India grants e-visas to Afghan Sikhs, Hindus on priority after Kabul attack
A day after a deadly attack at a gurdwara in Kabul left two persons, including a Sikh, dead, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Sunday granted electronic visas or e-visas to over 100 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus on “priority” to facilitate their evacuation from the region, people familiar with the matter said.
Officials in the ministry are also closely monitoring the situation in Kabul and efforts are being made to evacuate the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, amid a spate of violence targeting minorities and places of worship in the region, they said.
The Islamic State, also known as Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Kabul, said it was behind the attack at Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul which was carried out in retaliation to controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammed.
While there were around 700 Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan in 2020, several families fled the country last year after the Taliban’s takeover of the country following the evacuation of US troops on August 15, an official said.
Currently, there are just 150 Sikhs residing in Afghanistan. “But this miniscule minority is under severe threat right now,” the official said, seeking anonymity.
Several blasts tore through the gurdwara on Saturday morning, killing two persons and injuring several others. The blasts were followed by a gun battle for several hours between the attackers and Taliban fighters, in which three attackers were killed.
In a statement issued through its Amaq propaganda site later on
Saturday, the ISKP said the attack targeted Hindus and Sikhs and apostates who protected them, in an act of support for the Messenger of Allah. It said one of its fighters “penetrated a temple for Hindu and Sikh polytheists” in Kabul, after killing the guard, and opened fire on the worshippers inside with his machine gun and hand grenades. The outfit, however, exaggerated the death toll.
On March 25, 2020, 27 Sikh devotees, including an Indian national, were killed in an attack in another gurdwara in Kabul. This attack was also carried out by the ISKP, purportedly to avenge the atrocities on Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Investigation Agency is probing the attack. The agency had even planned to send a team to Kabul at that time to interrogate the suspects but could not due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vikram Sahney, international president of World Punjabi Foundation, thanked the Indian government for its decision to provide e-visas to Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. “Thanks to MEAIndia for issuing prompt 111 E-Visas to #AfghanSikhs. Rest in process. Plans underway to evacuate them. We commit to rehabilitate them under our already running programme for #AfghanRefugees,” he tweeted.
“Since the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan, its rival – the ISKP – has been targeting minorities. Outfits such as ISKP will use the unrest in the wake of remarks against Prophet Mohammed to increase their recruitment activities, which needs to be watched,” Shreya Upadhyay, a strategic affairs expert and assistant professor at Christ University, Bengaluru, said.