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Evacuate Sikhs stranded in Afghanistan, Punjab CM tells foreign minister Jaishankar
Terrorists had stormed a crowded Gurudwara and housing complex in Kabul on March 25, killing at least 27 Sikhs. The terrorists belonged to Islamic State, reports said.
Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged foreign affairs minister S Jaishankar to bring stranded Sikh families back from war-ravaged Afghanistan to India.
The chief minister tweeted: “Dear @DrSJaishankar, there are a large number of Sikh families who want to be flown out of Afghanistan. Request you to get them airlifted at the earliest. In this moment of crisis, it’s our bounden duty to help them.”
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Saturday offered to rehabilitate Afghan Sikhs if they migrate to India and also announced financial aid to the families of those killed and injured in the March 25 terrorist attack in Kabul. Terrorists had stormed a crowded Gurudwara and housing complex in Kabul killing at least 27 Sikhs. The terrorists belonged to Islamic State, reports said.
The foreign affairs minister had condemned the attack. “Deeply concerned at the blasts reported near the cremation site of those killed during the attack on Gurudwara Sahib in Kabul,” Jaishankar had said. The minister had said that the Indian embassy in Kabul was in touch with Kabul security authorities. He said that he has asked them to ensure adequate security on-site as well as the safe return of families to their homes thereafter.
The same day, Amarinder Singh and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also condemned the attack. Singh described the attack as extremely “tragic and unfortunate”.
“Horrific news coming from Kabul where a barbaric terror attack happened in the Gurudwara Guru Har Rai. It’s extremely tragic and unfortunate. Request (Afghanistan) President @Ashraf Ghani Ji to find out the perpetrators and look after our people,” Singh had tweeted.
Meanwhile, amid media reports that Sikhs in Afghanistan are receiving threats from the Islamic State (IS) following the attack, the SGPC on Saturday offered to rehabilitate Afghan Sikhs if they migrate to India.
As per media reports, the IS took the responsibility for the terror attack in Kabul and asked the Sikhs to leave Afghanistan within ten days or get ready to be killed.
SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said, “Looking at the threat received by Afghan Sikhs, the government of India should make efforts to help them. The Centre should approach the Afghanistan government to ensure their security and bring them to India, where the SGPC will bear the responsibility of their overall settlement”.
He also announced aid of ₹1 lakh each to families of those killed and ₹50,000 each to those injured in the attack. “The Sikhs in Afghanistan are in grave crisis as they are being targeted repeatedly. The Indian government should take up this matter on the international front,” he added.
“In case the Afghan Sikhs come to India, the SGPC will rehabilitate them here and take up the responsibility of the education and employment of their children, apart from other kinds of help,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
