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Afghan Sikhs call for peace following mass migration
Only 250 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have remained in Afghanistan following the evacuation of hundreds of their community members from cities across the country last year.
The vulnerable minority stated that they had the highest migration rate of all groups in Afghanistan and lost a huge number of Sikhs and Hindus to violence in the last five years of President Ashraf Ghani’s tenure.
Chairman of the Sikh and Hindu Council, Ram Sarn said that around 500 Sikhs and Hindus left Afghanistan following the deadly attack on their Gurdwara, or temple, in Shor Bazar of Kabul city last year.
About 200 worshipers were reported to have been in the building at the time of the attack which lasted about an hour.
Twenty-five Sikh worshippers, including one child, were killed in the March attack.
“People left Afghanistan to protect their families. If a real government comes and the human rights of citizens like us are not violated, they will return to Afghanistan,” Ram said.
Meanwhile, challenges such as land grabbing, poverty, and harassment have forced the remaining community to settle in one of their religious sites in Kabul.
Sikhs and Hindus have urged the warring parties to stop the war and bring peace to Afghanistan.
“A durable peace must come. We have witnessed 40 years of war – it is enough. The situation has worsened. If the situation continues this way the remaining Sardars (Sikhs) will leave Afghanistan,” said Sundar Singh district representative of the community.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, has announced the release of another American citizen in the country.
Khalilzad said in a post on his X account that, according to information from the Islamic Emirate’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Faye Dai Hall, an American citizen who has been in custody in Afghanistan, will be released soon.
Earlier, George Glezmann, an American citizen whom the Islamic Emirate had held for over two years, was also released.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Friday that Joe Biden administration left about $80 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan, which was a “catastrophic error.”
Vance made the remarks during a visit to a military base in Greenland.
He also said the Biden administration’s “catastrophic error” led to the deaths of 13 US soldiers in an attack during the evacuation at Kabul airport in August 2021.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump also criticized the abandonment of military equipment in Afghanistan and called for its return.
The Islamic Emirate, however, has said that the weapons left by the US in Afghanistan belong to the Afghans and will not be returned.
The Supreme Court announced on Saturday that based on the ruling of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate, 2,463 prisoners have been pardoned and released on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.
The court said in a statement that the prison terms of another 3,152 prisoners have been reduced.
Eid in Afghanistan will be celebrated on Sunday or Monday, depending on the moon sighting.
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