organized a camp in the presence of a delegation from the Centre a few days ago, in which their documents were verified, Additional District Collector R D Meena said. Eight people were granted Indian citizenship on December 30, he added.