The Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji Singh Sabha Karte Parwan in Kabul. (Photo: Pritpal Singh) For the second time in the last ten days, armed fighters, believed to be from the Taliban as per local Sikhs, stormed into a gurdwara in Kabul on Friday and allegedly searched the premises and “intimidated” the locals.
The incident happened at the Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Sri Guru Gobind Singh Karte Parwan in Kabul.
A member of the local Sikh community told The Indian Express over phone, “They were Taliban fighters who just stormed inside. They started searching and claimed that we were hiding rifles and weapons. They also searched the office of our MP Narinder Singh Khalsa, who is currently in India.”
He added, “The president of our gurdwara and community leaders intervened and rang up senior Taliban officials to inform what was happening. With back-to-back blasts in mosques killing hundreds of Shia Muslims, the Hindus and Sikhs are very scared. We just want to be evacuated from here as soon as possible. We don’t want to die.”
The incident happened at the Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Sri Guru Gobind Singh Karte Parwan in Kabul on Friday afternoon. (Photo: Pritpal Singh) On October 5, a group of armed men had barged inside a gurdwara and vandalized the premises. They had also smashed CCTV cameras and intimated the gurdwara’s security guards.
In a statement, Puneet Singh Chandhok, the president of Indian World Forum, said, “I am receiving distress calls from the Sikh community in Kabul. Today, at around 2 pm, heavily armed officials claiming to be from the Special Unit of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, have forcibly entered gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Karte Parwan in Kabul. They have intimidated the community present inside the gurdwara and abused the sanctity of the holy place. They not only raided gurdwara but also entire premises of Community School attached next to gurdwara. Private security guards initially prevented them from entering but they were also threatened with dire consequences and manhandled. They also simultaneously raided the office of MP Narinder Singh Khalsa adjacent to the gurdwara. Around 20 members of Sikh community were present inside gurdwara. Entire Sikh community in Afghanistan are now fearing for their lives and urging for immediate evacuation.”
He added, “We urge the Government of India to immediately raise concerns of Hindu and Sikh community in Afghanistan at the highest level with its counterparts. At the same time, the incumbent regime in Afghanistan should ensure its compliance to the UN charter and well-being of minorities living there,”
Nearly 180 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are still left in Afghanistan.
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