Taliban try to allay fears of Afghanistan’s Hindus, Sikhs

AMRITSAR: Hours after entering Kabul, representatives of Taliban met leaders of the Sikh and Hindu communities in the Afghanistan capital and asked them not to be scared of them or leave the country.
Instead, said a Sikh living in Moscow who has been in touch with his family in Kabul, they have shared their mobile phone numbers with them and asked them to contact the Taliban in case they faced any difficulty.
Minorities have been expecting reprisal attacks by Taliban and a reversal of freedom they enjoyed under US occupation. However, for now, they are of the view that they can breathe easy. The Taliban have, however, asked them to raise white flags to avoid any misunderstanding.
“On Sunday night, the Taliban entered Kabul. On Monday morning, a couple of their representatives went to Gurdwara Karte Parwan and met the representatives of Sikhs and Hindus. They (Taliban) asked them not to be frightened or leave the country,” said Charan Singh, an Afghan Sikh who is in Moscow at present.
The two minority communities in Kabul had either confined themselves to their homes or took shelter at Gurdwara Karte Parwan, one of the six gurdwaras in Kabul.