India follows reports of Sikhs' persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan on regular basis: Govt to Parliament

New Delhi: The government follows "reports of persecution" of members of Sikh community in Pakistan and Afghanistan on a regular basis, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha.

The Ministry of External Affairs was asked whether it maintains a database of "persecution of members of the Sikh community in Pakistan and Afghanistan"; and the details of steps taken by the MEA for protection and rescue of Sikhs across the world.

"The Government of India follows reports of persecution of members of Sikh community in Pakistan and Afghanistan on a regular basis. The atrocities against minority communities in Pakistan, including the Sikh community are committed in the form of persecution, intimidation, forced marriages, forced conversions, vandalism of their places of religious worship etc.," Singh said.

Based on the reports of atrocities against the minority communities in Pakistan, the government of India raises such matters with Pakistan through diplomatic channels, he said.

"The government of Pakistan is urged to discharge its constitutional obligations towards its citizens including those from minority communities and to end sectarian violence, extreme prejudices and religious intolerance," he said.

In view of the "rapid deterioration" in the security situation in Afghanistan in 2021, 74 members of minority community from Afghanistan, primarily Afghan Sikhs, were "evacuated onboard the special Indian Air Force/Air India flights arranged by the government of India under Operation Devi Shakti, the minister said.

India, through its diplomatic Missions and Posts abroad, remains in touch with the host governments to address the issues of safety, security and well-being of minority communities, including the Sikh community, he said.

The government, from time to time, also raises these issues at multilateral fora including at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Singh said.

In a separate query, the MEA was asked the details of the chip-based e-passports introduced by government, including their features, benefits, and the current status of their implementation.

"The e-passport is a combined paper and electronic passport, with an embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip and antenna embedded as an inlay. The main benefit of the e-passport is its enhanced ability to maintain the integrity of its data. Since the e-passport has the data in printed form on the booklet, as well as encrypted in the chip, it makes it harder to forge," the minister said.

The launch of e-passport has commenced as a pilot project along with the rollout of the Passport Seva Program (PSP) Version 2.0 on April 1, 2024.

Currently, regional passport offices at Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Jammu, Goa, Shimla, Raipur, Amritsar, Jaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Surat, and Ranchi are issuing e-passports to Indian citizens. More passport offices will be issuing e-passports to Indian citizens, Singh said.