Rehabilitate Sikhs fleeing Afghanistan: SGPC to Centre

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has appealed to the Modi government to initiate steps for rehabilitation of Sikh refugees who are fleeing war-torn Afghanistan and coming to India.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has appealed to the Modi government to initiate steps for rehabilitation of Sikh refugees who are fleeing war-torn Afghanistan and coming to India.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said a number of Sikh families had fled Afghanistan following threats from the Taliban. As majority of them had come to India, the central government must provide shelter and other such facilities to such families, he added.

Makkar has also sent a communique to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj urging her to take up at the diplomatic level the issue of security of Sikhs with the Afghanistan government.

Makkar pointed out that Sikhs, who had settled in Kabul and other cities of Afghanistan during the times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, were being threatened and forced to leave their homes. The Taliban is forcing members of Sikh families to change their religion, he added.

Makkar also cited incidents of Sikhs being kidnapped for ransom by the Taliban. He specifically mentioned about the case of Kulraj Singh, a resident of Mudare Sharif town, who was released only after his family paid a huge ransom to the Taliban.