New Delhi: Senior BJP leaders on Friday welcomed the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet’s decision to approve the permanent rehabilitation of 99 Hindu Bengali families displaced from erstwhile East Pakistan, calling the move humanitarian, nationalistic, and long overdue.
Reacting to the decision, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal said the step taken by the Yogi Adityanath-led government was in the national interest. “The decision is in the interest of the nation, because if there is any country for Hindus, it is Hindustan. And if Hindu refugees do not settle in Hindustan, then where will they settle? From this perspective, Yogi Adityanath’s statement is welcome,” Khandelwal told IANS.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh also supported the decision, recalling earlier opposition to granting citizenship to Hindu refugees. “When Hindus who had fled Pakistan and were displaced were given citizenship, many people had a problem with it. Even now, when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken this step, the question is: which country in the world can these Hindus go to and find shelter?” Singh said.
The Uttar Pradesh State Cabinet on Thursday cleared the proposal for the resettlement of “Hindu Bengali families” who were displaced from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and are currently residing in Meerut district.
The decision comes ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, where the issue of refugee rehabilitation and citizenship has remained a politically sensitive topic.
According to government officials, 99 Hindu Bengali families have been residing on land earmarked for a lake in Nangla Gosai village of Mawana tehsil in Meerut district for decades. Officials said the families had been living there “illegally” due to the absence of a formal rehabilitation policy, despite their displacement dating back several decades.
To resolve the issue permanently, the state government has decided to relocate all 99 families to Rasulabad tehsil in Kanpur Dehat district, where they will be provided land and facilities for resettlement. Officials said the move aims to balance humanitarian considerations with environmental and legal concerns linked to the lake’s land.
The latest cabinet decision, party leaders say, reflects the government’s commitment to addressing long-pending rehabilitation issues while reaffirming its ideological position on refugee protection.
The state government is expected to begin the resettlement process in the coming weeks, officials added.
(IANS)
