India facilitates 'return' of 11 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs

The Government on Sunday started facilitating travel of minority Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan to India, beginning with a group of 11, including Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was recently kidnapped from a Gurdwara in the conflict-torn country.

New Delhi’s move came nearly four months after the terrorists stormed a Gurdwara in Kabul and killed 25 people.

Within hours, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Those killed included a child whose body was brought to a Kabul hospital, the emergency services and the hospital said. At least 15 people were injured.

The government granted “appropriate” visas to the 11 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs and facilitated the group’s travel to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement issued in New Delhi. The group travelled onboard a Kam Air aircraft from Kabul to New Delhi on Sunday.

Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the MEA, said that the Government was “facilitating return of Hindu and Sikh community members seeking permanent residency and citizenship in India”. New Delhi lauded the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan extending necessary support for the safe “return” of the Afghan Hindus and Sikhs.

One of the 11 Afghans, who flew to New Delhi on Sunday, was Nidan Singh Sachdeva, a community leader, who was abducted by terrorists from a Gurdwara at Paktia in Afghanistan on June 22 and was released on July 18 following intervention by the local elders.

It was after his kidnapping and release, New Delhi announced its decision to facilitate the “return” of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs, who, according to the MEA, were facing security threats in Afghanistan. to India.

“The targeting and persecution of minority community members by terrorists (in Afghanistan) at the behest of their external supporters remains a matter of grave concern,” Srivastava had said after Sachdeva had been released on July 18.

New Delhi and Kabul have since long been echoing each other in blaming Pakistan for terrorism in Afghanistan.