NEW DELHI: India on Thursday eased naturalisation rules for minority groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan whose members claim religious persecution back home.



As a result, the hardline-Bharatiya Janata Party government will grant “persecuted communities and groups” from Pakistan and Afghanistan citizenship rights, waiving off certain conditions that blocked their qualification earlier.



The move comes in the wake of rising discrimination of religious groups within parts of India.



Under the simplified process, the Indian home ministry will now allow those who had fled Pakistan or Afghanistan, citing religious persecution, prior to 31 December 2009, to apply for Indian citizenship.



“Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has also permitted the manual acceptance of applications by such individuals,” the home ministry said in a statement issued on Thursday.



Confronted by procedural hurdles, eligible applicants can now submit their applications along with their passports.



However, the Long Term Visa (LTV) of the applicant should be valid at the time of submitting citizenship application at the office of the district magistrate/collector/deputy commissioner, the ministry further said.



Similarly, children belonging to minority communities, who entered India on their parents’ passport, can also apply without a passport for grant of the Indian citizenship after regularisation of their stay in India.



Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2014.