Rescue and rehabilitate Afghan Sikhs, demands SGPC Center : The Tribune India

Tribune press service

Amritsar, June 18

Akal Takht and the SGPC strongly condemned the attack on Karta-e-Parwan gurdwara in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday morning.

SGPC Chairman Harjinder Singh Dhami has sent letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar demanding e-visa facilities for ethnic Afghan minorities and a policy to save and rehabilitate them here.

He said the Center’s “no seriousness” could well be measured by the fact that those Afghan Sikh and Hindu families who were evacuated earlier still have a bleak future for lack of Indian citizenship.

Akal Takht, Jathedar Officer Giani Hapreet Singh said all governments around the world should come together to think seriously about racial attacks. “I will also call on the Indian government to make efforts to evacuate Afghan Sikhs safely and ensure that historic Sikh shrines are taken care of,” he said. The SGPC also urged the UN to take the lead in providing security for minorities in Aghanistan.

On June 16, a delegation from the SGPC met with the Chairman of the National Minorities Commission, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, and highlighted the issue of Afghan minorities who face a threat to their lives and property in their own country.

Damdami Taksal and Chief Khalsa Diwan have also called for the Indian government’s intervention to ensure the safety of lives and property of Sikhs and shrines in Afghanistan.

Previous Incidents

• October 5, 2021: Armed persons enter gurdwara, handcuff private security personnel, detain local Sikh sangat and damage property
• October 15, 2021: Heavily armed individuals claiming to be from a unit from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan burst into gurdwara, manhandle members of Sikh and Hindu community

#akal takht #narendra modi #SGPC #Sikhs