Recently the Union Home Minister Amit Shah referred to the Nehru-Liaquat pact on a few occasions in Parliament to justify the Citizenship Bill
What is the Nehru-Liaquat pact?
The Nehru-Liaquat Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, was a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan in order to provide a framework for the treatment of minorities in the two countries.
It was signed by the former PM Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan the former PM of Pakistan in Delhi in 1950.
It was signed in the backdrop of large-scale migration of people belonging to minority communities between the two countries in the wake of attacks by the majority communities in their respective territories.
The mass migration of minorities Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists in Pakistan, and Muslims in India led to a serious refugee crisis.
Key terms
Nehru and Liaquat opened a channel of communication and reached an agreement in April 1950. Under the Nehru-Liaquat pact
refugees were allowed to return unmolested to dispose of their property
abducted women and looted property were to be returned
forced conversions were unrecognized
minority rights were confirmed
As a result minority commissions were established in the two countries to implement these terms of the Nehru-Liaquat pact.
