Months after the Taliban took over the power in Afghanistan, now Sikhs in the country are on the verge of being forcefully converted to Islam or killed under the Taliban regime, according to a report. As a result, the Sikhs in the country are left with two options to choose from, convert to Islam or flee the country to avoid getting killed.
International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) has reported that since the Sikh community do not belong to the mainstream Sunni Islam, they would be either forcefully converted to Sunni Islam or be killed by the Taliban. According to the report, the Taliban ‘government’ would never give space for diversity to flourish and the imposition of the Islamic code with tribal customs would annihilate the existing minority sects of Afghanistan, which also include the Sikhs.
Sikhs have been living in miserable conditions in Afghanistan even before or without the Taliban, and the Afghanistan government had failed to protect them. Most of the Sikh homes were captured by the powerful warlords in the 1990s.
A few days back, Islamic radicals from a ‘special unit’ in Afghanistan had forcibly entered Gurudwara Dashmesh Pita at Karte Parwan, Kabul, Afghanistan. the President of Indian World Forum, Puneet Singh Chandhok informed in a statement that Islamic radicals desecrated the Gurudwara.
Chandok had said, “Today heavily armed officials claiming to be from Spl Unit of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan forcibly entered Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita at Karte Parwan, Kabul. They intimidated the community at gurdwara & abused sanctity of holy place”.
In August after the takeover of the country by the Taliban, a large number of Sikhs were evacuated to India by the Indian govt.
Last Year, armed terrorists had attacked a Gurudwara in Shor Bazar Area of Afghanistan killing Twenty-eight people. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist ‘Abu Khalid al-Hindi’ was identified as an Indian National who was responsible for the attack in order to avenge the supposed ‘plight of Muslims in Kashmir’.
IFRAS claimed that many Sikhs left Afghanistan for India after the massacre of the Sikhs in 2020. It also said that Sikhs are against the hardline ideology of the Sunni sect and because of that they are either forcibly converted to Islam or they are murdered.
