Sikhs and Hindus staying at a Kabul Gurudwara to be evacuated by India

Around 60 Sikhs and Hindus who had taken shelter in a Kabul Gurudwara have been shifted to a secure place by the Indian embassy officers. According to a report by the Times of India, they’ve been shifted from the Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Karte-Parwan in Kabul to the secure place earlier than their evacuation to India.
Since the Taliban began to take over Afghanistan, round 285 Sikhs and Hindus have taken shelter within the Gurudwara. The individuals who have been shifted embody two members of the Afghanistan parliament from the Sikh group, Anarkali Kaur Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa. Narender Khalsa is the son of Afghan Sikh chief Awtar Singh Khalsa, who was killed within the 2018 Jalalabad terror assault.
Most of the folks staying on the Gurudwara nonetheless don’t wish to be evacuated to India, and so they choose to go to US or Canada. Around a dozen Sikhs and Hindus taking shelter on the Gurdwara had issued a video message a few days in the past, the place they’d requested that they need to rescued from Kabul and evacuated to both Canada or the United States.
They had stated that the state of affairs in Afghanistan may be very dangerous and the longer term is unsure. They had appealed to the Sikh organisations in Canada and the USA to assist evacuate them to these nations. Although the Taliban had stated that they may guarantee the security of Sikhs and different minorities, the minorities in Afghanistan aren’t prepared to belief them. “A Taliban delegation came here and said they won’t harm our gurdwara. But there is no saying what will happen when their laws come into effect. We can’t trust the Taliban government,” a person staying on the Gurudwara had stated.
These folks don’t wish to come to India as they really feel that the situation of people that have been evacuated to India has not been good. They additionally say they don’t have any roots or connections with India now. Only round 5 Afghan Sikhs are prepared to come back to India as they’ve work and properties within the nation, whereas the remaining choose shifting to Canada or USA. “Most of the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus do not have any settlement in India and want to be evacuated to Canada or the US. Our first preference for evacuation is Canada and US, and not India,” a Sikh from Kabul instructed TOI over cellphone.
The man added that officers had requested the folks dwelling within the Gurudwara to shift to a unique place in batches of fifty. He additionally alleged that the Gurudwara members ‘pressurised’ them to go away the premises, whereas they appreciated it or not. However, his identify was not within the record of the primary batch, therefore he’s nonetheless on the Gurudwara.
The Sikh mane additionally knowledgeable that the primary group has been shifted to the basement of a constructing, which is taken into account as a secure place, and they’re prone to be evacuated to New Delhi. When requested why they don’t wish to return to India, he stated that some Afghan Sikhs and Hindus had been evacuated to India after the 2018 Jalalabad, and now they’re dwelling in depressing circumstances. Fearing the identical for them, they like to go to Canada or USA as a substitute.