Afghanistan Sikhs, Hindus seek evacuation

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 2

Around 180 Afghan-origin Sikhs and Hindus are looking to the Union Government for their safe evacuation from the trouble-torn country.

Vikramjit Singh Sahney, international president of the World Punjabi Organisation, who had earlier arranged chartered flights for their safe passage to New Delhi, said the evacuation plan was being chalked out in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian Air Force (IAF).

In touch with MEA

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We are in touch with the MEA and the remaining Sikhs and Hindus stuck

in Afghanistan. The evacuation plan may be executed in the next 10 days or so. An IAF plane is being arranged. —VS Sahney, World punjabi organisation

“We are in touch with the MEA and the remaining Afghan Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan. The evacuation plan can be a possibility in the next 10 days or so. An IAF plane is being arranged,” he said. Sahney also offered to engage a private flight if the IAF plane could not be arranged due to some reason.

After a dialogue between Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal and chief of Taliban’ s political office in Doha Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban representatives in Kabul have assured Afghanistan Sikhs that they would be allowed to visit India on pilgrimage as soon as the Kabul International Airport gets operational.

An Afghan Sikh who teaches in Kabul said that they had expressed desire to visit Gurdwara Sri Guru Arjan Dev in New Mahavir Nagar, New Delhi in a ‘jatha’ to attend the occasion of 400th birth anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur and the Taliban leaders had assured them of a safe passage to India.