On Sunday (September 25), the Sikh community heaped praise on the Modi government for rescuing them from the Taliban-controlled Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
As per reports, a special flight carrying Sikhs from the conflict-torn nation to India reached the National Capital yesterday. The passengers included 38 adults, 3 infants and 14 children. About 43 community members stayed back in Afghanistan to look after the Holy book of ‘Guru Granth Sahib.’
The evacuation was undertaken by the Indian government with the help of the Indian World Forum (IWF) and Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee (SGPC). Reportedly, the Taliban refused permission to the Sikhs to bring the last remaining copies of their Holy book with them.
Delhi | A special flight carrying 55 Afghan Sikh minorities fleeing from Afghanistan arrived at Delhi airport yesterday, as a part of efforts to evacuate the distressed minorities in the Taliban-led nation pic.twitter.com/TMkigo1wdk
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2022
According to Puneet Chandhok of IWF, about 9 visa applications for Afghan Sikhs are pending with the Government of India. He said that the remaining 34 members of the Sikh community are likely to depart from Afghanistan only if they are granted permission by the Taliban regime to bring their scriptures.
Chandhok appealed to the Indian government to convince the Taliban to allow the repatriation of Holy Sikh scriptures. Baljeet Singh, one of the Sikhs evacuated from Afghanistan, thanked the initiative by the Centre.
“The condition is not very well in Afghanistan. I was imprisoned for four months. Taliban have cheated us, they butchered our hair in prison. I am thankful and happy to return to India and to our religion,” he informed.
“We would like to thank the Indian government to give us urgent visas and help us to reach India. Many of us still have families left behind as around 30-35 people are left stranded in Afghanistan,” said Sukhbeer Singh Khalsa, an Afghan Sikh refugee pic.twitter.com/imzVH72FuS
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2022
Another Sikh man, Sukhbeer Singh Khalsa, said, “We would like to thank the Indian government to give us urgent visas and help us to reach India. Many of us still have families left behind as around 30-35 people are left stranded in Afghanistan.”
Past rescue missions undertaken by Indian government
In July 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reportedly approved long-term visas for 700 Sikh and Hindus currently living in Afghanistan. According to Kashmiri journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, such long-term visas are granted only to persecuted minorities in the region.
As per reports, about 600 Sikhs had applied for such long-term visas to India after the attack on Gurudwara that occurred on March 25, 2020, and left 27 dead. In August 2021, Afghan Sikhs brought three hand-written Swaroop of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji from Afghanistan to India.
They were received at the airport by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State and V Muraleedharan, Ministry of External Affairs. Again, in December last year, the Indian government evacuated 110 Sikhs from Afghanistan under the rescue operation Devi Shakti.
It was carried out jointly by the Indian Air Force and the Ministry of External affairs. President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee Manjinder Singh Sirsa had announced the arrival of the Sikhs from Kabul to New Delhi by a special flight.
