Vikramjit Singh Sahney, a member of the Rajya Sabha from Punjab and the international president of the World Punjabi Organization, promised to help and rehabilitate these families as the final group of 55 Afghan Sikh and Hindu refugees arrived in India on Sunday.
According to Sahney, he will continue to help and rehab these families by giving them free dwellings on rent, monthly household expenses, medical insurance, and through skilling and educating the young. With the help of Sahney’s “My Family My Responsibility” initiative, 543 Afghan Sikh and Hindu households are receiving complete rehabilitation in West Delhi.
He expressed his gratitude to SGPC for helping to evacuate these people.
Today at around 4:30 pm, a special flight number 315 from Amritsar, operated by Ariana Afghan and organised by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee, will land at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi as part of efforts to evacuate vulnerable minorities from Afghanistan.
They will disembark at the Delhi airport at about 5:30 p.m. Once all the procedures are completed, they will travel to Gurdwara Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji in K Block, New Mahavir Nagar.
Both governments in a joint effort facilitated their evacuation after MEA had earlier issued them e-visas.
In cooperation with the Indian World Forum and the Indian Government, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee is assisting in the exodus of marginalised minorities from the Islamic country.
Since the attack on the Gurudwara Karte Parwan in Kabul, 68 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have returned. The airfare is being paid for by SGPC
On July 14, Kam Air, the largest private Afghan airline, evacuated 21 Afghan Sikhs, including an infant, from Kabul to New Delhi.
Following the political shift in Kabul, the Indian World Forum organised and assisted in the humanitarian evacuation of more than 300 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs.
Approximately 700 Hindus and Sikhs lived in Afghanistan in 2020, but many of them emigrated when the Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021.
43 Hindus and Sikhs are still present in Afghanistan, while nine visa requests are still awaiting approval from the Indian government.
There are still four Saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in Afghanistan. They could not be brought back to India as per religious procedure as authorities in Kabul did not cooperate with India.
By covering their travel expenses, SGPC helps minorities in Afghanistan.
Sikhs have recently been the target of a wave of assaults in Afghanistan. About 50 people were killed when the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) stormed the Karte Parwan Gurdwara in Kabul on June 18 this year.
15 to 20 militants broke into a Gurdwara in Kabul’s Kart-e-Parwan District in October last year and had the guards bund.
A horrific attack at the Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Gurudwara in Kabul’s Short Bazaar neighbourhood in March 2020 resulted in the deaths of 27 Sikhs and the injuries of numerous more. Terrorists from the Islamic State took credit for the assault.
