Many women residing in a refugee camp for Pakistani Hindu migrants in Majnu ka Tila feel they are unfortunate that they can't celebrate the festival with their brothers.
Revelry has enveloped the national capital and markets are being flocked by large number of shoppers buying Raksha Bandhan gifts. Yet not everyone in Delhi is privileged enough to celebrate the festival. Many women residing in a refugee camp for Pakistani Hindu migrants in Majnu ka Tila feel they are unfortunate that they can't celebrate the festival with their brothers.
A victim of persecution, Meera Devi also lives here while her brothers resides on the other side of the border in her hometown- Sindh Hyderabad. "Hindus in Pakistan can come to India only if they are lucky or wealthy. I got my visa and passport made while my brothers could not. I have 7 brothers but I haven't seen them since I came here three years back. Only once, I sent them Rakhi through courier and talked to them over phone," laments 35-year-old Meera.
Bhagvani, another migrant living in Majnu ka Tila refugee camp, expresses her wish tie Rakhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking to iamin. "This is the festival when brothers protect their sisters. I want our PM to give us pakka houses, electricity, medical facilities and water as a gift for Rakhi," she asserts. "We looked so attractive when we came to India. People used to ask us if we women were from Kabul as our cheeks were rosy pink. Now, we have lost the charm on our faces as we are living in dire poverty. Here, we have to cook food on a stoves and there were times when we have a gas stove in Pakistan. But we felt unsafe there so we had no choice but to flee our homeland,” she grieves as she remembers times gone by.
Sitting next to Bhagvani, Ganga says she still has the salwar kameez which was gifted to her by her brother many years back. “We don't feel like celebrating this festival as many of our kins are still on the other side of the border,” she says.
There are about 400 Pakistani Hindu migrants living in the camp in inhumane conditions. The camp lacks basic amenities like power and water supply. Lack of medical facilities has also posed health risks to inhabitants, especially for the pregnant women and infants.
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