In a goodwill gesture, the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan is sending 114 Afghan Sikhs to India on Friday. A Kam Air flight from the Afghan capital Kabul is expected to reach Delhi in the afternoon.
The group consists mainly of Afghan Sikhs willing to move to India, and some Indians left behind after the Taliban takeover in August.
Top government sources said India was grateful to the Taliban-led government for its goodwill gesture, and for the safety of its citizens as well as return to India.
Minorities in Afghanistan, mainly Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were left in the lurch after the Taliban swept across Afghanistan in August, seizing control of key towns and cities in the backdrop of the withdrawal of US forces that began on May 1. The military group took over Kabul on August 15 and unveiled a hardline interim government.
When the Taliban took over in August, many Sikh families had taken refuge inside a gurdwara in Kabul. Back then, they had been assured of their safety even as union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Indian authorities were in touch with the group, and that they will be brought to India as soon as possible.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said, “India must not only protect our citizens, but we must also provide refuge to those Sikh and Hindu minorities, who want to come to India, and we must also provide all possible help to our Afghan brothers and sisters who are looking towards India for assistance.”
India had evacuated close to 600 people from Kabul, including 67 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. The group also had Afghan lawmakers Anarkali Kaur Honaryar and Narinder Singh Khalsa.
Despite assurances of safety, however, Taliban fighters forcibly entered Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita, the main Sikh shrine in Kabul, in October and intimidated worshippers inside the sanctum and abused the holy place. It was one of two such incidents highlighting rampant religious intolerance displayed by the military group during its previous regime as well.
There were reports that Afghan Sikhs were faced with the choice of either converting to Sunni Islam or flee the country after the Taliban takeover. Even though Sikhs have been living in Afghanistan for centuries, their numbers have dwindled due to decades of systemic discrimination, emigration, death and religious violence. Their numbers have reduced from 60,000 in 1992 to under 300 now.
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