Danish Kaneria, ex-Pakistan cricketer, has expressed his support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which facilitates the granting of citizenship to individuals of specific faiths experiencing persecution in neighboring nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
Despite the rules that were notified pertaining to refugees who arrived in India prior to 2015, Kaneria lauded it as a positive development for all Pakistani Hindus.
“Pakistani Hindus will now be able to breathe in open air #CAA,” Kaneria, the former Pakistan leg-spinner, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Meanwhile, the former Pakistan cricketer also thanked India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for notifying the CAA.
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Kaneria, the second Hindu cricketer to represent Pakistan after his cousin Anil Dalpat, who unfortunately got involved in match-fixing towards the end of his career, has expressed strong support for the Indian government’s decision to implement the CAA.
Previously, Danish extended his backing to India in light of the controversy following disparaging comments made by a couple of Maldives ministers and prominent figures about the country.
The Union Home Ministry formally announced the regulations for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Monday, creating a pathway for the granting of citizenship to individuals of specific faiths who have fled persecution in neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and entered India prior to 2015.
“Those immigrants qualifying for citizenship under CAA will have to submit applications in an online mode, for which a web portal has been created,” an MHA spokesperson said.
In the meantime, joyous festivities broke out in the Majnu ka Tilla area of the national capital, home to a majority of Pakistani Hindu refugees.
In international cricket, Kaneria played for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010. The former leg-spinner represented his nation in as many as 61 Tests, scalping 261 wickets at an average of 34.79. He also played 18 ODIs, bagging 15 wickets. In 206 First-Class matches, he picked 1,023 wickets with 71 five-wicket hauls and 10-wicket hauls on 12 occasions.