By Anjana Pasricha | VOA |
NEW DELHI — In a Sikh temple tucked in the narrow lanes of the Indian capital, New Delhi, 60-year Harbans Singh offers a prayer of gratitude. The temple has become his temporary home after he fled Afghanistan, where his family had lived for generations.
“We have left our homes, our shops and come here to save ourselves. Conditions there are very bad,” said Singh. “We have arrived empty-handed.”
Singh and his son along with other family members were in a group of 55 Afghan Sikhs who arrived in India in late September — they were among the last members of the community still living in the strife-torn country. Only a handful remain in Afghanistan, according to those who have come to India.
Afghan Sikhs numbered in the tens of thousands during the nineteen eighties when they ran well-established businesses. But driven out by decades of conflict and persecution, only a few hundred were left when the Taliban took power last August.
Although the Taliban had assured the community of their right to remain in Afghanistan and to practice their religion, its return reignited fears of a resurgence in violence that had targeted the community.
The latest exodus of the Afghan Sikhs was sparked by a deadly attack in June on a Sikh temple in Kabul that killed one worshipper and wounded seven others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
Even before Taliban rule, Sikh temples had been the target of attacks that were also claimed by the Islamic State group.
The dread of waiting for the next attack or staying hidden from sight is over for those fleeing Afghanistan. Harbans Singh’s son, Harminder Singh, said it is a relief not to live in fear of “explosions and gunfire” that had become commonplace in their hometown, Jalalabad and had petrified them.
Read the full story here.
RELATED STORY:
Sikh organisations condemn ‘insane and barbaric’ Kabul gurdwara attack (Asia Samachar, 21 June 2022)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: asia.samachar@gmail.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
