Padma Shri winner to help bring back 400 people from Afghanistan

NEWDELHI: A Padma Shri awardee has made arrangements to bring back at least 400 Hindus and Sikhs who want to return to India from Afghanistan following a devastating terrorist attack in Kabul in March this year that left 26 people dead and injured 80.

Vikramjit S Sahney, the president of the World Punjabi Organization (WPO), has made arrangements for chartered flights to bring back the people of the two communities in the next few days, the organisation said in a statement.

“The families are based in Kabul, Jalalabad and Ghazni. All of them want to come to come to India after the deadly terrorist attack. They have been issued the necessary long-term visas by the Indian embassy,” WPO said in a statement.

Sahney added that the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) will provide temporary accommodation to the families at various gurdwaras in the Capital.

He said that he would ensure that the evacuees are given skill development training which would help them find jobs in India.

The Indian Embassy issued necessary long-term visas for the stranded people, the statement added, and Sahney thanked civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri and home minister Amit Shah.