Taliban assured Sikhs of 'safe passage' to India for gurpurab, say evacuation organisers: Report

Taliban has assured Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan a safe passage to India for 400th birth anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur or Gurpurab celebrations this year, organisers who are coordinating to evacuate them from the country said.

Some Hindus and Sikhs have taken refuge in a gurdwara in Kabul after their failed attempt to reach the airport in hope of exiting the country, which now effectively lies under the control of the Taliban, as the US military made a hurried exit.

The chaos at the Kabul airport further escalated after the twin bomb attacks last week that killed scores of people including US servicemen.

As many as 180 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus remain stranded in Central Karte Parwan Gurdwara of Kabul, the Indian Express reported. However, many of them are dispersing to move back to their cities where lie their homes and livelihoods, in hope of normal life under the Taliban regime.

As part of India's efforts, at least 70 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, including two Sikh MPs, Narinder Singh Khalsa and Anarkali Kaur Honoryar, have been evacuated out of Kabul in two batches. There is no certainty about future evacuation flights to New Delhi.

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Among those who want to evacuated, some of them want to reach the US or Canada instead of India.

“We are trying our best to evacuate the remaining Afghan Sikhs and Hindus to India by next week. The Taliban has allowed them to travel to India with valid documents," Puneet Singh Chandhok, president of the Indian World Forum said.

According to World Punjabi Organisaton, at least 180 Sikhs have moved out of Kabul gurdwara to their homes to resume business, with many unwilling to leave Afghanistan.

One of them told the publication: "We have started opening our shops here but there is hardly any business. We hope everything remains fine here only so that we don’t have to leave our country at all. Even if we go for the pilgrimage to India for the 400th Gurpurab of Guru Teg Bahadur, we have to return to Afghanistan again, because we can’t leave our businesses here in one go. What we have here, we can’t get in India. We will be refugees there. Who likes leaving their own country?”